Ermanrich of Passau

Ermanrich or Ermenrich (Hermanrich; born around 814, died 874) was Bishop of Passau from 866 to 874.[1][2]

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.[3][4][5][6]

In 862 or 863, old Bishop Hartwig of Passau suffered a serious stroke, that left him largely disabled, and in 866 Ermanrich was chosen to succeed him as new Bishop of Passau.[7] 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 attended the synod of Worms in 868. 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.