Alto, O.S.B., (died c. 760) was a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

active in the

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria () was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarians, Bavarian tribes and ruled by List of rulers of Bavaria, dukes (''duces'') ...

during the mid-8th century. Tradition holds him to be the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous founder of

Altomünster Abbey Altomünster Abbey (Kloster Altomünster) was a monastery in the small Bavarian market town of Altomünster. History A small monastery was founded here by and named after Saint Alto, a wandering monk, before 760. The ''vita'' of Alto, likely wr ...

, around which a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

grew up, also called

Altomünster Altomünster is a Municipalities in Germany, municipality in the district of Dachau (district), Dachau in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Geographical location The market is located northwest of Dachau and almost in the middle of the triangle form ...

. He is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church.

Life

Little is known about Alto; he is believed to have arrived in the region as a wandering Irish or Scottish monk, and to have previously lived as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

near both

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

. There is a '' Vita'' of his life written by

Otloh of St. Emmeram Otloh of St. Emmeram (also Othlo) (c. 1010 – c. 1072) was a Benedictine monk, composer, writer and music theorist of St Emmeram's in Regensburg. Life Otloh was born around 1010 in the bishopric of Freising. After studying at Tegernsee and Hers ...

about 1062. The

Diocese of Freising The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany.Pepin the Short the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian to become king. Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude of H ...

gave Alto some wooded land on which to build his monastery.

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

is said to have come to dedicate the church about the year 750.Thurston, Herbert. "St. Alto." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 30 May 2016 A

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

lectionary A lectionary () is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity, Christian or Judaism, Jewish worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, ...

made for Altomünster Abbey has a metal cover which was added to the manuscript in 1489, depicting one of Saint Alto's miracles. Alto's

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is celebrated on 9 February.

Legacy

St-Alto-way is a trail in the forest Alto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alto Of Altomunster 8th-century births 760s deaths German hermits German Benedictines Benedictine abbots Colombanian saints Medieval German saints 8th-century Christian saints 8th-century Christian abbots