Der Hl. Virgil

In 743 Virgil was at the court of the Bavarian Duke Odilo who, ignoring the "plenipotentiary" for Germania, St. Bonifatius, consecrated Virgil Bishop of Salzburg in 745. This was the beginning of the subsequent difficulties that the two, probably most prominent men in the ecclesiastical life of the time had with each other. Virgil was the last notable representative of the second Irish/Scottish wave of missionaries active on the continent. He ruled Salzburg according to Irish/Scottish customs which meant that all power was in the hands of the abbots, whose employees were the bishops. He had the first educational establishment built on what is now Austrian federal territory, the Salzburg Cathedral School. Construction of a cathedral commenced, whose size of 33 x 66 meters astonished his contemporaries.
He also consecrated a number of churches, particularly in the foothills of the Alps, and used the opportunity to incorporate them in the Church of Salzburg's possession.

Virgil died in Salzburg on November 27, 784 and was buried in the Cathedral crypt. He was forgotten due to the political revolution of 788, when the Bavarian dukedom ceased to exist and the church was made subordinate to the unitarism of the Frankish Empire. Not until his grave was discovered in the course of excavations in 1181 did his great importance for Salzburg regain its significance.