Gottschalk of Orbais

GOTTSCHALK of Orbais (Gottschalk der Sachse). b. ca. 803, d. 867 or 869. Born to a Saxon count named Berno, Gottschalk was given to the abbey of Fulda as a child oblate. He later challenged the validity of his oblation and petitioned to be released from his monastic vow. Gottschalk was allowed to leave Fulda by decree of a council at Mainz in 829, but Louis the Pious declared the decision void at the request of Hrabanus Maurus*, abbot of Fulda. Gottschalk was then transferred to the abbey of Orbais. He was condemned by a synod at Mainz in 848 for his statements on dual predestination; Gottschalk held that some are predestined to salvation and some to damnation, thereby inherently denying...