167 BISHOP LAMBERT OF ARRAS (1093/ 94– 1115), BOULOGNESUR-MER, BIBLIOTHÈQUE MUNICIPALE, 84 AND THE HISTORICAL, LITURGICAL AND DOCUMENTARY LEGACIES OF THE FORMER BISHOPRIC OF CAMBRAI/ ARRAS
Steven Vanderputten
Research conducted over the last twenty-five years has allowed detailed reconstruction of the turbulent early history of the Northern French bishopric of Arras, in particular the disputed division of the former bishopric of Cambrai/ Arras, the foundation or, according to some contemporaries, re-foundation of that of Arras, and the appointment and early government of Arras’ first leader, Lambert of Guînes (1094– 1115). Each of these involved a large number of ecclesiastical and secular stakeholders vying for influence in this densely populated, economically and strategically significant region, wegded between the Kingdom of France and the Empire and coveted by the ambitious Counts of Flanders. The proponents of the then-current ecclesiastical reform movement also regarded the creation of the independent bishopric of Arras as an opportunity to gain a solid institutional footing in the region, sparking further conflicts with the more conservative Cambresian clergy and their supporters ; in particular Pope Urban II was vigorously supportive of Lambert, whose reformist sympathies are well documented (1 ).
In addition to these issues in regional political and general ecclesiastical history, the « Arras case » is also of particular interest for the fact that Bishop Lambert and his collaborators have left us a sizeable, typologically diverse, written documentation of the process leading towards independence, showing also the way in which both Lambert’s moral and juridical authority, and the new bishopric’s episcopal institutions, were subsequently established. The so-called Register of Lambert, also known as the Gesta Lamberti or Gesta Atrebatensium, a semi-narrative, semi-documentary collection of papal bulls, charters, synodal extracts, letters and other textual productions pertaining to the transition of 1093/ 94 and Lambert’s subsequent acts as bishop, occupies a central place in these studies, as its different permutations from the late eleventh and early twelfth century are revealing with regard to how Lambert’s tenure
This article was written in the context of the research project «Ritual scripting as work in progress » , which is funded by the Special Research Fund of Ghent University. My thanks to Melissa Provijn for reviewing the draft version. (1) B. Delmaire, Le diocèse d’Arras de 1093 au milieu du XIVe siècle. Recherches sur la vie religieuse dans le nord de la France au moyen âge, Arras, 1994, I, p. 38-60.
Scriptorium, 68, 2014, p. 167-185.
