Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.
GERARDO of BROGNE, abbot, saint. - Born c. 898 at Namur, of a noble Frankish family, died 3 Oct. 959. While in the service of Count Berengario of Namur, he founded on his estates at Brogne, in 914, a collegiate church of canons, which he later transformed into a Benedictine abbey after a mission carried out at St-Denis, where he himself became a monk in 919.
In 927 he was ordained priest, having already been abbot of Brogne since 923. Disciples and admirers were drawn to him. In 931, at the invitation of Duke Giselberto, he reformed the monastery of St-Ghislain in Hainaut; in 937 and thereafter, Arnoldo, margrave of Flanders, entrusted him with the
GERARDO D'ABBEVILLE - Incipit of the Quodlibets - Vatican Library, cod. Vat. Lat. 1015, f. 1ᵒ (thirteenth century).reform of the monasteries of S. Pietro and S. Bavone at Gand, then of S. Bertino, S. Vedasto, S. Amando, etc. The reform extended to the bishoprics of Cambrai, Liegi, and Utrecht. His reform was a return to pure Benedictine observance, without particular regulations, but it was not lasting owing to the lack of enlightened continuators of his work. Feast day: 3 Oct.
BIBL.:Acta SS. Octobris, II, Parigi 1866, pp. 300-20; on the Life published there: U. Berlière, Etude sur la Vita Gerardi Broniensis, in Revue bénédictine, 9 (1892), pp. 137-72; id., Etude des réformes monats des Xe-XIe siècles, in Acad. du P. de Belgique, Bulletin de la classe des lettres, 94 (1932), pp. 137-56; W. Wattenbach-W. Holzmann, Geschichtsquellen, I, 1, Berlino 1938, pp. 112, 133-35; Martyn, Romanum, p. 433.
Cite this article
“GERARDO DI BROGNE, ABATE, SANTO.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI (1951), p. 75. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/gerardo-di-brogne-abate-santo.
