FULBERTO of CHARTRES. — Bishop and theologian, b. ca. 960, d. at Chartres on 10 April 1928. Some call him French, probably from Aquitaine; Mabillon, however, considers him Italian, on the basis of a letter from F. to Einhard (PL 141, 192). From the same letter it may be inferred that he learned the first rudiments of knowledge from an Italian bishop, from whom
he also received the minor orders. He was then in Rome, attached to the Library, where he met the famous Gerbert of Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II). Having moved to the school of Reims, he had as a companion the son of Hugh Capet, Robert, later king of France, with whom he maintained friendly relations. In 987 (according to others, in 992), at the invitation of Bishop Odo, or of his former fellow student Herbert, he went to Chartres, where he became head of that renowned school, which attracted students not only from France, but also
from Italy and Germany, and where he also practised medicine.
F. was not a monk, as some maintain, but he had close relations with the most celebrated monastic personalities of his time (Odo of Cluny, Richard, abbot of Fleury). In 1906, with the support of King Robert, he was designated for the episcopal see of Chartres and was consecrated by Leotarius, archbishop of Sens, who had been his fellow student at Reims.
Information
concerning his pastoral activity is scarce and fragmentary: having abandoned the practice of medicine, he continued teaching and was appointed treasurer of St. Hilary of Poitiers by William, duke of Aquitaine. He rebuilt the cathedral of Notre-Dame of Chartres (destroyed by a fire in September 1920) with the munificent assistance of Robert, king of France, Stephen, king of Hungary, and Canute, king of England and Denmark.
Considering himself unequal to his office as bishop, he thought of resigning, but was dissuaded from doing so by Odo of Cluny. As a member of the Council of State, he played a major role in the political affairs of his time.
The literary production attributed to F. includes hagiographical works (of doubtful authenticity), among them the Vita di s. Oberto (d. ca. 607), bishop of Arras and Cambrai; poetic compositions in various metres on sacred and profane subjects, including autobiographical poems and mnemonic verses on the liberal arts; 9 sermons, five of them on the purification and nativity of the Madonna, to whom he was particularly devoted; and also two treatises, the first of which concerns the passage: Minit Herodes rex annus, ut affligeret quandam de Ecclesia (Act. 12, 1), and the second of which is entitled Tractatus contra Iudaeos, in which he demonstrates that Jacob’s prophecy, Non auferetur sceptrum de Iuda (Gen. 49, 10), was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. His 128 letters, regarded in the Middle Ages as models of epistolary style, are important, especially those concerning Church discipline and the liturgy, because they shed light on the practice of the 11th century. Among the letters, the most interesting is the one addressed to Adeodatus, De tribus quae sunt necessario ad profactum Christianae religionis (ca. 1007), in which he expounds the mystery of the Trinity, the nature of Baptism, and the Eucharist.
BBL.: Manitius, II, pp. 682-94; Ch. Péter, De Fulberti Carnotensis episcopi vita et operibus, Nancy 1885; R. Merlet - A. Clerval, Un momentari chartretiu du XIe siècle: Fulbert, duque de Chartres, Chartres 1893; A. Clerval, Les écoles de Chartres au moyen âge, Parigi 1895, passim; id., s. V. in DThC, VI, coll. 964-67; M. Ott, s. V. in Cath. Enc., VI, pp. 312-13; I. Geisselmann, s. V. in LThK, IV, coll. 224-25. Niccolò Del Re