ILDUINO, abbot of ST-DENIS. - Born into a noble family in the second half of the 8th century, died 22 Nov. 844. He completed his studies under Alcuno and had as a pupil Incmaro of Reims, who always remained devoted to him. From 814–15 he was abbot of St-Denis, in Paris, and from about 820 he was archchaplain at the court of Lodovico il Pio, whose son Lotario he accompanied to Rome in 842.
At the Council of Paris in 825 he supported the Eastern legates in the question of images. He took part in court intrigues, including the conspiracy of Lodovico’s sons against their father, carried out at Easter 830; as a consequence, he was exiled to Paderborn and, following the trial of 2 Feb. 831, was deprived of the various abbeys over which he presided and relegated to New Corbie (Saxony). But, defended by Incmaro, he soon returned to Paris, where around 832 he reformed his monastery and, far from political intrigues, devoted himself to a life of study.
His works date from this period: several letters to Ludovico il Pio; a Libellus passionis, in which he endeavours to demonstrate the identity of St Dionigi the Areopagite with the first bishop of Paris; a life of St Dionigi, written by order of Ludovico il Pio around 834, of which he also made a rhythmic version; particularly important is the Latin translation, although highly imperfect, of the Corpus Dionisianum, completed between 831 and 834.