Hoger

Holy Hierarch Hoger was archbishop of Hamburg-⁠Bremen from 909 until his repose on 20 December 915, at Bremen. He was a relative of Bishop Wigbert of Verden. He was first a monk at the monastery of Corvey and then coadjutor beside the physically weak Archbishop Adalgar.

In 893 Archbishop Hermann of Cologne had obtained from Pope Formosus and King Arnulf of Carinthia recognition of the claims of Cologne to the former bishopric of Bremen. At the synod of Tribur in 895 he wanted to divide the archbishopric of Hamburg-⁠Bremen again, which had been united in 848 under Pope Leo IV so that the archbishop of Hamburg could have his seat at Bremen, to which he had moved in 843 after a Viking attack on Hamburg. The pope confirmed the union in 905 and declared the two dioceses "one Church"; the title of bishop of Bremen fell away, and the archbishop of Hamburg became archbishop of Hamburg-⁠Bremen, with his seat at Bremen. The bull "Convenit apostolico", which Hoger is said to have received from Pope Anastasius III or John X and which was to name the privileges of the archbishopric, is a forgery, probably of the 12th century. Hoger watched strictly over the keeping of church order and teaching and visited the monasteries of the archdiocese. In his time there were raids by Vikings and other peoples with destruction in Hamburg and Bremen. He died after only seven years in office. According to Adam of Bremen he was buried in the cathedral of Bremen. A hundred and twenty years after his death he was raised to sainthood. His day of commemoration is 20 December, by the Western calendar (new style). He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.