Klöster im Hochmittelalter

118 | Steven Vanderputten
In the Life of Madalveus, which was written probably sometime in the late tenth
or early eleventh century, certainly prior to Richard’s discovery of his remains, ⁴⁶ the
saint is represented as a man devoted to meditation and prayer, charity, humility,
obedience, and mortification through vigils and fasting. He is particularly praised
for his apostolic conduct, his justice, and his promotion to the laity of penance
(urging his subjects to give alms, perform acts of penance, and fear the torments
of hell). ⁴⁷ Another significant passage concerns his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, during
which he visits Rome, journeys on to Constantinople, and finally reaches the Holy
Land, where he visits the Holy Sepulchre and is received by the patriarch. ⁴⁸ The remarkable
matches between the Vita Madalvei and Richard’s own biography surely
are not a coincidence, and are suggestive of its relevance to Richard’s mode of life
and behavior as abbot. It is known that Madalveus was of exceptional significance
to Richard: of all the remains of bishops of Verdun that were discovered at the
abbatial church of Saint-Vanne during Richard’s abbacy, those of Madalveus were
the only ones to be reburied inside the crypt, close to the altar of Saint Mary and,
eventually, Richard’s own grave.
Further insight into what arguments Richard was drawing upon can be gained
by looking at a third text he used when writing the Vita Rodingi, and at the specific
context in which this narrative originated. Chapter 1 of the Life relies on the
Vita Magnerici or Life of Magneric, the sixth-century bishop of Trier, to confirm
Roding’s acquaintance with Columbanus and Gallus. ⁴⁹ The Life of Magneric, like
that of Madalveus, ascribes attitudes and actions to the saint that echo Richard’s
own behavior as abbot; but Magneric had the added advantage of being both a
monk and a cleric, just like Richard himself. In Chapter 1, Magneric is described as
a monk exceptionally inclined towards prayer and meditation, as a great preacher;
his constantia is tested by his abbot. Chapters 2–3 show him as highly regarded by
the secular rulers of his world, and describe how he assists them “for the common
good” (pro publicis regni utilitatibus), conduct that is echoed in Richard’s involvement
in the proclamation of the Peace of God and in other interventions discussed
in Chapter V of this book. Chapters 4 –5 deal with the diversity of religious life in
the region around the city of Trier, highlighting how communal cenobitism and
46 Anne Wagner, Les collections de reliques à Verdun. Essai d’organisation d’un espace urbain au XI ᵉ siècle,
in: Reliques et sainteté dans l’espace médiéval, ed. Jean-Luc Deuffic (Pecia. Ressources en médiévistique
8/11.2005), Saint-Denis 2006, p. 508.
47 Vita sancti Madalvei, in: Les manuscrits hagiographiques de Charleville, Verdun et Saint-Mihiel, avec
plusieurs textes inédits, ed. Joseph Van der Straeten (Subsidia hagiographica 56), Brussels 1974, pp.
191–194, 199.
48 Vita sancti Madalvei (note 47 above), pp. 195 –198.
49 Vita sancti Magnerici, ed. Jean-Baptiste du Sollier/Joannes Pinius/Guilielmus Cuperus et al., in: Acta
Sanctorum Julii, vol. 6, Antwerp 1729, col. 183 –191.