Eoban, St.
EOBAN, ST.
Anglo-Saxon missionary and bishop in the Netherlands; d. Dokkum, June 5, 754. Originally a messenger for St. boniface, he later became his amanuensis. He was sent to England by Boniface, and later to Pope Zacharias by King Pepin III. Elevated to the rank of chor-bishop, he assisted Boniface in his responsibilities among the Frisians. He is sometimes alluded to as diocesan bishop of Utrecht or Maastricht in 753, although he is not listed in Gams Series episcoporum. He accompanied Boniface on the fateful last expedition among the Frisians, and was martyred with him at Dokkum. His relics, originally at Utrecht, were translated first to Fulda and then to Erfurt.
Feast: June 5.
Bibliography: a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige (Metten 1933–1938) 2:283–284. w. levison, England and the Continent in the Eighth Century (Oxford 1946), passim. t. schieffer, Winfrid-Bonifatius und die christliche Grundlegung Europas (Freiburg 1954) 167, 254, 272.
[j. l. druse]