The
Vita Popponis, the biography of Poppo, was written shortly after his death by the monk Onulf and the abbot Everhelm of the
Abbey of Hautmont. According to this source, Poppo belonged to a noble family of Flanders; his parents being Tizekinus and Adalwif. Around the year 1000, he made a
pilgrimage to the
Holy Land with two companions. Soon after this he also went to
Rome. He was about to marry a lady of noble family, when a flame suddenly burst out of the sky late at night and kept his lance radiating. Poppo believed this to be an illumination of the
Holy Spirit, and soon after, he decided to enter the
monastery of Saint Thierry at
Rheims in 1005. Around 1008, Abbot
Richard of Saint Vannes at
Verdun, a reformer of monasteries, took Poppo to his monastery. Richard made Poppo prior of
St. Vaast in
Arras, in the
Diocese of Cambrai, at around 1013. This job consisted of reclaiming the monastery's lands from
vassals and securing the possession of the monastery by deeds. Sometime before 1016, he was appointed to the same position at
Vasloges (
Beloacum, Beaulieu) in the
Diocese of Verdun. In 1020, the German emperor
Henry II appointed Poppo Abbot of the
Abbeys of Stavelot and Malmedy (in
Lower Lorraine, now
Belgium). In 1023, Poppo also received the
Abbey of St. Maximin at
Trier. Poppo became even more important during the reign of
Conrad II. From St. Maximin, the Cluniac reform now found its way into the German monasteries. The emperor placed several imperial monasteries under Poppo's control or supervision, such as
Limburg an der Hardt,
Echternach,
St. Gislen,
Weissenburg,
St. Gall,
Hersfeld,
Waulsort,
Hautmont and
Hastières. Soon after Poppo transferred these positions to his pupils and family members, the bishops and laymen who had founded these monasteries placed a series of other monasteries under his care, including
St. Laurence at Liège,
St. Vincent at Metz,
St. Eucharius at Trier,
Hohorst,
Brauweiler, St. Vaast and
Marchiennes. However, the reform of
Richard of Saint-Vanne had no permanent success in the German Empire. Poppo practiced the most severe
asceticism. He had no interest in literary affairs, lacked management capacities, and was not prominent in politics. During the reign of
Henry III he lost influence. Poppo died while staying at the Abbey of Marchiennes and was buried in the
Abbey of Stavelot. ==Notes==