Thegan
Thegan was a notable figure in the early medieval period, likely born in Germany before 800 CE, possibly as Theganbertus Degan. His noble background and religious training in Lorsch positioned him within the ecclesiastical hierarchy, where he served as the assistant bishop of Trier and later took a church role in Bonn. Little is definitively known about his life, though he is believed to have been a contemporary and friend of the scholar Walafrid Strabo, who praised his knowledge. Thegan is primarily recognized for his work "Vita Hludowici Imperatoris," a biography of Louis the Pious, which was completed during the king's lifetime. This work, published in two volumes between 837 and 840, presents a highly biased account that emphasizes Louis's virtues while condemning his adversaries. Thegan's writing style resembles that of monastic annals, drawing from sympathetic eyewitness accounts rather than scholarly sources, resulting in a chronicle that serves more as a political tool than an impartial biography. His perspective on noble birth as a criterion for leadership reflects the social attitudes of his time, giving insight into the values and conflicts within the Carolingian court. Overall, Thegan's contributions are more significant for their historical context than for their accuracy.
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Thegan
Writer
- Born: Before 800
- Birthplace: Probably in Trier, Germany
- Died: Between 849 and 852
- Place of death: Germany
Biography
Thegan was born in Germany sometime before 800 c.e. and may have been the pseudonym of Theganbertus Degan. Although little is known about his life, it is likely that he was born into a noble family. He probably received his religious training in Lorsch, and he was the assistant bishop of Trier. Towards the end of his life, it appears he had accepted a church position in the city of Bonn. It is unclear if Thegan was Theganbert, the provost of the Monastery of Saint Cassius in Bonn who placed the holy relics of Saint Chrysanthus and Saint Daria in the church at Munstereifel. Most of the scant information about Thegan is found in some ninth century letters and verses which still survive.
It is likely that Thegan was a friend of the noted German scholar Walafrid Strabo. Strabo praised Thegan as a man of great knowledge. Strabo edited and corrected the Latin in Thegan’s only known work, a biography of Louis the Pious (Louis I), the Frankish king who, at the time the book was written, was the only surviving son of the emperor Charlemagne. The work appears in two volumes of the same name, Vita Hludowici imperatoris. The first volume was published sometime between 837 and 838; the second volume was published several years later in 840. In section twenty of the manuscript, Thegan expresses the rather biased, but not unheard of opinion at the time, that only people of noble birth should hold positions of authority. This opinion likely caused some concern to his friend Strabo, who was not of high birth.
Vita Hludowici Imperatoris was written during Louis the Pious’s lifetime. The work contains a chronicle of the king’s deeds written in a style that makes the manuscript similar to a yearly monastic annal. Overall, Thegan’s work is extremely partisan. He presents the king in the best possible light, as both pious and grave. He also condemns Louis’s enemies, calling the archbishop of Rheims a vile, cruel peasant and vilifying Louis’s son, Lothair. Unlike a later biography of Louis I, written by an anonymous author known only as The Astronomer and based on scholarly sources, Thegan appears to have written his biography based on the eyewitness accounts of clergymen sympathetic to the king. Interestingly, Thegan does not discuss Louis’s more despicable acts, such as sending his illegitimate brothers to monasteries and his unmarried sisters to nunneries or blinding his nephew after an attempted rebellion against Louis. Thegan’s manuscript is more important for its value as an historical document than as an accurate biography.