Adalgott

Figure of St. God of nobility in the monastery church of Eschenbach LU

Adalgott (also Adelgott; † October 3, 1160 ) was Bishop of Chur . His feast day is October 3rd. In older literature, Adalgott is often confused with the abbot of Disentis of the same name from the 11th century.

Life and meaning

Adalgott was a Cistercian monk of the Clairvaux monastery and a pupil of Bernhard von Clairvaux . In 1150, at an advanced age, he was elected Bishop of Chur. It was consecrated on February 4, 1151 in Mainz, since the Diocese of Chur had belonged to the Mainz church province since the Treaty of Verdun (843) .

Despite his advanced age, he was an energetic and reform-minded bishop. In one of his documents he says about himself that he has taken on the burden of the episcopal office for the benefit of the monasteries and for the care of the poor ”( ego, Algotus Curiensis episcopus, pro utilitate monasteriorum et cura pauperum pontificale onus suscipiens ). He promoted and reformed the monasteries in the diocese and devoted himself to caring for the poor.

In particular, Adalgott sponsored the Premonstratensian monastery at St. Luzi in Chur, which was only founded in 1140/42 and which the Cistercian Pope Eugene III. how Adalgott had taken a pupil of Bernard of Clairvaux under his protection. In 1154 Adalgott donated the Chur Martinsspital as well as the monastery property in Mistail to the monastery St. Luzi with the condition to support the poor. With this allocation of goods, Adalgott legally and privately abolished the women's monastery of St. Peter im Mistail, as it had been uninhabited for several decades after a period of decline and a reorganization seemed impossible.

Adalgott also took care of the reform and revitalization of other monasteries in his diocese:

He restored monastic discipline in the episcopal monastery of Cazis , placed it under the direction of a Premonstratensian canon from St. Luzi and made donations to it. Pope Hadrian IV took the monastery under his protection in 1156 and confirmed his possessions.
He strengthened another own monastery personally and materially: the Benedictine convent St. Johann in the Münstertal.
He reformed and renewed the monastic discipline in the secular Schänis monastery .
Adalgott took particular care of the still unfortified Benedictine monastery Marienberg in Vinschgau (near Mals in South Tyrol). Around 1089/96 Eberhard von Tarasp founded a monastery in Schuls, the church of which was consecrated in 1131, but this had to be relocated to Vinschgau in 1146 due to its unfavorable location and poverty. Together with Ulrich III. von Tarasp, with whom Adalgott maintained good relations, he made donations for a material improvement of the monastery. On July 13, 1160, Adalgott was able to consecrate the crypt of the Marienberg monastery church.
In order to endorse his donations and reforms, Adalgott had them confirmed in 1157 by the Mainz Metropolitan Arnold von Selenhofen .

Adalgott was probably buried in Chur. However, his grave has not been preserved. After a short term in office, he left an orderly diocese with a renewed and consolidated monastic system. The decision to rebuild the cathedral in Chur (before 1178 to 1272) probably also goes back to Adalgott. Since 1646 (Churer Proprium) Adalgott has been liturgically venerated as a saint in the Diocese of Chur and the Cistercians also included him in their calendar of saints.

literature

Ekkart Sauser : Adalgott, Bishop of Chur. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 21, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-110-3 , column 6. ( article / beginning of article in the Internet archive )
Bruno Hübscher: Representations of St. Cistercian Adalgott, Bishop of Chur 1151–1160, and, according to legend, Abbot of Disentis . In: Vorarlberger Landesmuseumsverein, Freunde der Landeskunde (ed.): Yearbook , ISSN 1011-8748 , vol. 1996, pp. 77–81.

Web links

850 years of Bishop Adalgott in the SKZ
Art. Adalgott in the portal heiligederschweiz.ch.

Individual evidence

↑ Art. Adalgott in the portal heiligederschweiz.ch.
↑ Graubünden document book . Volume 1, No. 330 from 1154.
↑ Martin Bitschnau , Hannes Obermair : Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Department: The documents on the history of the Inn, Eisack and Pustertal valleys. Volume 1: By the year 1140 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2009, ISBN 978-3-7030-0469-8 , p. 234, No. 266 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Konrad II.	Bishop of Chur 1151–1160	Egino

personal data
SURNAME	Adalgott
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Bishop of Chur
DATE OF BIRTH	11th century or 12th century
DATE OF DEATH	October 3, 1160

[1] Art. Adalgott in the portal heiligederschweiz.ch.

[2] Graubünden document book . Volume 1, No. 330 from 1154.

[3] Martin Bitschnau , Hannes Obermair : Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Department: The documents on the history of the Inn, Eisack and Pustertal valleys. Volume 1: By the year 1140 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2009, ISBN 978-3-7030-0469-8 , p. 234, No. 266 .