Amadeus of Lausanne

Bishop Amadeus of Lausanne, figure in the monastery church of Eschenbach LU

Amadeus of Lausanne (* around 1110 at Chatte Castle west of Grenoble , † August 27, 1159 in Lausanne ) was a Cistercian , abbot of Hautecombe and Catholic bishop of Lausanne .

Life and piety

Origin, youth and education

Amadeus came from a noble family and was probably born in 1110 as the son of Count Amadeus the Elder of Clermont . After the early death of his mother, at the age of ten he came to the Cistercian Abbey of Bonnevaux , which his father also entered, for education and instruction. In order to ensure an even better education for his son, the father decided in 1121 to transfer to Cluny with him . Amadeus soon moved from there to the court of Emperor Heinrich V to be instructed in the craft of war and thus to lay the foundations for the then usual career of a nobleman. Since he found little pleasure in it and felt drawn to monasticism, he entered the Clairvaux monastery in 1125 , where he was a pupil of St. Bernard .

Abbot of Hautecombe

In 1139 he was appointed abbot of the newly founded Hautecombe Abbey in Savoy, to which 200 monks belonged. Amadeus moved the convent from its original location to a more remote location on Lake Bourget and, thanks to his excellent organizational skills, principle, piety and scientific training, brought it to great spiritual maturity and worldly prosperity.

Bishop of Lausanne

In 1144 Amadeus was appointed Bishop of Lausanne by Pope Lucius II , although he was reluctant to accept this appointment. He was ordained bishop on January 21, 1145. His episcopate was marked by efforts to achieve internal and external stability in the diocese, in particular to ward off unjust attackers from outside. He succeeded in driving out Count Amadeus of Geneva, who, in his role as Guardian of Lausanne, exploited and oppressed the city and the diocese, and through many resistances in which he had to flee the city temporarily from incited citizens, Berthold IV . to be used by tough people as a new guardian. Among other things, this enabled him to retain the privileges and rights of the diocese and gain new freedoms. From a pastoral point of view, the education of both pious and educated clergy was important to him.

As is clear from documents and other sources, Amadeus maintained a wide variety of contacts with both ecclesiastical and secular leaders of his time. Among other things, an exchange with King Konrad III. , with Emperor Friedrich I. Barbarossa , but also with the Cistercian Pope Eugene III. , whom he knew from his time in Clairvaux, testifies. In addition, he was for some time the guardian of the still minor, later beatified Humbert III. used by Savoy , whose father Amadeus III. had not returned from the Second Crusade.

spirituality

Amadeus was a deeply pious person. During his time as bishop, he liked to privately pray to his friars in the Haut-Crêt Abbey, 15 km east of Lausanne. In addition to his great devotion to Mary, he is also known to have a deep devotion to St. Agnes , on whose memorial day, January 21, with the birth, the first day of school, entry into the novitiate , the taking of vows , the abbot's benediction and the episcopal ordination are important Events from his life fell.

Death and adoration

Amadeus of Lausanne died in 1159 at the age of 49 in his episcopal city, where he is buried in the cathedral in front of the cross altar. The veneration was in 1710 by Pope Clement XI. approved and confirmed again in 1903, although no canonization has taken place to this day . Remembrance day is August 27th, the day of his death.

Works

Marian homilies

Amadeus is best known thanks to the eight sermons he has given to Mary, which he wrote in praise of the Virgin Mary and due to which he can be described as the main representative of Marian piety in the 12th century, on which his remarks had a great influence. Particularly noteworthy is the 7th homily, where he gives a testimony to the bodily acceptance of Mary into heaven by Pope Pius XII. in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus of November 1, 1950 was included.

See also

• List of the bishops of Lausanne
• House Clermont-Tonnerre
• Master list of the House of Clermont-Tonnerre

literature

• Erhard Gorys: Lexicon of the saints. 8th edition. dtv, Munich 1997, ISBN 978-3-423-34149-3 .
• Veronika Feller-Vest: Amadeus. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . July 6, 2001 , accessed November 9, 2014 .
• Joachim Schäfer: Amadeus of Lausanne. On: Joachim Schäfer (Ed.): Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
• P. Engelbert Recktenwald FSSP: Amadeus of Lausanne . On: Catholic information portal "kath-info" . Retrieved August 24, 2014.
• Flowers from Switzerland. St. Amadeus, Bishop of Lausanne. In: The Pilgrim. A Sunday paper to stimulate the religious mind. 5th year, No. 28, 1846, p. 1. On: Google Books. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
• Mirko Breitenstein : The novitiate in the high Middle Ages. On the situation of entry among the Cluniac, Cistercian and Franciscan monks. LIT Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-8258-1259-1 , pp. 243-246. On: Google Books . Retrieved August 24, 2014.
• Ernst Tremp: lay people in the monastery. The high medieval reform monasticism under the onslaught of noble conversions. In: Eckart Conrad Lutz, Ernst Tremp (ed.): Priests and laypeople - a medieval antagonism? Freiburg Colloquium 1996. University Press Freiburg Switzerland, Freiburg 1999, ISBN 3-7278-1130-7 , pp. 41-42. On: Google Books . Retrieved August 24, 2014.

Web links

• The eight Sermons of the Virgin Mary of Amadeus in Latin in the digital department of the Bavarian State Library .
• Excerpt from a Marian sermon in English .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Ernst Tremp: Laymen in the monastery. The high medieval reform monasticism under the onslaught of noble conversions. 1999, p. 41. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
2. ↑ See Joachim Schäfer: Amadeus von Lausanne. Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
3. ↑ See flowers from the Swiss country. St. Amadeus, Bishop of Lausanne. Newspaper article in "Der Pilger" from 1846. Retrieved on August 24, 2014.
4. ↑ Cf. P. Engelbert Recktenwald FSSP: Amadeus von Lausanne. Catholic information portal "kath-info". Retrieved August 24, 2014.
5. ↑ Cf. P. Engelbert Recktenwald FSSP: Amadeus von Lausanne. Catholic information portal "kath-info". Retrieved August 24, 2014.
6. ↑ See flowers from the Swiss country. St. Amadeus, Bishop of Lausanne. Newspaper article in "Der Pilger" from 1846. Retrieved on August 24, 2014.
7. ↑ See Veronika Feller-Vest: Amadeus. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . July 6, 2001 , accessed November 9, 2014 .
8. ↑ See flowers from the Swiss country. St. Amadeus, Bishop of Lausanne. Newspaper article in "Der Pilger" from 1846. Retrieved on August 24, 2014.
9. ↑ See Joachim Schäfer: Amadeus von Lausanne. Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
10. ↑ Cf. P. Engelbert Recktenwald FSSP: Amadeus von Lausanne. Catholic information portal "kath-info". Retrieved August 24, 2014.
11. ↑ See Munificentissimus Deus, 28.

predecessor	Office	successor
Guy I. de Maligny	Bishop of Lausanne 1145–1159	Landri de Durnes