BRUNO the GREAT, St. — Archbishop of Cologne, b. in the spring of 925, d. at Reims on 11 Oct. 965. The youngest son of Henry I of Germany and brother of Otto I, he was educated in the cathedral school of Utrecht by Bishop Balderic. Bruno soon came to be summoned to his brother’s court and, while still young, was raised to the dignity of chancellor in 940. But shortly thereafter, having been ordained deacon, he introduced the Benedictine Rule into the monastery of Lorsch and other houses.
Imperial Archchancellor in 951, he was appointed Archbishop of Cologne and regent for Lorraine in 953. He held both offices with energy and severity: he restored royal authority in the region entrusted to him, represented the king in numerous diplomatic missions—especially as arbiter in French affairs—and brought new life to Cologne, from whose governance it dated its renewal. When Otto I descended into Italy, Bruno, together with Archbishop William of Mainz, was entrusted with the regency and guardianship of the young Otto II. Upon the emperor’s return, Bruno went to France to resolve a dynastic dispute and died on his journey home. Buried in the monastery of St Pantaleon, which he had founded in Cologne, he soon received cult on the same day, 11 Oct.
In Bruno, political character predominates. Though he zealously supported asceticism and resolutely promoted ecclesiastical reform in Lorraine, he did not perceive the danger of an episcopate subservient to the empire and wholly absorbed in administrative and political intrigues. Yet from the imperial chancery he knew how to fashion a school for the ever-better instruction of the episcopate.