Saint Arbeo of Freising (also ''Aribo'', ''Arbo'', or ''Arpeo'', in Latin ''Heres'', a direct translation of Arbeo) (723 AD or earlier near

Meran Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier Va ...

– 4 May 784) was an

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...

author and the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

from 764. Arbeo is thought to have been a scion of the Huosi noble dynasty in the stem duchy of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. He may have been the child which, according to his own hagiography, Saint

Corbinian Saint Corbinian (; ; ; – 8 September ) was a Franks, Frankish bishop. After living as a hermit near Chartres for fourteen years, he made a pilgrimage to Rome. Pope Gregory II sent him to Bavaria. His opposition to the marriage of Duke Grimoal ...

rescued from the floodwaters of the Passer river near

. Arbeo was raised by Corbinians's brother Erembert and prepared for an ecclesiastical career, becoming a member of the

Benedictine Order The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

. At first a priest and notary under Bishop Joseph of Freising and official of the episcopal chancery, he was appointed abbot of the newly founded monastery of

Scharnitz Scharnitz is a municipality in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol located north of Innsbruck and from Seefeld in Tirol on the German border. It is one of the largest municipalities and has 10 parts: Au, Eisack, Gi ...

in 763. One year later he succeeded Joseph as Bishop of Freising. During his tenure, the Bavarian monasteries of

Innichen Innichen (; ; , all tied to Saint Candidus) is a municipality and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is located in the Puster Valley on the Drava River, on Italy's border with Austria. It hosts Italy’s International Snow Sculptur ...

, Schäftlarn and

Schliersee Schliersee is a small town (Markt) and a municipality in the district of Miesbach in Bavaria in Germany. It is named after the nearby Lake Schliersee. It comprises the districts Schliersee (town), , , , Josefsthal and Spitzingsee. Among the p ...

were established, and Scharnitz Abbey relocated to Schlehdorf. Arbeo had the relics of Saint Corbinian transferred to

. In the long-time quarrels of the Agilolfing duke

Tassilo III of Bavaria Tassilo – also spelled Thassilo – is a male name of West Germanic The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic langua ...

with his

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

suzerains, the bishop remained a loyal supporter of King

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

and may have lost his diocese in his later years. Arbeo founded the Freising episcopal library and

scriptorium A scriptorium () was a writing room in medieval European monasteries for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts by scribes. The term has perhaps been over-used—only some monasteries had special rooms set aside for scribes. Often they ...

. He is often counted as the first named author in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and is sometimes credited with the composition of the '' Codex Abrogans,'' a bilingual vocabulary in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

, often described as the first German book. He is buried in Freising. He is venerated as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

on the 4th of May, and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

on an unknown day. An affiliation with Margrave Aribo, progenitor of the Aribonids is possible but has not been established.

Notes and references

Works

* ''Arbeonis episcopi Frisingensis vitae sanctorum Haimhrammi et Corbiniani'' (''"Lives of Saints Emmeram and

, by Arbeo, Bishop of Freising"'') * Albert Lehner: Sacerdos = Bischof. Klerikale hiérarchie in der Emmeramsvita, 2007 Leipzig (Leipziger Universitätsverlag / ). * Sigmund Ritter von Riezler: Arbeo, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB), Vol. 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 510. * Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Arbeo (Aribo, Arbo), Bischof von Freising, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL), Vol. 1, Hamm 1975, Sp. 205.

External links

* *
Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon article
* http://www.manfred-hiebl.de/mittelalter-genealogie/mittelalter/bistuemer/freising/arbeo_bischof_von_freising_+_783.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Arbeo of Freising Aribonid dynasty German Benedictines Medieval German saints Roman Catholic bishops of Freising 8th-century bishops in Bavaria Old High German literature 723 births 784 deaths 8th-century Christian saints Benedictine bishops German male writers 8th-century Frankish writers 8th-century writers in Latin People from Merano

Notes and references

Works

Further reading

External links