Saint of the Day – 7 June – Saint Gottschalk and his Companions (Died 1066) Lay Missionary Martyr

Saint of the Day – 7 June – Saint Gottschalk and his Companions (Died 1066) Lay Missionary Martyr, Prince of the Wends (Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany). Died by being murdered at the Altar with 29 fellow missionaries on 7 June 1066 in Lenzen, Pomerania, by pagan assassins. Patronages – of linguists, lost vocations, princes, translators. Also known as – Godescalcus, Godeschalc, Gotteschalk,
Gotteschalc.

Son of Duke Udo, who still governed the Obodrites and the Vagris, in the early years of Emperor Conrad II, Gottschalk was educated in the Christian religion from birth, first in his family, then in the Monastery of St Michael in Liineburg. Upon the death of his father, murdered at the hands of a Saxon, who wanted to take revenge on the tyranny and cruelty of Udo, described by the chronicler Adam of Bremen, Godescalco, sacrificing his Faith to revenge, renounced Christianity and, at the head of his people, he joined other pagan Princes to go against the Saxons.

He fought against them for a long time, bringing destruction and death to their land, until, succumbing to remorse for so much pain and ruin he had caused, he surrendered to the Duke of Saxony, Bernard II, who, after holding him prisoner for some time, sent him to Denmark.

Having placed himself there in the service of King Cnut II the Great, he went with him to fight in England (c1030), where he behaved bravely, also being admired for his excellent qualities, so as to win all the esteem and consideration of the King , whose great-grand-daughter, Syritha, Gottschalk later married.

After the death of Cnut in 1035 and his son, Harold Hanfoot in 1040, Gottschalk returned to his native land and, raising an army with his people, undertook the conquest of the other Slavic populations who soon subjected them all to his dominion. At the same time, Gottschalk made himself recognised as their Lord also by a large section of the Saxon community.

By 1043, with this conquests, Gottschalk managed to form a vast and well-organised Kingdom . There was then, no ruler among the Slavs more powerful than himself, as the aforementioned Adam of Bremen wrote.

Returning again to his lapsed Faith, since the time of his first residence in Denmark, Gottschalk greatly favoured the evangelisation of the people, having many Churches built in his dominions and Ordaining Priests, always working tirelessly for the conversion of his still idolatrous subjects. To then preserve the fervour of the Christian Faith among them, he founded the Bishoprics of Oldenburg, Mecklenburg and Ratzenburg, established numerous Monasteries in various other Cities and sent armies of Missionaries to the most distant regions of his vast state., among whom John the Scot stood out for his apostolic zeal, who alone baptised thousands of pagans!

Gottschalk himself often travelled with these Missionaries, sometimes even acting as an interpreter during their preaching.
Such ardent zeal in favour of the spread of the Christian Faith could not obtain a better reward than the crown of Martyrdom, hich Gottschalk, the pious King, in fact wore on 7 June 1066, when he fell victim to a violent pagan reaction and was killed out of hatred for the Catholic Faith in Lenzen on the Elbe, while he was attending Mass. With him the Priest Ebbo (or Eppone) suffered the same glorious fate, who was even murdered on the Altar, and many other Ecclesiastics and lay faithful.

Immediately venerated as a Saint, Gottschalk had a strong public cult in many Churches in northern Europe. His Feast is celebrated on 7 June, the commemorative day of his Martyrdom.