Albert of Jerusalem

Albert of Jerusalem (c.1150–1214), patriarch. Born of a noble family of Parma, Albert became a canon regular at Montara (Lombardy) and was consecrated bishop of Bobbio in 1184. Soon translated to Vercelli, he made peace between Parma and Piacenza. In 1203 the canons of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem asked Pope Innocent III to appoint him as patriarch, which he reluctantly did. As Jerusalem had fallen in 1187, the see was at Akka (Ptolemais). Again Albert exercised his skills of peacemaking, between the Frankish leaders themselves and between them and the local people. He also gained the respect of the Muslims, but his situation as western patriarch of Jerusalem was difficult and arguably untenable.

Meanwhile Brocard, prior of the hermits of Mount Carmel, invited him to codify their customary observance into a Rule. This included obedience to an elected superior, silence each day between Vespers and Terce, long fasts and perpetual abstinence, a separate house for each hermit but a common oratory, and manual work for all. Whoever may have founded the Carmelite Order, Albert was its first legislator.

Albert supported the pope's efforts to regain Jerusalem, but in vain. Summoned to the Fourth Lateran Council he met a violent death at Akka on 14 September at the hand of a hospitaller whom he had deposed from the office of Master. A cult arose soon after his death and he has been formally venerated by the Carmelites at least since 1411. Feast: 14 September.

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

• AA.SS. April. I (1737), 769–802; Bibl. SS., i. 686–90; F. Pianzola, ‘S. Alberto Avogadro’, Il Monte Carmelo, 1937–9; B.L.S., ix. 121–2