Benno

Who was Benno?

Saint Benno of Meissen was a Bishop of Meissen in Germany. Little is known of Benno's early life. It is unlikely that he was the scion of a Saxon noble family, the Woldenburgs.It is also unlikely that in his youth he entered and was educated at the monastery of St. Michael in Hildesheim despite the claims of later hagiographers.

More likely, Benno was a canon of Goslar. In 1066 was nominated by the Emperor Henry IV to the see of Meissen, and appears as a supporter of the Saxon insurrection of 1073, though Lambert of Hersfeld and other contemporary authorities attribute little weight to his share in it.

Henry IV imprisoned Benno, however, but released him in 1078 on his taking an oath of fidelity, which he did not keep. He appeared again in the ranks of the king's enemies, and was accordingly deprived of his bishopric by the Synod of Mainz in 1085. Benno betook himself to Guibert, the antipope supported by Henry as Antipope Clement III, and by a penitent acknowledgment of his offenses obtained from him both absolution and a letter of commendation to Henry, on the basis of which he was restored to his see.

Benno promised, apparently, to use his influence for peace with the Saxons, but again failed to keep his promise, returning in 1097 to the papal party and recognizing Urban II as the rightful pope. With this he disappears from authentic history; there is no evidence to support the later stories of his missionary activity and zeal for church-building and for ecclesiastical music. Benno died of natural causes on June 16, 1106.