THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
oo eS ee ee
Oxford, 1896; the earliest extant life, by Alcuin, based on a lost work by an Irish monk, in ASM, iii. 1, pp. 603- 629, and partly in MGH, Poet. Lat. evi Carol., i (1881), 207-220; other early matter in ASM, ut sup., pp. 629- 630; MPL, clvii. 405-412; MGH, Script., xxiii (1874), 23 sqq. Consult further: A. Le Mire, Cort Verhael van het Leven van den H. Willibrordus, Antwerp, 1613; T. Wright, Biographia Britannica, i. 250-262, London, 1842; A. Dederich, Beitrige zur rémisch-deutschen Geschichte am Niederrhein, appendix, Emmerich, 1850; P. Heber, Die vorkarolingischen christlichen Glaubensboten am Rhein und deren Zeit, pp. 193-212, Frankfort, 1858; A. Thym, Der heilige Willibrord, Minster, 1863; J. Engling, Apostolat des heiligen Willibrord im Lande der Luxemburger, Luxemburg, 1863; W. Moll, Kerkgeschiedenis van Nederland, pp. 95-118, Utrecht, 1864; J. Miillendorff, Leben des heiligen Clemens Willibrord, Weimar, 1868; J. B. Krier, La Procession dansante . . . autombeau de St. Willibrord, Luxemburg, 1870; Life of St. Willibrord, London, 1877; J. B. Stamminger, Franconia sancta, pp. 145 sqq., Wiirzburg, 1881; G. F. Maclear, Apostles of Medieval Europe, London, 1888; Poncelet, in Analecta Bollandiana, xxii (1903), 419 sqq., xxvi (1907), 73 sqq.; Friedrich, KD, vol. ii., pt. 1; Rettberg, KD, ii. 517 sqq.; Hauck, KD, i. 433 saqq.; Levison, in NA, xxxiii (1908), 1 sqq.; DNB, \xii. 13-15; KL, xii. 1669-71.
WILLIGIS, wil’/li-gis: Archbishop of Mainz 975- 1011; d.fat Mainz Feb. [23, 1011. He was one of the great ecclesiastical princes of the Middle Ages. Of his origin all that is known is that he came of a poor family, and that he received a good education under Wolcold, later bishop of Meissen, who recommended him to Otto I. Otto II. made him archbishop of Mainz and chancellor of Germany, positions which he long held, and in them rendered great services to his royal masters. He was able to strengthen the position of the archdiocese over which he presided so as to take rank after the pope over all the prelates in Germany and France, while his
cathedral acquired vast wealth through imperial,
gifts in Bingen and the vicinity. St. Martin’s at Mainz was built by him, also St. Stephen’s, and he extended St. Victor’s; he built also the church at Brunnen in Nassau and rebuilt the monastery of Bleidenstadt, founded the Benedictine monastery of Jechaburg, restored that of Disibodenburg and endowed it richly, and to a great number of institutions either secured great gifts or extended their privileges, in which activity he did not limit himself to his own diocese. That he was a disciplinarian is shown by the case of Gozmar, a cantor in the institution of St. Peter at Aschaffenburg, who in a contention with a teacher of the institution killed a boy, while his opponent was besieged in a tower by Gozmar’s adherents. Willigis tried Gozmar before a synod at Mainz and condemned him to solitary confinement at Neustadt, and regulated the appointments of church and school.
Of general importance was Willigis’ contest over the monastery of Gandersheim, a very important foundation in Lower Saxony, founded by Liudolf, grandfather of Otto the Great, lying on the border of the dioceses of Mainz and Hildesheim. Its original site was Brunhausen, which was in the diocese of Hildesheim, while Gandersheim belonged to Mainz, which claimed it when Sophia, the daughter of Otto II., became abbess. Through pride Sophia wished to be consecrated by an archbishop and asked Willigis to perform the ceremony. But Osdag of Hildesheim claimed the prerogative, and the Empress Theophano commanded the two prelates
to unite in the function. The contest between the dioceses was carried on by Osdag’s successor, Bernward, and the presence of Willigis at a synod over which Bernward presided was construed by Hildesheim as granting the latter’s claims to Gandersheim. In 1000, when -the new building was to be dedicated, Sophia invited Willigis to officiate; he invited Bernward to assist and appointed Sept. 14-21 as the time. Bernward appeared on Sept. 14 and was prevented from offitiating alone by Sophia, and the protest entered by Bernward was allowed by Willgis when he came on the 20th, so that the consecration did not take place. He called a synod for Nov. 28 to settle the affair, at which Bernward was not present, having carried his protest to Rome and left his case with Bishop Eckhard of Sleswick, whom Willigis did not recognize as a member of the synod. Eckhard and his adherents then left the assemblage, while the rest acknowledged Willigis’ claim to Gandersheim. But a synod called by Pope Sylvester II. annulled this action and confirmed the claims of Hildesheim to Gandersheim, warning Willigis to take care in his actions. A further synod under Cardinal Friedrich as papal legate was set for June 21, which a tumult of the popular supporters disturbed at its first session, while at the second judgment was pronounced on Willigis, who had absented himself, the legate appointing a further synod for Christmas. A synod called by Willigis at Frankfort Aug. 15, 1001, was resultless through the absence of Bernward, and another synod was held at Todi in the presence of Otto III., was postponed to a later date, and then indefinitely, since pope and king both died early the next year. At first Henry IV. recognized the rights of Mainz, and Willigis consecrated Sophia as abbess Aug. 10, 1002. The consecration of the church was postponed till Christmas of 1006, and the contest rested till Bernward’s successor, Godehard, reopened it.
The bishopric of Merseburg had been founded by Otto the Great, but under the second bishop Giseler had been dissolved to enable the ambitious prelate to go to Magdeburg, a proceeding frowned upon by Gregory V. At a synod the restoration of the see was resolved upon, and Giseler was offered the choice between Magdeburg and Merseburg, with his deposition in view. The archbishop was meanwhile on guard to maintain his rights. The death of Giseler in 1004 cleared the way, Henry’s court chaplain Tagino was appointed to Magdeburg, and his consent to the restoration of Merseburg opened the road for the consecration of a bishop for the diocese in 1004.
The erection of the bishopric of Bamberg was possible only in case the bishops of Wurzburg and Hichstatt would give up part of their dioceses. The negotiations were successfully carried through by Willigis in two synods held in 1007, and Willigis consecrated Eberhard, Henry’s chancellor, bishop at Frankfort. (A. Hauck.) BrsiiocRAPuHy: The earlier lives are collected and edited by
F. Falk in Der Katholik, 1869, i. 224-230, 1873, ii. 729—
731, and Theologische Litteraturblatt, 1869, no. 22, p. 819
(cf. Der Katholik, 1869, i. 219-231, 1871, i. 499 sqq.,
1881, ii. 273-290, 383-405); and by G. Waitz, in MGH,
Script., xvi. 2 (1887), 729-731, 746-748. Consult: H.
Boehmer, Willigis von Mainz, Leipsic, 1895; Feller, in
Buder’s Sammlung ungedruckter Schriften und Urkunden, pp. 473 sqq., ib. 1735; R. Wilmans, Jahrbiicher des