Gotthard of Hildesheim

Saint Gotthard
St. Gotthard as bishop, with the Hildesheim St. Mary relic receptacle; Basilica St. Godehard, Hildesheim
Born	960 Reichersdorf, Bavaria
Died	4 May 1038
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Canonized	1131, Rheims by Pope Innocent II
Feast	4 May
Attributes	dragon; model of a church
Patronage	travelling merchants; invoked against fever, dropsy, childhood sicknesses, hailstones, the pain of childbirth, and gout; invoked by those in peril of the sea

Saint Gotthard (or Godehard) (960 – 4 May 1038 AD; Latin: Gotthardus, Godehardus), also known as Gothard or Godehard the Bishop, was an Anglo-German bishop venerated as a saint.

Gotthard was born in 960 near Niederaltaich in the diocese of Passau. Gotthard studied the humanities and theology at Niederaltaich Abbey, where his father Ratmund was a vassal of the canons. While at the Abbey, Gotthard was placed under the guidance of Uodalgisus. Gotthard then resided at the archiepiscopal court of Salzburg, where he served as an ecclesiastical administrator. After traveling through various countries, including Italy, Gotthard completed his advanced studies under the guidance of Liutfrid in the cathedral school at Passau. He then joined the canons at Niederaltaich in 990, and became their provost in 996.

When Henry II of Bavaria decided to transform the chapter house of Niederaltaich into a Benedictine monastery Gotthard remained there as a novice, subsequently becoming a monk there in 990 under the abbot Ercanbertn. In 993, Gotthard was ordained a priest, in addition to becoming a prior and rector of the monastic school. In 996, when he was elected abbot, Gotthard introduced the Cluniac reforms at Niederaltaich.

He helped revive the Rule of St. Benedict, which then provided abbots for the abbeys of Tegernsee, Hersfeld and Kremsmünster to restore Benedictine observance, under the patronage of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.