Adalbert Azzo I.

was the first of the archbishops of Magdeburg. He first appears in the service of the Archbishop of Cologne around the year 950. Soon after, he moves to the royal chancellery and thus gains access to the upper echelons of the empire. From 959 to 962, he journeys as a missionary through the lands of the Kievan Rus’. In 966 he becomes abbot of the Weissenburg Monastery and (most likely) writes the continuation of the Chronicon by Regino of Prüm, published in 908, which chronicles the times from the birth of Christ to 906. In 968 Adalbert is appointed Archbishop of Magdeburg by papal brief, and on Christmas he is seated in Magdeburg by Emperor Otto I. During a trip from Merseburg to Freckleben, he feels unwell and, after falling from his horse, finally dies in Zscherben. His body is transported by ship from Giebichenstein Castle to Magdeburg, where he is buried.