Willibald von Eichstätt

Willibald statue in Eichstätt Cathedral

Willibald (* Oct. 22 to 700 probably in Wessex in England , † 7 July 787 or 788 in Eichstätt ) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and bishop in what is now Germany , brother of also as missionaries and founders of monasteries make Walburga and Wunibald and possibly (not clearly verifiable) a nephew of Boniface . Name days: December 18 (Protestant) and July 7 (Roman Catholic).

Life

childhood and education

Hugeburc , a nun in the proprietary monastery of Willibald, the convent Heidenheim , authored by stories Willi Balds from summer / autumn 778 a Willibalds- Vita , which however does not contain precise data and does not give information to the parents. The oldest surviving manuscript was created around 800.

In any case, Willibald was born around 700 as the firstborn of an Anglo-Saxon Christian landlord in the south of England in Wessex. Later, from the 12th century, the father was called Richard von Wessex and the mother was called Wuna (also Wunna or Wina). Of his at least five siblings, only two are known by name: Wunibald (also: Wynnebald; * 701) and Walburga (* around 710).

Willibald spent a large part of his childhood and youth (705-720 / 21) in the Waldheim Monastery ( Waltham ) in southern England.

Pilgrimage Years

With his father and brother Wunibald, Willibald probably set out on a pilgrimage to Rome in the early summer of 720 . With a total of 77 place names (and 13 people) the nun Hugeburc describes Willibald's path in great detail, even if she made various mistakes. The journey started in what is now Hamblehaven and continued after crossing the English Channel along the Seine in Rouen . The route passed through France without a more detailed description. Hugeburc now lets the pilgrims “cross over” to Italy and only then reach the “castles of the Alps”. Lucca is specifically mentioned , where Willibald's father died and was buried in the church of St. Frigdianus . Around 1150 the bones were raised under the name Richard von Wessex , which was probably caused by the fact that relics were requested for Eichstätt and Heidenheim. On November 11, 720, St. Martin's Day , the brothers arrived in Rome and probably first visited the Lateran Basilica and then St. Peter . The brothers' stay in Rome was followed by a pilgrimage for Willibald and other companions via Sicily to Jerusalem and the Holy Land (723–727). On the way back he spent a long time in Constantinople (727–729), where he lived as a recluse in an extension of the Apostle Church and made a short detour to Nicaea .

Monk on Montecassino

From 729 to 739 he was involved in the external and internal reconstruction of the Benedictine original monastery of Montecassino, which was destroyed at the time . There he was sexton of the church, dean and porter for four years each of the upper and lower monasteries.

In 739 Willibald traveled again to Rome as the companion of his abbot, Petronax . Pope Gregory III learned of Willibald's experiences in the Holy Land and granted him a personal audience. Then Willibald was from Pope Gregory III. Sent at the request of his relative Winfried-Bonifatius to support the German mission in what is now Germany. From Easter 740 onwards Willibald traveled to Germania via Lucca .

Ordination of priests and bishops

The "regio Eihstat" was given to Boniface by the Baier nobleman Suidger as a mission base. In Eichstätt itself, a devastated place with a preserved Marienkirche, Willibald was made a priest by Boniface on July 22 or 23, 740 in the presence of Suidger and on October 21 or 22, 741 in Sülzenbrücken south of Erfurt , where Willibald's brother Wunibald was Missionary was active, also ordained bishop by Boniface with the assistance of Bishops Burkard von Würzburg and Witta von Büraberg . It is not clear whether Willibald should become the first bishop of Erfurt or whether he was ordained bishop for Eichstätt from the outset.

Statue of St. Willibald at the Church of St Willibald in Munich

Abbot and Bishop in Eichstätt

With three companions from Rome, Willibald began his missionary work in Eichstätt . In 741 he founded a monastery, from which (743/45?) A new diocese developed at the intersection of the Bavarian , Swabian and Franconian spheres of influence. Willibald saw himself more as a Frankish bishop.

In front of his Eichstätter monastery, which had its own sacred space, he had a bishop's church built, in the place of which is now the Willibald Cathedral. From there he developed an active missionary activity; Details about this have not been handed down.

Willibald took part in the Concilium Germanicum of East Franconian bishops in April 742 . The synod was supported by the Frankish caretaker Karlmann , who officially convened it and proclaimed the synod's resolutions as general law. In addition to Boniface, six other bishops took part in the synod: "et Burghardum (Würzburg), et Regenfridum (Cologne), et Wintanum (Büraburg), et Willibaldum (Eichstätt), et Dadanum (Erfurt), et Eddanum (Strasbourg)".

On March 1, 743, a synod took place in Les Estinnes for Karlmann's territory. Willibald was probably also present, but no complete list of participants is documented. The first synod for all of Franconia took place at the beginning of 745, the location is not known. The Austrasian diocese of Cologne was established and Bishop Gewilib of Mainz was deposed. Willibald was certainly a participant. In 746 or 747 he took part in a synod with eight Anglo-Saxon bishops. It is attested in Bonifatius letter 73, in a warning letter from Bonifatius and his fellow bishops Wera, Burghard, Werbert, Abel, Wilbald, Hwita and Leofwine to King Æthelbald . Willibald apparently did not take part in the partial Reich Synod that took place in Austria in March 747 under Hausmeier Karlmann I and Bonifatius, because he does not appear among the addressees of the papal letter to the participants.

From 750 onwards, Willibald supported the founding of the monastery of the Anglo-Saxon missionary Sola in Husen, later Solnhofen . In 751/52 he founded together with Wunibald the own monastery Heidenheim in Sualafeldgau , the direction of which was initially Wunibald, after his death in 761 Walburga, which then built a women's monastery and then headed the double monastery .

Willibald seems to have met Boniface for the last time in June 753. He is listed with him in a series of witnesses which, although only preserved in a forgery on King Pippin the Younger , is very likely part of a lost tradition, probably exhibited in Fulda.

In 762, in addition to Willibald von Eichstätt, Chrodegang and Megingaud (as Megingozus) were mentioned among the 44 prelates who formed a clergy prayer association, the Attigny Totenbund .

According to Heinrich Wagner , the Vita Bonifatius (Vita prima) was written by Bishop Willibald von Eichstätt, on behalf of Bishop Lullus of Mainz and Bishop Megingaud of Würzburg . The Vita prima is said to have been created between 755/56 and 768. The arguments can be found in Heinrich Wagner's studies on Boniface.

When Megingaud decided in 769 to give up his episcopal dignity, the Archbishop of Mainz Lullus and Willibald von Eichstätt came to Würzburg to determine the successor (Vita Burkardi I.).

When the Vierungskirche was built by Megingaud 772–781 in Neustadt am Main , Willibald's Episcopal Church in Eichstätt served as a model.

On September 24, 777 Willibald raised the bones of his brother Wunibald, who had died on September 18, 761 in his presence in Heidenheim. On September 24, 778 he consecrated the new monastery church there. During Willibald's lifetime, Herrieden Monastery was built around 780 as the fourth monastery in his diocese .

In 778, Willibald certified the will of Bishop Remigius of Strasbourg .

Walburga died on February 25, 779 (?) And was buried by him in Heidenheim. For at least a while, Willibald took over the leadership of both convents. After his death, the women's monastery was abandoned and the men's monastery was converted into a canons' monastery.

On August 22nd, 781, at the consecration of the new monastery in Neustadt am Main (Nivenstat, Nuovenstatt), Bishops Willibald von Eichstätt and Lullus von Mainz took part in addition to Megingaud / Megingoz and Charlemagne , according to the foundation charter of the Matton monastery .

On March 25, 784 Willibald notarized a donation from Abbess Emhilt von Milz , a relative of Megingaud, in Milz to the Fulda monastery.

On October 8, 786, Willibald handed over possessions to the Fulda Abbey and donated a memorial for the dead.

According to Heinrich Wagner, this is a strong indication that the bishop "Pacificus" in the Fulda death annals of the year 788 is Bishop Willibald von Eichstätt.

On July 7th, 787 or 788 Willibald died very old and was buried in the choir of his cathedral. His successor was Gero / Gerhoh / Gerbo .

Canonization, veneration

Bishop Willibald in the 'Benedictine sky' of the main dome of the Neresheim Abbey Church by Martin Knoller (1772-1773)

On April 22, 989 his bones were raised by Bishop Reginold ; Willibald was thus canonized. The new burial took place in a new outer crypt to the west of the cathedral. The relics were reburied three more times, in 1256 under Bishop Heinrich IV (burial in the nave of the cathedral), in 1269 (buried in a stone shrine in the west choir of the cathedral) and in 1745. In addition to reliquaries , they have been in a glass case since the 1000th anniversary of the diocese (1745), which stands in a marble high sarcophagus in the Willibald's choir of the cathedral. His statue in front of the altar to the nave towards 1514 has Loy Hering , one of the most important Renaissance - Sculptor Germany created.

In contrast to Walburga, the veneration of Willibald was almost entirely restricted to his diocese for centuries. His attribute in Christian art is - in addition to the bishop's staff and a book, the Rule of St. Benedict - mostly the rational , which, however, only appeared as a liturgical garment accessory centuries after his death.

Legends

In 741 he is said to have built the first church in Marz (today's Burgenland ).

Adoration

At first, Willibald, like his siblings Wunibald and Walburga, was not very popular and was considered the patron saint of the nobility. It was not until the late Middle Ages, marked by epidemics and famine, that Walburga in particular, but also Willibald, were rediscovered as patron saints ; numerous pilgrimage churches and chapels (→ Willibald's churches ) consecrated to him were built, some of which still exist today.

Since 1712, the pilgrimage church of St. Willibald in Jesenwang has been celebrating the Willibald ride with a horse blessing every year in memory of an animal epidemic allegedly averted by Willibald after intercession. The veneration of Willibald as cattle patron is only documented for Jesenwang.

Other patrons:

• Willibaldsburg
• Willibaldsbrunnen
• Willibald High School
• Collegium Willibaldinum

literature

• Eva Gottschaller: Hugeburc von Heidenheim. Philological research on the biographies of a nun of the saints of the 8th century. (in the series Munich Contributions to Medieval Studies and Renaissance Research , Issue 12). 1973.
• Klaus Guth: Willibald's pilgrimage to the Holy Land (723-727 / 29). Analysis of an early medieval travel report. In: Collective sheet of the historical association Eichstätt 75 , 1982, pp. 13-28.
• Episcopal Ordinariate Eichstätt (ed.): Diocese of Eichstätt founded by St. Willibald . Eichstatt 1984.
• Bertram Blum: 1200 years of Willibald - departure in faith . 1986.
• St.Willibald 787-1987 (exhibition catalog) . Eichstatt 1987.
• Association of the Friends of the Willibald Gymnasium Eichstätt (ed.): Sankt Willibald - Work and Adoration. Eichstatt 1987.
• Siegfried Schieweck-Mauk: Representations of St. Willibald in Eichstätt . Eichstatt 1987.
• Klaus Kreitmeir: St. Willibald first bishop of Eichstätt . Eichstatt 1987.
• Andreas Bauch: Sources on the history of the Diocese of Eichstätt. Volume 1: Biographies of the early days. , Eichstätt, Johann Michael Sailer Verlag 1962.
• Konrad Held: St. Willibald. Life and work, legend and veneration, Willibald in art . Kipfenberg 1987.
• Heinrich Wagner: On the year of the death of St. Willibald . In: Collecting sheet of the Historical Association Eichstätt 83 . 1990, pp. 13-20.
• Richard Baumeister, Hildegard Nies: Saint Willibald, first bishop of Eichstätt. His life, his work, his admiration . Strasbourg 1994, ISBN 2-87718-208-8 .
• Olav Röhrer-Ertl: Willibald von Eichstätt. Anthropology of a saint. Eichstätt 2003. ISBN 3-920142-15-2 .
• Alfred Wendehorst : The diocese of Eichstätt. Volume 1: The row of bishops until 1535 . Series: Germania Sacra - New Episode 45 . Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-11-018971-1 , pp. 24-31.
• Georgios Makris :  Willibald von Eichstätt. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 13, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-072-7 , Sp. 1335-1336.
• Willibald Hauthaler:  Willibald . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 272-275.

Web links

Commons : Willibald of Eichstätt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Willibald's biography at heiligenlexikon.de
• History on the official website of the diocese of Eichstätt with the image of Willibald in the Pontifical Gundekarianum
• Missionaries in Franconia : Willibrord, Bonifatius, Burkard, Lullus, Megingaud, ...

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Andreas Bauch: Sources on the history of the diocese of Eichstätt. Volume 1: Biographies of the early days. , Eichstätt, Johann Michael Sailer Verlag 1962, note 29, 90.
2. ^ Würzburg 2003, ISBN 3-87717-066-8
3. ↑ Walter Boeckelmann: The collegiate church of Neustadt am Main , Berlin 1965
4. ↑ Stengel University Library Fulda No. 154
5. ↑ Stengel University Library Fulda No. 172
6. ^ Homepage Willibald-Ritt in Jesenwang

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Bishop of Eichstätt 741–787	Gerhoh