Engelbert

This name derives from Old High German name “Engilbert,” composed of two elements: “*anguz” (narrow, tight), which was often associated with the word “engel (angel)” plus “*berhtaz” (light, bright, clear, shining one). In turn, the name means “belonging to the people of the Angles, bright angel, famous angel, brilliant, bright, illustrious.” The first element “*anguz” is linked to the Angles, one of the central Germanic peoples who settled in Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, and their name is the root of the name England. Another theory is that the first element derives from the Old High German “angul,” meaning “hook, fishhook, hook for fishing.” 1) Saint Angilbert was a Frank who served Charlemagne as a diplomat, abbot, poet, and semi-son-in-law. He was of noble Frankish parentage and educated at the palace school in Aquae Grani (Aachen) under Alcuin. 2) Count Engelbert II of Berg (Archbishop of Cologne) (1185–1225) was Archbishop of Cologne and a saint; he was the victim of a notorious murder by a member of his own family. 3) Angilbert II was the Archbishop of Milan from 27 or 28 June 824 to his death on the 13 December 859.