Pagans’
Kill Deprive Germany of their National Apostle
On the Day June 5 754AD
Khen Lim
Statue of Boniface, Apostle to Germany at the Cathedral of Mainz (Image source: Pinterest)
On that fateful day, June 5 754AD, an eighty-year man was sat
quietly reading the Gospels in his tent in Dokkum between Franeker and
Groningen in Frisia (now Netherlands) while he waited for new converts to arrive.
They were due him to confirm. He had been harbouring hope to bring Christ to
the Frisians and so had decided to convene a meeting.
But that was not to be. As he sat there, a group of furious
pagan worshippers pounced on the aged archbishop. Pleading with his co-workers not
to intervene but to back down, saying, “Cease fighting. Lay down your arms for
we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by
good.” His only token defence was the book he was reading – the Gospels – which
he placed atop his head as protection.
That day, fifty Christians perished under the sword of pagan
robbers who then ransacked their possessions, thinking that they would find
just rewards. Having gone through all their belongings, they found no material riches
except manuscripts and books of sacred texts.
History suggests that the robbers
attempted to destroy all the books but somehow three books survived and were
discovered in a nearby field by Christians who inspected them later. One of the
three, the Ragyndrudis Codex reveals physical damage that could have been
inflicted by the wielding of a sword or axe, which would support an eyewitness’
claim that the old man had, at the moment of death, held up the Gospel as ‘spiritual
protection.’
Among the fifty dead was Boniface, an Englishman who went on
to become widely known as the ‘apostle to the Germans.’ Boniface’s body was then
buried in nearby Utrecht before it was reinterred.
Born Winfrid* in Wessex (now Devon), England around the year
675AD, a young Boniface had to overcome initial parental objection in order to
pursue a career in the church. Historical documents reveal that he came from a
respected and financially comfortable family. His father would have had
preferred that he sought a more monetarily rewarding career direction.
As it
turned out, the Anglo-Saxon Winfrid had a bulk of his education in English
monasteries beginning with Exeter and then followed by Nhutscelle (Nursling) not
far from Winchester before becoming an ordained priest by the time he turned 30
years of age. There, he also taught in the abbey school while he wrote on Latin
grammatical treatise called the Ars Grammatica, probably to benefit his
students there. All in all, he served for ten years until 716AD when his abbot
Wynberth died.
* Also known as Wynfrid, Wynfrith or Winfrith
Willibrord (Image source: gelovenleren.net)
Following his abbot’s death, Winfrid was in position to
replace him but he declined, preferring a life of a missionary. And so in 716AD
at the age of forty, he set out on a mission to Utrecht in Frisia in his first
step to minister to the various German tribes. There, he worked with a famous
missionary by the name of Willibrord (c.658-739) who was better known as the ‘Apostle to the Frisians’ and who had been working there for close to twenty odd years.
For a year together, both Winfrid and Willibrord worked the
countryside, preaching to the pagans but found it difficult to go on as the war
between Charles Martel (c.686-741) and Radbod, King of the Frisians (679-719), was thwarting their
efforts. Finding their presence unwelcoming, both eventually abandoned their
efforts after Winfrid showed no keenness in taking over his partner’s mission.
While Willibrord made a line for the abbey he founded in Echternach (now in Luxembourg),
he chose to return home to Nursling.
Upon his return home, Winfrid was, once again, appointed to be
the abbot of his monastery. And once more, he turned it down for he yearned to
continue with his evangelism work. In the following year of 718AD, he proceeded
to Rome where he held audience with Pope Gregory II (669-731) who eventually gave him the
name ‘Boniface’ after the legendary martyr Boniface of Tarsus (d.307). By May 719AD,
Boniface was appointed missionary bishop for Germania, an area that lacked any
church organisation and hence, had no diocese for him to actually become one.
By now also, Boniface’s thoughts were so far away from home.
In fact, from thereon, he would no longer encounter any further opportunity to
return home though he remained in touch with certain people across Western
Europe until his death. They included three popes he worked with and some
kinsmen from home.
Many of Boniface’s correspondences centre on questions
concerning church reform as well as liturgical or doctrinal issues. Although
what remains is only half of the conversation – be it the query or the response
– what historians could gather from the letters was Boniface’s obvious
influential connections.
With his strong desire to spread the Gospel, the appointment
that Gregory II offered him paved the way for him. Once the political climate
in Frisia had settled down, Boniface made treks to return again. This time, he
gained sufficient experience in mission work, which he then later put to good
use in Hesse. On his return, it was Martel, the Carolingian ruler of the Franks,
who offered him protection as a bishop, easing his missionary work.
The miraculous felling of Donar's Oak by F. Spindel, 1956 (Image source: historywallcharts.eu)
History notes that sometime around 723-724AD in northern Hesse
in Geismar (also Gaesmere) near the present-day town of Fritzlar that Boniface
felled the Donar’s Oak*, a sacred oak tree that the local Germanic pagans had
associated with the Norse mythological god of Thor. The pagans believed that
whomsoever ‘slayed’ the tree would answer to Thor who would strike and kill the
slayer.
Just as Boniface struck the tree with his first blow, the trunk split
violently into four pieces. And because he emerged without even a scratch, the
pagans saw that as a sign of power in him for they associated the outcome as
the ultimate inability of their own pagan gods as well as an acknowledgement of
the greatness of the Christian God. Summarily, the people who witnessed the
event were awed into conversion.
** Latinised as ‘Jupiter’s Oak’ but also known as Thor’s Oak
Boniface’s early biographer, Willibald (700-787), wrote that just as he
struck the oak, a great wind had swept across and as if by miracle, blew the
ancient tree over, felling it in four pieces. Boniface in fact ironically used
the wood from the fallen oak to build a church that he dedicated to Peter the Apostle.
This church was to form the underpinnings of the monastery in Fritzlar.
This was also a period of great evangelistic efforts for
Boniface. He was so effective and his influence was to the great glory of God. Right
across the regions of Frisia, Hesse and Thuringia, thousands of pagans came to Christ.
The response was so remarkable that Boniface wrote home, asking for
reinforcements. Dozens of English monks responded with enthusiasm and joined
him and since German Saxon and English Saxon spoke similarly, there wasn’t a
lot of difficulties in communication, which made the work easier.
Word reached the pope that Boniface’s work was bearing
tremendous fruit. He was so impressed that in 732AD, he made him Metropolitan
of the region and with that vested authority, he could, at will, create sees and
appoint bishops as he saw fit. He also took the opportunity to bear down on any
heretical teachings that he encountered in his missionary work. After his time
in Thuringia, he began to focus on organising the church in Bavaria. Buoyed by
such great encouragement, Boniface continued to establish monasteries including
the famous one in Fulda.
In 738AD, Boniface made his third trip to Rome and in that
same year, Martel established four dioceses in Bavaria notably in Salzburg, Regensburg,
Freising and Passau only to offer them to him to govern as archbishop and hence
metropolitan over the whole of Germany east of the Rhine. When Martel died
three years later in 741AD, he turned his collaboration to his two sons,
Carloman (710-754) and Pepin (714-768) in instituting church reforms as far and wide as possible.
With these efforts, the Frankish clergy grew close to Rome.
Pepin the Short, son of Charles Martel (Image source: Timetoast)
The relationship between Boniface and Martel’s sons also
brought great fruit amongst which, it is said that six years after his new
appointment as the archbishop of Mainz (by Pope Zachary) in 745AD, he might
have been the one to witness the coronation of Pepin III (aka Pepin the Short)
as King of the Franks – a first for a Carolingian in Soissons. Whether that account
is true or not, there is no denying the fact that Boniface was the driving
force behind the papal autocracy throughout Europe and not long thereafter, the
inevitable emergence of its sweeping religious and political power.
It can be said that although Boniface’s work as a missionary
appear front and centre, his reform efforts were without a doubt just as
historically significant at least from a European context. The work he did in
the Frankish church ranks high among them but it is notable also that without Carolingians
Charles Martel and then his sons, much of his efforts would have been futile.
For example, the founding of the abbey of Fulda, though known
to be the work of one of Boniface’s disciples, Sturm (or Sturmi or Sturmius, c.705-779), wouldn’t
have been possible with Boniface himself who was deeply involved in its
establishment. Even so, the abbey itself was made possible because of an
initial grant that was signed over by Martel’s son, Carloman. In his explanation
to an old friend, Daniel of Winchester (d.745), Boniface admitted that if not for
Martel’s protection, he could “neither administer his church, defend his clergy
nor prevent idolatry.”
The other reason why Boniface’s reform work was so important
was that the Frankish church had grown complacent and corrupt. It was his hand,
therefore, that worked through a series of synods and personal appeals,
bringing forth desperately-needed national moral reform and helped them to draw
closer to Rome.
Even though he could not stop church property seizures by the
local nobility, he did achieve a crucial milestone in getting the Frankish
clergy to embrace stricter guidelines. These guidelines were, of course, part
of the larger agenda of tying the church in Northern Europe to be more in
compliance with the administrative authority of the papacy.
Fulda Cathedral (Image source: Trip Advisor)
By now, Boniface was already well past seventy years of age. As
his last mission, he felt ready to return to the Frisians but that was the last
that Rome would see him alive. On this day, one-thousand two-hundred and
sixty-three years ago, Boniface was murdered. And Germany lost her most
prominent apostle. After initially resting in Utrecht, he was removed to the abbey
of Fulda, which he founded ten years earlier, in 744AD. There, Boniface is
entombed within a shrine under the high alter of the present Fulda Cathedral.
In remembering him, I leave you with three everlasting quotes
from the man himself:
Of the importance of Scripture:
“Can there be a more
fitting pursuit in youth or a more valuable possession in old age than a knowledge
of Holy Writ? In the midst of storms, it will prevent you from the dangers of
shipwreck and guide you to the shore of an enchanting paradise and the
everlasting bliss of the angels.” – Boniface
Of the wealthy nobility who seized church properties:
“Men who wallow in luxury
are said in Holy Scripture to pass sleepless nights through anxiety, spinning
their fragile webs that catch only dust or a breath of wind, for as the
psalmist says: ‘They gather together treasure and know not for whom they gather
it.’” – Boniface
Of corruption in the Frankish church:
“To quote the Apostle, all
is conflict without and anxiety within; but in my case, there are also
conflicts within and anxiety without. This is caused in particular by false
priests and hypocrites who set God at defiance, thereby rushing to their own
damnation and leading the faithful astray by their scandals and errors.” –
Boniface
Further reading sources:
- ‘Boniface, St.’ in Cross,
F. L. and Livingstone E. A., eds (Sept 2005) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, Third Revised Edition). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Dictionary-Christian-Church/dp/0192802909
- Butler, Alban (Dec 1956) Butler’s Lives of the Saints (4 Volume Set)
(Notre Dame, IN: Christian Classics, Ave Maria Press, Second Edition).
Available at https://www.amazon.com/Butlers-Lives-Saints-4-Set/dp/0870611372
- Gneuss, Helmut (Jul 2001) Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A List
of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England Up to 1100
(Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies) (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Centre
for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, US). Available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Handlist-Anglo-Saxon-Manuscripts-Manuscript-Renaissance/dp/0866982833
- Levison, Wilhelm (1905) Vitae Sancti Bonifatii Archiepiscopi Moguntini
(impensis bibliopolii Hahn). Available at https://books.google.com.my/books?id=tbA-AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
- McBeth, Leon (1968) Men Who Made Missions (Brentwood, TN: Broadman
Press). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Men-Made-Missions-leon-mcbeth/dp/B000P5T07E
- Neill, Stephen (May 1991) A History of Christian Missions (Penguin
History of the Church Book 6) (Hammondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, Second
Edition). Available at https://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Missions-Penguin-Church/dp/0140137637
- Noble, Thomas F.X. and
Head, Thomas, eds (May 2011) Soldiers of
Christ: Saints and Saints’ Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (University
Park, PA: Penn State University Press, Annotated Edition). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Soldiers-Christ-Saints-Antiquity-Middle/dp/0271013451
- Padberg, Prof. Dr. Lutz E.
von (Aug 2003) Bonifatius: Missionar und
Reformer (Munich: Verlag C.H. Beck). Available at https://www.amazon.de/Bonifatius-Missionar-Lutz-von-Padberg/dp/3406480195
(in German)
- Rau, Reinhold (1968) Briefe des Bonifatius. Willibalds Leben des
Bonifatius: nebst einigen zeitgenossichen Dokumenten / Unten Benutzung der
Ubersetzungen von M. Tangl und Ph. H. kulb, neu bearbeitet von Reinhold Rau
(Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft; First Edition). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Briefe-Bonifatius-Willibalds-Leben-Bonifatius/dp/B01MA6IN9R
(in German)
- Schieffer, Theodor (1980) Winfrid-Bonifatius und die christliche
Grundlegung Europas (Darmstadt: Verlag Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft).
Available at https://www.amazon.de/Winfrid-Bonifatius-die-christliche-Grundlegung-Europas/dp/3534060652
- Talbot, C. H. (Jan 1954) The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany.
Being the Lives of S.S. Willibrord, Boniface, Sturm, Leoba and Lebuin, Together
with the Hodoeporicon of St Willibald and a Selection from the Correspondence
of St Boniface (New York: Sheed & Ward, First Edition). Available at https://www.amazon.com/Anglo-Saxon-Missionaries-Willibrord-Hodoeporicon-Correspondence/dp/B000B9G856
- Wolf, Gunter G. (1999) Die Peripetie in des Bonifatius Wirksamkeit
und die Resignation Karlmanns d. Ä in Archiv für Diplomatik
- Yorke, Barbara (2007) The Insular Background to Boniface’s
Continental Career in Felten, Franz J. and Jarnut, Jörg and Padberg, Lutz
E. von, editors (Mar 2008) Bonifatius.
Leben und Nachwirken: Die Gestaltung des christlichen Europa im Frühmittelalter
(Quellen und Abhandlungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte) (Mainz:
Selbstverlag der Gesellschaft für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, First
Edition). Accessible in PDF format at http://www.academia.edu/1382547/The_insular_background_to_Bonifaces_continental_career_in_Bonifatius._Leben_und_Nachwirken_ed._F.J._Felten_et_al_Mainz_2007_pp._23-38.
Also available at https://www.amazon.de/Bonifatius-christlichen-Fr%C3%BChmittelalter-mittelrheinischen-Kirchengeschichte/dp/3929135566
-
No comments:
Post a Comment