Abbot Suger

Abbot Suger (c. 1081 – January 13, 1151) was one of the last French abbot-statesmen. He was also a historian, the first patron of Gothic architecture, advisor to kings Louis VI of France and Louis VII of France and regent of France.

 Life 
Suger was part of a poor family, and in 1091, he was brought to the abbey of Saint-Denis. Among his schoolmates were Louis Capet, the future King of France, with whom he would become friends. He became secretary to the abbot of Saint-Denis in 1104. When Louis VI became king in 1108, Suger began to advise him. Suger advised the young king to become a patron of Saint Denis, the patron saint of France who was martyred for bringing Christianity to Gaul in 272.

In1122 Suger was elected abbot of Saint-Denis. When Holy Roman Emperor Henry V invaded France in 1124, Louis VI rode into battle carrying the Oriflamme, the banner of Saint-Denis, which normally rested in the church along with the relics of the saint. As a result of his appeal to the nobility’s veneration for the saint, he was followed by a larger army of nobles than had ever previously pledged their allegiance to him or to his father. The army of Louis VI and the Oriflamme were so formidable that Henry V retreated without battle.

When Louis VI in 1137, his son Louis VII did initially rejected Suger as an advisor. During this time is when Suger began to rebuild the decaying church in Gothic form, one of the first of this type of architecture. 

Louis VII seized the lands of Theobald II, Count of Champagne. Suger became acted as a mediator an negotiated peace. When Bernard of Clairvaux urged Louis VII to take up arms and lead a crusade as penance for the war with Theobald, Suger advised against it. When Louis VII left for the Hoy Land in 1147, Suger was appointed regent during the king's absence. In 1150 Suger and Bernard began making plans for a third crusade. However, Suger contracted malaria and died in 1151. He was interred at Saint-Denis.

References

 Other websites 
 Gothic Art and Abbe Suger 

Category:1081 births
Category:1151 deaths
Category:French Roman Catholic priests