Ulrich of Augsburg

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Saint Ulrich von Augsburg , Latin Uodalricus , Old High German Uodalrîh , listed in the Augsburg bishops list as Ulrich I , (* 890 in Wittislingen or Augsburg; † July 4, 973 in Augsburg ) was bishop of Augsburg from 923 to 973 .

He earned his merit through the repeated determined defense of the city of Augsburg during the Hungarian invasions in the 10th century. He took part in the victory of King Otto I over the Hungarians in the battle of the Lechfeld (August 8-10, 955) by tying opposing forces to the city fortifications immediately before the start of the battle . His role in the battle soon became a legend, around which numerous myths and artistic representations grew over the centuries, expressed particularly prominently in the Ulrichskreuz .

Ulrich is considered in many representations as the first saint confirmed in a canonization process ( canonization ). Pope John XV is said to have certified the result on February 3, 993, but the wording of the certificate has only survived in the context of later copies.

Church historical circumstances

Ulrich took over the diocese of Augsburg in 923 through appointment by the East Franconian King Heinrich I. The diocese then suffered from frequent invasions of the Hungarians into the empire. Because of this permanent danger, Ulrich initiated the construction of a protective wall ring instead of existing palisades around the city. Ulrich fulfilled his state obligations as bishop towards the respective ruler in an exemplary manner. He was one of their advisors and was also a missionary.

Life

Ulrich, depicted in the St. Agatha Chapel near Disentis (around 1460)

Ulrich was the son of Gaugrafen Hupald of Dillingen. He came from the noble family of the Hupaldinger, the ancestors of the Counts of Dillingen . According to Pupikofer, his mother Dietburga (also Thietburga) was Burchard's daughter from the Burcharding family . His father prepared a church career for him and sent him to the Abbey of St. Gallen , where Ulrich studied from 900 to 908. After an intermezzo as chamberlain of his uncle, the Augsburg bishop Adalbero , he retired to his parents' property in 909 after his death. Intercessions with the king meant that 14 years later he was entrusted with the office of Bishop of Augsburg, which had become vacant due to the death of Bishop Hiltin . His episcopal ordination took place on December 28, 923.

Ulrich led a strong policy and was held in high regard by the German kings Heinrich I and Otto I. He was able to assert himself against Duke Arnulf , who at that time wanted to transfer the right to consecration of the monastery to the secular, and had Augsburg fortified in 926 during the Hungarian invasions . Above all, he is regarded as a close confidante and companion of Otto I. Ulrich can be identified at least fifteen times in Otto's entourage.

He took his pastoral and state tasks seriously and intensified missionary work among the clergy and the people. He cared for monasteries and supported the poor. He had a strong influence on the design of the liturgy.

In the Liudolfin uprising (952–954) Ulrich took the side of the king, although at that time all of Swabia , Franconia and Bavaria fell away from the king. Later he was able to broker an armistice between Otto I and his rebellious son Liudolf together with the Chur bishop Hartbert .

In August 955, the Hungarians , who were then traveling through southern Europe , also reached Augsburg. They besieged the city, but failed to capture the wall. Ulrich commanded the defenders on horseback. The Hungarians kept themselves looted in the surrounding area. They also destroyed the church of St. Afra outside the city . Ulrich had the church rebuilt after the end of the fighting. He also had the cathedral in Augsburg and the monasteries and villages in his area destroyed by the Hungarians rebuilt and was temporarily abbot of the Kempten monastery and Ottobeuren monastery .

Bishop Ulrich in the battle on the Lechfeld . Fresco by Franz Xaver Kirchebner in the parish church of Ortisei in Val Gardena .

The fact that Ulrich and the Augsburgers succeeded in repelling the superior attackers was probably eminently important for the triumphant victory of the rushed Otto on August 10, 955 in the battle of the Lechfeld over the Hungarians. After these struggles, Ulrich finally rose to the upper stratum of the powerful in Germany . Because of these achievements Ulrich received the privilege of minting coins from Otto.

Around 958 he donated a shrine made of gold and silver for relics of St. Mauritius . In 969 he founded the St. Stephan Canon Church in Augsburg .

From 960 onwards, Ulrich began to withdraw more and more in favor of his spiritual duties: in 963 he gave his nephew Adalberto the administration of army and court service. In the following, he devoted himself entirely to spiritual tasks: He made a pilgrimage to Rome at least four times, from where he was also able to transfer various holy relics to Augsburg. He also traveled a lot through his diocese , preached himself, gave confirmation everywhere, etc. All of this made him extremely popular with the people.

According to a medieval source, the Anonymous von Herrieden (around 1075), he buried his friend, Bishop Starchand, in Eichstätt in 966 .

dig

In 971 Ulrich went one step further and transferred the administration of the diocese and all secular tasks of the bishop to Adalbero. In September 972 he failed with the plan to transfer the episcopate to himself and to retire to monastic life because of the emperor's veto. Ulrich died on July 4th, 973 in Augsburg and was buried in the rebuilt St. Afra Church in Augsburg .

Ulrich, who was probably the most influential German cleric during his lifetime, also wrote history after his death: According to a later historiographical tradition, he was canonized by the Pope on February 3, 993, less than twenty years after his death, at a Roman synod . Such a formal canonization process is not known from this period. Ulrich might be the first to be canonized personally by a Pope . There is disagreement among specialist scholars about the credibility of this tradition. Formal canonization (canonization) by the Pope was not considered necessary for the veneration of saints in the 11th century.

The memory of his ascetic life, his charity and piety soon led to popular veneration as a saint, which spread over large parts of Europe. Especially in Augsburg, but also elsewhere in southern Germany, his name became extremely popular as a first name in the late Middle Ages . In 1575 Johann Fischart wrote that the people of Augsburg were all called Urli ("Ulrich").

The writing Descriptio Udalrici , ascribed to Bishop Ulrich, was widespread and claimed that forced celibacy was scriptural and that the immorality of the clergy could only be ended by church marriage of the secular priests . The council of 1079 condemned this writing.

Adoration

Christianity

Bishop Ulrich with a fish
Bishop Ulrich on horseback on the Lechfeld, statue between the two other Augsburg saints Afra and Simpert in front of the Augsburg Cathedral

Ulrich's religious worship began shortly after his funeral. Immediately after his death he is already referred to and venerated as a sanctus . During his lifetime he had his tomb built on the south side of the newly built Afra Church, which immediately after his death became a popular pilgrimage site for many believers.

His Roman Catholic day of remembrance is the day of his death, July 4th (a day of remembrance not required in the regional calendar for the German-speaking area ). In the diocese of Augsburg this day is celebrated as a solemn festival ("Ulrichstag"). Until the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803, this day was also the "national holiday" of the bishopric of Augsburg . Ulrich is one of the three patrons of the city and the diocese of Augsburg . In the Alpine countries, blessings against storms take place on this day, which is why the “Ulrich Day” in Austria is also called “Alpine Blessing Day”.

Ulrich's day of remembrance in the Evangelical Name Calendar of the Evangelical Church in Germany is also July 4th . (For the remembrance of the Evangelical Lutheran saints, see Confessio Augustana , Article 21.)

The farmer's rule for his day of remembrance is: Rain on St. Ulrich's Day makes the pears sting.

Ulrich is the saint of travelers, hikers, fishermen, weavers, winemakers and the dying. He is called in the event of a difficult birth, against fever, weakness, rage and rabies, rat and mouse plagues, water hazards and floods.

Ulrich Week is celebrated annually in honor of St. Ulrich and commemorates the battle on the Lechfeld in 955, during which, at Ulrich's intercession, the onslaught of the "pagan" armies of horsemen on the Christian West could be repulsed.

Ortisei in the arms of Illerzell.

Numerous churches and the Ulrichsbrunnen were dedicated to him.

voodoo

In Haitian Voodoo , St. Ulrich is revered in the form of Loa Agwe ; this is a case of syncretism .

iconography

Ulrich's cross in the coat of arms of the Augsburg district

Ulrich is shown with the regalia of a bishop and a fish.
Legend has it that on a Friday morning he gave a messenger a piece of leftover roast that was still on the table from his evening meal on Thursday as food for the way back. When the messenger tried to prove the sacrilege of the Friday commandment to his master, the Duke of Bavaria, by showing the piece of meat, it was turned into a fish.

The Ulrichskreuz also serves the faithful to recognize St. Ulrich.

swell

  • Gerhard von Augsburg: Vita Sancti Uodalrici. The oldest biography of St. Ulrich . Universitätsverlag C. Winter, Heidelberg 1993, ISBN 3-8253-0018-8 (Editiones Heidelbergenses; 24).
  • Grandaur, Georg: The life of Oudalrichs, Bishop of Augsburg . European History Publishing House, Paderborn, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86382-148-7

literature

Web links

Commons : Ulrich von Augsburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Adam Pupikofer: History of the Thurgau, Volume I., p. 264
  2. ^ Alfred Wendehorst : The diocese of Eichstätt. Volume 1: The row of bishops until 1535 . Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-018971-1 ( Germania Sacra - New Series, 45), p. 45.
  3. ^ "Epistola Pseudo-Udalrici de continentia clericorum". Pseudo-Udalrich's letter about clerical marriage at Monumenta Germaniae Historica
  4. ↑ Celibacy II - ( Theologische Realenzyklopädie , Volume 36, p. 728)
  5. ^ Franz Xaver Bishop: The canonization of Bishop Ulrichs at the Lateran Synod of the year 993 . In: Weitlauff Manfred (Ed.): Bishop Ulrich von Augsburg 890-973. His time - his life - his worship. Festschrift on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of his canonization in 993 . Weißenhorn 1993, p. 199.
  6. ↑ More than 20,000 believers came to Ulrich Week in the diocese of Augsburg . In: bistum-augsburg.de, July 14, 2008.
  7. ^ Webster University : Descriptions of Various Loa of Voodoo , 1990
  8. ↑ Stadler's Saints Lexicon: Ulrich von Augsburg - Ecumenical Saints Lexicon. Retrieved July 27, 2019 .
predecessor Office successor
Hiltin Bishop of Augsburg
923–973 		Heinrich I.
personal data
SURNAME Ulrich of Augsburg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ulrich I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Augsburg
DATE OF BIRTH 890
PLACE OF BIRTH Wittislingen or Augsburg
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 973
Place of death augsburg