Willibald (born in
Wessex c.700 and died c.787 in Eichstätt)
was an 8th-century bishop of
Eichstätt in Bavaria.
Information about his life is largely drawn from the Hodoeporicon
(itinerary) of Saint Willibald, a text written in the 8th century by
Anglo-Saxon nun from
Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm
Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm who knew
Willibald and his brother personally. The text of the Hodoeporicon
was dictated to
Willibald shortly before he died.
His brother was Saint
Winibald and his sister was Saint Walburga. He
was also related through his mother to Saint Boniface, and he was
ordained to the priesthood and episcopacy by Boniface.
Willibald is regarded as one of the most traveled Anglo-Saxons
of his time, and some argue that he was the first known Englishman to
visit the Holy Land. His shrine is at the
Eichstätt Cathedral in
Germany, where his body and relics from his journeys are preserved.
His feast day is the 7th of June.
2.3 Return to
Italy and Monte Cassino
2.4 Journey to Rome and Commissioning by Pope Gregory III
3 Eichstätt, ordination, and missionary work
6 External links
Willibald was born in
Wessex on 21 October around the year 700. At the
age of three,
Willibald suffered from a debilitating weakness that
made it difficult for him to breathe. The illness nearly took his
life, until his parents prayed to God, vowing to commit
Willibald to a
monastic life if he was to be spared from death. Miraculously,
Willibald survived and at the age of five was received into a
Benedictine monastery called Waldheim (now Bishop's Waltham) in
Willibald spent his early childhood in prayer and
contemplation, practising the monasticism created by his relative,
Saint Boniface. In the year 722
Willibald decided to partake on a
pilgrimage with his father and brother, Saint Winibald. The journey
would take several years and
Huneberc provides detailed descriptions
of the locations and people visited. Despite visiting a diverse group
of peoples, Willibald's priority was not evangelisation but
exploration, and there is little evidence of successful or attempted
conversions in the Hodoeporicon while traveling through Palestine.
After departing by ship the group arrived in Rouen, France visiting
shrines and spending much of their time in prayer. Eventually they
arrived in Lucca, a city in northern Italy. It was here that
Willibald’s father became gravely ill and died. After burying their
Winibald continued on their journey, travelling
Italy until they reached
Saint Peter's Basilica
Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. They
spent some time in Italy, strengthening in devotion and discipline,
but soon the two brothers became ill with the Black Plague. Hunebrec
recounts the disease and miraculous recovery:
Then with the passing of the days and the increasing heat of the
summer, which is usually a sign of future fever, they were struck down
with sickness. They found it difficult to breathe, fever set in, and
at one moment they were shivering with cold the next burning with
heat. They had caught the black plague. So great a hold had it got on
them that, scarcely able to move, worn out with fever and almost at
the point of death, the breath of life had practically left their
bodies. But God in His never failing providence and fatherly love
deigned to listen to their prayers and come to their aid, so that each
of them rested in turn for one week whilst they attended to each
Winibald would recover from the illness and shortly
thereafter continued on to Asia, approximately three years since
Willibald left his monastery.
Accompanied by two unnamed companions and brother,
Italy and eventually arrived in the city of
Greece along the way. In
visited the tomb of Saint John the Evangelist. They then continued on
to Patara, where they waited out the winter, and then travelled to
Mount Chelidonium, almost dying of hunger and thirst as they attempted
They departed by boat and arrived on the island of Cyprus. Following a
Cyprus they reached Antadoros (now called Tartus) where they
had an audience with a Greek bishop and visited the church of Saint
John the Baptist. It was here that his severed head was housed as a
relic for pilgrims.
Italy and Monte Cassino
After waiting for some time in
Willibald was able to find a
ship and he sailed for the entirety of the winter until reaching the
city of Constantinople. He decided to remain in
Constantinople for two
years and was provided with a small room in a local church. He spent
part of this time in Nicaea, visiting a church and studying documents
from First Council of
Nicaea that was arranged by Emperor Constantine.
Afterwards, he left
Constantinople and sailed for
Sicily arriving in
Naples approximately seven years after he had left
Italy and ten years
since he had left his native country.
He was sent to the
Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, and
Willibald and his remaining companion, Tidbercht, immediately joined
Benedictine community. It was here that
Willibald taught the
community about his journeys and religious discipline. He would spend
over ten years at
Monte Cassino and another local Benedictine
monastery where he served roles as, "sacrist, dean, and porter."
According to David Farmer, his new-found monasticism was drastically
shaped by his experiences in both England and Palestine, allowing him
to play a major role in the reformation and future prosperity of the
Journey to Rome and Commissioning by Pope Gregory III
At some point Willibald's abbot, Petronax, was requested to come to
Willibald accompanied the abbot since he had already made the
journey on several occasions. He took Petronax to Saint Peter's
Basilica, and when
Pope Gregory III
Pope Gregory III heard of his presence he requested
a private audience with
Willibald so he could hear of his journeys
Willibald recounted his seven-year pilgrimage to the
Pontiff and afterwards, the Pope asked Willibald, at the request of
Saint Boniface, to travel to the country of the Franks, possibly due
to Boniface's desire to missionise the Slavs. Petronax granted
Willibald permission to leave and
Willibald then travelled to Germany.
Eichstätt, ordination, and missionary work
The Willibaldsburg above Eichstätt
Upon arriving in the region he was sent to
Eichstätt at the request
of Saint Boniface, a rural area with nothing but a small church
dominating the landscape. It was here that he was ordained a priest by
Boniface and was asked to begin missionary work in the area. Willibald
lived in the church and began his missionary effort, but his was
summoned again by Boniface a year later, this time to Thuringia. While
Willibald encountered his brother, Winibald, whom he had
not seen for over eight years.
It was in
Thuringia that he was consecrated to the episcopate,
Willibald at the age of forty-one. Shortly thereafter
he returned to
Eichstätt to begin his work. In 742 he founded the
double abbey of Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm, a male and female monastery,
with his brother Winibald, who served as the monastery's first abbot.
Following his death, Willibald's sister, Saint Walburga, was appointed
the first abess of the monastery.
Willibald's missionary style is unique when compared to traditional
methods. Unlike earlier missionaries,
Willibald did not seem actively
go about proselytising and baptising. His journeys to Asia and the
Holy Land were for personal reasons as he attempted to grow in his
faith and spirituality. He was, nevertheless, a successful missionary.
The account of his life was widely distributed and the regions he
visited inspired and converted many. This enabled a larger scale
conversion even though
Winibald did not meet most of the individuals.
According to Bunson,
Eichstätt was the site of Willibald's most
successful missionary efforts, although specific details like the
means of conversion and number of converts are not known. The
monastery was one of the first buildings in the region and served as
an important center, "not only for the diocesan apostolate, but also
for the diffusion and development of monasticism." Wilibald served
as the Bishop of the region in
Franconia for over four decades, living
in the monastery and entertaining visitors throughout Europe who would
come to hear of his journey and monasticism.
^ Huneberc, and C. H. Talbot. "Hodoeporicon of Saint Willibald."
Soldiers of Christ : Saints and Saint's Lives from Late Antiquity
and the Early Middle Ages. Ed. Thomas F. Noble and Thomas Head. New
York: Pennsylvania State UP, 1995.
^ Bunson, Matthew, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson, comps.
Willibald (c. 700–786)." Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of
Saints. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 2003.
^ There is still uncertainty as to the exact relationship between the
two persons, although Boniface is considered by most scholars to be
either a uncle, cousin, or distant relative.
^ Traudel (7 June 2007). "June 7th – St. Willibald".
Newsgroup: alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic. Retrieved 23
^ Assumption based on the reading of the Hodoeporicon
^ Noble 150.
^ a b Bunson 858.
^ Farmer, David H., ed. "
Willibald (Willebald) (d. 786/7)." The Oxford
Dictionary of Saints. 2nd ed. 1987.
^ Mershman, F. (1913). "Sts.
Willibald and Winnebald". In
Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton
^ Watkins, OSB, Dom B., ed. "Willibald, St." The Book of Saints: A
Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary. Comp. The
Benedictine Monks of
Ramsgate. 7th ed. New York, NY: Continuum, 2002. 602.
^ Farmer 440.
Seeing Islam As Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian,
Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam (Studies in Late
Antiquity and Early Islam) Robert G. Hoyland
Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany: Being the Lives of S.S.
Willibrord, Boniface, Strum, Leoba and Lebuin, together with the
Hodoeporicon of St.
Willibald and a Selection from the Correspondence
of St. Boniface (Also Includes the first biography of St. Boniface.)
C. H. Talbot
Huneberc of Heidenheim: The Hodoeporican of St.
Willibald, 8th century
Eichstätt in the German
Abbey of Saint Walburga
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Sts.
Willibald and Winnebald".
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Willibald.
Willibald 4 at Prosopography of
"St. Willibald, Bishop of Aichstadt, Confessor", Butler's Lives of the
Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (1891): The hodæporicon of Saint
Willibald (ca 754 AD) by Roswida
Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (1897): Vol III The pilgrimage of
Arculfus. The hodoeporicon of St. Willibald. Description of Syria and
Palestine, by Mukaddasi. The itinerary of Bernhard the Wise.
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