Saint Folcuin

Saint Folcwin or Folcuin (Latin: Folquinus, Folcwinus, Folcvinus; Old Dutch: *Folkwin; French: Folquin) (d. 14 or 15 December 855) was a Frankish abbot, cleric, and Bishop of Thérouanne (appointed 816). Folcwin was born to Hieronymus, son of Charles Martel, and his wife Ercheswinda (Ermentrudis). He was appointed bishop of Thérouanne in 816 and confirmed by Louis the Pious; he was consecrated in 817 by the Archbishop of Reims, likely Ebbo. He seems to have remained loyal to Louis. Folcwin participated regularly in synods, including the synods of Ingelheim am Rhein (840), Paris (846/7), Quierzy (849), and Soissons (853). Charles the Bald appointed him as Missus dominicus for one of the twelve West-Frankish missatica, one which apparently overlapped mostly with his diocese. Folcwin was closely tied to the Abbey of Saint Bertin; in 843 he returned the relics of Audomar (the founder of Bertin) to Sithiu (now Saint-Omer). Archbishop Hincmar of Reims asked Folwin for relics for the dedication of the altar in Reims Cathedral; with the Normans threatening, Folcwin sent off relics of Ss Bertin and Winnoc for security reasons. Folcuin died on 15 December 855 during an official visit to Esquelbecq. During his lifetime Charles the Bald seems to have already tried to forcefully appoint a successor; after his death, Hincmar made every effort to have his successor be appointed through a process originating in Thérouanne. Folcuin's remains were elevated on 16 November 928, and translated in 1181. The earliest evidence of a cult is found in the work of his relative, Folcuin, abbot of Lobbes, who produced the Gesta abbatum Sithiensium (or Gesta abbatum Sancti Bertini, "Deeds of the Abbots of Saint-Bertin"), a combination of chronicle and cartulary. Folcuin incorporates numerous charters from the abbey's archives into his historical narrative, which begins with the abbey's foundation around 650 and continues to 961/2. It was composed at the request of the lay abbot, Adalolf.