An abbot on his pilgrimage
Birth and Early Life
Abbot Albert of Stade was born towards the end of the 12th century in Stade, a significant port and Hanseatic city at the time.
Rise to Abbot
In 1232, Albert became the abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary in Stade. The monastery was influential due to its land holdings.
Reform Efforts
Abbot Albert sought to enforce stricter church discipline modeled after the Cistercian rules. To do so, he needed permission from Pope Gregory IX in Rome. In 1236, he embarked on the arduous journey to the center of Christendom, likely traveling by horse or in a two-wheeled cart rather than on foot.
The Journey to Rome
Albert chose a detour through France on his way to Rome, probably to visit Citeaux. The total journey, including the direct return route from Rome through present-day Austria, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, and Lower Saxony, covered approximately 3500 kilometers and likely took about half a year.
Outcome of the Journey
Although the Pope approved the monastic reform, the monastery brothers refused to comply, and the responsible Archbishop of Bremen was more interested in balancing power with the Welf dynasty than in further supporting the monastery’s reform.
Withdrawal to the Minorite Monastery
Disappointed, Albert resigned his position as abbot and joined the Minorite Monastery of St. John in Stade, which was committed to the Franciscan ideal of poverty.
Literary Work
There, besides some theological works, he wrote the “Annales,” a Latin chronicle of the most important ecclesiastical and political events of his time. Embedded within it is a dialogue between two monks about the best routes for a (pilgrimage) journey to Rome. In this, Albert describes his own journey to Rome, detailing all the stops and precise distances of each segment in German or Italian miles.
Significance of His Work
A review conducted in the 1950s revealed that Albert’s distance estimates had an average deviation smaller than the allowable error margin for modern odometers. Despite the failure of his initial spiritual endeavor, Abbot Albert of Stade, thanks to his itinerary (the original manuscript is in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel), became an inspiration for the modern pilgrimage route VIA ROMEA over 750 years later.
