Ansgar

Saint Ansgar (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar or Saint Anschar, was a Germanic Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a mission to bring Christianity to Northern Europe, and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".

Life

Ansgar was the son of a noble Frankish family, born near Amiens. After his mother's early death, Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and was educated at the Benedectine monastery in Picardy,. According to the Vita Ansgarii ("Life of Ansgar"), when the little boy learned in a vision that his mother was in the company of Saint Mary, his careless attitude toward spiritual matters changed to seriousness ("Life of Ansgar", 1). His pupil, successor, and eventual biographer Rimbert considered the visions of which this was the first to be the main motivation of the saint's life.