Buste
reliquaire de saint Engelbert de Cologne, cathédrale d'Essen
Saint Engelbert
Archevêque
de Cologne (✝ 1225)
Excommunié dans sa
jeunesse en raison de ses actes de violence, il fit pénitence et, pour cela,
partit à la croisade contre les Albigeois. Il fut archevêque de Cologne, mais
sa manière vigoureuse à l'égard des puissants de ce monde, et son empressement
pastoral à défendre les faibles lui attirèrent l'inimitié de plusieurs
seigneurs qui l'assassinèrent.
Pour avoir pris la défense de la liberté de l’Église, il fut
entouré sur la route par des agresseurs et tomba frappé de multiples blessures.
Martyrologe
romain
Paul
Wynand. Statue de saint Engelbert, Schloss Burg
Engelbert of Cologne BM (RM)
Born at Berg, Germany, c. 1187; died near Schwelm, 1225. Engelbert was the son of the count of Berg. While still a boy studying at the Cathedral school at Cologne, he received several ecclesiastic benefices through family influence. The future saint was excommunicated either for threatening Emperor Otto IV with armed violence or for taking unlawful possession of benefices. After he joined the crusade against the Albigensians, the excommunication was lifted. Shortly thereafter he was appointed archbishop of Cologne in 1217 (about age 30).
Engelbert's life was chiefly taken up with secular affairs of state, and he would hardly have received a saint's cultus had it not been for the circumstances of his death. He did, however, rule his see well, restored clerical discipline, brought Franciscans and Dominicans into the diocese, held regular synods, encouraged monastic life, and was generous to the poor.
As previously stated, he was also deeply involved in politics. He supported Emperor Frederick II (who appointed him regent during the minority of Henry's son in 1220 when the Emperor went to Sicily), tutored the crown prince, was chief minister of the empire, and crowned Henry King of the Romans in 1222.
Engelbert's crusade against the Albigensians did redeem him in the eyes of the church. Probably only a fighting bishop could have looked after the diocese of Cologne in those turbulent times. Although Engelbert did insist on discipline for the clergy and religious in his diocese, both groups knew they could always rely on his protection.
This led to the saint's murder. His cousin, Count Frederick of Isenberg, was in theory administrator and protector of the nuns of Essen. In practice he stole their lands and goods, and oppressed the vassals of the nuns. The archbishop vigorously protested against the abuse and deprived his cousin of the office. The count and 50 retainers waylaid the archbishop at Gevelsberg, Germany, on November 7, 1225, and left him dead with 47 wounds in his corpse. The young King Henry had the culprits brought to justice (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, White).
Although he has never been formally canonized, he is referred to in the R.M. as Saint Engelbert, and is venerated in Cologne (Delaney).
In art, Engelbert is depicted in archiepiscopal vestments with a crozier in one hand and an upraised sword, piercing a crescent moon, in the other (White).
Mémorial de Saint Engelbert, Gevelsberg
St. Engelbert of Cologne
Archbishop of that city (1216-1225); b. at Berg, about
1185; d. near Schwelm, 7 November,
1225. His father was Engelbert,
Count of Berg, his mother, Margaret,
daughter of the Count of Gelderland.
He studied at the cathedral school of Cologne
and while still a boy was, according to an abuse of that time, made provost of the churches
of St. George and St. Severin at
Cologne, and of St. Mary's
at Aachen. In 1199 he was elected
provost of the cathedral at Cologne.
He led a worldly life and in the
conflict between Archbishops Adolf and Bruno
sided with his cousin Adolf, and waged war for him. He was in consequence excommunicated by the pope together with his cousin and deposed
in 1206. After his submission he was reinstated in 1208 and, to atone
for his sin, joined the crusade against the Albigenses in 1212. On 29 Feb., 1216, the chapter
of the cathedral elected
him archbishop by a unanimous vote. In appearance
he was tall and handsome. He possessed a penetrating mind
and keen discernment, was kind and condescending and loved justice and peace, but he was also ambitious
and self willed. His archiepiscopal see had passed through severe struggles
and suffered heavily, and he worked strenuously to repair the damage and to
restore order. He took care of its possessions
and revenues and was on that
account compelled to resort to arms. He defeated the Duke of Limburg and the Count of Cleves and defended against
them also the countship of Berg, which he had inherited in 1218 on the death of
his brother. He restrained the impetuous citizens of Cologne,
broke the stubbornness of the nobility, and erected strongholds for the defence
of his territories. He did not spare even his own relations
when guilty. In this way he gained the universal
veneration of his people and
increased the number of his vassals from year to year. Although in exterior
bearing a sovereign rather than a bishop, for which he was blamed by pious persons, he did not disregard his duties to the Church, but strove to uplift the religious life of his people. The mendicant orders which had been founded shortly before his accession,
settled in cologne during his administration, the Franciscans in 1219, the Dominicans in 1221. He was well disposed towards the monasteries and insisted on strict religious
observance in them. Ecclesiastical
affairs were regulated in provincial synods. Blameless
in his own life, he was a friend
of the clergy and a helper of the poor.
In the affairs of
the empire Engelbert exerted a
strong influence. Emperor Frederick II, who had taken up his residence
permanently in Sicily, gave Germany to his son, Henry VII, then still a minor,
and in 1221 appointed Engelbert guardian
of the king and administrator of
the empire. When the young king reached the age of twelve he was crowned at Aachen, 8 May, 122, by Engelbert,
who loved him as his own son and honoured him as his sovereign. He watched over the
king's education and governed the empire in his
name, careful above all to secure peace both within and without the realm. At
the Diet of Nordhausen (24 Sept., 1223) he made an important treaty with Denmark; in the rupture between England and France he sided with England and broke off relations
with France. The poet Walther
von der Vogelweide extols him as "Master of
sovereigns", and "True guardian
of the king, thy exalted traits do honour to our emperor; chancellor whose like has
never been".
Engelbert's devotion
to duty, and his obedience
to the pope and to the emperor were eventually the cause
of his ruin. Many of the nobility feared
rather than loved him, and he was obliged to surround himself with a body-guard. The
greatest danger threatened him from among his relations.
His cousin, count Frederick of Isenberg,
the secular administrator
for the nuns of Essen, had grievously oppressed that abbey. Honorius III and the emperor urged Engelbert
to protect the nuns in their rights. Frederick
wished to forestall the archbishop, and his wife incited him to murder. Even his two brothers, the Bishops
of Münster and Osnabrück,
were suspected as privy to the matter.
Engelbert was warned, commended
himself to the protection of Divine Providence, and amid tears made a confession
of his whole life to the Bishop of Minden. On 7 Nov., 1225, as he was journeying from
Soest to Schwelm to consecrate a church,
he was attacked on a dark evening by Frederick
and his associates in a narrow defile, was wounded in the thigh, torn from his
horse and killed. His body was
covered with forty-seven wounds. It was placed on a dung-cart and brought to
cologne on the fourth day. King Henry
wept bitterly over the remains, put the murderer
under the ban of the empire, and saw him broken on the wheel a year later at Cologne.
He died contrite, having
acknowledged and confessed his
guilt. His associates also perished miserably within a short time. The crime,
moreover, was disastrous for the German Empire, for the young king had now lost his best
adviser and soon met a very sad fate,
to the misfortune of his house and country.
Engelbert, by his martyrdom made amends for his human
weaknesses. His body was placed in the old cathedral of Cologne,
24 Feb., 1226, by Cardinal Conrad von
Urach. The latter
also declared him a martyr; a formal canonization did not take place. In 1618 Archbishop
Ferdinand ordered that his feast
be celebrated on 7 November and solemnly
raised his remains in 1622. In the martyrology Engelbert
is commemorated on 7 Nov., as a martyr. A convent for nuns was erected at the place of his death. By
order of Engelbert's successor,
Henry I, Cæsarius of Heisterbach, who possessed good
information and a ready pen, wrote in 1226 the life
of the saint in two books and added a third about his miracles (See Surius, "Vitæ Sanctorum", 7 Nov.)
Sources
BÖHMER, Fontes rerum Germanicarum (Stuttgart, 1854), II, in which the
third book of the Vitæ is omitted; FICKER, Engelbert d. hl. Erzbischof
(Cologne, 1853); WINKELMANN, Kaiser Friedr. II. In Jahrbücher d. deutsch.
Gesch. (Leipzig, 1889), I.
Meier, Gabriel. "St. Engelbert of Cologne." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 7 Nov. 2016
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05429c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Theodore Rego.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur.
+John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Saint Engelbert of Cologne
Also known as
- Engelbert of Berg
Profile
Son of the
influential Count Englebert of Berg and Margaret, daughter of the Count of Gelderland. Studied at the cathedral
school at Cologne, Germany. In a time when clerical and episcopal positions were a part of political patronage, Englebert
was made provost of churches in Cologne and Aachen, Germany while still a young boy, and of the Cologne cathedral
at age 14. He led a worldly and dissolute youth; known for his good looks, keen
mind, and wild ways. Englebert went to war to support his cousin, Archbishop
Adolf, against Archbishop
Bruno; for this, and for threatening to attack the Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, both Engelbert and Adolf were excommunicated in 1206.
In 1208 Engelbert publicly submitted to the pope‘s authority, and was received back into the Church. He fought the Albigensians in 1212. Chosen archbishop
of Cologne on 29 February 1216. By this point, Engelbert had mellowed somewhat, and cared
about his see,
but still had worldly ambitions. To preserve the possessions and revenues of
his see and the countship of Berg, he went to war with the Duke of Limburg and the Count of Cleves, restored civil order, demanded the allegiance of
his nobles, erected defences around his lands, and even prosecuted family
members when needed. He enforced clerical discipline, helped establish the Franciscans in his diocese
in 1219 and the Dominicans
in 1221, built monasteries
and insisted on strict observance in them, and used a series of provincial
synods to regulate church matters.
Engelbert was
appointed guardian of the juvenile King Henry VII and administrator of the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor
Frederick II in 1221. He supervised the kingdom and the king‘s education, and placed the crown
himself during Henry’s coronation in 1222. Worked for a treaty with Denmark at the Diet of Nordhausen on 24 September 1223.
However, for all
that he was loved by his people for the stability and security he brought, many
of the nobility hated and feared him, and the archbishop
had to travel with a troupe of bodyguards. Pope Honorius III and Emperor Frederick II advised Engelbert to protect
the nuns of Essen who were being oppressed and harassed by Engelbert’s cousin, Count Frederick of Isenberg. To prevent action by the archbishop, Count Frederick and some henchmen ambushed Engelbert on the road
from Soest to Schwelm, stabbing him 47 times. Considered a martyr as he died over the defense of religious sisters.
Born
- stabbed to death on the evening of 7 November 1225 near Schwelm, Germany
- relics translated to the old cathedral of Cologne, Germany on 24 February 1226
- no formal canonization
- proclaimed a venerated martyr by Cardinal Conrad von Urach on 24 February 1226, and by Archbishop Ferdinand in 1618
- listed in the Roman Martyrology
- archbishop with a crosier in one hand and an upraised sword, piercing a crescent moon,
in the other
- archbishop blessing his killers
Saint Engelbert
·
Century: 12th & 13th
Century
·
Patronage: -
·
Feast
Day:
November 7th
St. Engelbert was
born in 1185 in Schloss Burg. He was educated at the Cathedral School in
Cologne. As early as the age of twelve, he acquired a various number of
provostships, in St. Severin in Cologne, Aachen, Deventer, and Zutphen. His
cousin was Archbishop of Cologne, and he supported him in the interests of
Philip of Swabia against Otto of Brunswick, and was excommunicated by Pope
Innocent III. On his submission in 1208, he was pardoned, and in 1212, as
an act of penance for his earlier rebellion, he took part in the Albigensian
Crusade. He gave his allegiance to the future Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.
St. Engelbert was
elected Archbishop of Cologne, in February 1216, and remained in that office
until his death. He trusted the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, becoming
imperial administrator and guardian of the Emperor’s son Henry VII of Germany,
whom was crowned at the age of twelve. He remained his tutor until his
death. Many political forces threatened the property of the Archdiocese,
and St. Engelbert did his best to protect it. He also defended his
personal inheritance that was under attack. He granted municipal rights
to many places, and during his career as archbishop of Cologne, he continued to
fight for the re-establishment and security of the archdiocese both as an
ecclesiastical authority and also as a secular territory. It was said of
him that despite his personal piety he was more of a monarch than a
churchman. He was also a zealous champion of the Religious throughout his
archdiocese.
He earned the
respect and affection of his subjects through his devotion to justice and his
energy in maintaining law, and took great pains to ensure the well being of the
religious within his authority. His effectiveness in achieving his goals
by all means necessary, including military action, his allegiance to the Pope
and the Emperor, and his uncompromising defense of the law and the rights of
religious persons and bodies, brought him into conflict with the nobility,
including his own family, and this lead to his death.
His cousin was
Count Frederick of Isenberg, and was abusing his position by defrauding the
Nuns of Essen Abbey. St. Engelbert was determined to protect their
interests, and sought to bring Frederick to justice. On November 7, 1225,
as they returned together from a judicial hearing, he was killed, believed, by
Frederick. It seems probable that behind the attack, he was to be taken
captive rather than being killed, and was a major threat to a whole group of
nobility. His body was taken to Cologne on a dung-cart, and when
examined, was found to have forty seven wounds.
Practical Take Away
St. Engelbert was
the Archbishop of Cologne. He worked his entire life in this position and
fought diligently to keep the archdiocese assets together. He worked hard
to protect the lives and rights of Religious in his care, and when defending
those very rights, was killed by his cousin Count Frederick who was abusing his
power in this area
