Background

Tilmo was a native of Ireland, though from what region is unknown. He had once been a soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

, then became a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

, and finally a preacher

Preacher

Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...

.

Cologne

Egbert

Egbert

Several Anglo-Saxon persons were named Ecgberht . The name itself means "Bright Edge," such as that of a blade.*Ecgberht of Kent *Saint Egbert , hermit and missionary...

 of England and Wigbert

Wigbert

Saint Wigbert, born in Wessex around 670, was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk from the monastery of Glastonbury and a missionary and disciple of Saint Boniface who traveled with the latter in Frisia and northern and central Germany to convert the local tribes to Christianity...

 tried and failed to convert the pagan Frisians

Frisians

The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...

. Egbert however urged others to succeed where he had failed, with the result that Willibrord

Willibrord

__notoc__Willibrord was a Northumbrian missionary saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands...

 and Suidbert led twelve monks on a mission to the Frisians. Tilmo was one of the monks and was assigned responsibility for the people of Cologne.

Tilmo built a chapel on an island on the Rhine and began to preach the Gospel

Gospel

A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...

 to the inhabitants. Within a few years he was joined by other Irishmen such as Wiro, Plechelmus and Otger. The chapel beame the monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 of St. Martin of Cologne. Eventually, Wicterp, a native of the area, became abbot of St. Martin's, and later became Bishop of Ratisbon. Wicterp was related to Plectrue, wife of Pepin of Heristal, which helped St. Martin's secure favour among the nobles.

See also

• Great St. Martin Church
  Great St. Martin Church
  The Great Saint Martin Church is a Romanesque Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. Its foundations rest on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine. The church was later transformed into a Benedictine monastery...
  
  
• Minnborinus of Cologne
  Minnborinus of Cologne
  Minnborinus of Cologne, Irish Abbot, fl. 974-986.Minborinus was the leader of a group of missionaries from Ireland who travelled to Cologne, Germany. Upon arriving, the Archbishop of Cologne, Warin of Cologne, made Minnborinus abbott of St. Martin's Abbey in the city and installed the rest of the...
  
  
• Marianus Scotus
  Marianus Scotus
  Marianus Scotus , was an Irish monk and chronicler , was an Irishman by birth, and called Máel Brigte, or Devotee of St...
  
  
• Schottenklöster

Reference

• Irish Monasteries in Germany, J.F. Hogan, pp. 526–535, Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 4th series, Vol. 3, 1898.

External links

• http://www.archive.org/stream/s4irishecclesias03dubluoft#page/526/mode/2up