BERTULF OF BOBBIO, ST.

Benedictine abbot; d. Aug. 19, 640. A member of a prominent pagan Frankish family, Bertulf was converted to Christianity by arnulf of metz, a near relative, and became a monk at Luxeuil under Abbot eustace (620). A few years later he accompanied Abbot Attala to Bobbio and succeeded him as abbot there (627). In 628 a conflict with the bishop of Tortona over jurisdiction took him to Rome to discuss the matter with honorius i, who, in the first known instance of this procedure, granted Bobbio complete exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. The account of this mission is found in the life of Bertulf written (642) by jonas of bobbio, who accompanied Bertulf to Rome.

Feast: Aug. 19.

Bibliography: e. de moreau, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 8:1111. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 3:356–357. e. ewig, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 2:273. Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis (Brussels 1898–1901) 1:1311–15. Acta Sanctorum Aug. 3:750–754. j. mabillon, Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti (Venice 1733–40) 2:150–157. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 4:143–152. p. jaffe, Regesta pontificum romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum 1198, ed. p. ewald (Graz 1956) 1:224. c. cipolla and g. buzzi, eds., Codice diplomatico del monastèro di S. Colombano di Bobbio, 3 v. (Fonti per la storia d'Italia 52–54; 1918).

[c. p. loughran]