ALBERT OF JERUSALEM, ST.

Patriarch of Jerusalem; b. Parma, Italy, c. 1149; d. Acre, Holy Land, Sept. 14, 1214. He studied theology, civil law and Canon Law before becoming a canon regular in the monastery of the Holy Cross in Mortara. In 1184 he was made bishop of Bobbio whence he was soon transferred to Vercelli in Lombardy. A skilled diplomat, he served as mediator between Pope clement iii and Emperor frederick i Barbarossa, and later as a legate of Pope innocent iii in the north of Italy, where he brought about peace between Parma and Piacenza.

His reputation for diplomacy and piety led to his selection as patriarch of Jerusalem in 1205. Since the Muslims held Jerusalem after 1187, he established his residence in St. Jean d'Acre where he worked hard to keep peace between all factions. In his capacity as patriarch he was requested by Burchard (d. 1221), prior of the hermits living on Mt. Carmel, to give them a rule, which he did in 16 short chapters (see carmelites). He was assassinated on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross by a disgruntled former master of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit at Acre whom he had deposed (see hospitallers). His feast was first introduced by the Carmelites in 1411 and was formally approved in 1666.

Feast: Sept. 25.

Bibliography: b. edwards, tr., The Rule of St. Albert, Latin text with an English tr. (London 1973). v. mosca, Alberto Patriarca di Gerusalemme: tempo, vita, opera (Rome 1996). Acta Santorum April 1:764–799. p. marie-joseph, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 1:1564–67. j. baur, Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 1:279.

[v. l. bullough]