Bishops on the Move: Rather of Verona, Pseudo-Isidore, and Episcopal Translation

In 953, the Lotharingian monk Rather was appointed bishop of Liège. Eighteen months later, he was banished from the see, accused of illegally transferring from one bishopric to another. Canon law prohibited the translation of a bishop, and Rather had previously held the see of Verona. This article looks at the episode afresh, examining how Rather sought to justify his appointment to Liège, and focusing particularly on his use of the Pseudo-Isidorian forgeries. Rather’s abortive transfer provides a rare opportunity to study the dissemination of Pseudo-Isidore and the application of its norms in matters of episcopal autonomy. This analysis suggests that the affair was a key moment in the diffusion of Pseudo-Isidorian ideas about episcopal translation, paving the way for the revolutionary attitudes to episcopal mobility that prevailed in the late tenth and eleventh centuries. In view of these later developments, the article also asks why Rather’s career floundered despite having the backing of Otto I and his bishops.