Eckebert

Who was Eckebert?

Eckebert was Benedictine Abbot of the Abbey of Schönau, and a writer.

He was for a time canon in the collegiate church of Sts. Cassius and Florentius at Bonn. In 1155 he became a Benedictine at Schönau in the Diocese of Trier, and in 1166, after the death of the first abbot, Hildelin, he was placed at the head of the monastery.

He preached and wrote much for the salvation of souls and the conversion of heretics. The Cathari, then numerous in the Rhineland, gave him especial concern. While a canon at Bonn he often had occasion to debate with heretics, and after his monastic profession, was invited by Rainald of Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne, to debate publicly with the leaders of the sect in Cologne itself.