View source for Adalbert of Magdeburg

{{Short description|German saint, archbishop and missionary (c. 910 – 981)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox saint
| name =Adalbert of Magdeburg
| image = Adalbert of Magdeburg.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| alt = 
| caption = Holy Card for St. Adalbert of Magdeburg
| titles = [[Archbishopric of Magdeburg|Archbishop of Magdeburg]] and Abbot of [[Wissembourg]]
| birth_name =
| birth_date = c. 910
| birth_place = [[Alsace]] or [[Lotharingia|Lorraine]], [[France]]
| home_town = 
| residence = 
| death_date = 20 June {{death year and age|981|910}}
| death_place = Zscherben
| venerated_in = [[Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
| beatified_date = 
| beatified_place = 
| beatified_by = 
| canonized_date = 
| canonized_place = 
| canonized_by = 
| major_shrine = 
| feast_day = 20 June
| attributes = 
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| issues = 
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}}

'''Adalbert of Magdeburg''' (c. 910{{spnd}}20 June 981), sometimes incorrectly shortened to "Albert", known as the '''Apostle of the Slavs''', was the first [[Archbishop of Magdeburg]] (from 968)<ref>{{cite book|title=Chambers Biographical Dictionary|last1=Thorne|first1=John|last2=Collocott|first2=T. C.|year=1990|publisher=Chambers|location=Edinburgh|isbn=0-550-16041-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/chambersbiograph00magn/page/7 7]|oclc=502219677|orig-year=1964|url=https://archive.org/details/chambersbiograph00magn/page/7}}</ref> and a successful missionary to the [[Polabian Slavs]] to the east of what was contemporarily [[Germany]]. He was later [[canonised]] and his [[Liturgy|liturgical]] feast day was assigned as 20 June.

==Life==
Adalbert was born c. 910, possibly in [[Alsace]] or [[Lotharingia|Lorraine]], [[France]]. He was a German [[monk]] at the [[Benedictine]] Monastery of [[St. Maximinus]] in [[Trier]], [[Germany]]. He was consecrated a [[Catholic]] [[bishop]] and in 961 was sent to [[Kievan Rus]]. Princess [[Olga of Kiev]] had asked [[Otto I the Great|Emperor Otto I (the Great)]] to provide her a [[missionary]] from the [[Catholic Church]].<ref name=Campbell>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01127b.htm |last=Campbell |first=Thomas |title=St. Adalbert |encyclopedia=[[The Catholic Encyclopedia]] |volume=1 |location=New York |publisher=[[Robert Appleton Company]] |year=1907 |access-date=25 March 2015 |via=[[New Advent]]}}</ref> Her son took the crown from her in 961, just as Adalbert arrived in Kievan Rus. Adalbert's missionary companions were slain and Adalbert barely escaped. Kievan Rus subsequently was converted by missionaries from [[Constantinople]] and became part of [[Eastern Christianity|Byzantine Christianity]].

Upon escaping Kievan Rus, Adalbert traveled to the imperial court at [[Mainz]], [[Germany]], where he remained for four years, until he was named [[Abbot]] of [[Wissembourg]] in [[Alsace]]. There he worked to improve the education of the monks.<ref name=Delaney>{{cite dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsain0002dela/page/7 |last=Delaney |first=John J. |title=Adalbert of Magdeburg |dictionary=Dictionary of Saints |publisher=[[Image Books|Image]]/[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year=2005 |isbn=9780385515207}}</ref> He later became the first [[Archbishop of Magdeburg]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]], in contemporary [[Germany]].<ref name=Campbell/> Adalbert travelled to Rome to receive the [[pallium]] before assuming his see.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Us0JDAAAQBAJ&q=saint+adalbert+of+magdeburg&pg=PA96 |last=Michałowski |first=Roman |title=The Gniezno Summit: The Religious Premises of the Founding of the Archbishopric of Gniezno |publisher=[[Brill (publisher)|Brill]] |year=2016 |page=96 |isbn=9789004317512}}</ref>

The Archiepiscopacies of [[Archbishopric of Bremen|Hamburg]] and [[Archbishopric of Bremen|Bremen]] had been established with the intention that they would serve as bases for missions in northern and eastern Europe. The [[Archbishopric of Magdeburg|Archdiocese of Magdeburg]] was designated to provide missionaries to the eastern European [[Slavic peoples|Slavs]].<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095349522 |title=Adalbert of Magdeburg |via=[[Oxford Reference]] |dictionary=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Saints]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> Adalbert also established dioceses for [[Diocese of Naumburg|Naumburg]]; [[Diocese of Meissen|Meissen]]; [[Diocese of Merseburg|Merseburg]]; [[Diocese of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]]; [[Diocese of Havelberg|Havelberg]]; and [[Diocese of Poznań|Poznań]], [[Poland]]. He died on 20 June 981<ref name=Delaney/> in Zscherben (contemporarily in (former) [[Geusa]], in [[Merseburg]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]], [[Germany]]).

A student of Adalbert for some years named [[Adalbert of Prague|Vojtěch Slavníkovec]], who at his [[Confirmation]], took the very name of his tutor, went on from Adalbert's tutelage to successfully evangelize many Slavic peoples, received the crown of [[martyrdom]] in [[Duchy of Prussia|Prussia]], and was canonized as [[Adalbert of Prague|St. Adalbert of Prague]].

Saint Adalbert's Cemetery in [[Milwaukee]], Wisconsin, is dedicated to the archbishop of Magdeburg.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/photos/generations-local-polish-community-memorialized-saint-adalberts-garden-district/ |title=Generations of the local Polish community memorialized at Saint Adalbert's in the Garden District |work=Milwaukee Independent |date=October 31, 2019 |access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title= The Penguin Dictionary of Saints|last1=Attwater|first1=Donald|last2=John|first2=Catherine Rachel|year=1995|publisher=Penguin|location=London|isbn=0-14-051312-4|oclc=60310282|edition=3rd|orig-year=1965}}

==External links==
*[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1113 Catholic Online: Saints & Angels: St. Adalbert of Magdeburg]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080821191240/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1O100-AdalbertofMagdeburg.html HighBeam Research: Adalbert of Magdeburg]

{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|||circa 910 in [[Lotharingia|Lorraine]], [[France]]|20 June|981 in Zscherben (contemporarily in (former) [[Geusa]], in [[Merseburg]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]], [[Germany]])|name=Adalbert, also Adalbertus, Adelbertus, and Albertus}}
{{s-rel|[[Christianity|Christian]]}}
|-
{{s-non | reason=New diocese}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Archbishopric of Magdeburg#Archbishops and administrators|Archbishop of Magdeburg]]|years=968&ndash;981}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Gisilher (Archbishop of Magdeburg)|Gisilher]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adalbert of Magdeburg}}
[[Category:Medieval German saints]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Magdeburg]]
[[Category:10th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:910s births]]
[[Category:981 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:German Benedictines]]
[[Category:10th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Benedictine bishops]]
[[Category:Alsatian saints]]
[[Category:10th-century writers in Latin]]
[[Category:10th-century German writers]]
[[Category:10th-century German historians]]