Gero (becoming)

Gero was probably abbot of Werden and Helmstedt from 1052 to 1059 . According to late medieval information, however, he is said to have ruled for thirteen years, i.e. from around 1050 to 1063.

Life

According to information from the 15th and 16th centuries, it came from the von Friemersheim family. It is clear that his parents owned property in Duissern and Duisburg .

Before being elected abbot, he was provost in Werden. In his time, the old Carolingian crypt, which was meanwhile in danger of collapsing, was renewed. The abbot had an outside crypt built. This included the grave of St. Liudger in the building complex of the monastery church . In 1059, Archbishop Anno II consecrated a trinity altar on the site of an older altar at the saint's grave . The entire crypt was also consecrated by him.

A document issued in Anno II at Gero's urging on behalf of Heinrich III. allegedly issued 1056 has been found to be a fake. Two documents from 1052 and 1055 have turned out to be authentic. These allow certain conclusions to be drawn about Gero's property policy aimed at expanding manorial power.

In 1059 he donated his Anniversar. The unanimous opinion is that March 15th was the day of his death.

literature

• Wilhelm Stüwer: The imperial abbey in the Ruhr (= Germania Sacra . New episode 12: The dioceses of the church province of Cologne. The archbishopric of Cologne. 3). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1980, ISBN 3-11-007877-5 , pp. 309 f., ( digitized version ).