Wihtberht

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For the Abbot of Farfa of this name, see Guicpert.
Saint Wigbert and Saint Boniface. Stained glass window by Alois Plum.

Wigbert, (Wihtberht) (May 7, 675 - August 13, 747) born in

Benedictine monk and a missionary and disciple of Boniface who travelled with the latter in Frisia and northern and central Germany to convert the local tribes to Christianity
. His feast day is August 13.

Life

Wihtberht was an Englishman of noble birth,[1] who embraced the monastic life.[2] It has been supposed that Wihtberht was a monk of Glastonbury, but Löffler finds this improbable.[1]

Character

At times an anchorite,[3] and hermit[4] he was known for his missionary work, miracles and prophecies.[5] He is known to history mainly through

Secgan Hagiography. Alcuin described him as venerable,[6] and outstanding in his religious practice[5] while Bede admired his contempt of this world and his learning.[3] He worked mainly in Ireland.[6]

First mission

Around 664 Wihtberht was studying at

Redbad, King of the Frisians, Wihtberht was unsuccessful and returned.[9] Wihtberht’s reputation among the Irish was such that he was celebrated in the ninth-century Irish martyrology, Félire Óengusso
.

Second mission

When Boniface felled

Benedictine monastery in Fritzlar. Boniface called Wihtberht from England to become the abbot.[2] Wihtberht was certainly older than Boniface. He went to Germany about 734, and Boniface made him abbot of the monastery of Hersfeld in Hesse. Under the new abbot the school soon became famous. Among his pupils there was Sturmi, the first Abbot of Fulda.[1]

About 737 Boniface transferred him to Thuringia as Abbot of

Ohrdruf,[1] where he established a school for missionaries operating in Thuringia. Wihtberht died in 747, and was initially buried in Fritzlar in the stone basilica he had built to replace the original wooden chapel. His former student, Lullus later had most of his body (except for a few sacred relics which remained in Fritzlar) interred in a gold and silver shrine in Hersfeld Abbey.[2] Wihtberht is patron saint of the town of Bad Hersfeld
. His feast day is August 13.

Legacy

The Priory of St Wigbert (Priorat Sankt Wigberti) is an ecumenical

Lutheran Church of Thuringia, located in Werningshausen, Germany.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Löffler, Klemens. "St. Wigbert." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 16 May 2013
  2. ^ a b c Butler, Alban. The Lives of the Saints, Vol. VIII, 1866
  3. ^ a b Bede.HE v.9
  4. ^ "Wihtberht 2". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
  5. ^ a b Alcuin.VersEubor 1023-4
  6. ^ a b Alcuin.VitWillibrPr 4.
  7. ^ Mayr-Harting, Henry. "Ecgberht (639–729)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
  8. ^ Costambeys, Marios. "Willibrord [St Willibrord] (657/8–739)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011, accessed 24 Jan 2014
  9. ISBN 9780851156101
  10. ^ The Priory of St. Wigberti

External links

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