Panel 3 & Chronicle
HISTORY on parchment
Between fact and fiction
In the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300), historical writing was mainly practiced by clerics. Being among the few people who could read and write, they had access to libraries and archives. This is why many historical works originated in abbeys and cathedral schools.
Important sources were chronicles (chronica), annals (annales), hagiographies (vitae), charters, letters, and gesta—accounts recording the deeds of bishops or abbots. The Gesta Abbatum Trudonensium belongs to this last category. Such works recorded events while serving to safeguard the rights, prestige, and memory of a monastic community.
FAKE NEWS ?
Historians approach these sources with a critical eye. They often contain valuable information and sometimes eyewitness testimonies, but they are rarely neutral.
Monks wrote according to the interests and beliefs of their community. Opponents were presented in a negative light, and events were interpreted as signs of God's will. Thus, these texts show not only what happened, but also how contemporaries understood the world.
Objectivity was not a goal in itself. Medieval authors viewed history as a means to make God's actions visible, to offer moral lessons, and to instruct their community. Where a modern historian seeks critical distance, a medieval chronicler primarily sought meaning.
Gesta Abbatum Trudonensium or the "Chronicle of Saint-Truiden Abbey"
Besides hagiographies, abbey chronicles constitute the most important—and often biased—echoes of the early history of the Low Countries. Within this tradition, the Gesta Abbatum Trudonensium offers a unique testimony of monasticism in the High Middle Ages.
The Gesta recounts the lives and deeds of the abbots, a form of history writing that continued after the death of each abbot.
The famous Abbot Rodulphus himself described in seven books the century prior to his taking office up to his own election. His successor, likely the sacristan Gislebertus, dedicated the eighth book to Rodulphus’s deeds. In total, seven successive authors worked on the chronicles of Sint-Truiden, spanning an impressive period from the year 650 to 1679.
Conflicts, intrigues, and power struggles
Being abbot in Sint-Truiden meant walking a tight political wire. Until 1227, the right to elect the abbot belonged to the Bishop of Metz, but it was the Bishop of Liège who consecrated him. During the Investiture Controversy at the end of the 11th century, this led to an outright clash: Metz chose the papal authority, while Liège sided with the German Emperor Henry IV. As if that were not enough, the Duchy of Brabant and the Count of Loon also meddled in the elections. Furthermore, local nobility regularly tried to place family members on the abbacy seat.
The Gesta describes these power conflicts in detail. They recount how the abbey attempted to survive without succumbing to external political pressure.
RODULPHUS as an INFLUENCER
Rodulphus was considered the most important of the Sint-Truiden abbots. He was not only a virtuoso in music and literature, but above all played a major role in the renewal of monastic life. Under his leadership, the strict Cluniac reform was introduced to the abbey, emphasizing prayer, discipline, and an exemplary lifestyle for the monks.
When writing about the century before his arrival, Rodulphus did so with a clear educational purpose and a healthy dose of public relations. For instance, he noted that during a famine, Abbot Adelard I was only willing to help the poor of Saint Trudo's own familia (the serfs), and not those of competing institutions. A subtle way of saying that life was simply better in Sint-Truiden than with the neighbors.
His own mission was clear: return to basics for the abbey's thirty to forty monks.
He strongly opposed the commercialization of Saint Trudo's relics, refused the presence of laypeople within the monastery grounds, and strived for a closed community and an image of purity.
According to him, it was "a miracle that there was any spiritual life left in Sint-Truiden" before he took office. His rigor and stubbornness are clear from a multi-page text describing how Rodulphus waged a cunning battle against an equally stubborn monk who refused to follow his new dress code.
GESTA ABBATUM TRUDONENSIUM - THE ORIGINAL?
The manuscript in the Maurits Sabbe Library is among the oldest and most important surviving witnesses of the Chronicle of Sint-Truiden. It was likely written during the lifetime of the chronicle's authors.
Of all surviving versions, this one is very close to the era of Rodulphus and Gislebertus.
Other versions (five in total) of the chronicle can be found at the Royal Library in Brussels, a fragment at the Liège University Library, and a version in Paris (Bibliothèque d'Arsenal), originating from Corsendonk.
It was not uncommon for the chronicle of an important abbey to be read and (partially) copied elsewhere.
THE LIFE OF SAINT TRUDO
The 11th-century version by Theodoric
In this era, political interests were fought over through written texts. The history of Sint-Truiden Abbey was heavily influenced by the power struggle between the dioceses of Metz and Liège.
In this conflict, two hagiographies of Saint Trudo played a major role: the Vita prima sancti Trudonis by Donatus (late 8th century) and the Vita secunda sancti Trudonis by Theodoric (late 11th century).
In the first, Donatus described how Trudo had donated his property to Saint Stephen, the patron saint of the Diocese of Metz. He thus supported the claim that Metz exercised authority over the abbey.
More than three hundred years later, the monk Theodoric—a future abbot—wrote the Vita secunda sancti Trudonis. Officially, it was a revision of the earlier work, but in reality, he used the text to defend the abbey’s interests. He wanted to breathe new life into the cult of Trudo to attract more pilgrims to the abbey and improve its financial situation.
This is why he presented Trudo as an even greater saint and wonder-worker than in Donatus's work.
At the same time, Theodoric offered a new interpretation of Trudo's donation. According to him, Trudo had indeed yielded part of his possessions to Metz, but not the abbey itself. He emphasized that the monastery had been founded in its own right and was therefore not entirely subject to the authority of the Bishop of Metz. In doing so, he defended the abbey's independence.
The context of this text was a severe crisis in 1082. Several candidates competed for the abbacy, monks were banished, and the abbey was plundered. In the Chronicle, Rodulphus described these conflicts and the interference of the bishops of Metz and Liège. His account shows that the bishops of Metz repeatedly meddled in the appointment of abbots and even sold abbey property, whereas the bishops of Liège more frequently defended the monks' interests.
It is within this context that one understands why Theodoric, in his Vita secunda sancti Trudonis, attempted to subtly undercut the authority of Metz.
The Ship of Fools
Gesta Abbatum Trudonensium 1132
This wooden ship mounted on wheels was crafted by an aggrieved peasant from Aachen; accompanied by a troop of weavers, he dragged it toward Maastricht, Tongeren, and Loon, until it reached Sint-Truiden. Abbot Rodulphus wished to keep it outside the walls, but this peculiar "Trojan horse" was nevertheless brought into the city amidst shouts of joy.
When twilight fell and the moon appeared in the sky, long processions of respectable ladies left their alleys; having heard the loud tumult surrounding this crazy machine, they came running and leaping, their hair unbound, stripped of all female modesty. Some showed themselves half-naked, others wore only a simple surcoat; thus they joined in, shamelessly hopping alongside those dancing around the vessel. A good thousand men and women were seen celebrating this unusual and ominous spectacle well into the night. Then, when this accursed dance finally ceased, both sexes dispersed with loud cries from their hoarse throats, scattering left and right in wild intoxication. After celebrating these pagan festivities according to the described rites for more than twelve days, the inhabitants finally inquired about a way to rid themselves of this ship.
They then dragged it to Zoutleeuw...
Horror Story
Gesta Abbatum Trudonensium 1254
In the year of grace 1254, a wealthy foreigner came to settle in our city. He acquired a renowned inn there, situated to the right of the Church of Our Lady, on the market square. A few years later, a merchant from Huy, who was accustomed to staying there, passed through the place again, carrying money earned at the market. The host himself led him to the room assigned as his quarters. The traveler accepted the invitation; but he had barely taken a few steps when, as soon as he set foot inside, a trapdoor cleverly hidden in the floor suddenly opened, dropping him into a deep pit.
The maidservant, carrying in her womb the fruit of this merchant's deeds, happened to go into the stable. Seeing her friend's mount at the rack, foaming and covered in mud, but unable to find its master although she searched everywhere, she alarmed the neighbors with her lamentations and cried out weeping that her lover had been strangled...
At her cries, the people rushed over. The owner, aware of his crime, sought safety in secret flight, never to appear again. After deliberation, the aldermen and the bailiff went to the inn. Despite their search for evidence of such a crime, they found no trace. They then encouraged the maidservant in secret, promising to keep her free from prosecution if she would point out the place suited for such a crime.
Whereupon she said: "Examine what may be hidden under the trapdoor in the floor at the entrance of the room". They went there immediately. Looking down, they saw the merchant lying half-dead.
After some men descended to bring the unfortunate man back to the surface, a cavity filled with bones and human corpses was discovered in that place. Since the innkeeper did not appear during the fortnight he was summoned by the court bell to appear before justice, he was struck with banishment.