Achard of Saint Victor
Anglo-French canon regular and bishop
Achard of Saint Victor (c. 1100 – 29 March 1171) was a canon regular and abbot of the Abbey of St. Victor, Paris and later Bishop of Avranches. By tradition, he is honoured as a Blessed by his fellow Canons Regular of St. Augustine.
Life
Achard is thought to have been born in England and educated in France, based on evidence from an early collection of Victorine epitaphs. Another theory is that he came from the noble Norman family of de Pertins of Domfront.
He completed his studies at the monastery school of St. Victor and entered the cloister there. On the death of the first abbot, Gilduin of Saint-Victor (d. 1155), he was elected to fill the vacant post, becoming the second abbot of the abbey (a post he held until 1161) at a time when the royal abbey was almost at the zenith of its glory and power.
In 1157 the cathedral chapter of Sées, composed of canons regular, elected Achard as their bishop, and the choice was duly confirmed by Pope Adrian IV, but Henry II of England intervened and named his personal chaplain, Frogier (or Roger), to the office, thereby vetoing Achard's election.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Achard of Saint Victor” is anglo-French canon regular and bishop. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Achard, Saint and Victor, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “anglo-French canon regular and bishop” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2822993. VIAF identifies the subject as 7741792. The Library of Congress control number is n89618761. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1100, 1171, 1155 and 1161.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Achard of Saint Victor”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Achard of Saint Victor primary sources, Achard of Saint Victor archive and Achard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Achard of Saint Victor”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Achard of Saint Victor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.