Richard of Saint-Vanne (c.970-14 June 1046)

A former cleric at Reims cathedral, Richard rose to prominence as a monastic leader from 1004 onwards. His legacy has been the subject of numerous conflicting interpretations, the most influential of which sees him as a major proponent of monastic reform in Lotharingia. As the abbot of Saint-Vanne in Verdun, he elevated this minor institution to a position of regional prominence, architecturally, spiritually, and in terms of its cultic appeal. From 1008 Richard put his services at the disposal of a wide-ranging network of ecclesiastical and lay rulers, who relied on his charismatic appeal, organisational talent, and connections to initiate locally bred agendas of reform in a dozen institutions across the region. Later he became more focused on adopting an apostolic persona modelled after the life of Christ, offering his services to establish mutually beneficial relations between religious groups and the secular world. A man who commanded great respect with his lay and religious audiences, his contemporaries remembered Richard not so much as a selfless agent of institutional or disciplinary reform, but rather as a charismatic virtuoso, promoting conversion to all cohorts of society