Amulo

Archbishop

Amulo of Lyon
Installedc. AD 841
Term endedc. AD 852
PredecessorAgobard
SuccessorRemigius of Lyon
Personal details
Denominationpre-Schism Church

Amulo (also known as: Amalo, Amulon, Amolo, Amularius) served as Archbishop of Lyon from 841 to 852 AD.[1] As a Gallic prelate, Amulo is best known for his letters concerning two major themes: Christian–Jewish relations in the Frankish kingdom and the Carolingian controversy over predestination. He was ordained as archbishop in January 841.[2]

Amulo was a disciple of his predecessor Agobard and inherited many of his ideas.[3] Amulo collaborated closely with both Remigius of Lyon, who later succeeded him, and Florus of Lyon who served as scribe for Amulo;[4] hence it is not always clear which of Amulo's letters were actually penned by him.[5] He also worked with Hincmar Archbishop of Reims regarding anti-Jewish policies and the debate with Gottschalk of Orbais over predestination.

Like his predecessor, Amulo was unable to bring about anti-Jewish policies into the Carolingian Empire. However, he actively pursued "a policy of coercion against pro-Jewish Christians," within his diocese, and his sermons were imbued with anti-Jewish teachings.[6] His work was influential during the mid-ninth century – most notably his Contra Judaeos and his involvement in the Council of Meaux–Paris in 845.[7] These decrees were not ratified by Charles the Bald, since his magnates saw them as interfering with the traditional Carolingian policies regarding Jews; the Canons proposed at Paris–Meaux sought to revive earlier Visigothic laws, including Canon LXXIIII which prohibited Christians from "showing favour to Jews."[8] Nevertheless, both Amulo and his predecessor were instrumental in spreading anti-Jewish attitudes in the Carolingean court, which eventually sparked changes in "both exegesis and canon law."[8]

  1. ^ Blumenkranz, Bernard (2007). "Amulo". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
  2. ^ West, C. M. A. "Unauthorised Miracles in the Mid-ninth-century Dijon and the Carolingian Church Reforms." Journal of Medieval History 36, no. 4 (2010): 297. Taylor & Francis Online.
  3. ^ West, "Unauthorised Miracles", 297.
  4. ^ Victor Genke and Gumerlock, Francis X., eds. Gottschalk and a Medieval Predestination Controversy: Texts Translated from the Latin (Milwaukee, WI USA: Marquette University Press, 2010), 200.
  5. ^ "Amulo Lugdunesis," In Clavis des auteurs latins du Moyen Âge, territoire francais. 735–987, vol. 1, ed. M. H. Jullien and F. Perelman (Tournout: Brepols, 1994), 144.
  6. ^ Bernard S. Bachrach, "Jewish Policy under Louis the Pious," In Early Medieval Jewish Policy in Western Europe (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1977), 120.
  7. ^ Bat-Sheva Albert, "Adversus Iudaeos in the Carolingian Empire," In Contra Iudaeos: Ancient and Medieval Polemics Between Christians and Jews, ed. Ora Limor and Guy Stroumsa (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1996), 121.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).