Ewald the Black and his companion Ewald the Fair were two priests and natives of Northumbria, England. Both bore the same name, but were distinguished as Ewald the Black and Ewald the Fair, from the difference in the colour of their hair and complexions. According to the example of many at that time, they spent several years as students in the schools of Ireland. Ewald the Black was the more learned of the two, but both were equally renowned for holiness of life. They were apparently acquainted with St. Willibrord, the Apostle of Friesland, and were animated with his zeal for the conversion of the Germans. Indeed, by some they have been actually numbered among the eleven companions of that saint, but it is more probable they did not set out from Northumbria till after St. Willibrord's departure. They entered upon their mission about 690. The scene of their labours was the country of Old Saxony, now part of Westphalia, and covered by the dioceses of Münster, Osnabruck, and Paderborn. At first the Ewalds took up their abode in the house of the steward of a certain Saxon earl or ealdormen (satrapa). Bede remarks that "the old Saxons have no king, but they are governed by several ealdormen [satrapas] who during war cast lots for leadership, but who in time of peace are equal in power" (Hist. Eccl., V, 10). The steward entertained his two guests for several days, and promised to conduct them to the chieftain, as they affirmed they had a message of considerable importance to deliver to him. Section from Shepherds map of the British Isles about 802 AD showing the kingdom of Northumbria Northumbria is primarily the name of an Anglian kingdom which was formed in Great Britain at the beginning of the 7th century, and of the much smaller earldom which succeeded the kingdom. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... Saint Willibrord (c. ... Section from Shepherds map of the British Isles about 802 AD showing the kingdom of Northumbria Northumbria is primarily the name of an Anglian kingdom which was formed in Great Britain at the beginning of the 7th century, and of the much smaller earldom which succeeded the kingdom. ... Saint Willibrord (c. ... Events Beginning of Wu Zetians Zhou Dynasty in China. ... Old Saxony is the fatherland of the Saxons and the place from which their raids and later colonisations of Britannia were mounted. ... Westphalia (German: Westfalen) is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Dortmund, Münster, Bielefeld, and Osnabrück and included in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. ... Position - Münster in Germany Town Hall at Prinzipalmarkt Münster: Prinzipalmarkt Münster is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Categories: Stub | Cities in Germany ... Depiction of Bede from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 Bede (Latin Beda), also known as Saint Bede or, more commonly, the Venerable Bede (c. ...

Meanwhile, the Ewalds omitted nothing of their religious exercises. They prayed often, recited the canonical hours, and celebrated Mass, for they carried with them all that was necessary for the Holy Sacrifice. The pagan Saxons, understanding from these things that they had Christian priests and missionaries in their midst, began to suspect that their aim was to convert their over-lord, and thus destroy their temples and their religion. Inflamed with jealousy and anger, they resolved that the Ewalds should die. Ewald the Fair they quickly despatched with the sword, but Ewald the Black they subjected to torture, because he was the spokesman and showed greater boldness. He was torn limb from limb, after which the two bodies were cast into the Rhine.

When the ealdorman heard of what had been done he was exceedingly angry, and took vengeance by ordering the murderers to be put to death and their village to be destroyed by fire. Meanwhile the martyred bodies were miraculously carried against the stream up the Rhine, for the space of forty miles, to the place in which the companions of the Ewalds were residing. As they floated along, a heavenly light, like a column of fire, was seen to shine above them. Even the murderers are said to have witnessed the miraculous brightness. Moreover, one of the martyrs appeared in vision to the monk Tilmon (a companion of the Ewalds), and told him where the bodies would be found: "that the spot would be there where he should see a pillar of light reaching from earth to heaven". Tilmon arose and found the bodies, and interred them with the honours due to martyrs. From that time onwards, the memory of the Ewalds was annually celebrated in those parts. A spring of water is said to have gushed forth in the place of the martyrdom. An Ealdorman, or Alderman, was the prior magistrate of a British shire in A. D. 900 to A. D. 1100. ...

Pepin, Duke of Austrasia, having heard of the wonders that had occurred, caused the bodies to be translated to Cologne, where they were solemnly enshrined in the collegiate church of St. Cunibert. The heads of the martyrs were bestowed on Frederick, Bishop of Münster, by Archbishop Anno of Cologne, at the opening of the shrine in 1074. These relics were probably destroyed by the Anabaptists in 1534. When St. Norbert visited Cologne, in 1121, he obtained two small vessels containing the relics of several saints, and among them were bones of the sainted Ewalds. These were deposited either at Prémontré, or at Florennes, a Premonstratensian monastery in the province of Namur. The two Ewalds are honoured as patrons in Westphalia, and are mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on 3 October. Their feast is celebrated in the dioceses of Cologne and Münster. Pippin, often also spelt Pepin, was the name of several important figures in the Carolingian family that ruled the Frankish Empire in what is now France and the western parts of Germany in the Middle Ages: Pippin of Landen Pippin of Herstal Pippin III (father of Charlemagne) Pippin the Hunchback... Austrasia & Neustria Austrasia was the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of what are now eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. ... Cologne skyline at night. ... Position - Münster in Germany Town Hall at Prinzipalmarkt Münster: Prinzipalmarkt Münster is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... -1... Anabaptists (re-baptizers, from Greek ana and baptizo; in German: Wiedertäufer) are Christians of the so-called radical wing of the Protestant Reformation. ... Events May 10 - Jacques Cartier explores Newfoundland while searching for the Northwest Passage. ... St. ... Cologne skyline at night. ... Events Concordat of Worms condemns Pierre Abélards writings on the Holy Trinity. ... Florennes is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Namur. ... The Premonstratensians, also called Norbertines, and in England the White Canons (from the color of their habit) are a Christian religious order of Augustinian Canons founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, afterwards archbishop of Magdeburg. ... Namur is the name of a city in Belgium, capital of Wallonia, as well as a province and a diocese named after it. ... Westphalia (German: Westfalen) is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Dortmund, Münster, Bielefeld, and Osnabrück and included in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. ... Cologne skyline at night. ... Position - Münster in Germany Town Hall at Prinzipalmarkt Münster: Prinzipalmarkt Münster is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

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