Gerard of Csanád

St. Gerard of Csanád, O.S.B.
Statue of St. Gerard in San Rocco, Venice.
Monk, bishop and martyr
Born	977/1000 Venice, Republic of Venice
Died	24 September 1046 Buda, Kingdom of Hungary
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church (Hungary)
Canonized	1083 by Pope Gregory VII
Feast	24 September
Patronage	Hungary, Budapest

Gerard or Gerard Sagredo (Hungarian: Gellért; Italian: Gerardo di Sagredo; 23 April 977/1000 – 24 September 1046) was the first Bishop of Csanád in the Kingdom of Hungary from around 1030 to his death. Most information about his life was preserved in his legends which contain most conventional elements of medieval biographies of saints. He was born in a Venetian noble family, associated with the Sagredos or Morosinis in sources written centuries later. After a serious illnes, he was sent to the Benedictine San Giorgio Monastery at the age of five. He received excellent monastic education and also learnt grammar, music, philosophy and law.

He left Venice for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 1020, but a storm compelled him to break his journey near Istria. He decided to visit the Kingdom of Hungary. Maurus, Bishop of Pécs, and Stephen I of Hungary convinced him not to continue his pilgrimage, emphasizing that Gerard's preachings could accelerate the conversion of the Hungarians. Gerard was made the tutor of the king's son and heir, Emeric. Before long, Gerard went to the Bakony Hills to live as a hermit near Bakonybél. Stephen I made him bishop of the newly established Diocese of Csanád (encompassing present-day Banat in Serbia, Romania and Hungary) around 1030. Benedictine monks who could speak Hungarian helped him to preach among the local inhabitants.