Emerico di Quart

Éméric de Quart (adapted in Italian as Emerico di Quart), born in the latter part of the 13th century at the castle of Quart in the Aosta Valley, was Bishop of Aosta from 1302 until his death on 1 September 1313. He is more frequently named in ancient documents as Eymericus than Emericus or even Aimericus.

Life

Born in one of the most powerful families of Aosta Valley, the Lords of Quart, Éméric, after having made theological studies, chose to live apart from his noble family in a contemplative and ascetic way. After some years, however, he decided to reach the regular canonics of the Cathedral in Aosta. During this period Éméric was appreciated as a very worth and pious priest, a friend of poor people.

In October 1301 he was appointed new augustan bishop by all the canonics of Aosta including the ones of Saint Peter and Ursus capitol and in January 1302 he was consecrated bishop in Biella by Aimo of Challant, bishop of Vercelli.

All his biographers agree about his worthy life, his attention to poor people, his humility and devotion, but also his strength in protecting the rights of the wick from the arrogance of the wealthier. Éméric regularly convoked the Synod of his diocesis (we better know the one of 1307), promoting the sanctity of the clergy and the laities with rigorous rules especially in items such as fastings and religious feasts. In 1311 he established the feast of the Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary as a day of obligation.

He died in 1 September 1313 in Aosta and was buried in the chapel of Aosta Cathedral dedicated to Holy Mary's Conception.

Historical debate

Even if the majority of historians didn't pay particular attention about Éméric, some traditional convictions about his life were challenged by more critical scholars. In particular it was a common point in all the ancient biographies that Éméric was a canon in Saint Orso collegiate; but the historian Pierre Aimé Frutaz noticed that no clergyman called Emericus was mentioned in documents relating to the Collegiate, on the contrary a prebendarius called Emericus figured in Cathedral's papers.

Veneration

Veneration of Emericus seems to be very ancient: in fact we have a very significant proof of the veneration tributed to him in past times that is an illuminated picture dating 1498 where a Dominican friar is painted in act of veneration of Emericus having a halo.

He is venerated as a Blessed in the Catholic Church, his long-standing cultus having been confirmed by Pope Leo XIII in 1881.

Sources

We know very little about Éméric in particular about the period that precede his appointment as bishop and we don't have any text personally written by him. The most ancient sources are very short summaries about the date of his death and his pious donations contained in aostan necrologies. Then, almost suddenly,a picture appears in Aosta in 1498 showing Éméric as a blessed, invoked to cure many diseases.

The first complete biography of Éméric was written more than three hundred years after his death, approximately in 1650 by a notary named Jean Claude Mochet. A more historically correct biography was made in 1875 by bishop Joseph Auguste Duc (and another in 1908 in his monumental History of the Church in Aosta Valley) who was the same who collected almost all the ancient documents relating to Éméric' espiscopacy.

References