Hincmar of Laon

Hincmar was born near Boulogne sometime between 835 and 838. His appointment as Bishop of Laon in 858 was the work of his uncle. Due to Hincmar of Rheims’s close relationship with Charles the Bald he was able to ‘secure the appointment of the episcopal candidates he favoured, including that of his own nephew to the strategically key bishopric of Laon. As a bishop Hincmar of Laon held a retinue of thirty to forty men, he was not the only Carolingian bishop to have a retinue of laymen. In 858 Charles the Bald’s brother Louis the German invaded the Kingdom of West Francia. As a vassal to Charles, Hincmar provided Charles with ‘active military service.’ Hincmar evidently impressed his monarch by allowing Charles to raise troops from his episcopal see, as in 860 Charles returned much lost land to the church of Laon as a reward for this service. == Conflict with Charles the Bald (868–869) ==

After a decade as bishop of Laon, Hincmar came into conflict with Charles the Bald. In 868 charges were brought against the bishop regarding benefices within his see. Two vassals alleged that Hincmar was treating them unjustly, and that Hincmar had seized their benefices without justification. Another vassal also claimed that Hincmar had taken without reason from him a benefice that had previously been held by father. In effect Hincmar of Rheims collected various sources which espoused the right for a cleric to be tried in a secular court or punish those who tried clerics at a secular court. For example, ‘that no one should dare to accuse a bishop before public judges’ from the ‘Roman Laws declared by Gratian, Valentinian and Theodoric’. These referral to older authorities of canon law increased the persuasiveness of the Rotula. Hincmar of Rheims also warned Charles that ‘it was not the place of a king to publicly recriminate against a bishop, to summon him before a secular court.’ Both Hincmars travelled to Pîtres to meet the king in August 868. It was evident here that Charles was angered by Hincmar of Laon's actions and thus Hincmar of Reims watered down his defence of his nephew. Charles had previous experience of dealing with unruly bishops. Thirty years earlier at the trial of Bishop Samuel of Toulouse he stated that he;‘would not suffer bishops to be examined outside of the royal and lay jurisdiction in matters pertaining to regalian rights and to the laws of the kingdom.’ Lothar's attempted divorce from Theutberga was a key political issue as it potentially left him without an heir, thus providing an easy opportunity for Charles and Louis to seize the kingdom of Lotharingia. Therefore, threats to desert to Lothar were serious. Evidently Charles believed Hincmar was sincere in this as the monarch accused Hincmar of ‘conspiring with Lothar II to desert his own king.’ == Downfall (870–873) ==

On June 16, 870, Hincmar of Laon was called to the Synod of Attigny where Charles instructed Hincmar to renew his oath to his uncle. Hincmar was reluctant but eventually the pressure of the king and the archbishop was successful. At Attigny more accusations of a similar ilk to 868 were brought against Hincmar. Two days later, on June 18th, there was a royal tribunal. Two of Hincmar's men – Ragenardus and Grivo – accused him of expropriation. In his defence Hincmar asserted that the witnesses who knew the truth of what happened were not present, yet Charles forced him to answer. As a result, Hincmar accused both Ragenardus and Grivo of wrongdoing yet he was unable to substantiate these claims or back them up under oath. Fearing imprisonment, Hincmar fled back to Laon. This fear was not without basis, yet was an irrational and self-destructive move. Following the death of Lothar II in August 869 there is evidence linking Hincmar to the conspiracy of Carloman. Carloman was son of Charles the Bald who from an early age was excluded from inheriting his father's crown. Following Lothar's death, he was able to gather an aristocratic following in Lotharingia and vie in a grab for power around 870. Both Peter McKeon and Janet Nelson subscribe to the view that Hincmar was sympathetic to Carloman. The timings of Hincmar's renewed oaths, the backing of the pope to both Hincmar and Carloman, and both men's connections to Lotharingia offer a ‘tantalising persistent thread.’ While Nelson admits that none of the charges against Hincmar mention complicity with Carloman the timings of events ‘seem more than a coincidence.’ Only two days after Hincmar swore allegiance at Attingy (June 16) Carloman was arrested by Charles (June 18) and taken to the stronghold of Senlis. In 871 Hincmar of Rheims drew up a Synodal document to excommunicate Carloman and cease his grab for power. Hincmar of Laon's refusal to endorse this document proved to be a desperate and final act of defiance.‘Already embroiled in major disputes with both his uncle and Charles the Bald, and already suspected of conspiring with Lothar II, Hincmar of Laon now brought down on himself the full extent of the king’s wrath.’In August 871 Hincmar was seized by royal agents at taken to Douzy where he appeared before an ecclesiastical court. Charles summoned eight archbishops and twenty-two bishops to preside over the Synod of Douzy. At Douzy Hincmar was deposed from episcopal and priestly rank. Pope Hadrian II attempted to intervene but Charles the Bald was successful in defending royal rights within his realm, and following his death in 872 the most powerful dissenting voice to the deposition of Hincmar was removed. Carloman was retried and blinded in 873, permanently ending his attempts to be king. Later in the year Hincmar of Laon was also blinded, by order of Count Boso. Nelson states that by doing this, Charles the Bald ‘took vengeance for what he clearly believed was continued complicity with Carloman.’ Despite the decision reached at the Synod of Douzy it was not until 876, and with the permission of Pope John VIII that Archbishop Hincmar ordained his nephew's successor, Hedenulf, to the see of Laon. == Final years ==

Charles the Bald died in October 877 and following the passing of Hincmar's antagonist he enjoyed some recompense. At the Council of Troyes in 878 Pope John VIII restored Hincmar to the performance of priestly offices. He was also allowed part of the revenues of his former see. It was in these circumstances that Hincmar died in 881. ==References==