Ardo Smaragdus
| Saint Ardo Smaragdus | |
|---|---|
| Died | March 843 Aniane, Hérault, France |
| Feast | 7 March[1] |
Ardo Smaragdus (died March 843 AD) was a hagiographer. He entered the monastery of Aniane in Hérault as a boy, probably as an oblate,[2] and was brought up by Benedict of Aniane. He was ordained a priest and made head of the monastery school.
In 794, he accompanied Benedict to the Council of Frankfurt. and in 814, he replaced Benedict as abbot after the latter joined the imperial court at Aix-la-Chapelle.
Smaragdus wrote a life of Benedict in 822, one of the most reliable hagiological productions of that period. He himself was honored as a saint at his monastery after his death.
Editions
- Ardo Smaragdus, Vita, Migne's Patrologia Latina, 103:353 sqq;
- Cabaniss, Allen, trans. Benedict of Aniane: The Emperor's Monk, Ardo's Life. Foreword by Annette Grabowsky and Clemens Radl. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 2008. Pp. 112.
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Ardo Smaragdus — Hagiographer, died at the Benedictine monastery of Aniane, Herault, in Southern France, March, 843. He entered this monastery when still a boy and was bought up under the direction of Abbot St. Benedict of Aniane. On account of his piety and talents he was ordained and put at the head of the school at his monastery. In 794 he accompanied his abbot to the Council of Frankfort and in 814 was made abbot in place of Benedict, who on the invitation of Louis-le-Debonnaire had taken up his abode at the imperial Court at Aix-la-Chapelle. Smaragdus was honoured as a saint in his monastery. He is the author of a life of St. Benedict of Aniane which he wrote at the request of the monks of Cornelimünster near Aix-la-Chapelle, where Abbot Benedict had died. It was written in 822, and is one of the most reliable hagiological productions of that period. Mabillon edited it in his "Acta SS. of the Benedictine Order" (saeculum IV, I, 192-217), whence it was reprinted in P. L., CIII, 353-84.