Witta von Büraburg

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Witta von Büraburg (Anglo-Saxon Hwita, ie. "The White", also Wizo, Vito, Wittanus, Wintanus, and Latinized Vito Albuin, Vitus Albuinus or Albinus von Büraburg) (* around 700 in Wessex ; † after 760 on the Büraburg ) was from 741 to 755 Bishop of Büraburg near Fritzlar in Northern Hesse .

Life

Witta was of Anglo-Saxon origin and one of the early Christian missionaries in the Hessian-Thuringian region. He was a student and companion of Boniface and a friend of Lullus . After Bonifatius established the mission diocese of Büraburg in 741, Witta became the first bishop there. Simultaneously with him Boniface also appointed the first bishops of the dioceses of Würzburg ( Burkard ) and Erfurt ( Adalar ) that he created,

In 742, Witta and Bishop Burkard of Würzburg assisted Boniface in Sülzenbrücken (Thuringia) in the ordination of Willibald , who soon afterwards founded the diocese of Eichstätt and became its first bishop. In April 742 Witta took part in the Concilium Germanicum , a reform synod of the East Franconian bishops, convened by the Franconian caretaker Karlmann (in a place no longer known today) and led by Boniface , and in March 743 in the Synod of Estinnes , also called by Karlmann .

The papal confirmation of Wittas as bishop took place on April 1, 743 by Pope Zacharias , who placed Wittas Sprengel , his ordination and his office under special apostolic protection.

In the year 755 the diocese Büraburg, like that of Erfurt, was incorporated by Lullus into the diocese (later archbishopric) Mainz in order to prevent further expansion of the ecclesiastical province of Mainz in the east by these two dioceses.

Witta lived on in the Büraburg until his death after 760 and was later buried in the chapel of Sturmius in Hersfeld , which Lullus made the basis of the new Benedictine monastery there in 769 .

Witta's name day falls on October 26th.

False presumption of succession

In the older literature Megingaud (also Megingoz or Megingotus) is sometimes named as Witta's successor, sometimes also with the designation Chorbischof ("episcopus missus"), a bishop especially entrusted with missionary tasks without a permanent seat. This claim is probably based on a misunderstood passage in the "Vita S. Wigberti" of Lupus Servatus , where it is said that Wigbert's friend, the deacon Megingoz, later achieved episcopal dignity. In 754 Megingaud was not Witta's successor in Büraburg, but Burkard's successor as Bishop of Würzburg.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lupi vita Wigberti abbatis Friteslariensis , 5. In: Georg Waitz , Wilhelm Wattenbach u. a. (Ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 15.1: Supplementa tomorum I-XII, pars III. Supplementum tomi XIII pars I. Hanover 1887, pp. 39-40 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )

literature

personal data
SURNAME Witta von Büraburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop and missionary
DATE OF BIRTH around 700
PLACE OF BIRTH Wessex
DATE OF DEATH after 760
Place of death Buraburg