Fürstengang Bischöfe 03 - Joseph von Verona

Joseph of Freising (died 17 January 764), also known as Joseph of Verona, was

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 ...

from 747 or 748 until his death.

Life

There is no direct evidence of Joseph's place of origin, or place of birth. It is sometimes claimed that he was a native of

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

in Italy, whence his alternative name, but it is equally possible that he was from

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 ...

or northern

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, or perhaps the

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. He is presumed to have been a monk in

Saint Corbinian Saint Corbinian ( la, Corbinianus; french: Corbinien; german: Korbinian; 670 – 8 September c. 730 AD) was a Frankish bishop. After living as a hermit near Chartres for fourteen years, he made a pilgrimage to Rome. Pope Gregory II sent him to ...

's new foundation, Freising Abbey, before in 747 or 748 he was appointed bishop of

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...

, the third to hold the office. He had the reputation of a zealous and energetic promoter of the interests of the church, to have had a keen grasp of the importance for the church of acquiring large possessions, and to have been highly effective in attracting donations, especially of land. He was also active as a founder of churches and religious houses. In particular he founded

Isen Abbey Isen Abbey (Kloster Isen) was a Benedictine abbey, later a collegiate foundation, at Isen in Bavaria, Germany. History Dedicated to Saint Zeno of Verona, the abbey was founded by members of the Fagana family, an indigenous Bavarian noble clan, and ...

in 752, and dedicated it to

Saint Zeno of Verona Zeno of Verona ( it, Zenone da Verona; about 300 – 371 or 380) was either an early Christian Bishop of Verona or a martyr. He is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Orthodox Church. Life and historicity According to a Veronese aut ...

. He was also closely involved, after 760, with the respective lay founders in the establishment of Schäftlarn and

Scharnitz Abbey Scharnitz Abbey (german: Kloster Scharnitz) was a Benedictine monastery in Mittenwald in Bavaria, Germany. The monastery, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, was founded before 763 by Reginperht and Irminfried, believed to be members of the Bavar ...

s. At Schäftlarn the founders gave him the power of supervision of the monastery and the right to appoint the abbots: his first appointment was Aribo, Joseph's successor as bishop. At Scharnitz he appointed Atto, Aribo's successor as bishop of Freising, also to be highly successful in the acquisition of estates for the diocese.

Tomb and cult

After his death on 17 January 764, Joseph was buried in the church of Isen Abbey, founded by himself, where his tomb was restored in 1743. The church survived the

secularisation In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

of Bavaria in 1802-03 and is still in service as St. Zeno's, the parish church of

Isen Isen may refer to: *Isen, Bavaria, a town in Germany *Isen, Kagoshima, a town in Japan *Isen (river) in Bavaria, Germany *The fictitious River Isen in Tolkien's literature *ISEN, a group of three French higher education establishments *Nissae Isen, ...

. Joseph is venerated locally as the Blessed Joseph, although he was never formally

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

. His feastday is 17 January.

Sources

Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon, Band 3. Augsburg 1869, online at Zeno.org

{{Authority control Roman Catholic bishops of Freising 764 deaths 8th-century bishops in Bavaria Year of birth unknown