Ivo of Chartres

Who was Ivo of Chartres?

Saint Ivo of Chartres was the Bishop of Chartres from 1090 until his death and an important canon lawyer during the Investiture Crisis.

Ivo is claimed to have studied at the Abbey of Bec in Normandy under Lanfranc, where he would have met Anselm of Aosta, the great Scholastic. In 1069 or not much later, he became, at the desire of his bishop, prior of the canons of Saint-Quentin at Beauvais. As bishop of Chartres and a canonist he contended strongly against simony and opposed King Philip I's repudiation of his wife Bertha of Holland in order to marry Bertrade of Anjou in 1092. Ivo was briefly imprisoned for his opposition.

Three extensive canonical works—Tripartita, Decretum, and Panormia—are attributed to Ivo. He was an extensive letter writer. His feast has been kept since 1570 on 20 May; it is not known when or whether he was ever officially canonized.