Theodard of Maastricht

St. Theodard of Maastricht in Nazarene style, around 1860, in the Liège cathedral.

Theodard von Maastricht , also Diethardt (* around 618 near Speyer ; † September 10, 670 in Rülzheim , today's district of Germersheim) was Bishop of Tongern - Maastricht and is considered a martyr in the Roman Catholic Church. Theodard (Diethardt) is venerated as a saint and is considered the patron saint of cattle dealers and the city of Maastricht. His feast day is September 10th.

Origin and career

According to tradition, Theodard was a pupil of St. Remaclus , the founder and abbot of the monasteries of Stablo and Malmedy and the bishop of Maastricht. Theodard is said to have worked in these two monasteries as the deputy of Remaclus, before he retired completely to Stablo around 660 and had Theodard appointed Bishop of Maastricht.

Theodard raised St. Lambert , a son of a count who is said to have been his nephew or at least related to him.

Bishop and Martyr

When Bishop Theodard wanted to complain to King Childerich II about the oppression and looting of his diocese by Franconian nobles, he was slain by pagans while traveling in the Bienwald south of Speyer , according to constant tradition near Rülzheim . It is believed that the murder took place on behalf of the nobles, about whom the bishop wanted to complain to the ruler. The body of the head shepherd was first buried at the scene of the crime, later transferred to Liège by his pupil and successor, St. Lambert . Theodard was venerated as a martyr and saint from his murder. A chapel, the so-called Dieterskirchel, was built at the place of death and the first burial site near Rülzheim . The place became a place of pilgrimage that is still visited today and is one of the oldest in the Speyer diocese .

As the date of death, September 10th is handed down from the oldest sources, on this day is also the liturgical feast and the calendar name day. While the year of death 668 or 669 was previously assumed, it is now assumed that it was 670 at the earliest, 672 at the latest, because in 669/70 King Childerich II commissioned Bishop Theodard to measure the forests given to the monasteries of Malmedy and Stablo.

successor

The dignitaries of the court of King Childerich II proposed Lambert as Theodard's successor on the bishopric of Maastricht. He was also later murdered.

Relics

Bishop Lambertus personally picked up the remains of his predecessor and benefactor Theodard from Speyer and placed them in a house chapel belonging to him on his estate, which later became Liège. He was later murdered there himself and his successor St. Hubertus had a church built for him here, into which his body was transferred. Bishop Hubertus finally moved the Maastricht bishopric to there and Liège grew into a metropolis. The Liège Church of the Holy Sepulcher of St. Lambert also hid the grave of St. Theodard. In 722 the bones of Madelberta (also Amalberte), who died in 705 and was venerated as a saint, were transferred to Liège and buried in the "Shrine (burial chapel) of St. Theodard". She was certainly in a special relationship with St. Theodard, possibly they were related to each other.

The new Dieterskirchel near Rülzheim, pilgrimage site of St. Theodard in the diocese of Speyer, at the murder site of the saint.

Theodard's relics were raised and revised in 1489. Except for a few remains, they were destroyed at the time of the French Revolution, small parts of them are currently still in the cathedral treasury of Liège. When the "Dieterskirchel" near Rülzheim, which was razed in the 19th century, was rebuilt in 1957, it also received relics of St. Theodard, which are now venerated there again.

In the Diocese of Speyer , St. Theodard has his own day of remembrance with a special liturgical celebration in the diocesan calendar.

Web links

• Entry in the dictionary of saints
• Entry at kirchensite.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ludwig Stamer : Church History of the Palatinate , Volume 1, Speyer, 1936
2. ↑ On the murder and veneration of Bishop Theodard
3. ↑ On the burial of Madelberta in the shrine of St. Theodard

predecessor	Office	successor
Remaclus	Bishop of Maastricht 662–670	Lambertus