Otto of Freising (1109-1158) - Find a Grave Memorial

Clergy, Bishop of Freising and one of the most important chronicler of the middle ages. He was uterine half-brother of King Konrad III and uncle of Friedrich Barbarossa. He was born and raised in Klosterneuburg and became provost of the monastery in 1126. In the same year he went to Paris to study scholasticism. His teacher there included Pierre Abaelard, Hugo of Saint-Victor and Gilbert de la Porrée. He entered the Cistercian order in 1132 and convinced his father to found the Heiligenkreuz Abbey. At the same time he entered Morimond Abbey as a novice. About six years later he was elected abbot of the abbey and Konrad III named him Bishop of Freising. He also accompanied Konrad on his disastrous crusade in 1147 and reached Jerusalem with a few men. In the following years he often went on diplomatic missions for the king and later Friedrich Barabarossa. Until 1156 he was a mediator in the Guelph-Babenberg dispute over Bavaria. He died in his abbey on the way to the Cistercian general chapter that was held in Citeaux. His grave in the abbey church of Morimond disappeared in the seventeenth century. A reliquary under the high altar of the Heiligenkreuz abbey church is said to contain some of his bones. The Cistercian order venerates him as Blessed and his memorial day (September 7th) is celebrated in the archdioceses of Vienna and Munich-Freising.

Bio by: Lutetia