ADALGAR OF BREMEN, ST.

Third archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg; d. Bremen, May 9, 909. Having proved a pious, wise, and zealous monk and deacon at Corvey, he was assigned (865) by his abbot—also named Adalgar—to assist Abp. rembert of bremen-hamburg. Adalgar became Rembert's coadjutor and then his successor (889) after confirmation by King Louis II and his sons Louis III and Carloman, by Emperor Arnulf, by the abbot and monastery of Corvey, and by a local synod. He received the pallium from Pope stephen v, was consecrated by Abp. Sundrold of Mainz, and received his crozier from Arnulf. Adalgar traveled throughout his see and attended the royal court; his missionary activity was somewhat limited by the Norman wars. He was involved in a dispute with Abp. Herman of Cologne, who forced Bremen into the status of suffragan bishopric by means of the Synod of Tribur (895) presided over by Abp. Hatto of Mainz. However, Pope sergius iii abrogated this decision at the end of Adalgar's life. Adalgar appointed a coadjutor, Hoger of Bremen-Hamburg, and five bishops. He is buried in the basilica of St. Michael in Bremen. trithemius was the first to call him a saint (De Viris illustribus 3.214); northern writers say nothing of canonization. There is a baroque statue of him in the choir at Corvey.

Feast: May 15.

Bibliography: adam of bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen, ed. and tr. f. j. tschan (New York 1959). Leben der Erzbischöfe Anskar und Rimbert, ed. w. wattenbach (Die Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit 22; 3d ed. Leipzig 1939). a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum (Metten 1933–38) 2:174.

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