Adalard of Corbie
Carolingian saint
Feast: 2 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Adalard, born about 751, was a grandson of Charles Martel and cousin of Charlemagne, educated at the palace school and made Count of the Palace while very young. At twenty he entered the monastery of Corbie; seeking seclusion he went to Monte Cassino, but Charlemagne ordered him back to Corbie as abbot and made him chief minister to his son Pepin, King of Italy.
Wrongly suspected by Louis the Pious, he was exiled for seven years to Noirmoutier; recalled, he became one of the emperor's chief advisers. In 822 he and his brother Wala founded the monastery of New Corvey in Westphalia. He died on 2 January 827.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A royal kinsman who chose the monastery and bore unjust exile patiently.
Connected on this site
- Paschasius Radbertus Saint Pupil
- Wala of Corbie Saint Brother or sister
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Adalard
- Wikidata Q348198 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Adalard of Corbie (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.