Adalbert

Adalbert 1043-72, German churchman, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, a diocese that included Scandinavia. He was a favorite of Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, who appointed Adalbert to the archbishopric in order to break the power of the dukes of N Europe. He was a guardian of Henry's son and successor, Henry IV, but his relentless ambition to strengthen the church and the monarchy at the expense of the nobles (chiefly by annexing their lands) defeated itself. The nobles allied themselves with the abbots, who hated him for his efforts to subordinate the abbeys, and with the bishops, who feared his increasing ecclesiastical power. They accomplished his dismissal in 1066, but Henry IV recalled him in 1069. One of the ablest statesmen of his time, Adalbert helped consolidate both his ecclesiastical domain and the imperial authority.

Bibliography: See Adam of Bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen (tr. 1959).

Adalbert of Bremen (c.1000–72), Abp. of Bremen-Hamburg from 1043. He was an energetic promoter of missionary activities, especially in the Nordic countries, and planned to become Patriarch of the North. In 1053 Leo nominated him Papal Vicar and Legate. His last years were darkened by the invasion of pagan Wends who destroyed Hamburg in 1071–2.