In the Vita Corbiniani Bishop Arbeo of Freising (ca. 763-764 to 783-784 CE) wrote a description of the life of Saint Corbinian. This early medieval life of a saint is the object of the present historical analysis. The author describes the changes in the perception of Corbinian from the beginning of his being revered up to the history of research on him. Afterwards he develops from the Vita Corbiniani with the aid of the form-critical method, a modified view of the historical figure Corbinian and his development into a saint. Connected to this is the opening-up of a new perspective on Bavarian church history in the early 8th century.