ULRICO (UDALRICO), bishop of AUGUSTA, saint. — Of the family of the counts of Dillingen, son of Ubaldo and Ditberga, born at Augusta (Bavaria) in 890, died there on 4 July 973.
He studied at S. Gallo, and upon the death of Bishop Hiltino in 923, succeeded him in the see of Augusta through the favorable intervention of Burcardo, duke of Swabia. He zealously promoted the discipline of his clergy at the annual synods, watched over the religious life of his people through pastoral visitations, devoted himself to preaching, and cared for the poor and the monasteries, restoring that of S. Afra and building that of S. Stefano (968).
U.’s name is also closely linked with the history of the Empire. He gave strong support to Ottone I the Great against the autonomist tendencies of the dukes, supported him during the rebellion of his son Ludolfo (Liutolf), duke of Swabia, and succeeded in bringing about the Peace of Illertissen (954). During the siege by the Hungarian army in 955, he was present at the battle and encouraged the defenders; after the final victory on the Lechfeld (10 Aug.), he surrounded the city with walls. Returning from a third journey to Rome in 972, U. met Ottone I at Ravenna and tendered his resignation in favor of his nephew Adalberone, moved, according to his biographer, by the desire to retire to a monastery and to preserve the see of Augusta for his family. This constituted a violation of the law, and U., despite the veneration in which he was held, together with his nephew,
ULRICO, bishop of AUGUSTA, saint, S. U. with the iconographic motif of the fish into which the piece of meat with which it was intended to accuse him was transformed. Upper Adige art of the 15th century. Bolzano, Museum.
letter on clerical continence against ecclesiastical celibacy (Anal. Bolland., 27 [1908], pp. 474-75). His correspondence is now lost.