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{{Short description|Alemannic Benedictine monk and theological writer}}

{{Infobox person
|name = Strabo
|image=Walahfrid Strabo Strabus monachus (titel op object) Liber Chronicarum (serietitel), RP-P-2016-49-86-3.jpg 
|image_size=220px 
|caption=Еngraving of Strabo by Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, Nuremberg, 1493
|birth_date=c. 808 
|birth_place=Swabia
|death_date=18 August 849
|death_place= Reichenau
|occupation = {{hlist|Benedictine monk|theological writer}}
}}

'''Walafrid''', alternatively spelt '''Walahfrid''', nicknamed '''[[Strabo (disambiguation)|Strabo]]''' (or '''Strabus''', i.e. "[[strabismus|squint]]-eyed")  (c. 808{{snd}}18 August 849), was an [[Alemanni]]c [[Benedictine]] [[monk]] and [[theology|theological]] writer who lived on [[Reichenau Island]] in southern [[Germany]].

==Life==
Walafrid Strabo was born about 805 in [[Swabia]]. He was educated at [[Reichenau Abbey]], where he had for his teachers [[Tatto]] and [[Wetti of Reichenau|Wetti]], to whose visions he devotes one of his poems. Then he went on to the [[monastery of Fulda]], where he studied for some time under [[Rabanus Maurus]] before returning to Reichenau, of which monastery he was made abbot in 838.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

For unclear reasons, he was expelled from his house and went to [[Prince-Bishopric of Speyer|Speyer]]. According to his own verses, it seems that the real cause of his flight was that, notwithstanding the fact that he had been tutor to [[Charles the Bald]], he espoused the side of his elder brother [[Lothair I]] on the death of [[Louis the Pious]] in 840. He was, however, restored to his monastery in 842, and died in 849 on an embassy to his former pupil. His epitaph was written by Rabanus Maurus, whose elegiacs praise him for being the faithful guardian of his monastery.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Works==
Walafrid Strabo's works are theological, historical and poetical.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

===Theological works===
There is an exposition of the first 20 [[Book of Psalms|psalms]] (published by Pez. in ''Thes. Anecdota nova'', iv.) and an epitome of Rabanus Maurus's commentary on [[Leviticus]]. An ''Expositio quatuor Evangeliorum'' is also ascribed to Walafrid.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
 
His ''De exordiis et incrementis quarundam in observationibus ecclesiasticis rerum'' was written between 840 and 842 for [[Reginbert of Reichenau|Reginbert the Librarian]].<ref name=Airlie97>Airlie, "The aristocracy in the service of the state in the Carolingian period", p. 97.</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Pössel|first=Christina|title='Appropriate to the Religion of their Time': Walahfrid's Historicisation of the Liturgy|date=2018-05-03|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781108182386%23CN-bp-6/type/book_part|work=Writing the Early Medieval West|pages=80–97|editor-last=Screen|editor-first=Elina|edition=1|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/9781108182386.007|isbn=9781108182386|access-date=2019-04-09|editor2-last=West|editor2-first=Charles|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It deals in 32 chapters with ecclesiastical usages, churches, altars, prayers, bells, pictures, baptism and the [[Holy Communion]]. Incidentally, he introduces into his explanations the current German expressions for the things he is treating of, with the apology that [[Solomon]] had set him the example by keeping monkeys as well as peacocks at his court.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In his exposition of the [[Holy Mass|Mass]], Walafrid does not enter into the dispute over the doctrine of [[transubstantiation]] as taught by his famous contemporary [[Radbertus Paschasius|Radbertus]]. Walafrid merely notes that Christ handed on to his disciples the sacraments of his [[Body of Christ|Body]] and [[Blood of Christ|Blood]] in the substance of bread and wine (as opposed to the many and various sacrifices of the Old Covenant/Testament) and taught them to celebrate them, under what Walafrid regards as these most fitting appearances (''speciebus''), as a memorial of his [[Passion of Christ|Passion]] (see ch. XVI, ''De sacrificiis Novi Testamenti, et cur mutata sint per Christum sacrificia'').{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He leaves no doubt, referring to Christ's words in John 6 ("My flesh truly is food and my blood truly is drink"), that the Eucharist is "truly the body and blood of the Lord" (see Ch. XVII).{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In the last chapter, Walafrid describes a hierarchical body of both lay and ecclesiastical officers, using [[Paul of Tarsus|Pauline]] metaphors (1 Cor 12:11-27) to underline the importance of such a body as an organic unity. In so doing, he articulates a view on the nature of public office, ideally based on a sense of responsibility with respect to society as a whole.<ref name=Airlie98-9>Airlie, "The aristocracy in the service of the state in the Carolingian period", pp. 98-9.</ref> While [[Johannes Fried]] is wary of associating this idealised scheme too much with current ideas about state and court in Louis' reign, [[Karl Ferdinand Werner]] and [[Stuart Airlie]] are rather more sympathetic to its relevance for contemporary thought at court: what gives the text added interest is that it was written by a courtier (Walafrid), representing a "view from the centre".<ref name=Airlie98-9 />

===Historical and poetical works===
Walafrid's chief historical works are the rhymed ''Vita sancti Galli'' (The Life of [[Saint Gall]]), which, though written down nearly two centuries after this saint's death, is still the primary authority for his life, and a much shorter life of [[Saint Othmar]], abbot of [[Abbey of St. Gall|St. Gall]] (died 759).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>A critical edition of these by [[Ernst Dümmler]] is in the ''[[Monumenta Germaniae Historica]]'' "Poetae Latini", ii. (1884), p.&nbsp;259 ff.</ref>

Walafrid's poetical works also include a short life of Saint [[Blathmac]], a high-born monk of [[Iona Abbey|Iona]], murdered by the [[Danes]] in the first half of the 9th century; a life of [[Saint Mammes]]; and a ''Liber de visionibus Wettini''. This last poem, written in [[hexameter]]s like the two preceding ones, was composed at the command of "Father"{{what?|date=January 2023}} [[Adalgisus]]{{who?|date=January 2023}} and was based upon a prose narrative by [[Haito]], abbot of [[Abbey of Reichenau|Reichenau]] from 806 to 822.  It is dedicated to Grimald, brother of Wetti, his teacher. As Walafrid tells his audience, he was only eighteen when he sent it, and he begs his correspondent to revise his verses, because, "as it is not lawful for a monk to hide anything from his abbot", he fears he may deserve to be beaten.  In the vision, Wettin saw [[Charlemagne]] suffering torture in [[Purgatory]] because of his sexual incontinence.  The name of the ruler alluded to is not directly stated in the text, but "Carolus Imperator" form the initial letters of the relevant passage.  Many of Walafrid's other poems are, or include, short addresses to kings and queens (Lothar I, Charles, Louis, [[Pippin III|Pippin]], [[Judith of Bavaria (died 843)|Judith]], etc.) and to friends ([[Einhard]]; Grimald; Rabanus Maurus; Tatto; [[Ebbo, Archbishop of Reims]]; [[Drogo of Metz|Drogo, bishop of Metz]]; etc.).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His most famous poem is the ''Liber de cultura hortorum'' which was later published as the ''Hortulus'', dedicated to Grimald.  It is an account of a little garden in Reichenau Island that he used to tend with his own hands, and is largely made up of descriptions of the various herbs he grows there and their medicinal and other uses, including beer brewing.<ref>[http://decodedpast.com/eden-lake-abbots-little-garden/14654 decodedpast.com]</ref> [[Common sage|Sage]] holds the place of honor; then comes [[rue]], the antidote of poisons; and so on through [[melon]]s, [[fennel]], [[lily|lilies]], [[poppy|poppies]], and many other plants, to wind up with the [[rose]], "which in virtue and scent surpasses all other herbs, and may rightly be called the flower of flowers."{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>'Der Hortulus des Walahfrid Strabo' - Hans-Dieter Stoffler (Darmstadt, 1985)</ref>

The poem ''De Imagine Tetrici'' takes the form of a dialogue; it was inspired by an equestrian statue depicting a nude emperor on horseback believed to be [[Theodoric the Great]] which stood in front of [[Charlemagne's Palace in Aachen|Charlemagne's palace]] at [[Aachen]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

[[Codex Sangallensis 878]] may be Walafrid's personal ''[[Breviary|breviarium]]'', begun when he was a student at [[Abbey of Fulda|Fulda]].

===Ascribed works===
[[Johannes Trithemius]], [[Sponheim Abbey|Abbot of Sponheim]] (1462–1516), credited him with the authorship of the ''[[Glossa Ordinaria]]'' or ''Ordinary Glosses'' on the [[Bible]]. The work dates, however, from the 12th century, but Trithemius' erroneous ascription remained current well into the 20th century.<ref>See [[Karlfried Froehlich]], "The Printed Gloss," in  ''Biblia Latina cum Glossa Ordinaria, Facsimile Reprint of the Editio Princeps Adolph Rusch of Strassburg 1480/81'', intro. Karlfried Froehlich and [[Margaret T. Gibson]] (Brepols: Turnhout, 1992).</ref> The work is now  attributed to [[Anselm of Laon]] and his followers.<ref>Lindberg, David.  (1978)  Science in the Middle Ages.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
===Primary sources===
*''(Liber) de exordiis et incrementis quarundam in observationibus ecclesiasticis rerum''
**ed. and tr. {{Cite book |author=Alice L. Harting-Correa |title= Walahfrid Strabo's Libellus de exordiis et incrementis quarundam in observationibus ecclesiasticis rerum. A Translation and Liturgical Commentary |series=Mittellateinische Studien und Texte 19 |year=1995 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=978-90-04-09669-1}}
**''Visio Wettini'', tr. comm. Francesco Stella, Pisa, Pacini 2009
**ed. {{Cite book |author=Alfred Boretius and Viktor Krause |title = Visio Wettini| series=MGH Capitularia 2 |location=Hannover |year=1897 }}
*''Visio Wettini'' [http://www.let.kun.nl/V.Hunink/documents/visiowettini_2.htm]

===Secondary sources===
*{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Airlie |first=Stuart |title=The Aristocracy in the Service of the State in the Carolingian Period |encyclopedia=Staat im frühen Mittelalter |editor=W. Pohl, H. Reimitz and S. Airlie |series=Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 11 |location=Vienna |year=2006 |pages=93–111}}
*{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Diem |first=Albrecht |title=Teaching Sodomy in a Carolingian Monastery: A Study of Walahfrid Strabo's and Heito's Visio Wettini |encyclopedia=German History 34 |year=2016 |pages=385–401}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle = Walafrid Strabo|volume=28|page=251}}

==External links==
*{{CE1913|wstitle=Walafrid}}
*[http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_10_0780-0849-_Walafridus_Strabo_Fuldensis.html Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walafrid}}
[[Category:800s births]]
[[Category:849 deaths]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic monks]]
[[Category:Frankish historians]]
[[Category:Historians from the Carolingian Empire]]
[[Category:Medieval Latin-language poets]]
[[Category:Carolingian poets]]
[[Category:Christian poets]]
[[Category:9th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:German Catholic poets]]