Abbo of Fleury

ABBO OF FLEURY, flū´´ri´: French abbot of the tenth century, one of the few men of that time who strove to cultivate learning and led the way for the later scholasticism; b. near Orléans; d. Nov. 13, 1004. He was brought up in the Benedictine abbey of Fleury (25 m. e.s.e. of Orléans); studied at Paris and Reims; in 985-987 was in England, on invitation of Archbishop Oswald of York, and taught in the school of the abbey of Ramsey; was chosen abbot of Fleury in 988, and brought the school there to a flourishing condition. He upheld the rights of his abbey against the Bishop of Orléans, and at the synod of St. Denis (995) took the part of the monks against the bishops. He twice represented King Robert the Pious as ambassador at Rome, and gained the favor of Pope Gregory V. He upheld strict monastic discipline; and an attempt to introduce reforms in the monastery of La Réole (in Gascony, 30 m. s.e. of Bordeaux), a dependency of Fleury, led to a mutiny by the monks in which he was fatally wounded. He wrote upon such diverse subjects as dialectics, astronomy, and canon law; and his extant letters are of much value for the history of the time.

Bibliography: For his works, and his life by his pupil Aimoin, consult MPL, cxxxix.; for his Epistolae, Bouquet, Recueil; for his life, J. B. Pardiac, Histoire de St. Abbon, Paris, 1872.