ADALBERO, archbishop of REIMS. - Of the family of the counts of the Ardennes, he was a Benedictine and abbot of Gorze and later canon of Metz, until in 969, thanks to Lothair king of France, he became archbishop of Reims, at that time the most important diocese in France.
To improve the condition of his clergy, he built or restored several monasteries, defending their rights even by force. A patron of the arts, he also took great care of his cathedral school, of which in 972 he appointed as head the most learned Gerbert (later Pope Sylvester II). Because of the importance and geographical position of his archiepiscopal see (between two kingdoms), he occupied one of the first places in the civil history of his time, amid the discord between the emperors Otto II and Otto III and the kings of France Lothair and Louis V. In 978, thanks to his influence, Hugh Capet, duke of Paris and head of a new dynasty, was recognized as king of France by the diet of Noyon. He died on 23 Jan. 989.