Monastic Formation
As a young man Philibert was placed at the Merovingian court of King Dagobert I at Metz, where he encountered Saints Ouen and Wandregisel, companions who shaped his vocation. With royal permission he became a monk at Rebais, the monastery Ouen had founded, and in 650 succeeded Agilus as its abbot.
As abbot he faced disputes over the strictness of the rule of Columbanus observed at Rebais. To resolve them he traveled to Luxeuil and to Bobbio in Italy to study their constitutions and practices firsthand, and afterward drew on Benedict, Macarius, Basil the Great, and Columbanus to shape his own hybrid monastic rule.
Foundation of Jumièges
Through the influence of Queen Balthild, King Clovis II granted Philibert forested royal land on which he established Notre Dame de Jumièges in 654, formally the Abbey of Saint Peter at Jumièges. The royal couple endowed the community with gifts and pastures drawn from the royal fisc.
Under Philibert's hybrid rule the community devoted itself to reclaiming wasteland while welcoming pilgrims and the poor. Jumièges later grew into a major Benedictine center, until it was destroyed by Vikings in 841. Philibert's monastic example inspired others, among them the Irish monk Sidonius, who founded the monastery of Saint-Saëns.
Conflict with Ebroin and Exile
Philibert confronted Ebroin, mayor of the palace of Neustria, over his persecution of Bishop Leodegar. The rebuke provoked retaliation: Philibert lost royal favor, endured a brief imprisonment, and was barred from Jumièges.
He withdrew to Austrasia, where Bishop Ansoald placed the abbey of Luçon under his supervision. After the death of Ebroin in 681 he was able to return briefly to Jumièges, where he reconciled with Saint Ouen before his final departure to the coast.
Noirmoutier and Later Foundations
Around 676 Philibert founded a monastery on the island of Her (Noirmoutier), where the community undertook agricultural development, irrigation, and the exploitation of salt. Bishop Ansoald granted him further land at Déas, the site that became Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu.
He also established Saint-Michel-en-l'Herm and, in 682, founded convents for nuns at Pavilly and Montivilliers. He died on the island in 684 and was buried at Heriou.
Relics & Shrines
In 836 the monks of Noirmoutier fled Viking raids carrying Philibert's relics, and after successive moves they finally settled at Tournus in 875. The great church of Saint-Philibert at Tournus, which still stands, grew up around the shrine.
In January 1998 thieves desecrated the reliquary, stealing the skull and two of the saint's bones.
Legacy and Name
Numerous French villages bear Philibert's name, a mark of the reach of his foundations across Neustria and Aquitaine.
By tradition the filbert, or hazelnut, is said to take its name from him because it ripens in England around the date of his feast, August 20.
