Albrecht I of Lion

Saint Albrecht I of Leuven (also Albert of Liège ; * around 1165; † November 24, 1192 (or 1191 or 1193) in Reims ) was Bishop of Liège and cardinal . He was a son of Gottfried III. of Lower Lorraine and Margaretha of Limburg as well as the younger brother of Heinrich I , Duke of Brabant.

Life

Since his brother Heinrich was to take up the office of Duke of Brabant, Albrecht was given a career in the church. At a young age (around 1178) he was sent to the cathedral school of the Principality of Liège and stayed there until around 1187. In 1188 he was appointed archdeacon for the archdeaconate of Brabant, an area that includes the four deaneries of Leuven , Zoutleeuw , Jodoigne and Hozémont included. A year later he also became provost of the Liège churches of St. Peter and St. John.

After the death of Bishop Rudolf von Zähringen on August 5, 1191, he was elected as successor to one part of the chapter, while the other part chose Albert Graf von Rethel, a nephew of Baldwin V of Hainaut and Flanders. Emperor Heinrich VI. , both approached about the investiture, appointed the Bonn provost Lothar von Hochstaden at the Worms Reichstag in 1192 . Albrecht von Löwen had to give way to this, although Albert von Rethel renounced the diocese in his favor. He went to Rome and gained the recognition of Pope Coelestins III. ; when he returned to Brabant from there, strict orders from the emperor forbade his brother Heinrich to take him in. He turned to Reims and was murdered here on November 24, 1192 (according to other sources, 1191) by three Germans who are believed to have been instigated by the emperor.

But now his family and their followers rose up all over the Lower Rhine; Lothar had to flee from Liège and died in 1194 in Rome, where he had turned in penance. In order to appease the dangerous storm, the emperor pacified Albrecht's followers on a day in Koblenz in 1193 with declarations and gifts and erected two atonement altars for the murdered man in the Lambertus Church. Here, after Lothar's expulsion, the Chapter had chosen Count Simon of Limburg with the Emperor's approval; Albert von Rethel caused the rejection of this election in Rome because of his youth and Albrecht von Cuyk was then elected bishop. Albert von Rethel accompanied him again to Rome, where he died in 1195, to obtain papal confirmation.

Aftermath

In 1613 Albrecht von Löwen was canonized by the Pope (name day: November 24 (according to other sources November 25 or 21)). His remains were brought from Reims to Brussels and parts of them were later passed on as relics . Albrecht is considered the patron saint of the Belgian kings .

literature

• Alberdingk Thijm:  Albert von Löwen . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 183 f.
• Walter Kaemmerer:  Albert von Löwen. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 129 ( digitized version ).
• J. David: Geschiedenis van St. Albertus van Leuven, bisschop van Luik . Leuven 1845.
• Rik Uytterhoeven: 750 Jaar Leuvense Parochies . Peeters, Löwen 2002, ISBN 90-429-1258-8 .
• Thomas Shahan:  St. Albert . In: Catholic Encyclopedia , Volume 1, Robert Appleton Company, New York 1907.

Web links

• Albrecht I of Lion. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website, English)
• Entry on Albrecht I von Löwen on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Albert I of Liège in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
• genealogie-mittelalter.de

predecessor	Office	successor
Rudolf von Zähringen	Bishop of Liège 1191–1192	Lothar von Hochstaden

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This article is based on the article by Alberdingk Thijm in the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, listed above under literature . The copyrights have expired.