Rupert of Salzburg

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Rupert of Salzburg
Head of a Gothic style statue of Saint Rupert
Bishop
Born 660?
Died 27 March 710, Salzburg, Austria
Venerated in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy
Feast September 24 [1][2]
27 March [3]
Attributes Holding a container of salt
Patronage Salzburg, The State of Salzburg
Saints Portal

Rupert of Salzburg (also Ruprecht, Hrodperht, Hrodpreht, Roudbertus, Rudbertus, Robert)[4] (660?[5] - 710) is a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and a founder of the Austrian city of Salzburg. He was a contemporary of Childebert III, king of the Franks.[4]

Contents

[edit] Life

Tradition states that Rupert was a scion of the Frankish royal Merovingian family.[4] He was also the uncle of Saint Erentrude.

Rupert was a Frank and bishop of Worms until around 697, at which point he was sent to become a missionary to Regensburg in Bavaria. There, he may have first baptized Duke Theodo of Bavaria,[6] whose permission was necessary for further missionary work, and then baptized a number of the nobles. After such success, Rupert moved on to Altötting and converted the locals. He soon had converted a large area of the Danube. As well as converting the locals, Rupert introduced education and other reforms. He promoted the salt mines of Salzburg, then the ruined Roman town of Juvavum, and made it his base and renamed the place "Salzburg." He reportedly died on Easter Sunday around 710.

[edit] Veneration

In the Roman Catholic Church, Rupert's feast day is 27 March.[1]. In Austria it is on 24 September.[2]

[edit] Gallery

An Austrian stamp of 1948 depicting a statue of Saint Rupert

Detail of a medal produced by the Archbishopric of Salzburg in 1772 of Saint Rupert

Saint Rupert depicted wearing a miter, typical of a bishop

Saint Rupert, as founder of a church ("ecclesiae fundator")

Silver 25 Pfennig coin depicting Saint Rubertus in typical iconographical style, from 1918, the City of Laufen, minted as Notgeld

50 Pfennig from the same series

[edit] Source

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ German language regional calendar, September
  2. ^ German language regional calendar
  3. ^ St. Rupert - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
  4. ^ a b c Ulrich Schmid (1912). "St. Rupert". The Catholic Encyclopedia 8. Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved on 2007-03-27. 
  5. ^ According to Catholic Encyclopedia, "The assumption of 660 as the year of his birth is very likely legendary."
  6. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia states that "this scene has no historical foundation."