Lutold was counter-abbot of the

Abbey of Saint Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot w ...

from 1077 to about 1083. Nothing is known about his life before and after his work in Saint Gall. In the oldest lists of abbots, Lutold is missing.

Works

During the conflict of the

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 monast ...

, the Counter-king

Rudolf of Rheinfelden Rudolf of Rheinfelden ( – 15 October 1080) was Duke of Swabia from 1057 to 1079. Initially a follower of his brother-in-law, the Salian dynasty, Salian emperor Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, his election as German anti-king in 1077 mar ...

appointed Lutold as abbot of the

around Easter 1077. However, he was not accepted by the monks who took sides with Henry IV. In a deeply symbolic act, they broke the

crosier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

and thus pointed to the illegitimacy of Lutold's abbacy. In September 1077, Henry IV had regained such a great influence that he appointed

Ulrich of Eppenstein Ulrich of Eppenstein (c. 1047?–1121) served between 1071 and his death as Abbot of the powerful Abbey of Saint Gall. Ulrich was prominent as a supporter of Emperor Henry IV during the civil wars that erupted out of the power struggles between th ...

as abbot. Thereupon, Lutold fled to the Abbey of Reichenau. Further efforts to reestablish the counter-abbot Lutold in Saint Gall remained unsuccessful. In 1083, the counter-king

Hermann of Salm Herman(n) of Salm ( – 28 September 1088), also known as Herman(n) of Luxembourg, the progenitor of the House of Salm, was Count of Salm and elected German anti-king from 1081 until his death. Life Hermann was a son of Count Giselbert of L ...

appointed a monk from Reichenau, Werinhar, as counter-abbot in Saint Gall.

Sources

Lutold
on the website of the Stiftsarchiv St. Gallen.
Lutold
in the Stadtlexikon Wil. Quoted after Duft, Johannes: ''Die Abtei St. Gallen''.

References

Benedictines Abbots of Saint Gall 11th-century European people {{Switzerland-reli-bio-stub