Gumbert of Ansbach

Gumbert of Ansbach (Gumbertus) was a Benedictine abbot and the founder of the monastery at Ansbach in Bavaria, and reposed on 11 March 795 (the date carries a question mark in the source). He is venerated as a saint in the Western Church.

He was born in the 8th century, in the family of the Mattones, of the Carolingian imperial aristocracy. Bishop Burchard of Würzburg is said to have taught him early to live in poverty in the midst of wealth. Around 750 he founded a Benedictine monastery on his estate at Ansbach and also led it as abbot. The monastery was a support point for the Frankish settlement of the region, and Charlemagne granted it immunity and free election of the abbot in 786. He was much loved as protector of the cathedral chapter of Würzburg. Elected bishop at the end of 794, he died on 11 March 795, before the episcopal consecration.

Relics of his are in the church of Saint Gumbert at Ansbach and at Cologne and Brussels. In art he is shown as a bishop with crozier and a model of a church. The Gumbertus Bible and the Gumbertus Gospel Book bear his name. His day is 15 July, formerly 11 March.