Wolfhelm of Brauweiler
Encyclopedia
Wolfhelm of Brauweiler was the Benedictine
abbot of Brauweiler Abbey
, near Cologne
, Germany.
He was attacked by Manegold of Lautenbach
, in his Liber Contra Wolfelmum. The grounds were both theological and political: Wolfhelm was sympathetic to Platonist ideas and is accused of trying to mediate between Macrobius and Christian doctrine; but also he was close to the imperial party of Emperor Henry IV, in the oncoming Investiture Conflict. In attacking Wolfhelm, Manegold denies the doctrine of the Antipodes
, bringing the classical doctrine of the round Earth into the scope of heretical ideas.
He wrote a letter against the theology of Berengar of Tours
; it was addressed to Meginhard of Gladbach Abbey
.
A Life of Wolfhelm written a generation later, by Konrad, a monk of Brauweiler, was a hagiographical work. It is known that Wolfhelm taught at the Cologne cathedral school, before moving to the Abbey in 1065. It is not known whether the encounter related by Manegold really took place.
He was beatified by the Catholic church. His feast day is April 22. His sister Bertha was a nun of Vilich Abbey, who wrote a Vita of the abbess Adelheid
.
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...
abbot of Brauweiler Abbey
Brauweiler Abbey
Brauweiler Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery located at Brauweiler, now in Pulheim near Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany....
, near Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany.
He was attacked by Manegold of Lautenbach
Manegold of Lautenbach
Manegold of Lautenbach was a religious and polemical writer and Augustinian canon from Alsace, active mostly as a teacher in south-west Germany. William of Champeaux may have been one of his pupils, but this is disputed...
, in his Liber Contra Wolfelmum. The grounds were both theological and political: Wolfhelm was sympathetic to Platonist ideas and is accused of trying to mediate between Macrobius and Christian doctrine; but also he was close to the imperial party of Emperor Henry IV, in the oncoming Investiture Conflict. In attacking Wolfhelm, Manegold denies the doctrine of the Antipodes
Antipodes
In geography, the antipodes of any place on Earth is the point on the Earth's surface which is diametrically opposite to it. Two points that are antipodal to one another are connected by a straight line running through the centre of the Earth....
, bringing the classical doctrine of the round Earth into the scope of heretical ideas.
He wrote a letter against the theology of Berengar of Tours
Berengar of Tours
Berengar of Tours was a French 11th century Christian theologian and Archdeacon of Angers, a scholar whose leadership of the cathedral school at Chartres set an example of intellectual inquiry through the revived tools of dialectic that was soon followed at cathedral schools of Laon and Paris, ...
; it was addressed to Meginhard of Gladbach Abbey
Gladbach Abbey
Gladbach Abbey was a Benedictine abbey founded in 974 by Archbishop Gero of Cologne and the monk Sandrad from Trier. It was named after the Gladbach, a narrow brook that now runs underground...
.
A Life of Wolfhelm written a generation later, by Konrad, a monk of Brauweiler, was a hagiographical work. It is known that Wolfhelm taught at the Cologne cathedral school, before moving to the Abbey in 1065. It is not known whether the encounter related by Manegold really took place.
He was beatified by the Catholic church. His feast day is April 22. His sister Bertha was a nun of Vilich Abbey, who wrote a Vita of the abbess Adelheid
Adelaide, Abbess of Vilich
Adelaide, Abbess of Villich was a daughter of Megingoz des Brunharingen, Count of Guelders , and Gerberga of Metzgau, a granddaughter of Charles the Simple, king of the West Franks....
.