Hincmar

Hincmar , 806-82, Frankish canonist and theologian, archbishop of Reims (from 845). He was a supporter of Carolingian Emperor Louis I and a counselor of his son Charles II (Charles the Bald). As a metropolitan he tried to depose the bishop of Soissons in 862 and brought on himself the censure of Pope St. Nicholas I . Later (876), in a different contention, he upheld the rights of metropolitans. Hincmar vigorously opposed Gottschalk and urged (850) Erigena to write on predestination. Dissatisfied with Erigena's tract, Hincmar wrote three treatises on the subject himself. He strongly opposed the divorce of Lothair , king of Lotharingia, and he spent much of his time in defending the claims of Charles in various dynastic struggles, particularly against Louis the German . Hincmar openly challenged the authenticity of portions of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals [see False Decretals ]. As a strong upholder of tradition, Hincmar defended the practice of public penance and initiated a reform in the French clerical life of the period.

Hincmar (c.806–82), Abp. of Reims from 845. He opposed Lothair, King of Lorraine, when he wanted to divorce his wife, and he strove to defend his metropolitan rights both against his own bishops and against the Pope. After Lothair's death (869) he crowned Charles the Bald at Metz, despite Papal objections.

Though not a speculative theologian, Hincmar took a prominent part in the controversy with Gottschalk on predestination. He himself wrote against Gottschalk and he called upon John Scottus Erigena for help. Another dispute with Gottschalk and Ratramnus arose when Hincmar changed the words ‘Trina Deitas’ in one of the Vespers hymns to ‘Summa Deitas’, because he suspected the former phrase of tritheism.