ABSTRACT
It seems paradoxical to start a chapter on Benedict of Aniane by stating that not much is known about his life. 1 At least, not much is known that has not been subjected to the expert manipulation by Ardo, the author of his vita, composed in 822, soon after the abbot’s death. Like many of his fellow biographers and hagiographers in the Carolingian age, Ardo managed to weave several narrative and biographical strands together to form a portrait that seems as realistic as it was idealized. The resulting vita reveals much about the perceived relation between his monastery and the imperial court, but is sparse on biographical data about the saint himself. In that respect, it is almost ironic to note that Ardo himself has been the subject of a misunderstanding as to his own identity: due to a mix-up of nicknames and a gloss in one of the manuscripts of the enigmatic Chronicon Moissiacense, it has long been thought that Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel and Ardo were the same person. 2
