Lemma

Little is known for certain about Albert of Saxony’s (also known as Albert of Rickmersdorf or as Albertutius) early life. Traditionally, c. 1316 has often been suggested as his date of birth, but it has been shown that this date is merely the result of a misinterpretation of an early eighteenth-century source. Instead, he was more likely born in the early 1320s. This uncertainty concerning Albert’s birth date is a result from the fact that the first dated record we have of his life is that in 1351 he determined as a master of arts in Paris.

Albert’s place of birth was Helmstedt, or otherwise the region around Helmstedt, which lay in lower Saxony. Prior to studying at the University of Paris, he would have attended one of the schools in his diocese, at Halberstadt or at Magdeburg. In addition, he may have also studied for some time at the studium generale at Erfurt. There is, in fact, a reference to a stay in Erfurt in what might be the only work we have of Albert written before his stay at Paris, the Philosophia pauperum, but its authenticity is still uncertain. After becoming a master of arts, Albert began studying theology but he apparently never incepted in it.

During his stay in Paris, Albert fulfilled different administrative functions in the university. For some time he was proctor and receptor of the English-German nation, and in 1353 he was appointed rector of the entire arts faculty. Albert probably left the University of Paris in 1361/1362 and little is known of his activities in the 2 years following his departure, apart from the fact that he was involved in some diplomatic transactions between Pope Urban V and the Duke Rudolph IV of Austria. In 1365, he became the first rector of the newly founded University of Vienna; in fact, Albert had played an important role in obtaining papal support for its founding. His rectorship in Vienna lasted only 1 year, because he was appointed bishop of Halberstadt in 1366, a position which he held until his death there on July 8, 1390.