Hincmar, called the Younger, was the Bishop of Laon in the West Frankish Kingdom of Charles the Bald from 858 to 871.
The conflict grew dangerous as it became embroiled in the larger dispute of Lotharingian succession following Lothair II’s attempted divorce from his wife.
[1] It appears that Hincmar was a child prodigy, mastering Latin grammar, elements of Greek and the work of the Church Fathers.
Due to Hincmar of Rheims’s close relationship with Charles the Bald he was able to ‘secure the appointment of the episcopal candidates he favoured, including that of his own nephew to the strategically key bishopric of Laon.
[3] Hincmar disputed this, requesting clerical exemption from the royal court, and turned to his uncle for support.
For example, ‘that no one should dare to accuse a bishop before public judges’ from the ‘Roman Laws declared by Gratian, Valentinian and Theodoric’.
Thirty years earlier at the trial of Bishop Samuel of Toulouse he stated that he;‘would not suffer bishops to be examined outside of the royal and lay jurisdiction in matters pertaining to regalian rights and to the laws of the kingdom.’[6]Because of Hincmar of Reims's support for his nephew Charles ordered that the question would be handled by a synod.
But alongside Hincmar's threats to involve the papacy he also threatened to switch allegiance to King Lothar II.
[1] Indeed, in 868 following the death of Pope Nicholas I – Hadrian's predecessor – Lothar had tried to secure his position against his uncles; Charles the Bald and Louis the German.
[7] Lothar's attempted divorce from Theutberga was a key political issue as it potentially left him without an heir, thus providing an easy opportunity for Charles and Louis to seize the kingdom of Lotharingia.
[1] In his defence Hincmar asserted that the witnesses who knew the truth of what happened were not present, yet Charles forced him to answer.
As a result, Hincmar accused both Ragenardus and Grivo of wrongdoing yet he was unable to substantiate these claims or back them up under oath.
In 871 Hincmar of Rheims drew up a Synodal document to excommunicate Carloman and cease his grab for power.
[2]‘Already embroiled in major disputes with both his uncle and Charles the Bald, and already suspected of conspiring with Lothar II, Hincmar of Laon now brought down on himself the full extent of the king’s wrath.’[2]In August 871 Hincmar was seized by royal agents at taken to Douzy where he appeared before an ecclesiastical court.
Pope Hadrian II attempted to intervene but Charles the Bald was successful in defending royal rights within his realm, and following his death in 872 the most powerful dissenting voice to the deposition of Hincmar was removed.
Nelson states that by doing this, Charles the Bald ‘took vengeance for what he clearly believed was continued complicity with Carloman.’[2] Despite the decision reached at the Synod of Douzy it was not until 876, and with the permission of Pope John VIII that Archbishop Hincmar ordained his nephew's successor, Hedenulf, to the see of Laon.