Saint Ulrich of Augsburg

Ulrich of Augsburg (890 – 4 July 973), sometimes spelled Uodalric or Odalrici, was Prince-Bishop of Augsburg in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the first saint to be canonised not by a local authority but by a pope. Much of the information concerning Ulrich is derived from the Life of St Ulrich written by Gerhard of Augsburg sometime between 982 and 993. Ulrich was born in 890 at Kyburg in present-day canton of Zürich in Switzerland. He was the son of Hupald, Count of Dillingen (d. 909) and Dietpirch of Swabia (also known as Theoberga). His maternal grandfather was Adalbert II the Illustrious, Count of Thurgau. His family was connected with the dukes of Alamannia and the Ottonian dynasty. An unnamed sister served as a nun in Buchau. As was customary, his parents presented him as an oblate to the church while he was still a child. A sickly child, at the age of seven he was sent to the monastery of St. Gall, where he proved to be an excellent scholar. While there, he became friends with Wiborada – a recluse living near the monastery – who then foretold that her young friend was destined to become a bishop. He resolved to enter the priesthood but was in doubt whether to enter the Benedictine Abbey of St. Gall or to become a secular priest. Sometime before April 910, he was sent for further training to a kinsman, Adalbero von Augsburg, Bishop of Augsburg, who made him chamberlain. Upon Adalbero's death (28 April 910) Ulrich returned home. The Duke of Swabia presented him at the court of Henry the Fowler, where Ulrich became one of the household retainers. Through the influence of his maternal uncle, Burchard II, Duke of Swabia, and other relatives, Ulrich was appointed bishop of Augsburg by Henry the Fowler and was consecrated on 28 December 923. He sought to improve the low moral and social condition of the clergy.