BURCARDO di WÜRZBURG, saint. – Anglo-Saxon Benedictine, disciple and collaborator of s. Bonifacio (v.), in 741 he was ordained bishop of Würzburg by him, thereby founding that episcopate. He was commissioned by Pipino d'Héristal, together with Abbot Fulrado of St-Denis, to undertake the mission of obtaining from Pope Zaccaria consent to the deposition of the last Merovingian king, the ineffectual Childerico; the mission was successfully accomplished. He died at Homburg on 2 February 754. According to the author of the Vita posterior, he was buried in the cathedral of Würzburg, from which Bishop Ugo, in 983, removed the relics and transferred them to the monastery of S. Andrea, founded by B. and therefore also known by the name of s. B.; the day dedicated to the celebration of B.’s feast was subsequently fixed as 14 October. Another tradition would have him die at Berceto, near Parma, during his third journey to Italy, and the church of S. Moderanno is said to preserve his remains; but this is unlikely, because B.’s feast is celebrated everywhere on 14 October, that is, on the day of the translation of the relics to the monastery of Würzburg.
The following are known under the name of B.: the Evangelario di Würzburg (7th–8th century), preserved in the university library; and the Codex Burchardi, that is, a homiliary from the Merovingian period, likewise preserved in the library of the University of Würzburg, and very useful for the criticism of the Sermoni of s. Cesario di Arles.