Ludger ( la, Ludgerus; also Lüdiger or Liudger) (born at Zuilen near
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
among the
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...
and
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
, founder of
Werden Abbey
Werden Abbey (german: Kloster Werden) was a Benedictine monastery in Essen-Werden ( Germany), situated on the Ruhr.
The foundation of the abbey
Near Essen Saint Ludger founded a monastery in 799 and became its first abbot. The little churc ...
and the first
Bishop of Münster
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
in
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
Ludger's parents, Thiadgrim and Liafburg, were wealthy Christian Frisians of noble descent. In 753 Ludger saw the great Apostle of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, Boniface, which, together with the subsequent martyrdom of the saint, made a deep impression on him. At his own request he was sent to the Utrecht Cathedral School (''Martinsstift''), founded by
Gregory of Utrecht
Gregory of Utrecht ( 700/705 – August 25, 776) was born of a noble family at Trier.
in 756 or 757, and made good progress. In 767 Gregory, who did not wish to receive episcopal consecration himself, sent Alubert, who had come from England to assist him in his missionary work, to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
to be consecrated bishop. Ludger accompanied him to be ordained into the
diaconate
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chu ...
Alcuin
Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...
, but after a year he returned to Utrecht. Some time later he was granted an opportunity to continue his studies at York, when he developed a friendship with Alcuin which lasted throughout life.Mershman, Francis. "St. Ludger." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 24 January 2020
In 772 friction arose between the
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened ...
and the Frisians, and Ludger - for the sake of his personal safety - left for home, taking with him a number of valuable books. He remained in the ''Martinsstift'' until the death of Gregory in 775, in honour of whose memory he wrote the biography ''Vita Gregorii''. He was then sent to
Deventer
Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, ...
to restore the chapel destroyed by the
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
Saxons and to find the
relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
of Lebuinus, who had worked there as missionary, built the chapel, and died there in c. 775. Ludger succeeded, and returned to teach in the ''Martinsstift'', after which he and others were sent north to destroy pagan places of worship west of the Lauwers Zee.
The Netherlands
After Ludger had been ordained at
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
on 7 July 777, the missions of '' Ostergau'' (or ''Ostracha'', i.e.,
East Frisia
East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
) were committed to his charge, of which missions Dokkum, the place of the martyrdom of Boniface, was made the centre. Every autumn however he came back to Utrecht to teach at the cathedral school. He worked in this way for about seven years, until Widukind in 784 persuaded the Frisians to drive out the missionaries, burn the churches, and return to the pagan gods.
Ludger escaped with his disciples, and in 785 visited
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, where he was well received by
Pope Adrian I
Pope Adrian I ( la, Hadrianus I; died 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 to his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman.
Adrian and his predecessors had to contend with periodic ...
, who gave him much advice and special faculties. From Rome he went to Monte Cassino, where he lived according to the
Rule of Saint Benedict
The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
at
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...
in 787, put an end to Ludger's peaceful retirement. He was appointed missionary to five districts east of the river Lauwers, around the estuaries of the Hunze, the Fivel, and the Ems, which were still occupied almost entirely by pagans. He began his work armed with characteristic energy and faith in God, and had a significant advantage in that he knew the language and habits of the people, and put this knowledge to good use in achieving their conversion.
He worked in many places: the island of Bant, long since sunk beneath the sea, is mentioned as the scene of his apostolic work. He visited
Heligoland
Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possession ...
(''Fossitesland''), where
Willibrord
Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) 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.
Early life
His fathe ...
had preached, where he destroyed the remains of paganism and built a Christian church. The well, formerly sacred to the pagan gods, he re-dedicated as his baptismal font. On his return he met the blind bard Bernlef, last of the Frisian
skald
A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...
s, cured his blindness, and made him a devout Christian.
Westphalia and Saxony
In 793 Charlemagne wished to make Ludger
Bishop of Trier
The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.St. Ludger's Abbey at
Helmstedt
Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage o ...
was founded as part of his missionary activity in this part of Germany. To meet necessary expenses the income of the Abbey of Leuze, in the present Belgian province of Hainaut, was given him, and he was told to pick his fellow-workers from the members of that abbey.
As ''Mimigernaford'' (also ''Mimigardeford'' or ''Miningarvard'') had been designated the centre of the new district, Ludger built a monastery for canons regular there, from which the place took the name of
Münster
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...
. Here he lived with his monks according to the rule of
Saint Chrodegang
Chrodegang ( la, Chrodogangus; german: Chrodegang, Hruotgang;Spellings of his name in (Latin) primary sources are extremely varied: Chrodegangus, Grodegandus, Grodegangus, Grodogangus, Chrodogandus, Krodegandus, Chrodegrangus, Chrotgangus, Ruotga ...
of
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
, which in 789 had been made obligatory in the Frankish territories. He also built a chapel on the left bank of the Aa in honour of the
Blessed Virgin
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, as well as the churches of Billerbeck,
Coesfeld
Coesfeld (; Westphalian: ''Koosfeld'') is the capital of the district of Coesfeld in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
History
Coesfeld received its city rights in 1197, but was first recorded earlier than that in the biography of St ...
Nottuln
Nottuln (; Low German: ''Notteln'') is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Nottuln is situated in the Baumberge, approx. 20 km west of Münster.
Neighbouring municipalit ...
and others. Near the church of Nottuln he built a home for his sister, Gerburgis, who had consecrated herself to God. Many other women soon joined her, and so originated the first
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...
in Westphalia (c. 803). Better known among his foundations, however, is the abbey at
Werden
Werden is a southern borough of the city of Essen in Germany. It belongs to the city district ''IX Werden/Kettwig/Bredeney'' and has 9,998 inhabitants as of June 30, 2006. The borough occupies a space of and is situated at a median height of .
_ ...
Erft
The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardina ...
) in c. 800 and consecrated in 804, on ground which Ludger himself had acquired, in fulfilment of his desire, formed since his stay at Monte Cassino, to found a Benedictine house.
Later life
Alcuin recommended him to Charlemagne, who had Hildebold, Archbishop of Cologne, consecrate Ludger as bishop of Munster on 30 March 805. Ludger's principal concern was to have a good and efficient clergy. To a great extent he educated his students personally, and generally took some of them on his missionary tours. He also founded the monastery of Helmstad, afterwards called Ludger-Clooster, or Ludger's Cloister, in the duchy of Brunswick.Butler, Alban. "St. Ludger, Bishop of Munster", ''Lives of the Saints'' /ref>
It was said of him that his peaceful methods were far more effective in promoting Christianity than the aggressive tactics of Charlemagne. He was criticised during his life for spending money on alms that should have gone towards the ornamentation of his churches. He suffered thereby, but was able to convince Charlemagne that this was no fault.
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...
at Coesfeld early in the morning and preached, then went to Billerbeck, where at 9:00 he again preached, and said his last Mass. That evening he died peacefully in the company of his followers, at the age of sixty-six.
A dispute arose between Münster and Werden for the possession of his remains. His brother Hildegrim was appealed to, and after consultation with the
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...
, decided in favour of Werden, where the relics still remain. Portions have, however, since been brought to Münster and Billerbeck.
Veneration
The successive ''Vitae'', beginning with the serious contemporary biographical work of
Altfrid
Saint Altfrid (or Altfrid of Hildesheim) (died 15 August 874) was a leading figure in Germany in the ninth century. A Benedictine monk, he became Bishop of Hildesheim, and founded Essen Abbey. He was also a close royal adviser to the East Frankis ...
and passing through the ''Vita Secunda'' and ''Vita Tertia'' to the ''Libellus Monasteriensis de miraculis sancti Liudgeri'' (''The Little Book of Münster on the Miracles of Saint Ludger'') of c. 1170, demonstrate the growth of the legend. Votive practice in Münster seems to have focused on a very large and elaborate cross containing a number of relics of the saint. The cult seems to have remained mostly local, and largely to have faded in the later Middle Ages. He is the patron saint of Werden, East Frisia, and Deventer. “Saint Ludger”. New Catholic Dictionary. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 August 2018 /ref>
Ludger is represented either as a bishop holding a church and a book or as standing between two geese (occasionally described as swans). His
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...
is celebrated on 26 March.
References
Sources
This article includes some information from the German Wikipedia
(mostly in German):
* Börsting, Heinrich, Borger, Hugo, Elbern, Victor H.: ''Sankt Liudger 809-1959. Gedenkschrift zum 1150. Todestage des Heiligen'', Essen-Werden 1959
* Börsting, Heinrich and Schröder, Alois (eds): ''Liudger und sein Erbe'', 2 vols (= Westfalia Sacra, Bd.1-2), Münster 1948-1950
* Boser: ''Am Grabe des hl. Ludger'' (Münster, 1908).
* Buhlmann, Michael: ''Liudger an der Ruhr'', in: Ich verkünde euch Christus. St. Liudger, Zeuge des Glaubens 742-809 998 pp 22–42
* Buhlmann, Michael: ''Liudger und Karl der Große'', in: Ich verkünde euch Christus. St. Liudger, Zeuge des Glaubens 742-809 001 pp 5–48
* Buhlmann, Michael: ''Liudger in den Münsteraner Chroniken des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit'', in: Ich verkünde euch Christus. St. Liudger, Zeuge des Glaubens 742-809 002 pp 76–100
* Buhlmann, Michael: ''Liudger und sein bischöfliches Wirken in der Zeit. Sächsischer Missionsbezirk und Münsteraner Bistum Liudgers in der Kirchenorganisation des karolingischen Frankenreichs'', in: Seid Zeugen des Glaubens 005 pp 55–89
* Diekamp, Wilhelm (ed): ''Die Vitae sancti Liudgeri (= Die Geschichtsquellen des Bistums Münster, Bd.4)'', Münster 1881
* Ficker, Julius (ed): ''Die Münsterischen Chroniken des Mittelalters (= Die Geschichtsquellen des Bistums Münster, Bd.1)'', Münster 1859
* Freise, Eckhard: ''Vom vorchristlichen Mimigernaford zum "honestum monasterium" Liudgers'', in: Geschichte der Stadt Münster, ed F-J Jakobi, Bd.1: Von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des Fürstbistums, Münster, 3rd ed, 1994, pp 1–51
* Freise, Eckhard (ed): ''Liudger'', in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol 5, Sp.2038
* Gerchow, Jan (ed): ''Das Jahrtausend der Mönche. KlosterWelt - Werden 799-1803'' (exhibition catalogue), Essen-Köln 1999
* Kaus, Eberhard: ''Zu den Liudger-Viten des 9. Jahrhunderts'', Westfälische Zeitung, 142 (1992), pp 9–55
* Levison, W: ''England and the Continent in the Eighth Century'' (1946)
* Löwe, Heinz: ''Liudger als Zeitkritiker'', in: HJb 74 (1955), pp 79–91
* Pingsmann: ''Der hl. Ludgerus'' (Freiburg, 1879)
* Revue Bénédictine, III, 107; VII, 412
* Schrade, H: ''Die vita des hl Liudger und ihre Bilder'' (1960)
* Senger, Basilius (ed): ''Liudger in seiner Zeit. Altfrid über Liudger. Liudgers Erinnerungen'', Münster, 4th ed, 1986
* Stadler: Heiligenlexikon
* Stühlmeyer, Barbara: ''Das Liudgeroffizium des Benediktinerklosters Essen Werden (Transkription und Analyse)''. In: ''Die Gesänge der Hildegard von Bingen. Eine musikologische, theologische und kulturhistorische Untersuchung''. Phil.Diss., Hildesheim: Olms, 2003, .
* Barbara Stühlmeyer: ''Liudger, ein Friese, der die Welt verändert''. In: ''Karfunkel. Zeitschrift für erlebbare Geschichte'', 61, 2005, S. 107-110, ISSN 0944-2677.
* Stühlmeyer, Ludger: ''Handschriften im Vergleich: Das Ludgerusoffizium des 12. Jh. in der Abtei Gerleve''. In: ''Curia sonans. Die Musikgeschichte der Stadt Hof. Eine Studie zur Kultur Oberfrankens. Von der Gründung des Bistums Bamberg bis zur Gegenwart''. Phil.Diss., Bamberg: Bayerische Verlagsanstalt, Heinrichs-Verlag 2010, .