Saint Anno (c. 1010 – December 4, 1075) was Archbishop of Cologne from 1056-1075.

Biography

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He was born around 1010, belonging to a Swabian family, and was educated at Bamberg. He became confessor to the emperor Henry III, who appointed him archbishop of Cologne in 1056. He took a prominent part in the government of Germany during the minority of King Henry IV and was the leader of the party which in 1062 seized the person of Henry, and deprived his mother, the empress Agnes, of power. For a short time Anno exercised the chief authority in the kingdom, but he was soon obliged to share this with Adalbert, archbishop of Bremen, retaining for himself the supervision of Henry's education and the title of magister. The office of chancellor of the kingdom of Italy was at this period regarded as an appanage of the archbishopric of Cologne,and this was probably the reason why Anno had a considerable share in settling the papal dispute in 1064. He declared Alexander II to be the rightful pope at a synod held at Mantua in May 1064, and took other steps to secure his recognition. Returning to Germany, he found the chief power in the hands of Adalbert, and as he was disliked by the young king, he left the court but returned and regained some of his former influence when Adalbert fell from power in 1066. He succeeded in putting down a rising against his authority in Cologne in 1074, and it was reported he had allied himself with William the Conqueror, king of England, against the emperor. Having cleared himself of this charge, Anno took no further part in public business, and died at Cologne on December 4, 1075. He was buried in the monastery of Siegburg and was canonized in 1183 by Pope Lucius III. He was a founder of monasteries (Michaelsberg, Grafschaft and Affligem) and a builder of churches, advocated clerical celibacy and was a strict disciplinarian. He was a man of great energy and ability, whose action in recognizing Alexander II was of the utmost consequence for Henry IV and for Germany.

Literature

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• Vita Annonis archiepiscopi Coloniensis, R. Koepke ed., MGH Scriptores 11 (Hannover 1854) 462-518.
• Anno von Köln, Epistola ad monachos Malmundarienses, Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für altere deutsche Geschichtskunde XIV (Hanover, 1876).
• Annolied, or Incerti poetae Teutonici rhythmus de S. Annone (written about 1180), ed. J. Kehrein (Frankfort, 1865);
• Lindner, T., Anno II der Heilige, Erzbischof von Köln (1056-1075) (Leipzig 1869).
• Jenal, G., Erzbischof Anno II. von Köln (1056-75) und sein politisches Wirken. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Reichs- und Territorialpolitik im 11. Jahrhundert. Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 8, 2 vol. (Stuttgart 1974-1975).
• Schieffer, R., Die Romreise deutscher Bischöfe im Frühjahr 1070. Anno von Köln, Siegfried von Mainz und Hermann von Bamberg bei Alexander II., Rheinische Vierteljahrsblätter 35 (1971) 152-174.

German saints | 1010s births | 1075 deaths | archbishops of Cologne

Anno II.