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Burchard of Würzburg
Burchard of Würzburg
	Engraving by Johann Salver.
Saint
Born	unknown; England
Died	c. 752; Würzburg
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church; Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	14 October

Saint Burchard of Würzburg (in German Burkard or Burkhard) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary who became the first Bishop of Würzburg (741–751).

Life

Burchard was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk possibly of noble birth, and educated at Malmesbury Abbey.^[2] He left England after the death of his parents and joined Boniface (who may have been a relative) in his missionary labors, some time after 732. He lived for a time at the Abbey of St. Peter in Fritzlar, founded by Boniface. Later he left to become a missioner in Thuringia.^[3]

When Boniface organized bishoprics in Middle Germany, he placed Burchard over that of Würzburg. As was customary at the time, his appointment was approved by Carloman (mayor of the palace), who endowed the diocese with a number of benefits. His consecration can not have occurred later than the summer of 741, since in the autumn of that year, he was documented as officiating as a bishop at the consecration of Willibald of Eichstädt.^[4]

Pope Zachary confirmed the new bishopric in 743. Burchard was a member of the first German council in 742, and attended the general Council of the Franks in 747. The following year, as an envoy to Rome from Boniface he presented the results of the council to Pope Zachary. In 750, with Fulrad of Saint-Denis, he brought to Zachary the famous question of Pepin, whose answer was supposed to justify the assumption of regal power by the Carolingians.^[4]

In 751, he resigned his see in favor of Megingoz, a Benedictine monk from St. Peter's Abbey in Fritzlar,^[5] and retired to a life of solitude. In 752, he dedicated the Abbey of St. Andrew in Würzburg (later renamed St. Burchard's Abbey).

On 8 July 752 he translated the relics of Saint Kilian and his companions Saint Totnan and Saint Colman to Würzburg Cathedral, which was then dedicated to St Kilian.^[6]

Burchard died in 753.

Veneration

His relics were translated to the Abbey of St. Andrew in 986.

His feast day is 14 October.^[4]

References

^ Monks of Ramsgate. “Burchard”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 8 September 2012 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Noble, Thomas F. X. "Review of 'Die Lebensbeschreibungen Bischof Burchards von Würzburg: Vita Antiquior - Vita Posterior - Vita Metrica'." The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 94 no. 1, 2008, p. 134-135. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/cat.2008.0046
^ Borrelli, Antonio. "San Burcardo di Würzburg", Santi e Beati, October 31, 2002
^ ^a ^b ^c Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Burchard of Würzurg." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 6 September 2017
^ Alban Butler. “Saint Burckard, First Bishop of Wurtzburg, Confessor”. Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 14 October 2013. Web
^ Hartmann, Wilfried, "Burchard of Würzburg", Religion Past and Present, Brill, 2006 ISBN 9789004146662

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Burchard of Würzurg". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Sources

Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Burchard. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2., unveränderte Auflage Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1, Sp. 816-817.
Wilhelm Engel: Burchard. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2, S. 29 (Digitalisat).
Heinrich Hahn: Burghard. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, S. 564–566.
Konrad Schäfer, Heinrich Schießer: Leben und Wirken des hl. Burkhard (= Bad Neustädter Beiträge zur Geschichte und Heimatkunde Frankens. Band 4). Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale 1986, ISBN 978-3-9800482-4-8.
Heinrich Wagner: Würzburger Diözesan Geschichtsblätter (WDGB). Band 65, 2003 (Die Würzburger Bischöfe 741-842), S. 17-43.
Alfred Wendehorst: Burchard (Nr. 14). In: Lexikon des Mittelalters (LexMA). Band 2, Artemis & Winkler, München/Zürich 1983, ISBN 3-7608-8902-6, Sp. 951.

External links

This article incorporates text from a publication in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "Burchard of Würzburg". New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.