Eigil of Fulda

Saint Eigil of Fulda (Aeigil) was the fourth abbot of the monastery of Fulda in Germany, nephew and biographer of its founder, Saint Sturm. He was born around 750 and reposed in 822.

His parents, nobles of Norica, sent him to Fulda for his education while the abbey was under Sturm. After Sturm's death in 779 the abbot Ratgar followed, whose excessive severity caused deep divisions; in 817 the monks denounced him, and the Emperor Louis the Pious banished him. Eigil was elected abbot in 818 (our records say 817) and, according to the Life written by Candidus, brought harmony to the monastery again. His successor and pupil Hrabanus Maurus praised his gentleness in a poem. In his time, in 819, Archbishop Haistolf dedicated the basilica of Saint Boniface at Fulda, and the relics of Boniface were translated into it in a public ceremony. Eigil wrote the Life of Saint Sturm. He died in 822 and was succeeded by Hrabanus Maurus. His own Life, written by the Fulda monk Candidus, treats him as a saint, though other writers, such as Hrabanus, do not.

He is a saint of the undivided Church and is commemorated on 17 December (New Calendar).