Willibrord Davids on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an
/ref> was styled by Alcuin as a
Pepin of Heristal died in 714. In 716 the pagan
Willibrord died on 7 November 739 at the age of 81, and according to his wish, was buried in Echternach. He was quickly judged to be a saint. Willibrord wells, which skirted his missionary routes, were visited by the people, to solicit the healing of various nervous diseases, especially of children.
In the Catholic Church his feast day is celebrated on 
At Gravelines in northern France, where Willibrord is said to have landed after crossing the
Nothing written by Willibrord can be found save a marginal note in the Calendar of Echternach giving some chronological data. The Echternach Gospels, a copy of the Gospels ( Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, 9389) under the name of Willibrord is an Irish
754, Bonifatius Bij Dokkum Vermoord
', Uitgeverij Verloren, page 23,
* Dancing procession of Echternach
* Echternach Gospels
* Anglo-Saxon mission
*The Willibrord Society promotes cooperation between Anglicans and Old Catholics
portrait of Willibrord
based on historical sources, in a contemporary style. *
Early Medieval Cross of Rath Melsigi
revealed {{Portal bar, Saints Northumbrian saints Benedictine monks National symbols of Luxembourg 8th-century Frankish bishops Dutch Roman Catholic saints Burials in Luxembourg 658 births 739 deaths 8th-century Frankish saints Bishops of Utrecht Year of birth uncertain Medieval Luxembourgian saints Colombanian saints Abbots of Echternach Christian missionaries in the Netherlands 8th-century Latin writers 8th-century Frankish writers Anglican saints Benedictine saints
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to 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, ...
" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht
List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht.
Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580
Founders of the Utrecht diocese
*
*
*
*
*
Bishops
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
...
and died at Echternach, Luxembourg.
Early life
His father, named Wilgils or Hilgis,Mershman, Francis. "St. Willibrord." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 5 Mar. 2014/ref> was styled by Alcuin as 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 ...
of Northumbria. Newly converted to Christianity, Wilgils entrusted his son as an oblate to the Abbey of Ripon, and withdrew from the world, constructing a small oratory, near the mouth of the Humber, dedicated to Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
. The king and nobles of the district endowed him with estates until he was at last able to build a church, over which Alcuin afterwards ruled.
Willibrord grew up under the influence of Wilfrid, Bishop of York. Later he joined the Benedictines. He spent the years between the ages of 20 and 32 in the Abbey of Rath Melsigi, in County Carlow, Ireland, which was a centre of European learning in the 7th century.
Frisia
During this time he studied under Ecgberht of Ripon, who sent him and eleven companions to Christianise the pagan Frisians of the North Sea coast at the request of Pepin of Herstal,Austrasia
Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...
n mayor of the palace, who had nominal suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...
over that region. Willibrord travelled to Rome twice. Both of these trips to Rome have historical significance.
As Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
tells us, Willibrord was not the only Anglo-Saxon to travel to Rome. The way in which he described the visit and its purpose is important; unlike all the others, Willibrord was not on the usual pilgrimage to the graves of the apostles Peter and Paul and the martyrs. Rather, "he made haste to Rome, where Pope Sergius then presided over the apostolical see, that he might undertake the desired work of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, with his licence and blessing". As such he came to the pope not as a pilgrim but specifically as a missionary. The second time he went to Rome, on 21 November 695, in the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th-century church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere rione, devoted to the Roman martyr Saint Cecilia (early 3rd century AD).
History
The first church on this site was founded probably in the 3rd century, by Pop ...
, Pope Sergius I
Pope Sergius I (8 September 701) was the bishop of Rome from 15 December 687 to his death, and is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected at a time when two rivals, Paschal and Theodore, were locked in dispute about whic ...
gave him a pallium and consecrated him as bishop of the Frisians. He returned to Frisia
Frisia is a cross-border cultural region in Northwestern Europe. Stretching along the Wadden Sea, it encompasses the north of the Netherlands and parts of northwestern Germany. The region is traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Ger ...
to preach and establish churches, among them a monastery at Utrecht, where he built his cathedral. Willibrord is counted the first bishop of Utrecht
List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht.
Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580
Founders of the Utrecht diocese
*
*
*
*
*
Bishops
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
...
.
In 698 he established the Abbey of Echternach on the site of a Roman villa in Echternach, which was donated to him by Pepin's mother-in-law, Irmina of Oeren, the wife of seneschal
The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...
and Count Palatine Hugobert. After Hugobert died, Irmina founded a Benedictine convent at Horren in Trier. When a plague threatened her community, she gained the help of Willibrord; and when the pestilence passed by the convent, she gave Willibrord the lands for his abbey in Echternach."The life of Saint Willibrord", Willibrordus-BauvereinPepin of Heristal died in 714. In 716 the pagan
Radbod, king of the Frisians
Redbad or Radbod (died 719) was the king (or duke) of Frisia from c. 680 until his death. He is often considered the last independent ruler of Frisia before Frankish domination. He defeated Charles Martel at Cologne. Eventually, Charles prevaile ...
, retook possession of Frisia, burning churches and killing many missionaries. Willibrord and his monks were forced to flee. After the death of Radbod in 719, Willibrord returned to resume his work, under the protection of Charles Martel. Winfrid, better known as Boniface, joined Willibrord and stayed for three years, before travelling on to preach in Frankish territory.
Veneration
Willibrord died on 7 November 739 at the age of 81, and according to his wish, was buried in Echternach. He was quickly judged to be a saint. Willibrord wells, which skirted his missionary routes, were visited by the people, to solicit the healing of various nervous diseases, especially of children.
In the Catholic Church his feast day is celebrated on 7 November
Events Pre-1600
* 335 – Athanasius is banished to Trier, on the charge that he prevented a grain fleet from sailing to Constantinople.
* 680 – The Sixth Ecumenical Council commences in Constantinople.
* 921 – Treaty of ...
outside England, but on 29 November in England, by order of Pope Leo XIII. Willibrord is honoured in the Church of England and in the Episcopal Church (US) on 7 November.
Numerous miracles and relics have been attributed to him. On one occasion, the transport of his relics was celebrated thus "the five bishops in full pontificals assisted; engaged in the dance were 2 Swiss guards, 16 standard-bearers, 3,045 singers, 136 priests, 426 musicians, 15,085 dancers, and 2,032 players". A dancing procession continues to be held in Echternach every year on Whit Tuesday, and attracts thousands of participants and an equal number of spectators, to honour the memory of a saint who is often called the apostle of the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).
At Gravelines in northern France, where Willibrord is said to have landed after crossing the Channel
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
on his mission to the Frisians, the church in the old town is dedicated to him. Gravelines grew up after ca. 800 around the chapel commemorating Willibrord's mission.
There is a 13th-century chapel dedicated to Willibrord at Weissenburg Abbey, Alsace
Weissemburg Abbey (german: Kloster Weißenburg, french: L'abbaye de Wissembourg), also Wissembourg Abbey, is a former Benedictine abbey (1524–1789: collegiate church) in Wissembourg in Alsace, France.
History
Weissenburg Abbey was founded in 6 ...
, where Willibrord's benefactress Irmina of Oeren was also venerated.
Sources
A ''Life'' was written by Alcuin and dedicated to the Abbot of Echternach. Alcuin probably made use of an older one written by a British monk, which is now lost. Bede also makes mention of Willibrord.
Nothing written by Willibrord can be found save a marginal note in the Calendar of Echternach giving some chronological data. The Echternach Gospels, a copy of the Gospels ( Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, 9389) under the name of Willibrord is an Irish codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
no doubt brought by Willibrord from Ireland.
In 752/753 Boniface wrote a letter to Pope Stephen II
Pope Stephen II ( la, Stephanus II; 714 – 26 April 757) was born a Roman aristocrat and member of the Orsini family. Stephen was the bishop of Rome from 26 March 752 to his death. Stephen II marks the historical delineation between the Byzant ...
, in which he says that Willibrord destroyed the Frisian pagan sanctuaries and temples.
In Alcuin's ''Life of Willibrord'' there are two texts about Willibrord and pagan places of worship. In one he arrived with his companions in Walcheren
Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...
in the Netherlands, where he smashed a sculpture of the ancient religion. In the second text passage Willibord arrived on an island called Fositesland (possibly Heligoland) where a pagan god named Fosite was worshipped. Here he despoiled this god of its sanctity by using the god's sacred well for baptisms and the sacred cattle for food.M. Mostert (1999), 754, Bonifatius Bij Dokkum Vermoord
', Uitgeverij Verloren, page 23,
See also
* Dancing procession of Echternach
* Echternach Gospels
* Anglo-Saxon mission
*The Willibrord Society promotes cooperation between Anglicans and Old Catholics
Notes
Editions
*Paul Dräger (ed.), Alkuin, ''Vita sancti Willibrordi; Das Leben des heiligen Willibrord'' (Trier: Kliomedia, 2008)Further reading
* Prof. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Department of History, NUI Galway, ‘Rath Melsigi, Willibrord and the Earliest Echternach Manuscripts’, Peritia, Vol. 3 (1984) pp. 17–49. * J. Story, 'Bede, Willibrord and the Letters of Pope Honorius on the genesis of the archbishopric of York', ''English Historical Review'' cxxvii (527) (2012), 783-818 (doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ces142)External links
* * *A reconstructeportrait of Willibrord
based on historical sources, in a contemporary style. *
Early Medieval Cross of Rath Melsigi
revealed {{Portal bar, Saints Northumbrian saints Benedictine monks National symbols of Luxembourg 8th-century Frankish bishops Dutch Roman Catholic saints Burials in Luxembourg 658 births 739 deaths 8th-century Frankish saints Bishops of Utrecht Year of birth uncertain Medieval Luxembourgian saints Colombanian saints Abbots of Echternach Christian missionaries in the Netherlands 8th-century Latin writers 8th-century Frankish writers Anglican saints Benedictine saints