Adalbert of Como

Saint Adalbert of Como was the fifteenth bishop of Como in northern Italy, in the 7th century. According to Paolo Giovio he came from Illyria. He ruled the diocese in the first years of Lombard rule; the Lombards were then ravaging the lands at the head of the lake, especially Samolaco and the Oratory of San Fedele.

His veneration is attested from early times. In the early Middle Ages the oldest church of Tirano, now vanished, was dedicated to him, and between the 8th and 9th centuries the first church of Grandate followed, on the edge of the Roman road between Milan and Como. He was buried in the basilica of Sant'Abbondio, under the altar, and in 1590 he was exhumed and his relics were divided between the cathedral and the Dominican convent. In the basilica, the old cathedral of Como, a cycle of frescoes, perhaps of the 12th century, is kept which probably shows the stories of him and of Saint Rubianus, both buried there. He is commemorated on 3 June, by the Western calendar (new style). He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.