Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg

ADALBERTO, archbishop of BREMA-AMBURGO. — Born at the beginning of the eleventh century in Goslar, he died on 16 March 1072. He studied at Halberstadt; in 1032 he became a canon of Bremen and then provost of Halberstadt until 1045, when he was consecrated archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg. A man of very energetic character, he thought of nothing but the glory of his archdiocese. He took part in the Synod of Sutri, but did not accept the papal tiara that was offered to him; he won the friendship of the emperor Henry III and of Popes Leo IX and Victor II; he worked to make his see a centre of spiritual radiation and to elevate it to a patriarchate. He sent missionaries to Scandinavia, Greenland, Iceland, the Orkney Islands, among the Wends and the Slavs of northern Germany. In Denmark and the Scandinavian countries he made his influence felt as papal vicar and legate, founding dioceses there as well. The spirit of independence of the Nordic countries, however, conflicted with the creation of a German Church, giving rise to serious difficulties. While his merits for the missionary work carried out in those countries are indisputable, the same cannot be said of the influence he exercised over the young emperor Henry IV, whose education he neglected in order to secure his favor. In 1066, however, Henry IV drove him away, depriving him of all his possessions, which were only partially restored to him in 1069, when he regained imperial favor. A. was buried in the cathedral of Bremen, which he had built.