1. Willibald's father was Richard the Pilgrim, and his mother Wuna of Wessex.
10 Facts About Willibald
1. 2.
Willibald was well-travelled and the first known Englishman to visit the Holy Land.
3.
Willibald's shrine is at the Eichstatt Cathedral in Germany, where his body and relics from his journeys are preserved.
4.
Willibald's father, Richard the Pilgrim, was a chieftain of Wessex.
5.
At the age of three, Willibald suffered from a violent illness.
6.
Willibald's parents prayed to God, vowing to commit Willibald to a monastic life if he was to be spared.
7.
Willibald survived and at the age of five entered the Benedictine monastery at Waldheim and was educated by Abbot Egwald.
8.
In 721 Willibald set out on a pilgrimage to Rome with his father and brother.
9.
Willibald spent part of this time in Nicaea, visiting a church and studying documents from the First Council of Nicaea that was arranged by Emperor Constantine.
10.
Willibald left Constantinople and sailed for Sicily arriving in Naples approximately seven years after he had left Italy.