DROGO OF METZ

Leading churchman of the carolingian reform; b. June 17, 801; d. Dec. 8, 855. In the aftermath of the revolt of Bernard of Italy, Emperor Louis the Pious forced Drogo, one of charlemagne's illegitimate sons, to receive tonsure (818) and had him interned in a monastery. By 822 Louis changed his opinion about his half-brother and nominated him bishop of Metz with the approval of the clergy and laity of that city; Drogo was consecrated June 28, 823. Through all his political vicissitudes Louis found a loyal supporter in Drogo, whom he made his chief chaplain, a position that carried with it a great amount of supervision of ecclesiastical matters throughout the Frankish kingdom, and the title of archbishop. In 844, at the insistence of Emperor lothair i, Drogo, with a commission of 22 bishops, investigated the validity of the election of Pope sergius ii. The election was upheld, but the pope had to swear an oath of fidelity to Lothair and appoint Drogo the vicar of the apostolic see for all the Frankish kingdoms (cunctis provinciis trans Alpes constitutis, P. Jaffé, Regesta pontificum romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum 1198, P. Ewald, ed., 1:327–328). In October of the same year Drogo presided at a council held in Yütz, near thionville, but it is difficult to determine whether he acted as papal vicar. The effective exercise of this office was probably limited to the regions immediately subject to Lothair. The remaining years of the bishop's life were spent in the capable administration of his diocese and the abbeys entrusted to him. He met his death by drowning near the Abbey of Luxeuil.

Bibliography: Drogo Sacramentary, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale MS lat. 9428. h. leclercq, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, ed. f. cabrol, h. leclercq, and h. i. marrou (Paris 1907–53) 4.2:1540–49. l. alphen, Charlemagne et l'empire carolingien (Paris 1947). p. viard, Catholicisme. Hier, aujourd'hui et demain, ed. g. jacquemet (Paris 1947–) 3:1090–91. t. schieffer, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 3:575–576. a. dumas, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912–) 14:799–802. j. b. pelt, ed., Études sur la cathédrale de Metz (Metz 1930) 1:51–112. k. gamber, Codices liturgici latini antiquiores (Spicilegium friburgense, subsidia 1; Fribourg 1963) 181.

[h. dressler]