Rudolf von Güttingen (died 9 September 1226 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

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of Saint Gall from 1220 and

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Chur from 1224 until his death. He is documented for the first time in 1208. Rudolf descended from a noble family from the

Canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; french: Thurgovie; it, Turgovia), anglicized as Thurgovia, more formally the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts and its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part ...

. He had been a monk since 1208, became provost in 1211, dean and cellarar in 1219 and Abbot of Saint Gall in 1220. After the death of Arnold von Matsch, the Bishop of Chur, the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

held a double election. However, the two people elected, Heinrich von Rialt and Albert von Güttingen, a brother of Rudolf's, already died in 1223, before the Pope had made a decision. Rudolf became Bishop of Chur not later than 1224.

Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of importa ...

permitted him on 23 February 1224 to stay as Abbot of Saint Gall for three more years. Rudolf's extravagant lifestyle led to the indebtedness of the abbey and the ''Hochstift''. In 1226, he accompanied Emperor Frederick II to Italy where he died of a fever in Rome. He was entombed in the

Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

Reading list

* Gatz, Erwin: ''Rudolf von Güttingen''. in: Erwin Gatz (ed.): ''Die Bischöfe des Heiligen Römischen Reiches 1198 bis 1448.'' Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, p. 138. * Gössi, Anton: ''St. Gallen – Äbte: Rudolf von Güttingen, 1220–1226''. In: ''Helvetia Sacra,'' III: ''Die Orden mit Benediktinerregel.'' 2/1: ''Frühe Klöster, die Benediktiner und Benediktinerinnen in der Schweiz''. Francke Verlag, Bern 1986, p. 1298–99.

Notes and references

External links

* Bless-Grabher, Magdalen. 2011: "Rudolf von Güttingen
Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz

on the website of the Stiftsarchiv St. Gallen.
Rudolf von Güttingen
in the Stadtlexikon Wil. Quoted after Duft, Johannes: ''Die Abtei St. Gallen''. 1226 deaths Year of birth unknown 13th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Bishops of Chur Abbots of Saint Gall {{RC-bio-stub