Aldric, St

Aldric, St, a French prelate, was the son of Bavarian parents of royal descent, but subjects of the French empire, and was born about A.D. 800. He passed his early years at the court of Charlemagne, and became chaplain and confessor of the emperor. In 832 he was appointed bishop of Mans, and was deprived of his bishopric by Lothaire, but re-established by Charles II in 841. In 846 he assisted at the Council of Paris, and in 849 at that of Tours. He died Jan.7, 856. He composed a Recueil de Canons, collected from the councils and the decretals of the popes. The loss of this interesting compilation, known as Capitulaires d'Aldric, is regretted. He also wrote three Testaments and an Order for Divine Service, published in the Analectes of Mabillon and in the Miscellanea of Baluze. He ordered that his church at Mans should, at the grand ceremonies, be illuminated by at least 190 lamps and by ten wax tapers. It is not true that organs were first introduced in his time, neither that the first one was established in his church. They were of more ancient origin. Constantine Copronymus gave one to Pepin in 757, and this was the first one known in France. , See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v. SEE ALDRICUS.