Saint Burchard of Würzburg (in German Burkard or Burkhard) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary who became the first

Bishop of Würzburg A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

(741–751).

Life

Burchard was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

Benedictine monk possibly of noble birth, and educated at

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a former Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English religious houses with a continuous history from the 7th century throug ...

. He left

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

after the death of his parents and joined

Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church i ...

(who may have been a relative) in his missionary labors, some time after 732. He lived for a time at the Abbey of St. Peter in

Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. high ...

, founded by Boniface. Later he left to become a missioner in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. When Boniface organized bishoprics in

Middle Germany Central Germany or Middle Germany ( or ''Mitteldeutschland'') may refer to: * Central Germany (linguistics) is the region where the Central German dialects are spoken * Central Germany (geography) describes the regions in the geographic center of ...

, he placed Burchard over that of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. As was customary at the time, his appointment was approved by

Carloman (mayor of the palace) Carloman (between 706 and 716 – 17 August 754) was the eldest son of Charles Martel, mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, and his wife Chrotrud of Treves. On Charles's death (741), Carloman and his brother Pepin the Short succeeded to ...

, who endowed the diocese with a number of benefits. His consecration can not have occurred later than the summer of 741, since in the autumn of that year, he was documented as officiating as a bishop at the consecration of Willibald of Eichstädt.

Pope Zachary Pope Zachary (; 679 – March 752) was the bishop of Rome from 28 November 741 to his death in March 752. He was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of sla ...

confirmed the new bishopric in 743. Burchard was a member of the first German council in 742, and attended the general Council of the Franks in 747. The following year, as an envoy to Rome from Boniface he presented the results of the council to

. In 750, with Fulrad of Saint-Denis, he brought to Zachary the famous question of Pepin, whose answer was supposed to justify the assumption of regal power by the

Carolingians The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid ...

. In 751, he resigned his see in favor of Megingoz, a Benedictine monk from St. Peter's Abbey in Fritzlar, and retired to a life of solitude. In 752, he dedicated the Abbey of St. Andrew in Würzburg (later renamed St. Burchard's Abbey). On 8 July 752 he translated the relics of

Saint Kilian Kilian, also spelled Cillian or Killian (or alternatively ; , original Gaelic form Ceallach), was an Ireland, Irish missionary bishop and the Apostle of Franconia (now the northern part of Bavaria), where he began his labours in the latter half ...

and his companions Saint Totnan and Saint Colman to

Würzburg Cathedral Würzburg Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg for hundreds of ye ...

, which was then dedicated to St Kilian.Hartmann, Wilfried, "Burchard of Würzburg", ''Religion Past and Present'', Brill, 2006
Burchard died in 753.

Veneration

His relics were translated to the Abbey of St. Andrew in 986. His feast day is 14 October.
Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 6 September 2017

References

Sources

* Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Burchard. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2., unveränderte Auflage Hamm 1990, , Sp. 816-817. * Wilhelm Engel: Burchard. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, , S. 29 (Digitalisat). * Heinrich Hahn: Burghard. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, S. 564–566. * Konrad Schäfer, Heinrich Schießer: Leben und Wirken des hl. Burkhard (= Bad Neustädter Beiträge zur Geschichte und Heimatkunde Frankens. Band 4). Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale 1986, . *Heinrich Wagner: Würzburger Diözesan Geschichtsblätter (WDGB). Band 65, 2003 (Die Würzburger Bischöfe 741-842), S. 17-43. * Alfred Wendehorst: Burchard (Nr. 14). In: Lexikon des Mittelalters (LexMA). Band 2, Artemis & Winkler, München/Zürich 1983, , Sp. 951.

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20150110042227/http://www.weyer-neustadt.de/content/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=180 * https://web.archive.org/web/20150110042227/http://www.weyer-neustadt.de/content/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=180

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burchard Of Wurzburg 750s deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Würzburg 8th-century bishops in Bavaria Medieval German saints West Saxon saints 8th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown