Hincmar of Reims and the Canon Law of Episcopal Translation

Introduction

Early in the year of Our Lord 872 Hincmar, the metropolitan archbishop of Reims, was angry with Pope Hadrian II because Hadrian had overturned the Synod of Douzy's deposition of Hincmar's nephew and namesake, Bishop Hincmar of Laon. The younger Hincmar had not lived up to his uncle's expectations. Out of this anger arose an open letter to the Church condemning the pope's reaction to the other major outcome of the synod, the translation of Bishop Actard of Nantes to the archdiocese of Tours.¹

Hincmar of Reims' letter, De quibus apud,² is a long and complex theological and legal treatise condemning the translation of Bishop Actard. Hincmar musters scriptural and canonical support for the widely held opinion that a bishop should not move to another city except in extreme circumstances when it is in the best interests of the Church, for the utilitas et necessitas ecclesiae. He then also presents a strong argument that in Actard's case the legal requirements for such a transfer had not been met.

Another treatise, De episcoporum transmigratione et quod non temere judicentur,³ was also written in the spring of 872 by Anastasius Bibliothecarius, the papal librarian. I would like to suggest that this work was written in part as a response to Hincmar of Reims' brief on the canon law of episcopal translation.

The probable circumstances of their origins are what make these two documents interesting. What makes them important is that taken together they provide a very early instance of what would later emerge as the core of the canon law concerning episcopal translation.

1. Hincmar's Letter

Hincmar's letter De quibus apud is addressed to "a dear brother and venerable bishop." The absence of any further clues to the recipient's identity causes one to suspect it was intended as a sort of open letter to the Church. This idea is supported by a letter in which, after a brief discussion of Actard's translation, Pope Hadrian II referred to "secret sermons and clandestine letters," suggesting that Hincmar of Reims' letter was known in Rome as well.⁴

The events that gave rise to De quibus apud are as follows. Actard had been elected bishop of Nantes in 843 following the death of his predecessor, Gunhardus, at the hands of Viking invaders.⁵ When Nominoë the Breton gained control in c. 849, he expelled Actard and all of the higher clergy from the province in an attempt to establish a Breton church independent of the Frankish archbishopric of Tours.⁶ When the Bretons concluded a peace treaty with Charles the Bald in 851 Actard, alone of all those expelled from the province, returned to his see where he remained until he was again driven out in 868 by Salomon the Breton who replaced him with the separatist Bishop Gislard.⁷ Both Actard's loyalty to Charles the Bald and his opposition to the idea of a separate Breton church were responsible for this second, and permanent, exile.⁸ Actard functioned for a time as interim bishop of Thérouanne, north of Reims.⁹ Informed by both Actard himself ¹⁰ and by letters from the bishops at the 866 Council of Soissons¹¹ and from Charles the Bald,¹² Hadrian II sent letters to the bishops (as well as to the king and to Hincmar personally) saying that they should see to it that a suitable diocese be found for Actard as soon as possible.¹³ In an unprecedented move Hadrian also sent Actard the pallium, "not for the church to which he would be appointed," but as a consolation in his time of suffering and an indication of papal support.¹⁴ When Bishop Herard of Tours died in 871, the French bishops in council at Douzy voted to approve Actard's election by the clergy and people...