SaintErlembald (orErlembaldo Cotta) (Sanctus Herlembaldus inLatin) (died 15 April 1075) was the political and military leader of the movement known as thepataria inMilan, a movement to reform the clergy and the church in theAmbrosian diocese.
He was the brother ofLandulf,subdeacon of Milan. They were of the Cotta, a family ofvalvassores and vassals of the archdiocese. In his early career, Erlembald was referred to as a "captain." In 1063, he returned from a pilgrimage to theHoly Land and intended to become a monk when the deaconAriald convinced him to take his brother's place at the head of thepataria. Erlembald, however, was not a cleric, but a soldier.
In 1064, he travelled toRome to confer withPope Alexander II and confirm his support. On his return to Milan, he revealed the change in the character of thepataria by living in a palace near the church of Saint Victor and the Forty Martyrs. With papal permission he began imposing his will by force on the clergy, by deposing abbots and proceeding against the bishop,Guido da Velate. Guido was first accused of taking false oaths for not acting againstsimony in his province. Guido, however, organised a resistance to thepatarini. Because of this, Ariald imposed the interdict on the city during the feast of theAscension. The populace turned against him and he fled toPavia. After being captured en route to Rome, Ariald was executed and his body thrown inLake Maggiore. On 3 May 1067, Erlembald recovered his body and reburied it in S. Celso in Milan on 17 May. Ariald's popularity was also recovered after the lifting of the interdict. A papal legation lent Erlembald much needed moral support at a congregation atVallombrosa.
In 1069, Guido renounced the see toGotofredo da Castiglione with the support of theEmperor Henry IV. Gotofredo was immediately besieged in his castle. On 7 March 1070, violence broke out again in Milan and Gotofredo was arrested. That year, Guido request his archbishopric back from Erlembald. He was refused, but thepatarino leader put him in S. Celso and then in the see ofBergoglio. On 6 January 1072, Erlembald appointedAtto archbishop in opposition to the arrested Gotofredo. Strong opposition from the German court evaporated suddenly in 1073 when Henry was troubled by revolts inSaxony and had to cede his rights in Milan toPope Gregory VII. Gregory confirmed Atto and lent his support to Erlembald.
At this, the height of his power, a fire broke out in the city in April 1075, destroying Milan's cathedral, and was interpreted as divine punishment for supporting the controversialpataria. The opposition factions in Milan signed a pact against Erlembald. He put down the revolt, but was killed in the battle and buried in S. Celso. From 6 to 26 May in 1095,Pope Urban II was present at Milan for the transferral of the relics of the canonised Erlembald to S. Dionigi. He was already a propaganda tool at the time of the preaching of theFirst Crusade. He was translated once more in 1528 to theDuomo. His feast day is 27 July.
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