PETER MONOCULUS, Blessed. - Cistercian, relative of Philip II king of France, b. in the castle of Marlac near Cluny, d. at Poigny on 29 Oct. 1186.

A monk of Igny, in 1169 abbot of Valroy, where he lost an eye (whence monoculus) as a result of an illness, later abbot of Igny, in 1179 abbot of Clairvaux. He was zealous for monastic discipline, and worked various miracles. Always humble and amiable, he was greatly esteemed by the popes Alexander III and Lucius III, by the emperor Frederick Barbarossa and by the king of France Philip II.

Sixteen letters are still preserved, among which those worthy of note are the ones written to Alexander III, to the chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, to the archbishop of Mainz and to the bishop of Winchester, to the king of Portugal and to the cardinal bishop of Albano and of Palestrina (PL 201, 1393-1404). From the 13th century onward he is venerated among the blessed in the Cistercian Order, whose Menologium commemorates him on 18 May.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: Vita in Acta SS. Octobris, XIII, Brussels-Paris 1863, pp. 53-90 and in PL 209, 1007-36; PP. Maurini, Hist. litt. de la France, XIV, Paris 1817, pp. 620-23; U. Chevalier, Bio-Bibl., ibid. 1907, col. 3728; Hutter, II, p. 215 a; Cistercenser Chronik, 1915, 14 ff.; 1927, 13; S. Lenssen, Hagiologium Cistercense, I, Tilburg 1948, pp. 254-57.

Colombano Spahr

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Peter Monoculus, Blessed

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