St. Virgil of Salzburg

Biography

St. Virgil of Salzburg (c. 700–784), in Irish Fergal, was an Irish monk famed for his learning, especially in geography and astronomy, which earned him the nickname 'the Geometer.' He is often identified with an abbot of Aghaboe in Ireland. Around 743 he traveled to the Frankish court of Pepin the Short, and about two years later Pepin sent him to Duke Odilo of Bavaria, who entrusted him with the abbey of St. Peter in Salzburg and the care of the diocese. For many years he governed as abbot while another Irish monk performed episcopal duties, and he was himself consecrated bishop only in 767. Virgil clashed more than once with St. Boniface. When a poorly educated priest baptized using incorrect Latin, Boniface wanted the baptisms repeated, but Virgil held that they were valid, and Pope Zachary agreed with him. Boniface also accused him of teaching that there was another world and other people beneath the earth, apparently a reference to his ideas about the round earth; no condemnation followed. Virgil built the first cathedral of Salzburg, which he dedicated to St. Rupert in 774, and he sent missionaries, led by Bishop Modestus, to the Slavic people of Carantania, in present-day Austria and Slovenia. He died on November 27, 784, and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1233.

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