St. Albert of Louvain

St. Albert of Louvain (c. 1166 – 24 November 1192) was a son of the Duke of Brabant, born at Louvain in present-day Belgium. Choosing the Church over a military career, he became a canon and archdeacon and, in 1191, was canonically elected bishop of Liège. His election was contested, however, by a rival candidate backed by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who refused to recognize Albert and gave the see to another, in a flagrant instance of imperial interference in the freedom of the Church.

Albert appealed to Rome, which upheld his election, and he was consecrated bishop at Reims; but the emperor's enmity pursued him. In 1192, while in exile near Reims, he was murdered by German knights connected to the emperor's party, dying for the principle of the Church's liberty to choose her own shepherds — a cause bound up with the great struggle between the papacy and the empire. Venerated as a martyr, he is honored among the saints who suffered for the freedom of the Church.