Boso of Merseburg
Roman Catholic bishop
Who they were
Boso, a Benedictine of St Emmeram at Ratisbon, was sent by Emperor Otto I to bring the Faith to the Wends. They hated the Germans, but he learned their language and preached to them in their own tongue, and his unselfish care for them turned their hatred into love.
In 968 he became first Bishop of Merseburg. He kept up his missionary work and died on a visit to his native Bavaria in November 970.
The miracles
The Catholic Encyclopedia does not describe his cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
The apostle of the Wends, who won a hostile people by learning their language.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Boso
- Wikidata Q106645 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Boso of Merseburg (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.