ANGILRAMNUS. - Benedictine abbot of Sens; bishop of Metz from 768. His pastoral office did not prevent Charlemagne from keeping him at his side, appointing him court chaplain. Later, the same sovereign granted him the abbey of Chiemsee in Bavaria with a deed in which he bestowed upon him the title of archbishop (788). He died during one of Charlemagne’s campaigns against the Avars, on 23 or 26 October 791.
His name is associated with a collection of legal texts known precisely by the title *Capitula Angilramni*.
According to some manuscripts, the collection would have been brought to Rome and presented to Pope Hadrian I by Angilramnus himself; according to others—and these are the majority—the Pope instead delivered the collection to Angilramnus while he was in Rome. The version that must be accepted is undoubtedly the latter: the norms contained in the collection were, in the intention of its authors, meant to serve a reforming purpose that required the authority of the Roman Pontiff, and that of the bishop of Metz could not suffice. Moreover, some ancient canonists, such as Incmar of Reims and even Gratian (c. 6, C. VI, qu. 1; c. 11, C. XXV, qu. 1), designate the compilation by the title *Capitula Hadriani*.
Neither Pope Hadrian nor Angilramnus, however, were the authors of this collection, but an unknown or several unknown compilers. The place of origin is France (perhaps Le Mans), and the period about the middle of the 9th century. Strong support is given to the opinion that attributes this work to the Pseudo-Isidorian compilers. One of their chief aims was the defense of the dignity of bishops and clergy against false accusations, especially by laymen; and the most effective means to achieve this was to reserve the cases of clerics to ecclesiastical tribunals and establish a regular procedure. This is precisely the purpose of the *Capitula Angilramni*, which constitute a small collection of procedural law. The compilation consists of 71 chapters—according to some manuscripts, 72—of unequal length. Its sources are mainly: the Theodosian Code (not directly, but through the Paris Epitome and the Epitome of Ægidius); the Breviary of Alaric; the Dionysio-Hadriana and Hispana collections; and the *Constitutum Silvestri*. The collection is arranged according to the order of the sources. The arrangement and the sources are identical to those of Pseudo-Isidore, with which the *Capitula Angilramni* are generally found joined in manuscripts.
Critical edition: *Decretales pseudoisidorianae et Capitula Angilramni*, ed. P. Hinschius, Leipzig 1863, pp. 757–69.