Ulrich of Zell, also known as Wulderic, sometimes of Cluny or of Regensburg (c. 1029 – 1093), was a
Cluniac
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...
reformer of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, abbot, founder and saint.
Life
Ulrich was born at
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
in
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
(formerly also known as Ratisbon) in early 1029. His father Bernhold was from Bavaria; his mother Bucca from Swabia, a niece of
Bishop Gebhard II of Regensburg and also related to
Ulrich of Augsburg
Ulrich of Augsburg (890 – 4 July 973), sometimes spelled Uodalric or Odalrici, was Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg in Germany. He was the first saint to be canonized not by a local authority but by the Pope.
Life
Early years
Much of the informa ...
. Pious and wealthy, they were childless for many years and made a pilgrimage to
Magnus of Füssen, vowing to dedicate a son to the religious life.
[Schäfer, Joachim. "Ulrich von Zell", Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon]
/ref>
Ulrich was probably educated at the school of St. Emmeram's Abbey
Saint Emmeram's Abbey (german: Kloster Sankt Emmeram or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram''), now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram or St. Emmeram's Basilica, was a Benedictine monastery founded in about 739 at Regensburg in Bavari ...
, along with William of Hirsau
William of Hirsau (or Wilhelm von Hirschau) ( 1030 – 5 July 1091) was a Benedictine abbot and monastic reformer. He was abbot of Hirsau Abbey, for whom he created the ''Constitutiones Hirsaugienses'', based on the uses of Cluny, and was the fat ...
, with whom he remained friends throughout his life, but in 1043 he was called to the court of his godfather, Henry III, King of the Germans where he acted as page to Queen Agnes, who was of the ducal house of Aquitaine, patrons of the reforming Abbey of Cluny
Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter.
The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...
. Ulrich later had to leave the court because his father had been accused of collaborating with enemies from Hungary and had been executed.[
Ordained deacon by his uncle Nidger, ]Bishop of Freising
The following people were bishops, prince-bishops or archbishops of Freising or Munich and Freising in Bavaria:
Bishops of Freising
* St. Corbinian (724–730); founded the Benedictine abbey in Freising, although the diocese was not organ ...
, he was made archdeacon and provost of the cathedral there, but was deeply moved by the spirit of reform that was sweeping from Cluny through the 11th century church. On his return from a journey to 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 ...
he distributed his possessions to the poor, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
, and, after another short visit to Rome, returned to Regensburg, where he founded a religious community, and then entered the Abbey of Cluny in 1061. Here he soon became personal secretary to Abbot Hugo.[Mershman, Francis. "St. Ulrich of Zell." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 15 December 2021
Here he was ordained priest and Hugo commissioned Ulrich to spread the Cluny reforms. He was appointed confessor to the convent at Mareigny in the diocese of Autun
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Augustodunensis (–Cabillonensis–Matisconensis–Cluniacensis)''; French: ''Diocèse d'Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny)''), more simpl ...
, and prior of the community of men in the same place. He also lost an eye and was obliged to return to Cluny.[
]
Later life
Om 1082 Ulrich was named prior at Peterlingen (now Payerne
Payerne (; frp, Payèrna) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use.
History
The earl ...
) in the Diocese of Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
. He took part in the synod in 1084 that elected Gebhard III, bishop pf Basel. The following year, due to troubles with Bishop Burchard von Oltingen, a partisan of Henry IV, whom he had accused of breaking celibacy, Ulrich returned again to Cluny, where he acted as adviser to the abbot. Around 1072 Lütold of Rümligen granted to Cluny property and estates around Rüeggisberg. Ulrich as sent to establish a priory. During the construction period he lived in a cave, the "Pfaffenloch". Rüeggisberg became the first Cluniac
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...
priory in German-speaking lands. He then went to Augsburg to reform St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey
St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey, Augsburg (german: Kloster Sankt Ulrich und Afra Augsburg) is a former Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine abbey dedicated to Ulrich of Augsburg, Saint Ulrich and Saint Afra in the south of the old city in Augsb ...
. The project failed because the population drove Ulrich out of the city.
Ulrich took over an already existing monastic community, founded before 1072 on the Tuniberg by Hesso of Eichstetten and Rimsingen. sometime between 1077 and 1080 Kloster Tuniberg moved to Grüningen. Not finding the locality suitable, he and his monks moved in 1087 to Zell, in the Möhlin valley, where there had previously been a cell of the Abbey of Saint Gall. Ulrich's high reputation soon brought him many disciples. He enjoyed the good opinion of Bishop Gebhard, whom he probably helped in reforming the monastery of St. Alban. In 1090 he established Bollschweil Priory
Parish church in the village of St. Ulrich (former Benedictine priory)
Bollschweil Priory was a Cluniac monastery of nuns at Bollschweil (formerly ''Bolesweiler'') in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
It was ...
, a Cluniac nunnery at ''Bolesweiler'' (now Bollschweil
Bollschweil is a municipality in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 10 km south of Freiburg.
History
The earliest surviving written record of the settlement appears in the records of th ...
), about a mile from Zell. Around 1090, Ulrich went blind, resigned as prior in St. Ulrich, but refused the offer to return to Cluny for the sake of better care.[
He died at Zell, later known as ]St. Ulrich im Schwarzwald
St. Ulrich's Priory in the Black Forest (St. Ulrich im Schwarzwald) was a priory of Cluny Abbey (in Burgundy) founded in the valley of the River Möhlin in the Black Forest in about 1083. St. Ulrich is now part of the municipality of Bollschweil, ...
, probably on 10 July 1093. He was buried in the cloister, but three years later his body was brought into the church.[
]
Veneration
Around 1300, the village of Zell was renamed St. Ulrich in honour of the monastery founder. Ulrich's memory is commemorated at the annual three-day festival in St. Ulrich with a varied programme.
His feast was celebrated for the first time on 14 July 1139, and 14 July remains his feast day.
Works
His work "Consuetudines cluniacenses" (''"Uses of Cluny"'') was composed at the request of William of Hirsau
William of Hirsau (or Wilhelm von Hirschau) ( 1030 – 5 July 1091) was a Benedictine abbot and monastic reformer. He was abbot of Hirsau Abbey, for whom he created the ''Constitutiones Hirsaugienses'', based on the uses of Cluny, and was the fat ...
, in three books. The first two, written between 1079 and 1082, treat of liturgy and the education of novices; the third, written not later than 1087, speaks of the administration of monasteries.
His life of Hermann of Zähringen, Margrave of Baden, later a monk of Cluny, is lost.
Biographies
Two biographies of him exist: the first[''Vita Udalrici prioris Cellensis'', ed. R. Willmans, in: MGSS XII, 249-269] (with selected passages from the "Vita posterior") was written anonymously around 1109 by a monk of Zell at the request of Adalbert, a recluse near Regensburg; the other (the ''Vita posterior''), also anonymous, was written between 1109 and 1130. Particulars of his life are also contained in his writings.
References
*
Literature
*Michael Buhlmann: Benediktinisches Mönchtum im mittelalterlichen Schwarzwald. Ein Lexikon. Vortrag beim Schwarzwaldverein St. Georgen e.V., St. Georgen im Schwarzwald, 10. November 2004, Teil 2: N–Z (= Vertex Alemanniae, H. 10/2), S. 102.
* Dieter Heck: Ulrich von Zell. Der Reform verpflichtet (Hagiographie/Ikonographie/Volkskunde; Nr. 105). Schnell + Steiner, München und Zürich 1992.
* Johannes Madey: Ulrich von Zell. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 19, Bautz, Nordhausen 2001, , Sp. 1453–1455.
* Florian Lamke: Cluniazenser am Oberrhein. Konfliktlösungen und adlige Gruppenbildung in der Zeit des Investiturstreits (= Forschungen zur oberrheinischen Landesgeschichte, Bd. 54), Freiburg / München 2009, bes. S. 136–152.
* Wolfgang Müller: St. Ulrich. In: Die Benediktinerklöster in Baden-Württemberg. (= Germania Benedictina, Bd. 5), Ottobeuren 1976, S. 615
* E. Tremp: Ulrich von Zell. In: Lexikon des Mittelalters (LexMA). Band 8, LexMA-Verlag, München 1997, , Sp. 1205–1026.
Sources
*''Lexikon des Mittelalters,'' vol. 8, ed. E. Tremp, Stuttgart, 1997. "Ulrich von Zell"
External links
*
* http://martyrologium.blogspot.com.br/2010/07/sw-ulryk-z-zell.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulrich Of Zell
1020s births
1093 deaths
Cluniacs
German Roman Catholic saints
11th-century Christian saints