PIETY IS NOT ENOUGH

He was not the obvious choice as Archbishop of Reims. Reims was the foremost bishopric in the Frankish empire. Its bishop, having to deal with and live among kings and barons, was expected to come from nobility. But Ebbo, the putative archbishop, was of German peasant stock. Ebbo’s mother was recruited as wet nurse for the baby of Hildegard, wife to Emperor Charlemagne himself. Ebbo was already three years old when his mother started feeding the little child that the empress gave birth to. He was a boy, named Louis by his father, and little Louis became fast friends with Ebbo.

At the request of Louis, Charlemagne rendered Ebbo free from his serfdom and paid for his education. That meant, for a boy who was not of noble birth, entry into the Church. Little Ebbo, son of a peasant, became a priest