William of Hirsau, Blessed

WILLIAM OF HIRSAU, Blessed. - Bavarian, d. 4 July 1091 at Hirsau. As a child he was an oblate at the monastery of St. Emmeram in Regensburg; in 1069 he was called as abbot by the monks of the restored Hirsau, yet he did not have himself ordained before the death of his predecessor Frederick, who had been unjustly deposed. Under his prudent and moderate rule, Hirsau began to flourish again. G. labored indefatigably to obtain from Henry IV and from Pope Gregory VII, to whom he paid a personal visit, the full exemption of his monastery, which he directed until 1075.

On the model of the Constitutiones Cluniacenses he composed the Constitutiones Hirsangiennes (cf. M. Fischer, Studien zur Entstehung der Hirsauer Konstitutionen, Tübingen 1910). The number of monks grew so much as to make necessary the construction of another monastery (1083-92), and numerous monastic colonies could be sent to Erfurt, to Magdeburg, into Styria and into Carinthia. He was one of the promoters of the Institute of Oblates in the Benedictine Order. After the meeting with Pope Gregory VII and the visit of his legate Bernard of Marseille, G. and his monks became vigorous defenders of the Gregorian reform in Germany. He was a man of good culture and left several works: Dialogi de Musica (PL. 150, 1147-78; critical edition by H. Müller, Frankfurt 1883) and Astronomia (only the prologue printed: PL 150, 1639-42). Until the decline of the monastery of Hirsau G. enjoyed public veneration. Feast on 5 July.

Lucchesio Spätling