[1] He was ordained, and about the year 766, he went to Frisia,[2] preaching at Dokkum and in Overijssel,[3] to continue the missionary work of Boniface who had been martyred by the Frisians in 754.

Once again he and his fellow missionaries barely escaped with their lives when the local pagans wanted to kill them for destroying some temples.

He preached to them for two years but, in 782, the Saxons under Widukind, rebelled against Charlemagne and Willehad was forced to flee to Frisia.

In 787 Willehad was consecrated bishop, and that part of Saxony and Friesland near the mouth of the Weser was assigned to him for his diocese.

[2] Anschar compiled a life of Willehad, and the preface which he wrote was considered a masterpiece for that age.