Archdeacon and provost of Brabant. Bishop of Liege in 1191. Albert of Rethel, cousin of Count Baldwin and uncle of the Empress Constance, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, had sought the episcopacy. He appealed to the emperor for help; Henry removed Albert from the position and made a third candidate, Lothaire, who was the provost of Bonn, bishop of Liege. Albert then appealed to the Vatican, both for himself and to help clearly establish the Pope's supremacy in the matter. Celestine III declared Albert's election valid, and returned him to Liege. Lothair refused to surrender the see; Henry backed him, and forced the priests in the diocese to submit to Lothair.
Bruno, archbishop of Cologne was supposed to ordain Albert, but refused, fearing the emperor. William, archbishop of Rheims, ordained Albert as priest, and then as bishop. In an attempt to end the matter in the emperor's favour, a group of Henry's knights ambushed and murdered Albert on the road outside Rheims. The plan backfired, however, as Lothair was excommunicated and exiled, and Henry was forced to submit to Rome and do penance; lay investiture (civil control over ordinations) took another serious blow.
Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate Dictionary of Saints, by John Delaney Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson