Rotland of Arles

Rotland of Arles (also Rotlandus, Rolland, d. 18 September 869) was archbishop of Arles from c. 851 until his death in 869.

He is mentioned in a letter by Leo IV in 852 and in an act by Lothar I in 854. He participated in the on Predestination and Grace in 855. He is again mentioned in a letter by Louis the German to the bishops of his realm in 863, and in a letter by Nicolas I dated 12 May 864. He was the only bishop of Gaul to side with the pope who opposed Lothar II's decision to divorce his wife Teutberga in order to marry . He participated in the Council of Pistres and in the Council of Pavia in 864.

During Rotland's reign, the southern coast of France was plagued by Muslim pirates. In a raid in Camargue in September 869, Rotland was captured as he was supervising the organisation of the region's defence. His captors demanded a ransom of weapons and slaves. The ransom was paid, but Rotland had died before he could be released, so the Saracens gave back his body, fully dressed and seated on a chair. He was buried on 22 September 869 in the crypt of Notre-Dame des Grâces in Arles, between the sarcophagi of saints Genesius and Concordius.

References[]

• Gilles Duport - Histoire de l'Église d'Arles – 1690
• Michel Baudat et Claire-Lise Creissen - Les Saints d'Arles - Rencontre avec le Patrimoine religieux, 2013
• G. de Rey, Les invasions des sarrasins en Provence pendant le VIIIe, le IXe et le Xe siècle, Marseille, 1878
• Annales Bertiniani s.a. 865, 869.