Swidberth of Kaiserwerdt | |
|---|---|
 Suitbertus | |
| Born | Northumbria |
| Died | 713 Suitberts-Insel, now Kaiserswerth |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 1 March |
| Patronage | Germany |
Saint Suitbert, Suidbert, Suitbertus, Swithbert, or Swidbert was born in Northumbria, England, in the seventh century, and accompanied Willibrord on the Anglo-Saxon mission.
Suitbert was born in Northumbria. According to legend, his mother saw a star falling before he was born, which is why he is often depicted with a star. [1] He studied in Ireland, at Rathmelsigi, Leinster, along with Ecgberht of Ripon. The latter, filled with zeal for the conversion of the Germans, had sent Wihtberht, to evangelize the Frisians, but owing to the opposition of the pagan ruler Redbad, King of the Frisians, Wihtberht was unsuccessful and returned to England. Ecgberht then sent Willibrord and his twelve companions, among whom was Suitbert. [2]
They landed near the mouth of the Rhine and journeyed to Utrecht, which became their headquarters. The new missionaries worked with great success under the protection of Pepin of Heristal, who, having recently conquered a portion of Frisia, compelled Redbad to cease harassing the Christians. Suitbert laboured chiefly in North Brabant, Gelderland, and Cleves. [2]
After some years he went back to England, and in 693 was consecrated in Mercia as a missionary bishop by Wilfrid of York. [3] He returned to Frisia and fixed his see at Wijk bij Duurstede on a branch of the Rhine. A little later, entrusting his flock of converts to Willibrord, he proceeded north of the Rhine and the Lippe, among the Bructeri, or Boructuari, in the district of Berg, Westphalia. This mission bore great fruit at first, but was eventually a failure owing to the inroads of the pagan Saxons; when the latter had conquered the territory. [4]
About the year 700 Suitbert withdrew to Werth, a small island that formed an important crossing point of the Rhine, six miles from Düsseldorf. It had been granted to him by Pepin of Heristal, probably at the request of his wife Plectrude. There Suitbert built a Benedictine abbey and ended his days in peace, [2] 1 March 713. Bede described Suitbert as a "man of modest nature and gentle heart". [4] He was succeeded as abbot by Saint Willeic, also born in England.
His relics were rediscovered in 1626 at Kaiserwerth and are still venerated there. Suitbert's bones have rested in a valuable shrine in the former collegiate and current parish church of Kaiserswerth since 1264. The shrine is one of the most important examples of medieval goldsmithing in the Rhine-Maas region. [4] The medieval shrine is no longer used for processions, which use a shrine built in 1991. In 2020, the original shrine was scheduled to be sent to Cologne to be restored. Suitbert is considered a patron saint of Germany. His feast day falls on 1 March. He is invoked against sore throats.
Kaiserwerth holds an annual festival weekend each May in celebration of Saint Suitbertus. There is a shrine procession through the old town of Kaiserswerth and along the Rhine. The community festival follows a pontifical mass. [5]
There is an 1864 sculpture of St. Suitbert by Julius Bayerle in a niche on the façade of the listed building on the Suitbertus-Stiftsplatz Nr. 10, Kaiserswerth.
The 690s decade ran from January 1, 690, to December 31, 699.
Year 695 (DCXCV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 695 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Pepin II, commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the Franks upon his conquest of all the Frankish realms.
Willibrord was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first Bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg.
Radbod was the king of Frisia from c. 680 until his death. He is often considered the last independent ruler of Frisia before Frankish domination. He defeated Charles Martel at Cologne. Eventually, Charles prevailed and compelled the Frisians to submit. Radbod died in 719, but for some years his successors struggled against the Frankish power.
Ecgberht was an Anglo-Saxon monk of Northumbria. After studying at Lindisfarne and Rath Melsigi, he spent his life travelling among monasteries in northern Britain and around the Irish Sea. He was instrumental in the establishment of Wihtberht's mission to Frisia.
Wigbert, (Wihtberht) born in Wessex around 675, was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk and a missionary and disciple of Boniface who travelled with the latter in Frisia and northern and central Germany to convert the local tribes to Christianity. His feast day is August 13.
The Holland Mission or Dutch Mission was the common name of a Catholic Church missionary district in the Low Countries from 1592 to 1853, during and after the Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands.
Ludger was a missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, founder of Werden Abbey and the first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia. He has been called the "Apostle of Saxony".
Gregory of Utrecht was born of a noble family at Trier. He became a follower of Saint Boniface, who sent him to study at the Monastery of Saint Michael at Ohrdruf. He then accompanied Boniface on his missionary journeys. In 750, Boniface appointed Gregory abbot of St. Martin's Monastery in Utrecht. St. Martin's became a centre of learning and missionary activity. When, in 754, Eoban left to accompany Boniface on their last missionary trip, Gregory was tasked with administering the diocese of Utrecht, which he did faithfully for the next twenty-three years until his death in 776.
The Two Ewalds were Saint Ewald the Black and Saint Ewald the White, martyrs in Old Saxony about 692. Both bore the same name, but were distinguished by the difference in the colour of their hair and complexions. They began their mission labours about 690 at the ancient Saxons country, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Münster, Osnabrück, and Paderborn. They are honored as saints in Westphalia.
Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself during the 6th century. Both Ecgberht of Ripon and Ecgbert of York were instrumental in the Anglo-Saxon mission. The first organized the early missionary efforts of Wihtberht, Willibrord, and others; while many of the later missioners made their early studies at York.
In the seventh century the pagan Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity mainly by missionaries sent from Rome. Irish missionaries from Iona, who were proponents of Celtic Christianity, were influential in the conversion of Northumbria, but after the Synod of Whitby in 664, the Anglo-Saxon church gave its allegiance to the Pope.
Saint Suitbert, Suidbert, Suitbertus, or Swithbert, an abbot venerated in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, who lived in a monastery near the River Dacre, Cumberland, England, and is mentioned by the Venerable Bede. His liturgical feast is on April 30.
Rath Melsigi was an Anglo-Saxon monastery in Ireland. A number of monks who studied there were active in the Anglo-Saxon mission on the continent. The monastery also developed a style of script that may have influenced the writers of the Book of Durrow.
The Frisian–Frankish wars were a series of conflicts between the Frankish Empire and the Frisian kingdom in the 7th and 8th centuries.
The Frisian Kingdom, also known as Magna Frisia, is a modern name for the post-Roman Frisian realm in Western Europe in the period when it was at its largest (650–734). This dominion was ruled by kings and emerged in the mid-7th century and probably ended with the Battle of the Boarn in 734 when the Frisians were defeated by the Frankish Empire. It lay mainly in what is now the Netherlands and – according to some 19th century authors – extended from the Zwin near Bruges in Belgium to the Weser in Germany. The center of power was the city of Utrecht.
Wilgils of Ripon, also known as Wilgisl and Hilgis, was a seventh century saint and hermit of Anglo-Saxon England, who was the father of St Willibrord. His feast day is 31 January.
The historic Diocese of Utrecht was a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church from 695 to 1580, and from 1559 archdiocese in the Low Countries before and during the Protestant Reformation.
Saint Werenfried was an English Benedictine monk, priest and missionary among the Frisians. His intercession is thought to relieve the pain of arthritis and to help gardeners. His feast day is 14 August.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Suitbert". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.| International | |
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