Godfrey was born in 1097. His father was Count Godfrey of Cappenberg and his
mother Beatrice of Schweinfurt. He married Jutta, daughter of the Count of Arnsberg.
In a quarrel between the bishop of Münster and the emperor, Godfrey sided
with the bishop. But when Münster was beleaguered and destroyed in 1121,
Godfrey was deeply disillusioned, partly on account of the behavior of his own
soldiers, and he decided to turn his castle into a monastery. He and his brother
Otto met St. Norbert in the same year and Godfey was deeply impressed by the
apostolic life preached and lived by Norbert. In the beginning his wife Jutta
and his brother Otto were opposed to his intentions. The greatest opposition,
however, came from Godfey’s father-in-law, the Count of Arnsberg. At a
gathering in Utrecht Count Frederick of Swabia joined Godfrey who sold him two
castles. On May 31, 1122 Godfrey was able to give Norbert the castle of Cappenberg.
The bishop of Münster blessed the monastery on August fifteenth of the
same year. This was the first foundation of the Order in Germany. Additional
provostries were founded on Godfrey’s properties in Varlar and Ilbenstadt.
Neither of the brothers, however, could enter “their monasteries”
until 1124 because they first had to fulfill their duties of defense and, in
Godfey’s case, obtain the consent of his wife Jutta. She later entered
the monastery of canonesses in the lower monastery in Cappenberg. Godfrey stayed
for the time being in Cappenberg where he founded a hospital for the poor and
served the poorest with great humility.
Norbert called both brothers to Prémontré in 1125 and they were
ordained acolytes. When Norbert became archbishop of Magdeburg he called Godfrey
to his side in 1126. It was a great trial for Godfrey because he could not get
used to life at the episcopal court and became ill. With the approval of Norbert
he went to Ilbenstadt. A few days after his arrival he died on January 13, 1127,
scarcely 30 years old. Godfrey was a man of peace. During the altercation with
his father-in-law he expressed his wish to die as a martyr. In the last months
of his life he often expressed his wish to die.
His relics were divided between Ilbenstadt and Cappenberg in 1148. Pope Paul
V approved his veneration at Cappenberg in 1614 and Pope Benedict XIII extended
it to the whole Order on January 22/March 8, 1728. After the sad times following
the secularization, Emmanuel von Ketteler, bishop of Mainz, began promoting
the veneration of Godfrey anew in 1862.