Rabanus Maurus

Rabanus Maurus

 or Hrabanus Maurus

(born c. 780, Mainz, Franconia—died Feb. 4, 856, Winkel) Frankish abbot, archbishop, and theologian whose encyclopaedic knowledge and numerous writings brought him the title Praeceptor Germaniae (“Teacher of Germany”). A Benedictine monk, he became director of the school at the Fulda monastery near Frankfurt am Main in 803, and he built Fulda into a leading European centre of learning. He was elected abbot in 822 and used the monastery as a base for Christian missions throughout Europe. He was named archbishop of Mainz in 847. His many writings include On the Nature of Things (842–847), an encyclopaedia synthesizing intellectual history until the 9th century. He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible. As abbot and archbishop, he was involved in the disciplinary and theological controversies associated with Gottschalk of Orbais.