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1519-1566 (?). Germany. Count (Graf). Nephew of Wilhelm Werner von Zimmern. Author of the chronicle of his own family.  Froben was descended from the Swabian noble family of the Barons (Freiherr), from 1536 Counts, of Zimmern, a family documentarily traceable as far back as the 11th century. Their scattered properties were situated along the upper part of the River Neckar, as well as around the City of Meßkirch. Although the Zimmern did not dispose of a coherent territory, they enjoyed considerable political influence and, with their disti…

[German Version] central city of the French Département Indre-et-Loire and an episcopal see, with a population of 137,000. In the early modern period, it was a prosperous mercantile town with a silk industry. Its two major churches, the cathedral of St. Gatien (13th–16th cent.) and the basilica of St. Martin (12th/13th cent.) recall Gatianus (2nd half of the 3rd cent.), its first bishop, and Martin of Tours, who lived in the community of ascetics at Marmoutier outside Toulouse before being appoint…

[German Version] is a French city on the Loire (Département Loiret). The Gallo-Roman foundation became the seat of a bishopric in the 4th century, as civitas Aurelianorum. In 451 Bishop Aignan saved Orléans from siege by Attila. In Merovingian times the city was several times the meeting place of councils. Under Charlemagne the scholar Theodulf was bishop of Orléans. At the end of the 10th century, the city was the starting-point for the rule of the Capetians. In 1022 the son of Hugo Capet, Robert II, had the Orléans her…

[German Version] I. City and Bishopric – II. University I. City and Bishopric The cradle of the present capital of France was the Île de la Cité (Lutetia), settled in the 3rd century bce by the Celtic tribe of the Parisii. After putting down a rebellion by the Gauls in 52 bce, the Romans under Julius Caesar built their administrative center on the island in the Seine; in the years that followed, they built a forum and thermae on the hill of Ste. Geneviève on the left bank. In the administrative structure of the Roman Empire, however, Sens, not P…

[German Version] (eastern France). Three territorial designations – Austrasia, Lotharingia, and Lorraine (Ger. Lothringen) – characterize the historical development of this border region between France and the German Empire. At the beginning of the 6th century, a new kingdom (Austrasia) arose from the Roman province of Belgica I that extended, over the course of three centuries, from Reims to Thuringia. The later Lorraine was surrounded by three political powers: Burgundy, Alemania, and Champagne.…

[German Version] (c. 440–533), bishop. Scant biographical information on Remigius may be gleaned from two hagiographically overlaid lives of saints. The first vita, which was written shortly after his death, was used by Gregory of Tours, while the second, written by Hincmar of Reims (9th cent.), has more to say about its author. Four letters by Remigius have been preserved, which headed the compilation of Epistulae Austrasicae around 600. He was born into a family of senatorial rank; his brother Principius was bishop in the neighboring town of Soissons, and wa…

[German Version] Reims, French city of 180,000 in Champagne (Marne), settled by Celts ( Remi); under the Romans, it was the capital of the province of Belgica Secunda. At the end of the 5th century, it was already the site of an episcopal see (Remigius of Reims). In 999 Pope Silvester II granted the bishops of Reims the privilege of crowning the kings of France (until 1825). The 13th-century cathedral of Reims is a noted example of Gothic architecture (Church architecture: I, 2.c). Reims was confirmed as an archbishopric in the concordat of 1817. There has been a university in Reims since 1959. G…

[German Version] Lyon is a French city at the confluence of the Saône with the Rhône. Originally a Celtic settlement, in 43 bce it became a Roman colony and eventually the administrative center of the three Gallo-Roman provinces. By the end of the 4th century, the ecclesiastical province of Lyon coincided with the Roman province Lugdunensis Prima. The establishment of the earliest Christian community in Gaul is associated with Pothinus (died 177) and Irenaeus of Lyon, originally from Smyrna. After the Merovingian kin…

[German Version] (Apr 25, 1214, Poissy – Aug 25, 1270, Carthage), king of France; eldest son of Louis VIII (reigned 1223–1226) and Blanche of Castile (1188–1252). Louis became king of France at the age of twelve, initially under the guardianship of his mother, who remained coregent even after 1234. Louis's foreign policy was determined by three great spheres of influence: Byzantium (Constantinople/Byzantium), Islam, and the Mongol Empire. The alliance of the French king with the Mongols against Is…

[German Version] In the history of art, imitatio Christi is used as a general term for all forms of the graphic visualization of imitating and following Christ (Discipleship, Christian). While this had hardly been a topic of early Christian art, it can be found in the ceremonies and images of the medieval Byzantine and Western empires under the premise of monarchic christomimesis, and in a more complex manner also among popes and bishops. In icons and hagiographic illustration cycles (Hagiography), vari…

[German Version] Metz, a French city in Lorraine, became the capital of Austrasia under King Sigebert I (561–575); the see city of St. Arnulf (617–639) became the burial place of the Carolingian dynasty. Records speak of bishops going back to the end of the 3rd century. In the 8th century, Chrodegang, scion of a noble senatorial family, became a leader in reforming the Frankish church. Since the 11th century, the territorial domain of the bishop extended into Alsace and eastward to the Wormsgau. U…

[German Version] (c. 1520 – Oct 1557), Reformed theologian. After studying theology at Leuven, Poullain was ordained to the priesthood in 1540. In the same year, Emperor Charles V commended him to a living in the diocese of Namur. In October of 1543 he was a guest in the home of M. Bucer and formed ties with G. Farel and Calvin. After 1544 he served the French congregation in Straßburg (Strasbourg) established by Calvin. In a treatise on the Lord’s Supper published in 1547, he took Bucer’s mediati…

[German Version] French town on the Rhône in the Dauphiné, 30 km south of Lyon, with a population of 29,000 (2001). It was one of the most important towns of Roman Gaul after the conquest of the Allobroges. The temple of Augustus and Livia, built in 25 bce, is very well preserved; the Roman theater was excavated in 1922. In the 2nd century, the deacon Sanctus of Vienne is mentioned as one of the early Christian martyrs in the Rhône valley. Avitus of Vienne (5th/6th cent.) mediated between the Burgundians, who were followers of Arius, and the…

[English Version] Tours, franz. Zentralort des Départements Indre-et-Loire und Erzbistum, 137 000 Einwohner, in der frühen Neuzeit reiche Kaufmannsstadt (Seidenindustrie). Die beiden Hauptkirchen, Kathedrale St.-Gatien (13. – 16.Jh.) und Basilika St.-Martin (12./13.Jh.), erinnern an Gatian (2. Hälfte des 3.Jh.) als ersten Bischof und Martin von Tours, der vor seiner Ernennung zum Bischof (370/71) in der Asketengemeinschaft von Marmoutier außerhalb von T. lebte. Er galt als Wundertäter und gründete…

[English Version] I. Stadt und Bistum Urzelle der heutigen Hauptstadt Frankreichs ist die seit dem 3.Jh. v.Chr. vom keltischen Volksstamm der Parisii besiedelten Ile de la Cite´ (Lutetia). Nach Unterwerfung des gallischen Aufstandes (52 v.Chr.) errichteten die Römer unter Iulius Caesar auf der Seineinsel ihren Verwaltungssitz und bauten in der Folgezeit auf dem linken Seineufer (Ste-Genevie`ve Hügel) das Forum und die Thermen auf. Nach den Verwaltungsstrukturen im Römerreich war P. jedoch nicht Zentr…

[English Version] Poullain, Vale´rand (um 1520 – Oktober 1557), ref. Theologe. Nach seinem Theologiestudium in Löwen wurde P. 1540 zum Priester geweiht. Kaiser Karl V. empfahl ihn im gleichen Jahr für eine Pfründe im Bistum Namur. Im Oktober 1543 war P. Gast im Hause M. Bucers und nahm Beziehungen zu G. Farel und Calvin auf. Ab 1544 stand er im Dienst der von Calvin gegründeten franz. Gemeinde in Straßburg. In seinem 1547 erschienenen Abendmahlstraktat übernahm er Bucers Vermittlungsposition. Nach …

[English Version] von Reims (um 440–533), Bischof. Die wenigen biogr. Daten sind nur annähernd aus zwei hagiographisch überlagerten Heiligenviten erschließbar. Die erste, kurz nach seinem Tod entstandene Vita benutzte Gregor von Tours, die zweite, von Hinkmar von Reims geschriebene (9.Jh.), sagt mehr über ihren Vf. aus. Darüber hinaus sind vier Briefe von R. erhalten, die um 600 die Sammlung der »Epistulae Austrasicae« einleiteten. Er stammte aus einer dem senatorischen Adel zugehörigen Familie, se…

[English Version] Vienne, franz. Stadt in der Dauphiné, 30 km südlich von Lyon, an der Rhône, 29 000 Einwohner, eine der bedeutendsten Städte des röm. Gallien nach Unterwerfung der Allobroger. Der 25 v.Chr. erbaute Tempel von Augustus und Livia ist sehr gut erhalten, das röm. Theater wurde 1922 freigelegt. Im 2.Jh. ist der Diakon Sanctus von V. als einer der frühen christl. Märtyrer im Rhônetal bezeugt. Avitus von Vienne (5./6.Jh.) vermittelte zw. den Burgundern (Anhänger des Arius) und der röm. K…

[English Version] Orle´ans, franz. Stadt an der Loire (De´partement Loiret). Die galloröm. Gründung wurde im 4.Jh. als civitas Aurelianorum Sitz eines Bistums. 451 rettete Bf. Aignan O. vor der Belagerung Attilas. In merowingischer Zeit war die Stadt mehrmals Tagungsort von Konzilien. Unter Karl dem Großen war der Gelehrte Theodulf Bf. von O.; Ende des 10.Jh. war die Stadt Ausgangspunkt für die Herrschaft der Kapetinger. Der Sohn von Hugo Capet (Robert II.) ließ 1022 die Häretiker von O. (Anhänger…

[English Version] Reims, franz. Stadt der Champagne (Marne), 180 000 Einwohner, keltischen Ursprungs (Remi), in der Römerzeit Hauptstadt der Provinz Belgica II. Bereits am Ende des 5.Jh. war R. Sitz eines Bistums (Remigius von Reims). 999 erhielten die Bischöfe von R. von Papst Silvester II. das Privileg zur Krönung der franz. Könige (bis 1825). Die Kathedrale von R. (13.Jh.) ist ein berühmtes Beispiel gotischer Baukunst (Kirchenbau: II.,2., c). Als Erzbistum wurde R. im Konkordat von 1817 bestätigt. Seit 1959 hat R. eine Universität. Gerhard Philipp Wolf Bibliography J. Le Gof…