Saint Willigis

Willigis (Latin: Willigisus; German: Willigis, Willegis; c. 940 – 23 February 1011 AD) was Archbishop of Mainz from 975 until his death as well as archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. Willigus was born in the Duchy of Saxony, possibly at Schöningen, the son of a free peasant. The able and intelligent young man received a good education, and was recommended by Bishop Volkold of Meissen to the service of Emperor Otto the Great. About 971, Willigis was appointed chancellor, an office formerly held by the emperor's brother Archbishop Bruno of Cologne. Until 973 he served Otto throughout the last years of his reign and at the height of his power. In 975 Emperor Otto II made him Archbishop of Mainz and Archchancellor for Germany. Of humble origin, Willigis had to cope with many objections; he immediately had Pope Benedict VII confirm his supremacy as metropolitan bishop. Soon he started to build the great Cathedral of Mainz. Willigis demanded solid learning in his clergy too. He was known as a good and fluent speaker. In March 975 he received the pallium from Pope Benedict VII. In January 976 Willigis probably consecrated the first Bishop of Prague, Thietmar (Dětmar) at Brumath in Alsace, whose diocese was put under his jurisdiction. At the 983 Reichstag of Verona, Otto II vested him with large territories in the Rheingau region, thereby laying the foundations for the Prince-Bishopric of Mainz. Upon the emperor's death, Willigis as Primas Germaniae, on Christmas 983 crowned his three-year-old son Otto III Rex Romanorum at Aachen. After the Dowager Empress Theophanu died in 991, Willigis became guardian of the minor, thus making him, together with Otto's grandmother, Adelaide of Italy, de facto regent of the Empire until Otto III came of age in 994. In 996 he was in the retinue of the King on his journey to Italy.