Location: - Date:after 743 and before 750 (Balau 1903, van der Essen 1907); afther the Vita Amandi and the Vita Lamberti, perhaps afther the Vita Corbiani, written in 769 (Levison 1913) - Commission: /

4538 words

The first biography of Saint Hubert was written down shortly after the elevation of the relics of Saint Hubert (743).

The first biography of saint Hubert, bishop of Liège. Hubert (†727) succeeded Saint Lambert as bishop of Maastricht in 703/705. In 717 he chose Liège as a new episcopal residence and he had the relics of his predecessor relocated to that city. Soon afther his death, the cult of Saint Hubert began with the elevation of his relics in the eight century and gained popularity during the ninth and tenth centuries, as a consequence of the translation of his relics to the abbey of Andage (which was renamed Saint-Hubert). It is during this period that Saint Hubert became increasingly attached to the hunt, resulting in representing him as the patron saint of the hunters in the eleventh century. This first life does not contain any details about Saint Hubert before his episcopate, rather it stresses the mission work of Hubert in the Ardennes region by representing him saving the people from paganism by founding several churches. The work itself consists of nine chapters, each representing a distinct moral lesson. These lessons are illustrated through the virtues the saint (Balau 1903). Next to that, the work mentions the elevations of the relics of Saint Lambert as well as of Saint Hubert and also depicts some miracles performed by Hubert. As such, the work shows great resemblance to the Vita Lamberti (NaSo 2165).

Vita Amandi (NaSo-Link)
Vita Arnulfi
Vita Corbiniani (?)
Vita Landiberti episcopi Traiectensis vetussima

Vita secunda Santi Huberti

Namur, Bibliothèque du Grand Séminaire, 45
Valenciennes, Bibliothèque Multimédia, 510 (469) (Link) (Link)

Acta sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur, Nov., 1 (1887) 798-805
ARNDT (W.), Kleine denkmaeler aus der Merowingerzeit (Hannover, 1874) 52-70
DE SMEDT (C.) in: Comte rendu des séances de la commission royale d'histoire 5 (1878) 225-275
LEVISON (W.), in: Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum, 6 (Hannover, 1913) 482-496 (Link)

Acta sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur, nov., 1 (1887) 759-797
ARNOLD (E.F.), 'Engineering miracles water control, conversion and the creation of a religious landschape in the medieval Ardennes', Enivronment and History, 13 (2007), 477-502
BALAU (S.), Les sources de l'histoire de Liège au Moyen Age, Etude critique (Brussel, 1903) 40-43
Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina 3993
HUYGHEBAERT (L.), Sint Hubertus, patroon van de jagers (Antwerpen, 1949)
Index scriptorum operumque Latino-Belgicorum Medii Aevi 1 (Bruxelles, 1973) 23-25
LEVISON (W.), in: Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 6 (Hannover, 1913) 471-482
MARTENS (M.), 'Hemel en aarde bewegen. Aspecten van volksgeloof en volksdevoties in het Meetjesland', Appeltjes van het Meetjesland, 62 (2011) 23-208 (167-171)
TADA (S.), 'The creation of a religious centre: Christianisation in the diocese of Liège in the Carolingian period', Journal of ecclesiastical history, 54 (2003), 209-227
VAN DER ESSEN (L), Etude critique et littéraire sur les vitae des saints mérovingiens de l'ancienne Belgique (Leuven/Paris, 1907) 59-63
WERNER (M.), Der Lütticher Raum in frühkarolingischer Zeit. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte einer karolingischen Stammlandschaft, Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Geschicht, 62 (Göttingen, 1980) 275-280