Adalbero of Würzburg
Encyclopedia
Life
He was the son of Count Arnold II of Lambach in Upper AustriaUpper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
(of the family of the Counts of Formbach) and his wife the Countess Reginlint. He was born around 1010 in Lambach an der Traun. After his studies in the cathedral school at Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
Adalbero entered the service of King Henry III
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors...
, who in 1045 nominated him as successor to Bruno as Bishop of Würzburg.
Bishop Adalbero continued the construction of the new cathedral begun by Bruno and established the "Neumünsterkirche" ("New Minster Church") (built between 1058 and 1063). Significant contributions in the reform of ecclesiastical life are attributed to him. He was in close contact with the reformers at Cluny
Cluny Abbey
Cluny Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was built in the Romanesque style, with three churches built in succession from the 10th to the early 12th centuries....
, Gorze
Gorze Abbey
Gorze Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Gorze in the present arrondissement of Metz-Campagne, near Metz in Lorraine. It was prominent as the source of a monastic reform movement in the 930s.-History:...
and Hirsau
Hirsau Abbey
Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most prominent Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It was located in the town of Hirsau, in the Diocese of Speyer, near Calw in the present Baden-Württemberg.-History:...
. He brought the monk Egbert from Gorze, who proved extremely effective firstly in bringing about the renewal of Münsterschwarzach Abbey
Münsterschwarzach Abbey
Münsterschwarzach Abbey , is a Benedictine monastery in Germany. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Schwarzach and Main in Bavaria....
and then, through the spread of the subsequent Münsterschwarzach Reforms, in exerting an influence far beyond it, from Harsefeld
Harsefeld
Harsefeld is a municipality situated south-west of Hamburg...
near Stade
Stade
Stade is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany and part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region . It is the seat of the district named after it...
in the north to Melk
Melk Abbey
Melk Abbey or Stift Melk is an Austrian Benedictine abbey, and one of the world's most famous monastic sites. It is located above the town of Melk on a rocky outcrop overlooking the river Danube in Lower Austria, adjoining the Wachau valley....
and Lambach
Lambach Abbey
Lambach Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Lambach in Austria.-History:A monastery was founded in about 1040 by Bishop Adalbero of Würzburg , which since 1056 has been a Benedictine abbey. During the 17th and 18th centuries a great deal of work in the Baroque style was carried out, much of it by...
(a reformed Benedictine abbey founded by Adalbero himself in the castle of his family) in the south. In 1057 Adalbero re-settled the abbey of St. Peter, Paul and Stephen in Würzburg
St. Stephen's Abbey, Würzburg
St. Stephen's Abbey in Würzburg, Germany, was a Benedictine monastery, founded c.1013. It existed until 1803.-History:St. Stephen's Abbey was founded by Henry of Rothenburg, Bishop of Würzburg, about 1013, for regular canons who followed the Rule of St. Chrodegang...
, until then a college of canons regular
Canons Regular
Canons Regular are members of certain bodies of Canons living in community under the Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common...
, with Benedictines from Münsterschwarzach.
After the death of Henry III, Adalbero intensified his involvement in the councils of the empire and the court and in synods, and gained a reputation as an advisor and mediator. In 1066 in Würzburg he performed the marriage ceremony between Henry IV
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
and Bertha of Savoy. Together with other princes he brokered the Peace of Speyer in 1075.
In the Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
which broke out shortly afterwards Adalbero took the side of Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII
Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...
in opposition to Henry IV. Gregory objected to the practice of the appointment of bishops being vested in territorial princes rather than in the papacy. The Synod of Worms
Synod of Worms
The Synod of Worms was an ecclesiastical synod convened by the Emperor Henry IV in January 1076, at Worms, Germany. It was intended to agree a condemnation of Pope Gregory VII, and Henry's success in achieving this outcome marked the beginning of the Investiture Controversy.Of the 38 German...
however supported Henry against Gregory's ideas and declared the Pope deposed, whereupon Gregory excommunicated Henry, forcing him to go to the Pope at Canossa
Canossa
Canossa is a comune and castle town in Emilia-Romagna, famous as the site where Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV did penance in 1077, standing three days bare-headed in the snow, in order to reverse his excommunication by Pope Gregory VII...
to beg for absolution.
Having obtained this, however, the dependency of the bishops on the king was once again reinforced. Adalbero and other princes therefore in 1077 appointed as anti-king Duke Rudolf of Rheinfelden. The citizens of Würzburg however remained loyal to Henry IV and barred Adalbero's return to the city, to which King Henry appointed a series of anti-bishops. Adalbero rejected all attempts at mediation, saying that he would die rather than yield. At the Synod of Mainz in 1085 therefore he was formally deposed and banished.
In 1086 Rudolf of Rheinfelden returned him to Würzburg, but he was soon ejected again. He remained faithful to the pope, and thereafter immersed himself in work at his monastery in Lambach. He was also co-founder of Zwiefalten Abbey
Zwiefalten Abbey
- References :...
in Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
. On 6 October 1090 he died in Lambach and was buried in the abbey church which he himself had founded and dedicated.
Veneration
Soon after his death he began to be venerated as a saint in his Austrian home, and his veneration in Münsterschwarzach is evidenced since the 17th century.In 1883 Pope Leo
Pope Leo
Pope Leo was the name of thirteen Roman Catholic Popes:*Pope Leo I Leo the Great *Pope Leo II *Pope Leo III *Pope Leo IV *Pope Leo V *Pope Leo VI *Pope Leo VII *Pope Leo VIII...
confirmed Adalbero a saint in the worldwide church. In the "Neumünsterkirche" in Würzburg since 1948 there has been a glass shrine, by Josef Amberg, containing a thighbone of Adalbero as a relic. Also in Würzburg is the neo-Romanesque St. Adalbero's church.