him on several important missions, thrice to France (1422, 1431, 1435), and thrice to Lombardy (1420, 1427, 1430). He was made a Cardinal in 1420, attended the Council of Basle in 1432, and again in 1434 and 1436, as legate of Eugenius IV, a position which he also filled in January, 1348, at Ferrara, whither Eugenius had transferred the Synod. He took part in the conferences with the Greeks in preparation for the union effected at Florence. The Pope appointed him Grand Penitentiary shortly before his death. Though never formally canonized, he has long been popularly venerated as Blessed (Acta SS., II May, 469 sqq., and Analecta Boll., VIII, 381 sqq.). He is the author of various theological and other treatises, including: "Recollecta multæ electionis"; "Apologia pro Eugenio IV"; sermons, prayers, epistles (P.L., CCIV). His life has been written by many different authors, contemporary and since his time.
Eggs, Purp. doctæ. III, 14; Ruggeri, Testimonia de Nic. Alb. (Rome. 1744); Stanonik in Kirchenlex., 1, 408; Pastor, History of the Popes (London, 1892), I, passim.
Alberic of Monte Cassino, d. 1088; cardinal since 1057. He was (perhaps) a native of Trier, and became a Benedictine. He opposed successfully the heresy of Berengarius, defended the measures of Gregory VII, and composed several theological and scientific works, lives of saints, etc. He is the author of the earliest medieval treatise on letter-writing (De dictamine). Many of his letters are to be seen in the works of St. Peter Damian (P.L., CXLV, 621–634).
Ziegelbauer, Hist. Litt. O.S.B., III, 94; Hurter, Nomenclator (Innsbruck, 1903), V, 1051–52; Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen (6th ed.), II, 293; Rockinger, Briefsteller und Formelbucher des XI. bis XIV. Jahrhunderts, 29–46.
Alberic of Ostia, a Benedictine monk, and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia from 1138–47. Born in 1080, at Beauvais in France; d. at Verdun, 1147. He entered the monastery of Cluny and became its sub-prior and, later, prior of St. Martin-des-Champs, but was recalled (1126) to Cluny by Peter the Venerable, to aid in the restoration of discipline in that famous monastery. In 1131 he was Abbot of Vezelay in the Diocese of Autun, and held that office until he was made Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia by Pope Innocent II (1138). Immediately after his consecration Alberic went as papal legate to England. He was successful in his endeavours to end the war then raging for possession of the throne between the usurper Stephen of Blois and David I of Scotland, who had espoused the cause of Empress Matilda. He then called a council of all the bishops and abbots of England, which assembled at London, December 1138, and at which eighteen bishops and about thirty abbots were present. The chief business of the council, besides some disciplinary measures, was the election of an archbishop for the See of Canterbury. Thibaut, Abbot of Bec, was chosen, and consecrated by Alberic. Accompanied by Thibaut and other bishops and abbots, he returned to Rome in January, 1139. The same year, Alberic was sent to exhort the inhabitants of Bari, a town on the Adriatic, to acknowledge as their lawful sovereign Roger II of Sicily, against whom they were in revolt. They refused, however, to listen to the legate of the Holy See, and shut their gates against him. In 1140 Alberic was appointed to examine into the conduct of Rodolph, Patriarch of Antioch. In a council of eastern bishops and abbots, at which Alberic presided, Rodolph was deposed, and was cast into prison (30 November, 1140). Pope Eugenius III sent Alberic (1147) to combat the Henrician heretics (see Albigenses), who were causing much trouble in the neighbourhood of Toulouse. In a letter written at this time to the bishops of that district, St. Bernard of Clairvaux calls Alberic "the venerable Bishop of Ostia, a man who has done great things in Israel, through whom Christ has often given victory to His Church". St. Bernard was induced to join the legate, and it was owing chiefly to the miracles and eloquence of the Saint that the embassy was in some degree successful. Three days before the arrival of St. Bernard, Alberic had been given a very cold welcome. The populace, in derision of his office, had gone to meet him, riding on asses, and escorted him to his residence with the music of rude instruments. It is said of him that he could not win the people, but that the leaders of the heresy feared him more than any other cardinal of his time. The last work of Alberic was that of co-operating with St. Bernard in promoting the Second Crusade. He it was who arranged with Louis VII of France the details of the undertaking.
Mabillon, Life and Works of St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, tr. by Eales (London, 1889–98); Lingard, History of England, II, iv; Fleury, Histoire ecclesiastique (Paris, 1751), XIV; Rohrbacher, Histoire universelle de l'eglise catholique, VI.
Albero de Montreuil, Archbishop, of Trier b. near Toul, in Lorraine, about 1080; d. at Coblenz, 18 January, 1152. After acquiring some dignities in the churches of Toul and Verdun, he was made Archdeacon and Provost of St. Arnulf at Metz. Here he became identified with the church reform party which was opposed to Bishop Adalbero IV, and went in person to Rome to secure his deposition from Pope Paschalis II. On his return he brought about the election of Theotger, Abbot of St. George in the Black Forest, who was consecrated against his will in July, 1118, and, being prevented from entering his diocese by the imperial party, died in 1120. Albero then aided in the election of Stephen of Bar, who rewarded his zeal by making him primicerius of Metz. After having been mentioned for the vacant Sees of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, both of which he refused, Albero was in 1130, chosen Archbishop of Trier to succeed Meginher. The position was not an easy one, for the church was in need of reform, and the previous occupants of the see had been dominated by the Burgrave Ludwig. He could not be induced to accept the burden until Innocent II summoned him to the Synod at Reims, and even threatened him with suspension from his priestly functions. He was consecrated by the Pope himself at Vienne.
Albero vigorously prosecuted the work of reform. He restored peace and order in his archdiocese, and before his death made it one of the most important in Germany. In 1136 he accompanied the Emperor, Lothair II, on his expedition into Italy, whither he had been summoned by Innocent II to resist the aggressions of Roger of Sicily, one of the adherents of the antipope Anacletus II. In the dispute which arose between the Pope and the Emperor, Albero showed himself a staunch defender of the Papal cause, and on his return Innocent made him Primate of Belgian Gaul and Papal Legate in Germany. After the death of Lothair he took an active part in the election of Conrad III, founder of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. In 1148, Pope Eugene III visited Trier, after presiding at the Council of Reims, and was entertained by him with great splendour. Albero was a churchman of great zeal and energy. His generosity was unbounded, and though often compelled to take up arms in defence of the rights of the Church, he was none the less a devout priest and a patron of letters. Among his friends he counted St. Norbert and St. Bernard, who seconded his efforts for the restoration of religious discipline in his archdiocese.
