Saint Agilulfus (or Agigulf), Abbot of

Stavelot Stavelot (; ; ) 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 Spa-Francorchamps Circuit a ...

Bishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 party. In ...

, died around the year 750. Apart from his name, "the events of his life are uncertain", 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), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

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

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 ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

."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 8th-century Christian abbots