Amand of Maastricht was a Frankish missionary bishop of the seventh century who preached the Gospel through Flanders and the Low Countries and founded numerous monasteries. Born in Gaul, he left a life of solitude to undertake itinerant missionary work and is remembered as one of the principal enlighteners of what is now Belgium and northern France. He is commemorated on February 6.
According to the sources, Amand was born about 584 in western Gaul, in the region of Lower Poitou near Nantes, into an apparently noble family. Against the wishes of his family he embraced the monastic life while still young, settling first as a monk on an island and afterward living for some fifteen years in solitude near Bourges under the direction of Bishop Austregisilus, where tradition relates that he subsisted on bread and water. After a pilgrimage to Rome he was consecrated a missionary bishop without a fixed see, an office that left him free for itinerant preaching.
From about 628, at the request of the Merovingian king Clotaire II, Amand began preaching among the still-pagan population of Ghent and extended his labors across Flanders. The tradition records that he met resistance and even persecution at first but won many converts over time. He founded the monastery of Elnon, near Tournai, which later bore his name (Saint-Amand-les-Eaux), and established monastic houses at Ghent, including one at Mont-Blandin; these are remembered as among the earliest Christian foundations in the region. For a period, given by the sources as about 647-650, he served as bishop of Maastricht, but resigned the see to resume his missionary work.
Amand's life intersected with the Frankish court: he labored under Clotaire II, but, the sources relate, drew the anger of King Dagobert I by rebuking his manner of life and was for a time sent away, though Dagobert is said later to have sought reconciliation. In his old age he is reported to have preached even in the Basque (Gascon) country. He died at his monastery of Elnon about the year 679, at an advanced age given as roughly ninety.
