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Ivo, Bishop of Chartres

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Ivimey, Joseph

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(Carnotensis). Little is known of the life of this prelate beyond what we can learn from his works. The exact date of his birth is not ascertained (it is supposed to have been about 1040), neither is his descent: some say that he was of low extraction ("ex genere minime nobili," Gallia Christiana, 8, 1126), while others give him a noble parentage ("in agro Bellovacensi natus nobili a sanguine nobilem animtmu traxit," Vita D. Ivonis, Paris ed. 1647). He studied philosophy and rhetoric at Paris, then theology under Lanfranc in the convent of Bec; and in 1078 became superior of the convent of St. Quentin, in which office he acquired great reputation as a theologian and canonist. In 1090, upon the deposition of the bishop of Chartres for simony, Ivo was appointed in his place, yet his predecessor had still such strong local, interest that Ivo had to be nominated directly by the pope (Urban II), and was only installed in 1092, at Capua.. He is one of the prelates who contributed most to the extension of papal authority, yet he did not hesitate to speak plainly against the abuse of the system of curacy; in the Paris edition of his life he is even praised as one of the defenders of the Gallican liberties.

In the difficulty about the question of investiture (q.v.), raised by Hildebrand and his followers, the course of Ivo. was marked by great moderation, arising, not from weakness, but from a desire of conciliating and meting justice to all parties. He also endeavored to check the persecuting spirit of the hierarchy when it began to accuse pope Paschal II of heresy for having yielded to emperor Henry V. His private character, as well as his learning, gave him great influence. When Philip I repudiated his legitimate wife to marry another, he alone had the courage to oppose him, and neither promises nor threats could induce him to sanction the misdeed; and by his noble and straightforward course he excited the admiration of the people and nobility, who ail took his part. He died in 1115 (according to Richter and Mejer, in 1125), and was canonized in 1570 for May 20. As a writer, he is known as the author of a Pannormia and a decretum (See CANONS AND DECRETALS, COLLECTIONS OF); also of 287 Letters (Paris, 1584-85,1610), which shed much light on the history of his time, and show in how high an estimation his opinions were held; 24 ecclesiastical discourses on synods, festivals, etc.; and, finally, a short chronicle of the French kings. The most complete collection of his. works has been published at Paris in 1647, fol., but it does not contain the Pannormia. In Migne's edition of the fathers Ivo's works were reprinted in 1855 (Paris). See Hist. Litt. de France, 10, 102; 5, 150; Herzog, Real- Encyklopadie, 7,.189 sq.; Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. 2, 180 sq. Ceillier, Hist. des Aut. Sac.21, 423 sq.; Schr ckh, Kirchengesch. 17, 13 sq.; 26,.12 sq.