Saint Wolbodo (c. 950 – 20 April 1021) was the

bishop of Liège 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 ...

from 1018 to 1021. St. Wolbodo's day is celebrated on 21 April.

Life

Wolbodo probably descended from a Flemish

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

family related to that of the Counts of Flanders. After being educated at the

cathedral school Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools. Some of these ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, he became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Utrecht Cathedral, and in 1012 scholaster there. He later became provost of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

. Herman Vander Linden, "Wolbodon", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

''
vol. 27
(Brussels, 1938), 392–394. He was appointed to the see of Liège after the death of Baldrick II (29 July 1018), and negotiated the release of

Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine Godfrey (or Godefrid) II (965–1023), called the Childless, son of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun (d. 1002) was the first of several members of his family to become duke of Lower Lorraine (also known as Lower Lotharingia) which roughly corresponded ...

, who had been captured by Dirk III, Count of Holland, at the Battle of Vlaardingen. In November 1018 he was consecrated bishop in Liège by Heribert of Cologne, assisted by Gerard of Cambrai, in the presence of Emperor Henry II. He named Olbert of Gambloux as head of the Abbey of St James in Liège, and in 1020 deposed Ingobrand as abbot of Lobbes Abbey, replacing him with Richard of Saint-Vanne. In 1020 he also installed Poppo, prior of the Abbey of Saint-Vaast in

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

, as abbot of Stavelot Abbey. He bequeathed his moveables, 300 marks of silver and his lands in Flanders to the Abbey of St Laurence, Liège, and was buried in the abbey's crypt. In 1656 his tomb was opened and his remains reburied.

Veneration

After his death Wolbodo was honoured as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

. He is a

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of students. In

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

the

student society A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university, college, or other educational institution, whose membership t ...

Menschen Vereeniging Wolbodo is named after him.

References

{{Authority control 950s births 1021 deaths Prince-bishops of Liège 11th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire