Saint Agilus (or Agilo, Ayeul, Aisle, Ail, Aile; c. 580–650) was a Frankish nobleman who became a Christian missionary in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

and later was abbot of Rebais monastery near Paris, France. He was considered a saint, and his feast day is 30 August.

Life

Saint Agilus or Ayeul was from a noble Frankish family, son of

Chagnoald Chagnoald (Cagnoald, Cagnou) (died 633 AD) was a Frankish bishop of Laon during the 7th century. The family to which Chagnoald belonged is known as the Faronids, named after his brother Saint Faro, who was bishop of Meaux, while his sister was Sa ...

and descended from Pharamond and Frotmund. He was educated by Saint

Columbanus Columbanus ( ga, Columbán; 543 – 21 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in pr ...

Luxeuil Abbey Luxeuil Abbey (), the ''Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul'', was one of the oldest and best-known monasteries in Burgundy, located in what is now the département of Haute-Saône in Franche-Comté, France. History Columbanus It was founded circa ...

, France. He served as a missionary in

, Germany. According to tradition,

Weltenburg Abbey Weltenburg Abbey (Kloster Weltenburg) is a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg near Kelheim on the Danube in Bavaria, Germany. Geography The abbey is situated on a peninsula in the Danube, in a section of the river valley called the Welt ...

in Bavaria was founded around 617 AD in the course of the

Hiberno-Scottish mission The Hiberno-Scottish mission was a series of expeditions in the 6th and 7th centuries by Gaelic missionaries originating from Ireland that spread Celtic Christianity in Scotland, Wales, England and Merovingian France. Celtic Christianity sprea ...

by Agilus and

Eustace of Luxeuil Eustace of Luxeuil (c. 560 – c. 626), also known as Eustasius, was the second abbot of Luxeuil from 611. He succeeded his teacher Columbanus, to whom he had been a favorite disciple and monk. He had been the head of the monastic school. Life ...

, two

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s of Luxeuil Abbey. At the council of Clichy on 1 May 636 Agilus was made the first abbot of the Rebais monastery. He died in 650 AD. He was buried in the Saint-Jean church, which became the parish church of the town of Rebais. He was succeeded as abbot by his disciple Saint Filibert.

Butler's account

The hagiographer

Alban Butler Alban Butler (13 October 171015 May 1773) was an English Roman Catholic priest and hagiographer. Biography Alban Butler was born in 1710, at Appletree, Aston le Walls, Northamptonshire, the second son of Simon Butler, Esq. His father died whe ...

wrote,

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agilus 6th-century Frankish saints 7th-century Frankish saints 580 births 650 deaths