LUDGERO, Saint. — Born c. 744, probably at Zuylen on the Vecht in Frisia; died 26 March 809 at Billerbeck in Westphalia; disciple of St Gregory of Utrecht and of Alcuin of York.
He went on mission in Frisia, especially at Deventer, continuing the apostolate of St Lebuin. Ordained priest in 777, for seven years he worked at Dokkum. In 784, driven out by the Saxons, he went to Rome and Monte Cassino, where he took the monastic habit without making profession. Returning home, Charlemagne entrusted to him the evangelization of five districts in the north-east of Frisia, with the abbey of Lotusa (= Zele, near Termonde) as his base. In 794 he was appointed to the newly-erected see of Mimigardefort (later Münster), though he was consecrated only on 30 March 804. He built many churches, including the cathedral of Münster, the nunnery of Nottuln and the Benedictine abbeys of Hellemstedt and Werden, where he was later buried. He organized his diocese into forty parishes, which he visited every year. For the education of the clergy he founded the cathedral school. He was soon venerated as a saint; his feast, in the diocese of Münster, is kept on 26 March.