Saint Landoald

Landoaldus, also Landoald of Ghent (died c. 668), is a Roman Catholic saint belonging to the so-called saints of Wintershoven. Landoaldus was a priest in Rome of Lombard descent. He was one of the companions whom Pope Martin I gave to Amandus around 650 to support his intended missionary work in present-day Flanders, the region between the Meuse and the Scheldt. Landoaldus took on pastoral care there and served the successors of Amandus, Bishops Remaclus and Theodard of Maastricht. He is also said to have been the tutor of Lambert of Maastricht, whose father, Aper, gifted him the Wintershoven estate. Landoaldus is also said to have been in the favor of King Childeric II of Austrasia and to have received donations from him. In 659, possibly thanks in part to this donation, he founded a small wooden church dedicated to Saint Peter in Wintershoven. After his death, he and his companions were buried in Wintershoven. In the 8th century, their relics were elevated to the honors of the altar by Bishop Floribert of Liège, which in the Middle Ages was equivalent to canonization. Later, under the threat of Viking raids, they were reburied. In 980, Bishop Notger of Liège gave permission to transfer the relics to Saint Bavo's Abbey in Ghent, which had been founded by Amandus, to be venerated there as saints. In 1984, the Ghent reliquary of Landoaldus and his companions was opened and examined. In addition to several cedulae (relic certificates), a forged 11th-century seal was found with the text Florbertvs Traiectensis Ep[iscopu]s (Floribert, Bishop of Maastricht). The feast day of Landoaldus is March 19.