Saint Angilram of Metz

Angilram or Angilramn (died October 791) was a Frankish prelate. He served as the bishop of Metz from 768 until 791 and as the royal archchaplain under Charlemagne from 784 until 791. Angilram had a papal dispensation allowing him to remain permanently at court as a confessor and advisor. He frequently accompanied the king on his military campaigns. By 788, he had received the honorary personal title of archbishop. He also served concurrently as abbot of Chiemsee, Senones and Sint-Truiden. Angilram had an interest in historiography and liturgy. He commissioned Paul the Deacon to write a history of the diocese of Metz and may have had a role in the production of the Royal Frankish Annals. He also added three paragraphs to the Rule of Chrodegang, including adding the celebration of the Octave of Pentecost. The oldest version of the Ordines Romani has also been attributed to Angilram. He commissioned the first single-volume Bible of the Carolingian Renaissance, but it was lost in 1944. Of noble Austrasian stock, Angilram succeeded Chrodegang as bishop of Metz. According to local tradition, he was a nephew of Chrodegang, being the son of his brother, perhaps the same brother who was the father of Duke Ingerman. He was elected in 768 after a two-year vacancy. He was consecrated on 25 September 768. He attended the Paderborn assembly in 777. From at least 781, Angilram is one the figures from Charlemagne's intimate circle who appears most frequently in contemporary documentation. Charlemagne procured for him a papal dispensation from the obligation to reside in Metz, allowing him to remain permanently at court. His special status may have aroused jealousy among the other bishops of Francia. In 784, Angilram succeeded Fulrad as archchaplain with responsibility for all the clergy of the royal court and for overseeing the services of the chapel. He may have been exercising the office de facto since 780.