Radbod from Utrecht

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Radbod (* around 850 between Maas and Sambre; † November 29, 917 in Ootmarsum ) was Bishop of Utrecht from 899 to 917.

The Radboud University Nijmegen was named after him of 2004.

Image of Radbods in the Broerenkerk in Zwolle

Life

Radbod, the offspring of an elegant Franconian family, the mother was a daughter of Gerulf , received his name from the old pagan Frisian Duke Radbod († 719), who had been the ancestor of his mother. As a gifted boy, he was handed over to his maternal uncle, Archbishop Gunthar of Cologne (850–864), who was hailed as a friend and patron of studies until his assistance in the divorce of Lothar II plunged him into perdition. Like other sons of noble families, Radbod went to his further training at the court of Charles the Bald , the ruler of West Franconia, where he was a very learned teacher at Manno, who was then director of the court school (later provost to St. Claude), and at Stephan and Mancio , who later became bishops of Liège and Chalon, found excellent classmates.

After the death of Charles († 877) Radbod returned to his relatives in the Lommagau (around Namur) and lived for a time in the vicinity of the famous abbot Hugo von Tours († 886). After the death of Bishop Odilbald in 899, Radbod was elected to the bishopric of Utrecht and confirmed by Arnulf . At that time the seat of the diocese was not in the old consecrated place, which was completely deserted by the Normans' invasions, but in Deventer . As a bishop, Radbod made sure that all spiritual virtues were observed, especially charity. According to tradition, he exercised the greatest abstinence in food, drank only water and stayed away from the court. He saw worldly business as incompatible with his priestly profession and tried to avoid them.

He was ascribed the gifts of prophecy. He is said to have predicted, as it happened through Otto the Great , that the West Franconian kings would bow to the German Empire, but not forever. He foresaw his own end three and a half years with certainty and repeatedly referred to the young man Balderich , the son of Count Ricfrid, who frequented him more often, in a prophetic spirit than the one who would be called to it, the diocese and the bishopric to restore it to decay and to decorate and enrich it through these gifts. In fact, Baldrich became the teacher of Bruns , the brother of Otto the Great. Radbod died, sick for a long time and very old, on November 29, 917 at Ootmarsum in Overyssel , one of his favorite places, and was buried in Deventer with the lively participation of the population.

Works

Radbod's memory was preserved for posterity not only through a biographer, who passed on invaluable information about him about half a century after his death, but also through his own writings. Because he was a great admirer of the saints, a poet, and a musician, he wrote sermons in prose, verse, and chants in honor of those. So he glorified Swidbert , the apostle of the Bergisches Land, the Anglo-Saxon messenger of faith Liafwin ( Lebuin ), St. Servatius and Amalberga, as well as a miracle of St. Martin , through whom the city of Tours is said to have been saved from the storming Danes in 903. More appealing and cozy than the verses in praise of the saints, which, however, reveal a diligent study of Virgil and a good metrical education, is his poem on the swallow, which was very isolated at this time . He also left a brief record of the events of the year 900. His former classmate Stephan also distinguished himself as a Latin poet.

literature

Web links

Commons : Radboud of Utrecht  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Egilbert Bishop of Utrecht
899–917 		Balderich
personal data
SURNAME Radbod from Utrecht
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Councilor of Utrecht; Radbodus traiectensis; Radboud van Utrecht; Radbodus Sanctus; Radbodus ultraiectensis; Radbodus episcopus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Utrecht; Benedictine
DATE OF BIRTH around 850
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 917
Place of death Ootmarsum