Engelbert, a member of the Lubiąż convent, was one of the most distinguished Cistercian abbots in 13th century Poland. Presumably Rhinelandborn, Engelbert acquired the education (he probably held a doctor’s degree in law) which uniquely qualified him to become the convent’s writer and chronicler. His connections with the Silesian Piasts certainly played a part in his undertaking to write the first Life of St Jadwiga, the wife of Henryk I the Bearded, though the pioneering work in this field had been done by Simon, a monk in charge of the materials for the Roman phase of Jadwiga’s canonisation. Engelbert’s Life, written while the canonisation was in progress, is a remarkable addition to medieval hagiography. It inspired two more versions of Jadwiga’s life, the vita m aior and vita m inor, by a Franciscan monk from St Jacobus’s convent in Wrocław (he may also have been influenced by the work of Henryk of Brenna). Later, it became the chief source of the biogram of Jadwiga of Silesia in the monumental and much-read Saints ’ L ives, written in 1579 by Piotr Skarga, a Jesuit priest who became one of Poland’s most brilliant preachers and authors. A MS copy of Engelbert’s work, still extant at the beginning of the 19th century, is now believed lost. After the writing of the Life o f St Jadwiga, Engelbert was able to enter a highly successful monastic career. He built up his reputation as abbot of Mogiła near Cracow. In c. 1285 his name appears on a list of churchmen charged with reforming the Cistercian convents of Sulejów, Szpetal and Byszewo (Koronowo). Those changes were part of a major reform of the Polish Church, undertaken by the episcopate headed by Archbishop Jakub Świnka. Eventually, Engelbert was appointed abbot of the reformed convent of Byszewo, and later of Koronowo. He held office until 1290. Whether he died that year is not certain. There are some indications that he may have moved on to Ląd, a convent of Rhineland provenance, where he became abbot. The fact that the name Engelbert turns up very often in 13th century sources has given rise to doubts about the identity of Abbot Engelbert. What is said of him might be, as some historians suggest, an amalgam of more than one biography. However, the author of this article is absolutely sure, following the findings of Ł. K. Jażdżewski, that the long and eventful career described here belongs wholly to one and the same Engelbert, the author of the "Life of St Jadwiga".