Willehad

Willehad
Willehad of Bremen, from a woodcut of the Late Middle Ages
Missionary, Pilgrim and Bishop of Bremen
Born	c. 735 Northumbria, England
Died	8 November 789 Blexen upon Weser, Germany
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Major shrine	Echternach, Luxembourg
Attributes	bishop overturning idols
Patronage	Saxony

Willehad or Willihad (Latin: Willehadus/Willihadus); c. 745 AD – 8 November 789 AD) was a Christian missionary and the Bishop of Bremen from 787 AD.

Willehad was born in Northumbria and probably received his education at York under Ecgbert. A friend of Alcuin he was ordained after his education and, about the year 766, he went to Frisia, preaching at Dokkum and in Overijssel, to continue the missionary work of Boniface who had been martyred by the Frisians in 754. At an assembly in Paderborn in 777, Saxony was divided into missionary zones. The zone between the Weser and the Elbe, called Wigmodia, was given to Willehad.

From 780 he preached in the region of the lower Weser River on commission from Charlemagne. He barely escaped with his life when the Frisians wanted to kill him as well and he returned to the area around Utrecht. Once again he and his fellow missionaries barely escaped with their lives when the local pagans wanted to kill them for destroying some temples. Finally, in 780, Charlemagne sent him to evangelize the Saxons. He preached to them for two years but, in 782, the Saxons under Widukind, rebelled against Charlemagne and Willehad was forced to flee to Frisia. He took the opportunity to travel to Rome where he reported to Pope Adrian I on his work.

Upon his return from Rome, Willehad retired for a time to the monastery of Echternach, in present-day Luxembourg. He spent two years there reassembling his missionary team.