HUGH OF FLEURY

Historian, biographer; d. after 1118; not to be confused with Hugh of Fleury of Canterbury (d. 1124). Hugh was a Benedictine priest of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, who was known also as Hugh of Sainte-Marie. In 1109 he wrote a Historia ecclesiastica in four books, dedicated to Adela, Countess of Blois. In 1110 he reworked the Historia into six books, covering the period to 855. In about 1114, he wrote a chronicle of the kings of France, Modernorum regum Francorum liber (842–1108). Sometime after 1102, he wrote a Tractatus de regia potestate et sacerdotali dignitate in two books, addressed to henry i of England. This work presented Hugh's stand in the in vestiture struggle, restating the divine rights of both royal and ecclesiastical authority. Besides the Vita sancti Sacerdotis, a biography of Bishop Sacerdos of Limoges, several other works have been attributed to him, including the De miraculis s. Benedicti.

Bibliography: Works. Monumenta Germaniae Historica : Scriptores (Berlin 1826–) 9:237–395. Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne, 217 v., indexes 4 v. (Paris 1878–90) 163:821–830; Monumenta Germaniae Historica : Libelli de lite. (Berlin 1826–) 2:465–494; Vita s. Sacerdotis, Acta Sanctorum (Antwerp 1643– ; Venice 1734– ; Paris 1863–) May 2:15–23; De miraculis s. Benedicti, in Les Miracles de S. Benoît, ed. e. de certain (Paris 1858) 357–371. Literature. m. manitius, Geschichte der lateinischen Literatur des Mittelalters, 3 v. (Munich 1911–31) 3:518–521. a. wilmart, "L'Histoire ecclésiastique composée par Hugues de Fleury et ses destinataires," Revue Bénédictine 50 (1938) 293–305. y. m.j. congar, Catholicisme 5:1033.

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