Gebbard, Archbishop of Salzburg
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Beatification, Blessed Gebhard von Salzburg ( 101015 June 1088), also occasionally known as Gebhard of Sussex, was Archbishopric of Salzburg, Archbishop of Salzburg from 1060 until his death. He was one of the fiercest opponents of King Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV of Germany during the Investiture Controversy.


Life

Of Gebhard's origins, all that is known for certain is that he was born in the German stem duchy of Duchy of Swabia, Swabia. Although he appeared in a 17th-century genealogy by Gabriel Bucelin as a scion of the Count, comital House of Helfenstein, this lineage is entirely speculative. Gebhard presumably studied in Paris, was ordained a priest at Salzburg in 1055 and became court chaplain to Emperor Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III. Then a loyal supporter of the Salian dynasty, he also travelled as an ambassador to the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine court at Constantinople and held the office of an Imperial Archchancellor, chancellor between 1057 and 1059. On 30 July 1060 he was consecrated bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg, Archdiocese of Salzburg. He reorganized the tithes paid by the Carantanians, Carantanian peasants and the parish system in Duchy of Carinthia, Carinthia, where he in 1072 dissolved the double monastery of Gurk Abbey, founded by Hemma of Gurk, Saint Hemma in 1043, and replaced it by the suffragan Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk, Diocese of Gurk. Gebhard also established Admont Abbey in 1074, vested with Hemma's estates in the Carinthian March of Styria. Besides this, he had the fortresses Hohensalzburg Fortress, Hohensalzburg, Burg Hohenwerfen, Hohenwerfen and Friesach built. Yet in 1075, Gebhard had backed the German king Henry IV struggling with the Great Saxon Revolt. In the following Investiture Controversy however, he was on the side of Pope Gregory VII. Like his friend Bishop Altmann of Passau he did not attend the 1076 Synod of Worms (1076), Synod of Worms held by the king and instead allied with the oppositional princes at the diet of Trebur later in that year. Even after Henry's Walk to Canossa, Gebhard supported the election of antiking Rudolf of Rheinfelden in March 1077. As he was unwilling to be reconciled with the king, Henry IV expelled him from Salzburg. While his diocese was devastated by the king's forces, Gebhard spent nine years in Swabia and Duchy of Saxony, Saxony, trying to win the support of the bishops for the cause of Pope Gregory VII. Meanwhile in Salzburg, Berthold von Moosburg was installed as anti-bishop in 1085. Gebhard was not able to return to Salzburg until 1086, assisted by the support of Duke Welf I, Duke of Bavaria, Welf I of Bavaria. Gebhard died at Hohenwerfen on 15 June 1088 and is buried in the church of Admont Abbey. His feast day is 15 June. He is shown as a bishop with a Greek cross and a unicorn. In 1629 a process of canonization was begun but delayed due to the Thirty Years' War and has never been concluded.


Notes


Sources

*Amon, Karl, 1991: ''Die heiligen Bischöfe und Erzbischöfe der Kirche von Salzburg''. In: ''Sursum Corda, Festschrift für P. Harnoncourt''. * *Karner, Pius, 1913: ''Austria Sancta. Die Heiligen und Seligen Salzburgs''. Vienna. *Tomek, Ernst, 1935-59: ''Kirchengeschichte Österreichs''. Innsbruck/Vienna/Munich: Tyrolia. *Wimmer, Otto, Melzer, Hartmann, Gelmi, Josef (eds.), 2002: ''Gebhard Erzb. von Salzburg''. In: ''Lexikon der Namen und Heiligen''. Hamburg: Nikol. *Wodka, Josef, 1959: ''Kirche in Österreich. Wegweiser durch ihre Geschichte''. Vienna: Herder. *Wodka, Josef, 1960: ''Gebhard EB v. Salzburg''. In: ''Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche''. 2nd edition, vol. 4. Freiburg i. B.: Herder.


External links


AEIOU Austrian Biographical Encyclopaedia


{{Authority control Roman Catholic archbishops of Salzburg 11th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire 1010s births 1088 deaths