Ulrich of Zell
Encyclopedia
- See also: Ulrich ZellUlrich ZellUlrich Zell was the first printer of Cologne. He was born at Hanau am Main, date unknown; he died about 1503.He learned the art of printing before 1462 in the printing establishment of Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer, and seems, shortly after the catastrophe of 1462, to have gone to Cologne, whose...
, the first printer in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
Saint Ulrich of Zell, also known as Wulderic, sometimes of Cluny or of Regensburg (1029 – 1093), was a Cluniac reformer of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, abbot, founder and saint.
Life
Ulrich was born at RegensburgRegensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
(formerly also known as Ratisbon) in early 1029. His parents, pious and rich, were Bernhold and Bucca, niece of Bishop Gebhard II of Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
. Ulrich was probably educated at the school of St. Emmeram's Abbey
St. Emmeram's Abbey
St. Emmeram's Abbey , now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram, and St...
, along with William of Hirsau
William of Hirsau
William of Hirsau was a Benedictine abbot and monastic reformer. He was abbot of Hirsau Abbey, for whom he created the Constitutiones Hirsaugienses, based on the uses of Cluny, and was the father of the Hirsau Reforms, which influenced many Benedictine monasteries in Germany...
, with whom he remained friends throughout his life, but in 1043 he was called to the court of his godfather, Henry III, King of the Germans
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry III , called the Black or the Pious, was a member of the Salian Dynasty of Holy Roman Emperors...
where he acted as page to Queen Agnes
Agnes de Poitou
Agnes of Poitou, Agnes of Aquitaine or Empress Agnes was Holy Roman Empress and regent of the Holy Roman Empire from 1056 to 1062.-Family:...
, who was of the ducal house of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, patrons of the reforming Abbey of Cluny. Ordained deacon by his uncle Nidger, Bishop of Freising, he was made archdeacon of the cathedral there, but was deeply moved by the spirit of reform that was sweeping from Cluny through the 11th century church. On his return from a journey to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
he distributed his possessions to the poor, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, and, after another short visit to Rome, returned to Regensburg, where he founded a religious community, and then entered the Abbey of Cluny in 1061, during the abbacy of Saint Hugh
Hugh of Cluny
Hugh of Cluny was an Abbot of Cluny. He is sometimes referred to as "Hugh the Great" or "Hugh of Semur" and was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Hugh . He was one of the most influential leaders of one of the most influential monastic orders of the Middle Ages.Abbot Hugh built the...
.
Here he was ordained priest and appointed confessor to the convent at Mareigny in the diocese of Autun
Diocese of Autun
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the entire Department of Saone et Loire, in the Region of Bourgogne....
, and prior of the community of men in the same place. He also lost an eye and was obliged to return to Cluny.
Later life
He was then named prior at PeterlingenPeterlingen Priory
Payerne Priory was a Cluniac monastery at Payerne, in Lausanne, Switzerland. The monastery is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.-History:...
(now Payerne
Payerne
Payerne is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully....
) in the Diocese of Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, but on account of troubles caused by Bishop Burchard von Oltingen, a partisan of 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...
, Ulrich returned again to Cluny, where he acted as adviser to the abbot. His influence drew the Benedictine community of Rüeggisberg
Rüeggisberg Priory
Rüeggisberg Priory was a Cluniac priory in the municipality of Rüeggisberg, Canton of Bern, Switzerland.The original foundation of uncertain date, made by Lütold of Rümligen, was turned into the first Cluniac house in the German-speaking world by Cuno of Siegburg and Ulrich of Zell in about 1072,...
to become a Cluniac priory in 1072, the first reformed priory in German-speaking lands . A nobleman had donated to Cluny some property at Grüningen near Breisach
Breisach
Breisach is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway between Freiburg and Colmar — 20 kilometres away from each — and about 60 kilometres north of Basel near the...
, and Ulrich was sent to inspect the place and eventually to lay the foundation of a monastery
Grüningen Priory
Grüningen Priory was a short-lived Cluniac foundation, predecessor to St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest, at Grüningen near Oberrimsingen in Breisach in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-History:...
. Not finding the locality suitable, he and his monks moved in 1087 to Zell
St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest
St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest was a priory of Cluny Abbey founded in the valley of the River Möhlin in the Black Forest in about 1083. St. Ulrich is now part of the municipality of Bollschweil, in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-History:The origins...
(Sell, Sella, Villmarszelle) in the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
, where his high reputation soon brought him many disciples. He enjoyed the good opinion of Blessed Gebhard III, Bishop of Basle, who frequently visited him. In 1090 he established Bollschweil Priory
Bollschweil Priory
Bollschweil Priory was a Cluniac nunnery at Bollschweil in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany....
, a Cluniac nunnery at Bolesweiler (now Bollschweil
Bollschweil
Bollschweil is a municipality in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 10 km south of Freiburg.-History:...
), about a mile from Zell. For the last two years of his life he was blind.
He died at Zell, later known as St. Ulrich im Schwarzwald
St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest
St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest was a priory of Cluny Abbey founded in the valley of the River Möhlin in the Black Forest in about 1083. St. Ulrich is now part of the municipality of Bollschweil, in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-History:The origins...
, probably on 10 July 1093. He was buried in the cloister, but three years later his body was brought into the church.
His feast was celebrated for the first time on 14 July 1139, and 14 July remains his feast day.
Works
His work "Consuetudines cluniacenses" ("Uses of Cluny") was composed at the request of William of HirsauWilliam of Hirsau
William of Hirsau was a Benedictine abbot and monastic reformer. He was abbot of Hirsau Abbey, for whom he created the Constitutiones Hirsaugienses, based on the uses of Cluny, and was the father of the Hirsau Reforms, which influenced many Benedictine monasteries in Germany...
, in three books. The first two, written between 1079 and 1082, treat of liturgy and the education of novices; the third, written not later than 1087, speaks of the administration of monasteries.
His life of Hermann of Zähringen, Margrave of Baden, later a monk of Cluny, is lost.
Biographies
Two biographies of him exist: the first was written anonymously around 1109 by a monk of ZellSt. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest
St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest was a priory of Cluny Abbey founded in the valley of the River Möhlin in the Black Forest in about 1083. St. Ulrich is now part of the municipality of Bollschweil, in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-History:The origins...
at the request of Adalbert, a recluse near Regensburg; the other (the Vita posterior), also anonymous, was written between 1109 and 1130. Particulars of his life are also contained in his writings.