the and the emperor henry iv shared their descent from herman ii of swabia, who was probably ulrich's great grandfather, and the emperor saw in young ulrich a loyal supporter. in 1877 ulrich was appointed abbot of saint gall / saint gallen in succession to the abbot ulrich ii who had died on am 9 december 1076. the appointment was contested by the "anti-abbot" lutold between 1177 and 1183. lutold's appointment was conferred by the "anti-king", rudolf of rheinfelden. one objection cited for ulrich's appointment was that he was young - aged "only about 30". lutold came from the nearby , but sources indicated that the monks at st. gallen nevertheless favoured the newcomer to monasticism, ulrich, in the war that unfolded him because they, like ulrich, backed the emperor against the pope. two years later ulrich himself was given the additional appointment of "anti-abbot" of , but the monastery at reichenau supported in the papal cause and ulich's base remained at st. gallen. in 1083 st gallen itself was attacked by an army led by folknand von toggenburg, but ulrich managed to drive off the attackers. another assault in 1086 seems to have been less serious. nevertheless, by 1086 the abbey had been impoverished, and many of the church ornaments had been sold.