Saint Ansgar | |
|---|---|
 A depiction of Saint Ansgar bySiegfried Bendixen from the Church Trinitatis, inHamburg, Germany | |
| Apostle of the North | |
| Born | 8 September 801 Corbie,Frankish Kingdom |
| Died | 3 February 865(865-02-03) (aged 63) Bremen,East Francia |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church[1] Anglican Communion[2] Lutheranism[3] |
| Feast | 3 February |
| Attributes | Dressed in archbishop's attire with a model of the church |
| Patronage | Scandinavia,Missionaries |
Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known asAnskar,[4]Saint Ansgar,Saint Anschar orOscar, wasArchbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of theKingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North" because of his travels and theSee of Hamburg received the missionary mandate to bring Christianity to Northern Europe.[5][6]
Ansgar was the son of a nobleFrankish family, born nearAmiens (present-day France).[6][7] After his mother's early death, Ansgar was brought up inBenedictine monastery ofCorbie inPicardy.[6] According to theVita Ansgarii ("Life of Ansgar"), when the little boy learned in a vision that his mother was in the company ofMary, mother of Jesus, his careless attitude toward spiritual matters changed to seriousness.[8] His pupil, successor, and eventual biographerRimbert considered the visions (of which this was the first) to have been Ansgar's main life motivator.
Ansgar acted in the context of the phase ofChristianization ofSaxony (present dayNorthern Germany) begun byCharlemagne and continued by Charlemagne's son and successor,Louis the Pious. In 822, Ansgar became one of many missionaries sent to found the abbey ofCorvey (New Corbie) inWestphalia, where he became a teacher and preacher. A group of monks, including Ansgar, were sent further north toJutland with the kingHarald Klak, who had received baptism during his exile. With Harald's downfall in 827 and Ansgar's companion Autbert having died, their school for the sons of courtiers closed, and Ansgar returned to Germany. Then in 829, after the Swedish kingBjörn at Hauge requested missionaries for hisSwedes, King Louis sent Ansgar, now accompanied by friar Witmar from New Corbie as his assistant. Ansgar preached and made converts, particularly during six months atBirka, on LakeMälaren, where the wealthy widowMor Frideborg extended hospitality. Ansgar organized a small congregation with her and the king's steward, Hergeir, as its most prominent members.
In 831, Ansgar returned to Louis' court atWorms and was appointed to theArchbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. This was a new archbishopric, incorporating the bishoprics of Bremen andVerden and with the right to send missions into all the northern lands, as well as to consecrate bishops for them. Ansgar received the mission of evangelizing paganDenmark,Norway andSweden. The King of Sweden decided to cast lots as to whether to admit the Christian missionaries into his kingdom. Ansgar recommended the issue to the care of God, and the lot was favourable.[6] Ansgar was consecrated as a bishop in November 831, with the approval ofGregory IV. Before travelling north once again, Ansgar travelled to Rome to receive thepallium directly from the pope's hands, and was formally named legate for the northern lands.Ebbo, Archbishop of Reims had previously received a similar commission, but would be deposed twice before his death in 851, and never actually traveled so far north, so the jurisdiction was divided by agreement, with Ebbo retaining Sweden for himself. For a time Ansgar devoted himself to the needs of his own diocese, which was still a missionary territory and had few churches. He founded a monastery and a school in Hamburg. Although intended to serve the Danish mission further north, it accomplished little.
AfterLouis the Pious died in 840, his empire was divided and Ansgar lost the abbey ofTurholt, which Louis had given to endow Ansgar's work. Then in 845, theDanes unexpectedly raided Hamburg, destroying all the church's treasures and books. Ansgar now had neither see nor revenue, and many helpers deserted him. The new king, Louis' third son,Louis the German, did not re-endow Turholt to Ansgar, but in 847 he named the missionary to the vacant diocese of Bremen, where Ansgar moved in 848. However, since Bremen had beensuffragan to the Bishop of Cologne, combining the sees of Bremen and Hamburg presented canonical difficulties. After prolonged negotiations,Pope Nicholas I would approve the union of the two dioceses in 864.
Through this political turmoil, Ansgar continued his northern mission. The Danish civil war compelled him to establish good relations with two kings,Horik the Elder and his son,Horik II. Both assisted him until his death; Ansgar was able to secure permission to build a church inSleswick north of Hamburg and recognition of Christianity as a tolerated religion.[9] Ansgar did not forget the Swedish mission, and spent two years there in person (848–850), averting a threatened pagan reaction. In 854, Ansgar returned to Sweden when kingOlof ruled in Birka. According to Rimbert, he was well disposed to Christianity. On a Viking raid toApuole (current village inLithuania) inCourland, the Swedes plundered theCuronians.
Ansgar was buried inBremen in 865. His successor as archbishop,Rimbert, wrote theVita Ansgarii. He noted that Ansgar wore a rough hair shirt, lived on bread and water, and showed great charity to the poor. Adam of Bremen attributed theVita et miracula of Willehad (first bishop of Bremen) to Ansgar inGesta Hammenburgensis ecclesiæ; Ansgar is also the reputed author of a collection of brief prayersPigmenta (ed. J. M. Lappenberg, Hamburg, 1844).[10]Pope Nicholas I declared Ansgar a saint shortly after the missionary's death. The first actual missionary in Sweden and theNordic countries (and organizer of the Catholic church therein), Ansgar was later declared "Patron ofScandinavia".[6]
Relics are located inHamburg in two places: St. Mary's Cathedral (Ger.: Domkirche St. Marien) and St. Ansgar's and St. Bernard's Church (Ger.: St. Ansgar und St. Bernhard Kirche).[11]Statues of Bishop Ansgar stand inHamburg,Copenhagen andRibe, as well as a stone cross atBirka. Hisfeast day (Lesser Festival) is3 February, as it is in theChurch of England,[12] theEpiscopal Church,[2] and theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America.[13][14]
Although a historical document and primary source written by a man whose existence can be proven historically, theVita Ansgarii ("The Life of Ansgar") aims above all to demonstrate Ansgar's sanctity. It is partly concerned with Ansgar's visions, which, according to the author Rimbert, encouraged and assisted Ansgar's remarkable missionary feats.
Through the course of this work, Ansgar repeatedly embarks on a new stage in his career following a vision. According to Rimbert, his early studies and ensuing devotion to the ascetic life of a monk were inspired by a vision of his mother in the presence of Mary, mother ofJesus. Again, when the Swedish people were left without a priest for some time, he begged King Horik to help him with this problem; then after receiving his consent, consulted with Bishop Gautbert to find a suitable man. The two together sought the approval of King Louis, which he granted when he learned that they were in agreement on the issue. Ansgar was convinced he was commanded by heaven to undertake this mission and was influenced by a vision he received when he was concerned about the journey, in which he met a man who reassured him of his purpose and informed him of a prophet that he would meet, theabbotAdalhard, who would instruct him in what was to happen. In the vision, he searched for and found Adalhard, who quoted to him "Islands, listen to me, pay attention, remotest peoples" (Isaiah 49:1). Ansgar interpreted this as showing God's will that he go to the Scandinavian countries as "most of that country consisted of islands, especially when Adalhard added "I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6), since the end of the world in the north was in Swedish territory.[15]
Ansgar Born: 8 September 801 in Amiens or 796 in Corbie Died: 3 February 865 in Bremen | ||
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| New diocese | Archbishop of Hamburg 834–865 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Leuderich | Bishop of Bremen 848–865 | |
