We know about Willibrord’s life and missionary labors through a notice in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and a biography by his younger kinsman, Alcuin. He was born in Northumbria around 658, and, from the age of seven, was brought up and educated at Bishop Wilfrid’s monastery in Ripon. For twelve years, from 678–690, he studied in Ireland, where he acquired his thirst for missionary work.

In 690, with twelve companions, he set out for Frisia, a…