St Rupert (d. 718) abbot-bishop at Salzburg
Of the Frankish Merovingian royal family
Rupert
belonged by birth to the Franco-Merovingian royal household.
He may have
been influenced by the Irish monks who came to the continent under
Columbanus.
He gained a reputation for holiness while preaching at Worms
on the Rhine towards the end of the seventh century.
A missionary in Bavaria
Theodo, Duke of
Bavaria, hearing of Rupert's reputation, invited him to come to Bavaria
to instruct his people in the faith and to revive, confirm, and
propagate the spirit of Christianity there.
Despite the work of early
missionaries, Bavaria was only superficially Christian; its very
Christianity was indeed to some extent Arian, while pagan customs
and attitudes were closely interwoven with the Christianity which it had
retained.
Rupert accepted, and in 696 baptised Theodo and his household
in the town of Ratisbon (Regensburg). He had some success in restoring
the region to Christianity.
In the following years, under the patronage
of Theodo and his son Theodobert, Rupert preached throughout Bavaria,
and succeeded in converting or re-converting all that region.
A missionary in Salzburg
Rupert asked Theodo for
permission to build a church at the ruined ancient Roman town of
Iuvavum. Theodo agreed, and Rupert founded the abbey of St. Peter with a
school and a church attached at Mönchberg.
He also set up a convent at
Nonnburg, where his niece, Erentrude, became the abbess. They are the
oldest continuing monastery and convent in the German-speaking world.
Around the monks and nuns who accepted Rupert's call grew up the town
which Rupert re-named "Salzburg" or "Salt Castle", deriving its name
from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach river.
His death and influence
Rupert combined in his
own person the dignities of abbot and bishop. His remains were interred
in a crypt in St. Peter's Church. Rupert is often depicted carrying a
bag or barrel of salt.
The Irish monk St Virgil (Feargal) camed to
Salzburg in 767. Between that and 774 the cathedral was built there and
was later dedicated to St Rupert and St Virgil.
St Rupert is revered as
the Apostle of Bavaria and Austria.