Udalschalk of Augsburg: Vita Chounradi

This is a life of Conrad, bishop of Constance (died 975), associated with Udalschalk of Augsburg. It opens with a letter of Ulrich, bishop of Constance, to Pope Calixtus II, explaining that he had repeatedly sought Conrad’s canonisation and had been told that a life must be read and approved at a general council, with suitable witnesses to his miracles. The life follows. The sample tells how, while the bishop was celebrating Mass, a spider fell into the chalice; the ministers feared he would die, but Conrad drank it, and later, resting his head on the table, released the spider unharmed from his mouth.

The life was prepared to support the canonisation of Conrad, which was granted by Calixtus II in 1123, perhaps in connection with the First Lateran Council. It is therefore an early example of a formal canonisation dossier, showing how papal approval had become important for the recognition of saints. The spider miracle became the most famous story of Conrad and his usual emblem in art. The work is a source for the cult of the saint at Constance and for hagiographic practice in the early twelfth century.