Hugh of Chalon (bishop of Auxerre)
Hugh of Chalon (French: Hugues de Chalon; c. 975 – 4 November 1039) was a member of the House of Chalon. He was Count of Chalon and Bishop of Auxerre. [1]
Life
Hugh was the only son of Lambert of Chalon and his wife Adela (Adelais, Adelaide),[2] and was made a canon of the Cathédrale Saint-Nazaire in Autun.
Upon the death of his father in 978, Hugh became Count of Chalon.[2] Hugh's sister or rather half-sister Gerberga was married to Henry I, Duke of Burgundy. In 999, at the request of Duke Henry, Hugh was named Bishop of Auxerre.
The Benedictine house at Paray-le-Monial had been founded in 973 by Hugh's parents. By 999 it was in need of reform, and Count Hugh gave it to Cluny as a priory.
The large crypt of the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne d'Auxerre was built between 1023 and 1030,[3] when he rebuilt the earlier Romanesque structure. The crypt was immense, with three naves and six traverses. It also featured a new architectural element, a disambulatory, a passage which permitted pilgrims to circulate and visit the tombs in the crypt without disturbing the religious services attended by the clergy.[4]
Some time between 1023 and 1036, the bishop made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.[5]
His successor was his maternal nephew, Count Theobald of Chalon, son of Hugh's sister Matilda (French: Mathilde).[6]
References
- Bouchard 1987, p. 60.
- Bouchard 1987, p. 308.
- Cioffi, Paul L., "Cathédrale Saint-Étienne" Georgetown University
- Lours, Mathieu . Dictionnaire des Cathédrales. Éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot. (2018), p. 67 ISBN 978-2755-807653
- Richard, Jean. The Crusades, C.1071-c.1291 United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 1999. p. 17
- Bouchard 1987, p. 312.
Sources
- Bouchard, Constance Brittain (1987). Sword, Miter, and Cloister: Nobility and the Church in Burgundy, 980-1198. Cornell University Press.