Markward of Hildesheim

Holy Hierarch Markward of Hildesheim was the fifth bishop of Hildesheim, from 874 until 2 February 880, when he fell in the battle against the Normans near Ebstorf, close to Lüneburg. His name, of Old High German origin, means "border guard".

He was appointed bishop in 874, in a time of political instability, full of Viking raids into the eastern Frankish kingdom. The battle, fought by an alliance of Christian Saxon forces, ended in a heavy defeat for the local army. Those who died in it besides Markward were Bishop Theoderic of Minden, Bruno of Saxony, ancestor of the Ottonian dynasty, eleven or twelve counts and fourteen officers and lesser nobles. Markward is venerated as a saint and martyr; his day of commemoration is the day of his death, 2 February, by the Western calendar (new style). He is honored as a saint of the undivided Church, in the local tradition.