Ebbo or Ebo (c. 775-March 20, 851, Hildesheim, Saxony) was the archbishop of Rheims from 816 until 835 and again from 840 to 841. He was born a German serf on the royal demesne of Charlemagne. He was educated at his court and became the librarian and councillor of Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, son of Charlemagne. When Louis became emperor, he appointed Ebbo to the see of Rheims, then vacant after the death of Wulfaire.
He was an important figure in the spread of Christianity in the north of Europe. At the insistence of Louis, in 822, he went to Rome and Pope Pascal I to become the papal legate to the North. He was licensed to preach to the Danes and he and Halitgar, bishop of Cambrai, and Willerich, bishop of Bremen, went there in 823. He made short later trips, but all with little success. Saint Ansgar was more successful a few years later.
When Louis`s sons by his first marriage to Ermengarde of Hesbaye (Lothair, Louis, and Pepin) rebelled in 830, Ebbo remained loyal. But in 833, he joined the insurrection and, on November 13, presided over the synod in the Church of Saint Mary in Soissons which deposed Louis and forced him to publicly confess many crimes, none of which he had, in fact, committed. In return, Lothair gave Ebbo the Abbey of Saint Vaast.
He then became a loyal follower of Lothair. He remained with him even after Louis`s reinstatement in March 834. When Lothair had to flee to Italy, however, Ebbo was too ill with gout to follow and took shelter with a Parisian hermit. He was found by Louis`s men and imprisoned in the Abbey of Fulda. Events of the previous year were soon reversed. He was brought to the Synod of Thionville (February 2, 835) and made to admit, in front of 43 bishops, that the crimes of which Louis had been accused he had never committed. He publicly recanted from the pulpit in Mainz on February 28. The Synod then promptly deposed him. He was again imprisoned in Fulda and later given to Fr
