Aldegisel, Aldegisl, Aldgillis, Aldgisl, Aldgils or Eadgils (fl. c. 678) was the

ruler of Frisia Of the first historically verifiable rulers of Frisia, whether they are called dukes or kings, the last royal dynasty below is established by the chronicles of Merovingian kings of the Franks, with whom they were contemporaries. In these contemp ...

(as king or duke) in the late seventh century contemporarily with Dagobert II and a very obscure figure. All that is known of him is in relation to the famous saint that he harboured and protected, Wilfrid, but he is the first historically verifiable ruler of the

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

. What the exact title of the Frisian rulers was depends on the source. Frankish sources tend to call them dukes; other sources often call them kings. Wilfrid, deposed from his Archdiocese of York, exiled from Northumbria and on his way to Rome to seek papal support, landed in Frisia in 678. and was warmly received by Aldegisel, who entertained him for several months over the winter, probably at Utrecht. According to

Stephen of Ripon Stephen of Ripon was the author of the eighth-century hagiographic text ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'' ("Life of Saint Wilfrid"). Other names once traditionally attributed to him are Eddius Stephanus or Æddi Stephanus, but these names are no longer p ...

, Wilfrid's biographer, Aldegisel encouraged Wilfrid in his effective evangelism and " he Frisiansaccepted his ilfrid'steaching and with a few exceptions all the chiefs were baptised by him in the name of the Lord, as well as many thousands of common people." It is possible that Aldegisel was one of the early converts. However, it has been doubted whether Wilfrid was actually successful in Frisia, since there is no other evidence of the success of Christianity there before the work of Willibrord. While Wilfrid was at Aldegisel's court, the Frankish mayor of the palace,

Ebroin Ebroin (died 680 or 681) was the Frankish mayor of the palace of Neustria on two occasions; firstly from 658 to his deposition in 673 and secondly from 675 to his death in 680 or 681. In a violent and despotic career, he strove to impose the aut ...

, offered a bushel of gold coins in return for Wilfrid, alive or dead. Aldegisel himself is said to have torn up and burned the letter from the Frankish mayor in front of the ambassadors and his household. It has been surmised by some that Aldegisel's kindness to Wilfrid was a mode of defiance of Frankish domination. His successor and possibly son was Radbod, who followed the older pagan ways and was an enemy of Charles Martel.

References

* {{Authority control Medieval Frisian rulers 7th-century rulers in Europe Year of birth missing 679 deaths