Roger of Helmarshausen

Roger of Helmarshausen was a goldsmith and metalwork artist of the Middle Ages, and also a Benedictine monk. Born around 1070 in the Meuse region, he is first documented in connection with Stavelot Abbey, a major centre of Mosan art and especially of goldsmithing. After completing his training, he worked between 1100 and 1107 at the Monastery of St. Pantaleon in Cologne, and at least two portable altars attributed to him survive in the treasury of Paderborn Cathedral.

Shortly afterwards he moved to Helmarshausen Abbey, where he set up a goldsmith's workshop. There he produced important Romanesque works, including illuminated codices and many pieces of jewellery, in close association with the abbey's scriptorium. He has been proposed as the real author of the treatise De diversis artibus, traditionally ascribed to the pseudonymous Theophilus Presbyter. The attribution is not universally accepted, but it has backing among several scholars. His legacy is tied largely to this technical treatise, which documents the craft methods of the period.