- Ermoldus Nigellus
Ermoldus Nigellus or Niger, translated Ermold the Black, also Ermoald, was a monk of
Aquitaine , who accompanied King Pippin, son of the emperor Louis I, on a campaign intoBrittany in 824.Subsequently he was banished from Pippin's court on a charge of inciting the king against his father, and retired to
Strassburg , where he sought to regain the emperor's favour by writing a poem on his life and deeds. About 830 he obtained his recall, and has been identified with Hermoldus, who appears as Pippin's chancellor in 838.Ermoldus was a cultured man with a knowledge of the Latin poets, and his poem, "In honorem Hludovici imperatoris", has some historical value. It consists of four books and deals with the life and exploits of Louis from 781 to 826. He also wrote two poems in imitation of
Ovid , which were addressed to Pippin.His "Carmina in honorem Hludovici", edited by Edelestand Dümmler, and other writings are published in the "
Monumenta Germaniae historica . Scriptores", Band 2 (Hanover, 1826 fol.); by JP Migne in the "Patrologia Latina", tome 105 (Paris, 1844); and byErnst Dümmler in the "Poetae Latini aevi Carolini", Band 2 (Berlin, 1881-1884).Authorities
*
W. O. Henkel , "Über den historischen Werth der Gedichte des Ermoldus Nigellus" (Eilenburg, 1876)
*Wilhelm Wattenbach , "Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen", Band I (Berlin, 1904)
*August Potthast , "Bibliotheca historica", pp. 430-431 (Berlin, 1896)
*1911External links
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_10_0781-0826-_Ermoldus_Nigellus.html Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
