The Saint Adelbert

The Saint Adelbert of Egmond

Adalbert (or Athelberht) is said to have been born in Northumbria, a member of the Northumbrian royal family. According to some sources, Adalbert studied at the Rath Melsigi) in Ireland with Egbert.

Saint Adelbert (also called Adelbertus of Egmont) was a missionary in Holland. Like Willibrord, he was a disciple of St. Egbert of Rathmelsigi and is said to have made the crossing from Ireland with Willibrord. Adelbert, ordained a deacon, worked as a missionary among the West Frisians for about fifty years. In addition to proclaiming the gospel, he is said to have performed miracles.

Most of the knowledge about Adelbert's life comes from the monk Rupert of Mettlach. "Adelbert had such a gentle character that his attractiveness lured everyone to follow him. What he advised others with his words, he first showed by doing it himself," Rupert writes. "Often he sojourned in a place called Egmond. In this seclusion he avoided for a time the great influx of curious people."

Adelbert was buried at Egmond, now Egmond-Binnen. A small church was built above the grave, where Adelbert was venerated and where Adelbert's bones were kept as relics. According to Rupert's "Vita Sancti Adalberti," after the death of Adelbert, believers built a small church above the grave of the venerated monk. This building was destroyed by the Normans in the early ninth century. Afterwards, it was rebuilt by a priest. In 922, the body of St. Adelbert was exhumed from the church and transferred to his monastery in Hallem (today's Egmond-Binnen). During the Reformation, the monastery was destroyed and the relics of Adelbert were lost.

The foundations of the old church can still be found at the foot of the dunes on Adelbertusakker near Adelbert's Well in Egmond Binnen.