Life

He is said to have been the brother of Saint Botolph, but virtually nothing is known about his life. The story, which originated with the monk Folcard's account of Botolph's life, that Adulf was at one time bishop of Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

, is now generally thought to rest on a confusion of names, and to have no substance. However, it does explain the reason why today's saint is often honored as a bishop.

The monastery at Icanho (in East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

, but the exact site is disputed) was destroyed in Danish raids. It is said that when by the orders of Saint Aethelwold

Æthelwold of Winchester

Æthelwold of Winchester , was Bishop of Winchester from 963 to 984 and one of the leaders of the tenth century monastic reform movement in Anglo-Saxon England....

 Botolph's body was disinterred for translation to the new abbey of Thorney

Thorney Abbey

Thorney Abbey was on the island of Thorney in The Fens of Cambridgeshire, England.- History :The earliest documentary sources refer to a mid-7th century hermitage destroyed by a Viking incursion in the late 9th century. A Benedictine monastery was founded in the 970s, and a huge rebuilding...

, Adulf's body was buried with it, and as it proved impossible to disentangle the bones, both were taken to Thorney, where the relics of Adulf remained. His feast day is 17 June, along with Botolph.

See also

• Saint Botolph