Saint Lullus, his official Latin name, is also known as Lull, Lulo and Lul. The name sounds strange to us, but it probably comes from the word liud, which means people. Lullus’ life has many interesting aspects. He was Boniface’s successor as Archbishop of Mainz and completed Boniface’s work in Germany. Not only was he Boniface’s successor, but also a good friend and family of his. After years of building up the monastery in Hersfeld, he died and was buried there. Every year there is a week-long celebration in Hersfeld around the anniversary of his death.
- The early years of Lullus’ life
- Lullus meets Boniface
- Homesick Boniface
- The English nuns
- Lullus as a confidant
- Archbishop of Mainz
- Battle for Boniface’s relics
- Exile of Saint Sturmius
- Declared as holy
The early years of Lullus’ life
Lullus was born in Wessex, England, about 710 AD and belonged to a wealthy noble family. At that time, that region of England was in the hands of the West Saxons. His parents sent him to the monastery at Malmesbury to study and he became a monk there.
Lullus meets Boniface
On a pilgrimage to Rome in 737 he encountered his great example Boniface. Boniface would become a common thread in his life and was like a spiritual father to him. Lullus supported Boniface in his mission to Christianize the Franks and also accompanied him on one of his journeys to Friesland, where Boniface and fifty-two other clergymen would die on a later mission.
Christianization is the conversion of pagans to Christianity.
The name Lul, Lull, Lulo is related to the word Liud. We can recognize our words ‘lazy’ and ‘men’ in the sense of workmen in this. It appears that the name was used as an abbreviation of a name beginning with Lui- or Lu-. Some examples of this:
- Loufried;
- Ludwig;
- Lulof.
Homesick Boniface
Boniface suffered a lot from homesickness, which is also evident from letters that Boniface wrote with the nuns Lioba and Mother Eadburga in England who prayed for him and sent him gifts. The letters showed that he needed food from his own culture, a conversation in his own language and interaction with people from his own culture. This could be the reason that Boniface got along so well with Lullus, who also came from the same region as himself and was also related to him. A collection of 150 letters between Boniface and Lullus has also been preserved. Sister Eadburga and Lioba were also related to Boniface.
The English nuns
Boniface missed his homeland and his family so much and he had so much support for the sisters Eadburga and Lioba that he conceived the idea of bringing some of the nuns to Germany. The women could found a women’s monastery in the area where he was, because there were none yet. They could teach the native noble girls. Their skills, piety and quality of education would make them worth their weight in gold. Lioba and 29 other sisters made the journey to Germany to join Boniface. Kunihildis and her daughter Bertigitte had also registered for the trip. According to the source, they were related to one of Boniface’s most intimate friends, Lullus.
Lullus as a confidant
Letters testify that Boniface had so much confidence in Lullus that he twice sent him to Rome to conduct secret negotiations on his behalf. Lullus himself is also said to have exchanged letters and gifts with Eadburga and Lioba, Boniface’s favorite nuns. It is even said that at one point Boniface’s eyesight was so poor that Lullus read the letters he received to him and that he probably wrote the answers.
Archbishop of Mainz
In 738 Lullus went to the monastery of Fritzlar, which had been founded by Boniface in 732. Fritzlar is said to be the place where Boniface felled a sacred oak. He then went to live in the Ohrdurf monastery, which was also founded by Boniface. In 747 he was ordained a priest by Boniface and not long afterwards in 752 he became choirbishop under the watchful eye of Boniface. Because Boniface had appointed Lullus as choirbishop, he had his hands free to go to Friesland for the last time, where he met an unfortunate end. After Boniface’s death, Lullus succeeded him as Archbishop of Mainz.
A chorbishop was a bishop who headed the churches in the countryside and small towns.
Battle for Boniface’s relics
Relic Boniface / Source: Broederhugo at Dutch Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)
After the death of his beloved spiritual father Boniface, a battle for his bones arose between him and Saint Sturmius or Sturmi. Bones of a saint, also called relics, were important commodities in the Middle Ages.
According to official sources, Boniface was killed near Dokkum, when the procession was ambushed by a group of Frisians. He was clubbed to death with sticks. Although other sources mention that he would have used a book to repel the attack with swords. It was not a Bible but a codex with tracts against the Arians, who in the eyes of Boniface were heretics. The book of sword blows in question is still kept in Mainz.
Exile of Saint Sturmius
This battle was won by Saint Sturmius. Lullus did not give up and managed to persuade the Frankish king Pepin to have Sturmi banished to Jumièges. Sturmi would not be loyal to the king. Lullus was a cleric who did not shy away from violence to achieve his goals and also served as a political and military advisor to King Pepin’s father, Charlemagne.
Declared as holy
Lullus was canonized on April 7, 852. His hagiography, the Vita Lulli, was published in the eleventh century. A saint’s life is also called hagiography. On October 16, 786 he died in Hersfeld and was buried there. A real celebration arose around his grave, the Lullus Festival, which is still celebrated today in the week of October 16. From 769 he had been busy developing the abbey of Hersfeld. Charlemagne, probably at the intercession of Lullus, made it his Imperial Abbey in 775. A Imperial Abbey is an abbey that fell directly under the tutelage of the German Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.