Erminold of Prüfening, Bl.
ERMINOLD OF PRÜFENING, BL.
Abbot; d. Prüfening, Bavaria, Jan. 6, 1121. Erminold came from the Swabian nobility and, as a youth, entered the benedictine monastery of hirsau under Abbot william. He took part in the unsuccessful attempt to reform the Abbey of lorsch (1106–07) and was appointed (1114) by Bishop otto of bamberg to be abbot of the newly founded monastery of Prüfening, near Regensburg. There Erminold implemented a strict reform that led to rebellions by his monks, one of whom finally killed him. In 1283 his relics were disinterred and buried in a catafalque surmounted by a reclining effigy. The sculptor was the "Erminold Master," so called from his connection with this statue, an outstanding example of early German Gothic art.
Feast: Jan. 6.
Bibliography: Vita Erminoldi, Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Berlin 1826–) division: Scriptore, 12:480–500. j. sydow, Neue deutsche Biographie (Berlin 1953–) 4:602. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige (Metten 1933–38) 1:49–51. l. heidenhain, "Quellen zum Stil des Ermenoldmeisters," Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 48 (1927) 183–208.
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