Life of Anskar
The life of Ansgar, first archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, written by his pupil and successor within a few years of his death. It is the only narrative of the first missions to the Danes and Swedes.
Rimbert was Ansgar’s companion in his last years and followed him as archbishop. He wrote for the monks of Corbie, where Ansgar had been trained, soon enough after the events that he could point to a living witness: for the first journey to Sweden he refers the reader to Witmar, who made it with Ansgar (ch. 10).
The Life is a saint’s life as well as a record. It reports visions, cures and judgements on opponents alongside journeys, assemblies and royal decisions, and it defends the standing of the see of Hamburg-Bremen, quoting the papal letter that joined the two dioceses (ch. 23). Rimbert gives no years of the Incarnation; the dates printed in the margins and notes of the translation are the editor’s. Used in Ansgar’s Mission to Scandinavia.
Cited in
- AD 829 to AD 831, estimated date