Agobard - Exile and Return

Exile and Return

After Louis was restored to his power, backed by his sons Louis the German and Pepin I of Aquitaine, Agobard was suspended from his episcopate by the Council of Thionville and exiled, replaced by the chorbishop Amalarius of Metz (ca. 775- ca. 850). During his tenure in Lyon, Amalarius worked to impose liturgical reforms upon the archdiocese of Lyon. Amalarius’ reforms were characterized by a heavy reliance upon allegorical and symbolic representations within the Mass. Agobard, on the other hand, disdained Amalarius’ reforms as “theatrical” and “showy” and favored a more plain liturgy. Amalarius’ reforms were also opposed by Agobard’s disciple Florus of Lyon; Amalarius was deposed and accused of heresy in 838. Agobard wrote three works against Amalarius: On Divine Psalmody, On the Correction of the Antiphonary, and Liber officialis. When he returned to Lyon, Agobard worked to roll back Amalarius’ actions, with the support of Florus.