Eberhard I (archbishop of Salzburg)

Eberhard was Archbishop of Salzburg, Austria from 1146 until his death in 1164.

Saint Eberhard
Heiliger-Eberhard-Salzburg
Archbishop of Salzburg
Born	Nuremberg, Germany
Died	1164 Rein Abbey, Gratwein, Styria, Austria
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Feast	22 June

Life

Eberhard was born to a noble family of Nuremberg, Germany; he became a Benedictine in 1125 at Pruffening, Germany. Later he was made Abbot of Biburg near Regensburg. In 1146 Pope Innocent II appointed him Archbishop of Salzburg.^[1]

He rose to fame as a mediator when Pope Alexander III was faced with the controversy surrounding the Papal election of 1159, created by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa who supported antipope Victor IV. Eberhard wrote to Hildegard of Bingen, requesting her prayers during this stressful time.^[2] Eberhard intended to attend the Council of Pavia in 1160, but only got as far as Treviso due to ill health.^[3]

Although Archbishop Eberhard I, Count of Hippoldstein, steadily supported Alexander, Barbarossa left him in peaceful possession of his see.^[4] Frederick saw Eberhard as a potential arbiter. Eberhard was greatly respected for his piety, learning, and integrity; and Frederick needed the support of the German princes for his Italian campaigns.

Eberhard was one of the most able of the prelates of his age.^[1] He died in 1164, at the age of seventy-nine, returning from another peace keeping mission.^[5]