Abbo

Scholar

Abbo probably the greatest scholar of the age, was born about 945 into a noble family of the Orleanais and died in 1004. He was taken when very young to the newly reformed Abbey of Fleury-sur-Loire, where he became an oblate under Abbot Wulfaldus. Fleury became the foremost centre of learning in France, and Abbo was made schoolmaster there in about 965. The image shown is from the Title page of a tract written by Abbo of Fleury, showing the word ABBO, created in Fleury Abbey.

The Monastery of Fleury-sur-Loire was reformed in 938 under it’s Abbot Odo and it rapidly became the centre of the Benedictine movement in Northern Europe. Here Abbo was given instruction in the seven liberal arts, gaining adequate knowledge in only five.

To make up for this deficiency, he travelled, when about 16 to the Cathedral school in Rheims for education in Mathematics and Astronomy by Gerbert Aurillac. Later he took private lessons in music at Orleans. Returning to Fleury, after some years as assistant, Abbo was placed in charge of the monastic school there in about 965 and began teaching in all seven arts.

The seven liberal arts
Consisted of the:-

Trivium – A preparatory group comprising of – rhetoric, dialect and grammar.

Quadrivium – A more advanced group consisting of – Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astronomy.
(Ref 6)