Hunger of Utrecht

Holy Hierarch Hunger of Utrecht was a Frisian by birth, born around 800, who entered the Benedictine order. From 856 he was bishop of Utrecht, chosen because Craft, the nephew of his predecessor Saint Liudger, had declined the see for fear of the Vikings.

Viking raids put the city in danger, and the bishop and his clergy withdrew to Sint Odiliënberg near Roermond. In 858 King Lothar II gave them a monastery; Hunger then moved on to Prüm and to Deventer. He defended the sanctity of the childless marriage of King Lothar to Theutberga, although the king divorced her in the end. He died at Prüm in 866. He is a saint of the undivided Church, remembered on 22 December in the Western calendar (new style).