Waltger was a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

nobleman who founded

Herford Abbey Herford Abbey (german: Frauenstift Herford) was the oldest women's religious house in the Duchy of Saxony. It was founded as a house of secular canonesses in 789, initially in Müdehorst (near the modern Bielefeld) by a nobleman called Waltger, wh ...

in the 830s. In 838, he gave the monastery to the Emperor

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

, who in turn placed it under the authority of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nunnery of Notre-Dame de Soissons.Eric Knibbs, ''Ansgar, Rimbert and the Forged Foundations of Hamburg-Bremen'' (Routledge, 2016

011 The following is a list of different international call prefixes that need to be dialled when placing an international telephone call from different countries. Countries by international prefix Countries using optional carrier selection cod ...

, pp. 64–65. Waltger is not attested in any contemporary document, but is first mentioned in his

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

, ''Vita sancti Waltgeri'' ("Life of Saint Waltger"), written in the 13th or 14th century by Wigand, a monk of Herford. Although the source is late, it is considered trustworthy in its basic outline. According to the ''Vita'', Waltger's grandfather, Aldolf, converted to Christianity during the reign of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

. His father's name was Dedda. The ''Vita'' includes a letter supposedly written by

Pope Gregory III Pope Gregory III ( la, Gregorius III; died 28 November 741) was the bishop of Rome from 11 February 731 to his death. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by Byzantine iconoclasm and the advance of the Lombards, in which ...

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant ...

, the relevance of which to the life of Waltger is unclear and the authenticity of which is disputed.John-Henry Clay, ''In the Shadow of Death: Saint Boniface and the Conversion of Hessia, 721–54'' (Brepols, 2010), pp. 217–221.

References

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External links

''Vita sancti Waltgeri''
(manuscript) 9th-century Saxon people 9th-century Christian saints