ARIBONE. – Archbishop of Mainz (1021–31), of the family of the Bavarian Palatine counts and thus a relative of Emperor Henry II (1002–24). He began as a deacon in Salzburg and soon became chaplain to Emperor Henry II. He was raised by the latter to the archiepiscopal see of Mainz through the investiture he received at the monastery of Gandersheim, which he resigned in 1030 following prolonged hostility from the bishops of Hildesheim, Bernward and Goddehard. A. worked for the election of Emperor Conrad II (1024–39), whom he himself consecrated in the metropolitan church of Mainz. Despite this, A. concerned himself more with the affairs of the Church and his archbishopric than with political matters. He zealously promoted divine worship and ecclesiastical discipline, as evidenced by the Synod of Seligenstadt held in August 1022. Gifted with a high level of learning, he promoted the sciences, especially by appointing Ekkehard IV of St. Gall as director of the schools in Mainz.
His contemporaries praised his ecclesiastical sense, prudence, justice, and his interest in the construction and decoration of the cathedral. Due to differing views on marital issues, he had some disagreements with Pope Benedict VIII (1012–24), but his unwavering fidelity to the Church of Rome is proven by his participation in the coronation of Emperor Conrad II in Rome in 1027, as well as by his presence at the Lateran Synod that year, and especially by his pilgrimage “ad limina Apostolorum,” which he undertook in 1031. He died at Como on his return journey; his body was buried in the cathedral church of Mainz, where his tomb was rediscovered in 1025.