Ermanrich of Passau

Ermenrich (Ermanrich, Hermanrich, * around 814, † 874) was the 86th of Bishop of Passau from 866 to 874.

Bistumswappen of Passau.

Ermenrich, son of a Swabian noble family, was originally a Benedictine monk in Ellwangen. In Fulda he had been a student of Rabanus Maurus and Rudolf von Fulda, on the Reichenau of the Walahfrid Strabo. He became a member of the Hofkapelle, and was closely connected with the Archbishop Grimald, whose monastery he lived temporarily. He enjoyed great respect both as a scholar and as a writer. In addition to the Vita of the Sualo [1] of Solnhofen, he wrote a Vita of the Ellwanger monastery founder Hariolf [2], to what extent he wrote with the Vita of St. Magnus von Füssen. In an extensive letter to Grimald, which was intended for a wider circle of readers, he also showed Greek knowledge and conceived a planned but not preserved metric Vita S. Galli. The Collectio Pataviensis probably does not originate from him.

In 866 he was appointed bishop of Passau. In his time, great efforts were made to integrate newly Christianized areas in the eastern part of the church organization of the Diocese of Passau. In 867 Ermenrich went to Bulgaria, where Khan Boris I assumed Christianity in 864. The project also failed because of the resistance of Pope Nicholas I. Ermenrich, however, by his experiences gained there over the Greek East on the Reichssynode to Worms in the year 868 the special attention of the participants excited. In 870 Ermenrich took part in the proceedings of the Bavarian episcopate against the Moravian Archbishop Method, which led to the arrest of Methods. Ermenrich was then suspended three years later by Pope John VIII. Bishop Ermenrich died in 874.