Adelbert [Aldebert or Adalbert]
Adelbert [Aldebert or Adalbert]
a priest and irregular bishop of the eighth century, who obtained great celebrity from his piety and zeal, and from his strifes in ecclesiastical matters with Boniface, the (so-called) apostle of Germany. Our knowledge of him is derived mostly from the account of his adversary, Boniface, who paints him in dark colors; but the truth seems to be that he had much more of the spirit of the Gospel than was usual in his times. He opposed, for instance, pilgrimages to Rome, and advised sinners to "seek relief from the omnipresent God, or from Christ alone." Boniface charged him with various superstitious practices, and he was condemned by the Synod. of Soissons, 744. — Neander, Ch. Hist. 3, 56; Mosheim, Ch. Hist. cent. 8, pt. 2, ch. 5, § 2.