Willehad of Bremen
Bishop of Bremen
Feast: 8 November (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Willehad, a Northumbrian friend of Alcuin, went as a missionary to Frisia, preaching where St Boniface had been martyred. Sent by Charlemagne in 780 to the region between the Weser and the Elbe, he built many churches.
The Saxon rising of 782 destroyed his work and killed many companions; he escaped to Rome, later returned, and was consecrated bishop at Worms on 13 July 787, fixing his see at Bremen. He died on a missionary journey on 8 November 789.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A missionary who rebuilt the Church among the Saxons.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Willehad
- Wikidata Q499836 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Willehad (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.