(ca. 775–ca. 850). The most influential and controversial liturgist of the Carolingian age and the major western Christian propagator of an allegorical understanding of the liturgy. Born near Metz and educated in the school of Alcuin, Amalarius held many positions of importance: archbishop of Trier (811–13), Charlemagne’s ambassador to Constantinople (813), and archbishop of Lyon (835–38). It was in this last position, which he held for only three years, that Amalarius became a controversial figure. His highly allegorical liturgical writings, which stressed a polyvalent, many-tiered understanding of ritual, were attacked by the deposed bishop Agobard of Lyon, to whose place Amalarius had been appointed. Because of Agobard’s influence, Amalarius was subsequently condemned by the Synod of Quierzy (838) and deposed from his bishopric.
In spite of this judgment, the liturgical writings of Amalarius, especially the Liber officialis (823), were widely read throughout the Middle Ages. His emphasis on the flexibility of meaning in the liturgical mysteries helped to bring about a shift toward liturgical devotion; this in turn aided the development of late-medieval forms of piety. Amalarius’s allegories are difficult, however, and are still in need of detailed study from the point of view of ritual and symbolic thought.
Schnusenberg, Christine. The Relationship Between the Church and the Theatre: Exemplified by Some Writings of the Church Fathers and by Liturgical Texts Until Amalarius of Metz. Lanham: University Press of America, 1988.
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