UBALD OF GUBBIO, ST.

Bishop; b. Gubbio, Umbria, Italy, ca. 1080–85; d. there, May 16, 1160. Ubald Baldassini was born of Germanic parentage, but was early orphaned by the death of his father. He was educated and then accepted as a canon regular at the cathedral in Gubbio. Ordained in 1114, by 1117 he was prior of the cathedral chapter, which he reformed. While directing the reconstruction of the burned cathedral (1125), Ubald led a delegation to Pope Honorius II to seek a successor to Gubbio's late bishop. But he himself was consecrated (1129) and served as bishop for 31 years. After his death there was reputed evidence of his intervention, e.g., at the issue of the Commune (1135), the siege of the 11 allies (1153). This led to his canonization by Pope Celestine III on March 5, 1192. His body, which had been buried in the cathedral, was found incorrupt; it was translated Sept. 11, 1194, to Colle Ingino, where a chapel, which is still a place of pilgrimage, was built. Devotion to Ubald is found mainly in Umbria, especially at Gubbio. He is invoked as a patron against diabolic possession and other madnesses.

Feast: May 16.

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum May 3:625–650. p. cenci, "La Vita beati Ubaldi, scritta da Giordano di Città di Castello," Archivio per la storia ecclesiastica dell'Umbria 4 (1917–19) 70–136; Vita di S. Uboldo (Gubbio 1924). m. del ninno, Un rito e i suoi segni: La corsa dei ceri a Gubbio (Urbino 1976). a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, rev. ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4v. (New York 1956) 2:325–326.

[j. f. mahoney]