William of Malavalle

Representation in the Buxheim choir stalls by Ignaz Waibel

Wilhelm von Malavalle , it. Guglielmo di Malavalle , French Guillaume de Malavalle (also Maleval ) (* possibly around 1100; † 1157 in the Malavalle hermitage near Castiglione della Pescaia , Province of Grosseto , Tuscany , Italy ) was a hermit and ascetic . After his death, his students Albert and Renald founded the Hermit Congregation of the Wilhelmites with the Maleval monastery.

Life

Little reliable has come down to us on the biography of Wilhelm von Malavalle. He is said to have converted after a dissolute life and made pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela . On the advice of Pope Eugene III. he retired as a hermit in a desert in Tuscany "in stabulo Rhodis" (in the stable of Rhodi), "quod hodie dicitur Malauallis" (which is now called Malavalle). The reputation of his piety spread; many pilgrims sought him out as counselors in that remote valley.

Canonization and devotion

William of Malavalle was in 1202 by Pope Innocent III. recognized as a saint. His festival is February 10th .

Guglielmo di Malavalle is the patron saint of the Italian municipality of Fascia in the province of Genoa .

Representation in art history

From the 13th century onwards, the figure of the saint often depicted in Christian art merged with the Carolingian Wilhelm of Aquitaine on glass windows .

An artistically outstanding representation of Wilhelm is located near Witzenhausen in Hesse, where there was a branch monastery .

literature

Kaspar Elm : Wilhelm von Malavalle and the Tuscan hermit movement of the 12th and 13th centuries . In: Ders .: Contributions to the history of the Wilhelmite Order . Böhlau, Cologne 1962, pp. 11–33.
Adolar Zumkeller : Wilhelm von Malavalle. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 13, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-072-7 , Sp. 1245-1246. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
Art. Wilhelmiter . In: Ernst Götzinger : Reallexicon of the German antiquities . Urban, Leipzig, 2nd ed. 1885, p. 1084.
Art. Guilielmus Magnus . In: Johann Evangelist Stadler : Complete Lexicon of Saints . Vol. 2, B. Schmid'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung (A. Manz), Augsburg 1861, pp. 552–553.

Footnotes

↑ Albrecht Vogel: Wilhelmites . In: Real Encyclopedia for Protestant Theology and Church , Vol. 15, pp. 150–151.
^ Martyrologium Romanum , entry for February 10, edition by Cesare Baronio , Venice 1597, p. 79, sub g).
^ Maria Corsi: Guglielmo da Malavalle. Culto e iconografia nel Quattrocento toscano . In: Iconographica. Rivista di iconografia medievale e moderna , Vol. 3 (2004), pp. 100-109.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm von Maleval - Collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	William of Malavalle
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Hermit and saint, often depicted in religious art, namesake of the order of the Wilhelmites
DATE OF BIRTH	uncertain: around 1100
DATE OF DEATH	February 10, 1157
Place of death	Castiglione della Pescaia

[1] Albrecht Vogel: Wilhelmites . In: Real Encyclopedia for Protestant Theology and Church , Vol. 15, pp. 150–151.

[2] Martyrologium Romanum , entry for February 10, edition by Cesare Baronio , Venice 1597, p. 79, sub g).

[3] Maria Corsi: Guglielmo da Malavalle. Culto e iconografia nel Quattrocento toscano . In: Iconographica. Rivista di iconografia medievale e moderna , Vol. 3 (2004), pp. 100-109.