Background
Lullus was born in Wessex around 710AD.
Lullus was born in Wessex around 710AD.
In 738, Lullus joined the Benedictine monastery of Fritzlar, founded by Boniface in 732, where abbot Saint Wigbert was his teacher.
He was a monk in the Benedictine monastery of Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire. During a pilgrimage to Rome in 737 he met Saint Boniface and decided to join him in his missionary work in northern Germany. He became deacon in 740, and was ordained priest by Boniface in 747.
In 752 he became auxiliary bishop under Saint Boniface.
King Pippin confirmed him one year later as bishop of Mainz and in 754 he became archbishop, as Saint Boniface resigned and appointed Lullus his successor. Lullus became the first regular archbishop of Mainz when Pope Hadrian I granted him the pallium in about 781.
He then greatly expanded his bishopric by absorbing those of Büraburg (near Fritzlar) and Erfurt. From 769 onward, Lullus promoted the establishment of the Carolingian style monastery of Hersfeld Abbey, which he succeeded in having placed under Charlemagne"s Carolingian dynasty protection in 775.
But while Boniface had looked for a close link to Rome, Lullus sought a better understanding with the Frankish kings.
Lullus died on 16 October 786 in Hersfeld Abbey at Bad Hersfeld, and is buried in the church. Lullus was canonized on 7 April 852. Lullusfest, the oldest folk festival in Germany, marked its 1,160th birthday in 2012.
The festival celebrates the founding of the city of Bad Hersfeld.