Saint Agilulfus (or Agigulf), Abbot of

Stavelot Stavelot (; german: Stablo ; wa, Ståvleu) is a town and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Francorchamps and Stavelot. It is best known as the home of Sp ...

Bishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palat ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

, died around the year 750. Apart from his name, very little is known about Bishop Agilulfus, and an early account written by a monk of Malmedy is deemed untrustworthy. Agilulfus came from a good family and was educated under Abbot Angelinus at

. A short time after succeeding as Abbot of

, Agilulfus became

. He is said to have tried to persuade King Pepin to leave his throne to someone other than

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish state ...

, due to Charles' illegitimacy. Agilulfus' violent end soon after could be a result of Martel seeking revenge.Thurston, Herbert. "St. Agilulfus." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 23 April 2020 A letter of

Pope Zachary Pope Zachary ( la, Zacharias; 679 – March 752) was the bishop of Rome from 28 November 741 to his death. He was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of s ...

in 747 commended Agilulfus for signing the "Charta verae et orthodoxae professionis." Agilulfus was venerated in the Abbey at Malmedy as an abbot and martyr. In 1062 Bishop Anno brought his remains to the Church of Our Lady of the Steps 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 ...

."Agilulfus", Kölner Dom
/ref> His feast day is July 9.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agilulfus of Cologne 750 deaths 8th-century Christian saints Abbots of Stavelot Medieval German saints Roman Catholic bishops of Cologne Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain