Ansgar leaves Hammaburg

Ansgar had a narrow escape when the Vikings attacked Hammaburg in 845, or at least his pupil Rimbert tells it that way in the Vita Angari. Ansgar eventually fled to Bremen, where Bishop Leuderich coincidently died in the same year. Louis the German, king of East Francia, which included the city of Bremen, then appointed Ansgar as the new bishop of Bremen. Originally, the diocese subordinated to the Archbishop of Cologne, but since the division of the kingdom in 843, Cologne (now part of Middle Francia) was ruled by Lothair I. Ansgar remained in Bremen until his death in 865. There are no documents that prove any activities of Ansgar in Hammaburg during this time. We also don't know if he rebuilt his destroyed church or if he ever stopped in Hammaburg during his journeys to Scandinavia.