Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (c.760 - c.840) was a Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 monk of St Mihiel Abbey, near Verdun

Verdun

Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...

. He was a significant writer of homilies, and on the Rule of St Benedict

Rule of St Benedict

The Rule of Saint Benedict is a book of precepts written by St. Benedict of Nursia for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. Since about the 7th century it has also been adopted by communities of women...

.

Life

After serving as principal of the convent school, he was elected about 805 abbot of the monastery on Mt. Castellion. Sometime later he moved his monks a few miles away and founded the monastery of St. Mihiel on the banks of the River Meuse, in the diocese of Verdun.

Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 employed him to write the letter to Pope Leo III

Pope Leo III

Pope Saint Leo III was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor....

, in which was communicated the decision of the Council of Aachen (809) respecting the adoption of the Filioque, and sent him to Rome with the commissioners to lay the matter before the pope. He acted as secretary, and drew up the protocol. Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

 showed him equal consideration, endowed his monastery, and in 824 appointed him to act with Frothar of Toul

Frothar of Toul

Frothar of Toul was bishop of Toul from around 813 to 847. He is known mainly for his surviving collection of letters. Before becoming bishop, he was abbot of St...

 as arbitrator between Ismund, abbot of Moyenmoutier Abbey, and his monks. Smaragdus died about 840.

Works

His writings show diligence and piety. His published works in prose are:

• Collections of Comments on the Epistle and Gospel for each holy day in the year (Collectiones in epistolas et evangelia de tempore et de sanctis. Migne, CII. col 13-552. an uncritical but comprehensive compilation from numerous ecclesiastical writers, prepared for the use of preachers, and described by the author as a liber comitis.
• The monk's diadem, (Diadema monachorum, ibid. col. 593—690), a collection in one hundred chapters of ascetic rules and reflections concerning the principal duties and virtues of the monastic life. It is for the most part a compilation. The sources are the Collectiones patrum of Cassian and the writings of Gregory the Great. Smaragdus made it after his elevation to the abbotship and enjoined its daily evening reading upon his monks. “Et quia mos est monachorum. ut regulam beati Benedicii ad capitulum legant quotidie matutinum: volumus ut iste libellus ad eorum capitulum quotidie legatur vespertinum (col. 693). “ It proved to be a very popular work, was widely circulated during the Middle Age, and has been repeatedly published (Paris, 1532, 1640; Antwerp, 1540; Bibliotheca Maxima, Lyons, 1677, Tom. XVI. pp. 1305-1342, and Migne, Patrol Latina, CI I., Paris, 1851.
• Commentary upon the rule of St. Benedict (Commentaria in regulum Sancti Benedicti, Migne, CII. col. 689-932) undertaken in aid of the monastic reforms instituted by the Council of Aachen (817). It is characterized by great strictness.
• The Royal way (Via regia, ibid. col 933-970) dedicated to Louis the Pious while king of Aquitania. So Ebert, l.c. p. III, it consists of thirty-two chapters of moral and spiritual counsels, which if faithfully followed will conduct an earthly king into the heavenly kingdom. The work is really only an adaptation of the Diadem to the wants of the secular life.
• Acts of the Roman conference (Acta collationis Romanae) Migne, CII. col. 971-976, the protocol already mentioned.
• Epistle of Charles the Great to Leo the Pope upon the procession of the Holy Spirit (Epistola Caroli Magni ad Leonem Papam de processione Spiritus Sancti), Migne, XCVIII. col. 923-929. the letter mentioned above.
• Epistle of Frotharius and Smaragdus to the Emperor Louis (Epistola Frotharii et Smaragdi ad Ludovicum Imperatorem), Migne, CVI. col, 865-866. the report of the arbitrators.
• A larger grammar or a commentary upon Donatus
  Aelius Donatus
  Aelius Donatus was a Roman grammarian and teacher of rhetoric. The only fact known regarding his life is that he was the tutor of St...
  
   (Grammatica major seu commentarius in Donatum). This is his earliest work, written at the request of his scholars, probably between 800 and 805. It is still unprinted, except a small portion in Mabillon, Vetera analectam, Nov. ed. (Paris, 1723) pp. 357, 358.

There remain in manuscript a Commentary on the Prophets, and a History of the Monastery of St. Michael (cf. Mabillon, l.c.) Smaragdus also wrote poetry. Besides a hymn to Christ (Ebert, l.c. p. 112) there have been preserved his metrical introductions to his Collections and Commentary on the rule of St. Benedict, of which the first has twenty-nine lines in hexameter

Hexameter

Hexameter is a metrical line of verse consisting of six feet. It was the standard epic metre in classical Greek and Latin literature, such as in the Iliad and Aeneid. Its use in other genres of composition include Horace's satires, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. According to Greek mythology, hexameter...

, and the second thirty-seven distichs.