Willerich of Bremen

Willerich (also Willeric, Wilrich, Wilderic ; † May 4, 837 ) was the second bishop of Bremen . Some sources consider him to be the first, as his teacher and predecessor, the Anglo-Saxon missionary Willehad , who died in 789, was only ordained mission bishop in the Bremen area in 787 and the diocese was not formally established until 805. In fact, the foundation deed of the foundation of the diocese from 788 later turned out to be a forgery.

Willerich received the episcopal ordinations 804 or 805. At the point of of Willehad 789 on the dune at the bellows constructed and already 792 in the Saxon Wars burnt wooden church he let 805 build a single-stone church that to 860 by Ansgar two aisles extended has been. Remains of this church, which was destroyed in 1041 by a fire set by a cleric , were found in the central nave of today's Bremen Cathedral . In addition, he had two wooden churches built in Bremen, the Wilhadikapelle and a third church, which is regarded as the later market church of Sankt Veit, rededicated to the Church of Our Lady between the middle of the 12th century and 1220 .

In 823 Willerich and Bishop Halitgar von Cambrai were the companions of the archbishop and papal legate Ebo von Reims on his first missionary trip to Denmark , which, however, had little success. Emperor Ludwig the Pious and Archbishop Ebo had hoped that successful missionary work in Denmark would strengthen the rule of the pretender to the throne there, Harald Klak , Ludwig's vassal since 814, and thus strengthen the influence of the Franconian Empire beyond its northern border. Harald Klak was baptized with great pomp in Mainz in 826 , with Emperor Ludwig acting as godfather , but was finally expelled from Denmark in 827. The Danish mission was only resumed after 831 by Ansgar von Bremen .

Willerich died on May 4th 837 and was buried in Bremen Cathedral. His successor was Leuderich (Lüder) .

Web links

• Willerich von Bremen, at Genealogy Middle Ages

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.katolsk.no/utenriks/kronologi/germany_bremen.htm , http://www.wilmer-t.net/fornnorden/AncientNordic/AdamOfBremen.html , http://www.newadvent.org/cathen /02756a.htm
2. ↑ A Brief History of the Church of Bremen ( Memento from August 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
3. ^ Wilhelm von Bippen (among others): History of the city of Bremen. (Müller, 1892 - 1904) ›Vol. 1› First book. Bremen in the Middle Ages ›First chapter. Bremen under the bishops , p. 13
4. ↑ Manfred Rech (ed.): Found past. Archeology of the Middle Ages in Bremen. In: Bremer Archäologische Blätter, supplement 3/2004, ISBN 3-7749-3233-6

predecessor	Office	successor
Willehad	Bishop of Bremen 805–837	Leuderich