Paschasius Radbertus

c.785-860. Abbot and scholar. From the vicinity of Soissons, he entered the monastery of Corbie under the direction of Adalhard, its first abbot. Well versed in the Scriptures, Church Fathers, and Latin classics, he became an instructor of younger monks. His exemplary humility refused to allow him advancement beyond the order of deacon. Following the death of Abbot Isaac, however, he accepted the abbacy of Corbie, a post he renounced for unencumbered study about 853. Meanwhile he attended the synods of Paris (847) and Quiercy (849). He produced several biographies and dogmatic works-especially contributions in Mariology-and extensive commentaries on Matthew, Psalm 44, and Lamentations; yet De corpore et sanquine Domini, written in 831 and revised in 844, is his most famous work. His realistic interpretation of Christ's presence at the sacrament, graphically depicted as being in the Lord's same crucified and risen flesh, was sharply opposed by Ratramnus* and Rabanus Maurus* and later gave way to a subtler, Aristotelian explanation.