Altmann von Passau Bistumswappen of Passau Altmann (c.1015 – 8 August 1091) was the

Bishop of Passau The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Gregorian reforms The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be nam ...

, monastic founder and reformer. He is venerated as a saint, but not officially canonised.

Life

He was born between 1013 and 1020 in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regi ...

to a family of the greater nobility of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. He was educated at the cathedral school at

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for th ...

, of which he later became director.Campbell, Thomas. "Blessed Altmann." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 24 December 2018 He was also a

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of t ...

in Aachen between 1056 and 1065, court chaplain to

Emperor Henry III Henry III (28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was raised b ...

and a canon in

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different p ...

. In 1065 he succeeded

Egilbert Egilbert (or Engelbert) (died 1101), called of Rothenburg, was the Archbishop of Trier from 1079 until his death. He was a partisan of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also calle ...

as Bishop of Passau and began reforms of the clergy. As bishop he was famous for his care of the poor, his vigor in the reformation of relaxed monasteries, and the building of new ones. He founded St. Nicholas' Abbey in Passau in 1070 as a monastery of the

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

, and

Göttweig Abbey Göttweig Abbey (german: Stift Göttweig) is a Benedictine monastery near Krems in Lower Austria. It was founded in 1083 by Altmann, Bishop of Passau. History Göttweig Abbey was founded as a monastery of canons regular by Blessed Altmann ( ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt ...

in 1083, later converted into a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

in 1094. In 1074 he announced the reforms of Pope Gregory VII, whom he supported in the subsequent

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest ( German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monas ...

. Altmann was the most zealous promoter of the Church reform in the German lands.Floridus Röhrig: Leopold III. der Heilige Markgraf von Österreich. Verlag Herold, Wien-München 1985. , p21 In 1076, along with the Archbishop of Salzburg, Gebhard von Helfenstein (who had consecrated Altmann as a bishop), he did not take part in the Reichstag of

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city ** Worms (electoral district) * Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertai ...

, and supported the counter-king

Rudolf of Swabia Rudolf of Rheinfelden ( – 15 October 1080) was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially a follower of his brother-in-law, the Salian emperor Henry IV, his election as German anti-king in 1077 marked the outbreak of the Great Saxon Revolt an ...

. He was expelled from Passau by Emperor Henry IV, who laid the city to waste in 1077/1078. The princely rights over the town of Passau were lost, the king lent them to the Burggrave Ulrich, whom he had employed. These were to be returned to the bishops only after the death of the Burggrave in 1099. Altmann took part in the Fastensynodes 1079 and 1080 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, was appointed

Papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

for Germany, and was able to win the Margrave Leopold II of Austria over to the Papal party. In 1085 the Emperor deposed him as Bishop of Passau, after which he spent most of his time in the territory of the Austrian margrave, where he reformed the existing monasteries of

St. Florian Florian ( la, Florianus; 250 – 304 AD) was a Christians, Christian holy man, and the patron saint of Linz, Austria; chimney sweeps; soapmakers, and firefighting, firefighters. His feast day is 4 May. Florian is also the patron saint of Upper ...

Kremsmünster Abbey Kremsmünster Abbey (german: Stift Kremsmünster) is a Benedictine monastery in Kremsmünster in Upper Austria. History The monastery was founded in 777 AD by Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria. According to the foundation legend, Tassilo founded the ...

Melk Melk (; older spelling: ) is a city of Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,257 (as of 2012). It is best known as the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monaste ...

and St. Pölten Abbey, improved the parish church organisation, and had stone churches built at all of them. His influence on the government of the margraviate was at times so strong that he was called the "leader" of Margrave Leopold II. He died in Zeiselmauer in

and was buried in the monastery of Göttweig Abbey. He is venerated as a saint, although no official canonization has ever taken place. His feast day is 8 August. The ''Vita'' of Altmann of Passau was written by an anonymous monk of Göttweig some fifty years after the bishop's death.Smalley, Beryl. "A Pseudo-Sibylline Prochecy of the Early Twelfth Century in the ''Life'' of Altmann of Passau", ''Studies in Medieval Thought and Learning From Abelard to Wyclif'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 1981, p. 9

References

Sources

*Tomek, Ernst, 1935-39: ''Kirchengeschichte Österreichs''. Innsbruck - Wien - München: Tyrolia. *Tropper, C., 1983: ''Der heilige Altmann''. In: ''900 Jahre Stift Göttweig 1083-1983. Ein Donaustift als Repräsentant benediktinischer Kultur''. (Exhibition catalogue) Göttweig. *Wodka, Josef, 1959: ''Kirche in Österreich. Wegweiser durch ihre Geschichte''. Vienna: Herder. *Fuchs, Adalbert, 1929: ''Der heilige Altmann. Kleine historische Monographien; 18''. *Anon., 1965: ''Der heilige Altmann Bischof von Passau''.

External links

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{{Authority control Year of birth unknown 1091 deaths 11th-century bishops in Bavaria 11th-century Christian saints Roman Catholic bishops of Passau German Roman Catholic saints Lower Saxon nobility Westphalian nobility