Markward of Prüm

Markward of Prüm was a Benedictine monk and abbot of the monasteries of Saint-⁠Hubert and Prüm, in present-⁠day Germany, from 829 until his death on 27 May 853. He is honored as a blessed in the Western Church.

He came from the lands of present-⁠day France and was a monk at Ferrières, then in 829 became abbot of Prüm and of Saint-⁠Hubert; he left Saint-⁠Hubert after seven years. He was close to the Carolingian royal house and counted as an adviser of the emperor Louis the Pious, but he also had the trust of his sons, Lothar and Charles the Bald. In 833, when the ten-⁠year-⁠old Charles was sent into exile at Prüm, Markward watched over him and taught him. In 835 Rabanus Maurus, abbot of Fulda, asked him to intervene for the restoration of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims. He also obtained the privileges of Prüm, confirmed by Lothar in 841 and by Charles in 845.

He was a learned man. He charged the monk Wandalbert with rewriting the life of Saint Goar and kept in touch with Lupus of Ferrières. In his time Prüm was known as a place of learning and piety.

He founded at Münstereifel a daughter house of Prüm. In 844 he went to Rome with letters from Lothar for Pope Gregory IV to receive relics. From there he brought the relics of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria, placed at Münstereifel, which became a place of pilgrimage.

He is remembered, according to one source, on 27 February. He is honored in the West as a blessed; no Orthodox synodal canonization is known.