Fulbert of Chartres - Theological Contributions

Theological Contributions

Like the recent millennium change, the one during Fulbert’s lifetime also created a fear of the end of the world. The adoration of the Virgin Mary was already established in the Church, and Fulbert would use this as teaching on her importance. The results were twofold, it helped to ease the peoples fears and greatly expanded the Marian Cult and Chartres’s position in it. Chartres was already involved due to its being the holder of a sacred relic of Mary’s, the “Sancta Camisia”, (Holy Tunic), which has been variously described as being worn by Mary during the Annunciation or during the birth of Christ. This tunic was already the subject of a miracle, it was used by an earlier Bishop of Chartres, Gauscelinus, in 911 to ward off the invading Normans. Fulbert expanded on the theme of miracles involving Mary especially ones where she had mediated between sinners and God, in this way the people could pray to Mary to intercede on their behalf, with God, in the perceived coming apocalypse. Fulbert himself was involved in one of these miracles, when he was gravely ill Mary had healed him with a drop of her milk because of his devotion to her. This also served to give Mary the image of not only the mother of Christ, but for all who believed in her, their mother too. All of these things led to Fulbert’s ultimate goal of promoting a special feast day to celebrate Mary’s Nativity.

To gain popular support for this feast, Fulbert wrote his famous sermon “Approbate Consuetudinis” in which he outlines Mary’s miracles. He also brings in the evidence of Mary’s family linage which can be traced back to King David. In his sermon Fulbert used the symbolism of the “Stirps Jesse” (Tree of Jesse) to help explain Mary’s familial relationship to the great men of the past and how it was determined, as described in scripture, that she would be the one to whom Christ would be born. This again served to enhance her importance to the world and convince people of the need to celebrate her birth. This sermon led to a number of liturgical changes throughout the next few centuries in Europe. The sermon itself, or variations of it, and the chants associated to it, were to become part of the service for the feast day of Mary’s Nativity on Sept. 8. By promoting the Feast day of Mary’s Nativity, Fulbert was able to advance the importance of Mary and therefore the cult of her worship grew. This in turn enhanced the importance of the Cathedral of Chartres as a centre for worship of her, and also gave the people a spiritual symbol for them to turn to in their time of need at the turn of the millennium.