Philip of Harvengt: Vita Sancti Amandi

A life of Amand, the seventh-century missionary bishop and founder of the abbey of Elnone, later called Saint-Amand, written by Philip of Harvengt, abbot of the Premonstratensian house of Bonne-Espérance in Hainaut. An editorial preface explains that Philip, commonly called de Eleemosyna, wrote at the request of Abbot Hugh of Saint-Amand, to whom the first dedicatory letter is addressed, and published the work around 1170 under Hugh’s successor John, to whom a second letter is addressed; it also quotes Philip’s epitaph. The life narrates Amand’s preaching, foundations, and miracles, such as a royal grant of the estate of Barisis, where he founded a monastery under his disciple Andrew. Two collections of miracles in Gaul and in Brabant follow.

Amand was one of the principal missionaries of the regions that became Flanders and Hainaut, and his abbey of Elnone was among the most important religious houses of the Low Countries. Philip’s version rewrites the older Merovingian life in an elaborate style for the monks of Saint-Amand, adding the later miracle collections. It is a significant example of twelfth-century hagiographical rewriting and of the close relations between the Premonstratensians of Hainaut and the Benedictine abbeys of the region.