Æthelthryth

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Æthelthryth , also Ætheldreda , Æðelþryð , Ethelreda or Etheldreda (English Sankt Audrey , German " Edeltraut "; * around 636 in Exning, Suffolk ; † June 23, 679 in Ely ) was an Anglo-Saxon saint .

family

Saint Ethelreda's statue in Ely Cathedral

Æthelthryth came from the Wuffinger family . Her father was Anna , King of East Anglia . Anna was probably married twice. Her mother is said to have been Hereswitha, a relative of King Edwin (616–633) of Northumbria . However, it is debatable whether he was actually married to Hereswitha and / or Sæwara. Her sisters or half-sisters Seaxburg , Æthelburh (illegitimate), Wihtburh and Sæthryth are also considered saints. According to the Liber Eliensis from the 12th century, Ealdwulf and St. Jurmin are said to have been their brothers.

Life

Probably to strengthen his position Anna married his daughter Æthelthryth around 652 to Tondberht, the princeps Australium Gyruiorum ( Ealdorman of the South Gyrwier) of a small, semi-autonomous tribe in the Fens on the border with Mercia. She received the Isle of Ely as a morning gift from Tondberct , but kept her vow of chastity until his death in 655.

As a widow she retired to Ely. Her second marriage was 660 with Ecgfrith , the 15-year-old son of King Oswiu of Northumbria. When he came to power in 670, she became queen. Ecgfrith pushed more and more for marriage to be consummated. Æthelthryth turned to Bishop Wilfrith of York , who made it possible for her to be accepted as a nun in Coludi (now Coldingham , Scotland), the priory of Ecgfrith's aunt Æbbe, around 672 . In 673 she returned to East Anglia (East Anglia) and founded the double monastery Ely Abbey, which she herself headed as abbess. She stayed there until her death and led an ascetic life. The following year (674) she gave lands to Bishop Wilfrid of York so that he could found the new Hexham Abbey . At the end of her life she suffered from a throat ulcer, which she felt was divine punishment for wearing necklaces and chains in her youth. Despite treatment by the doctor Cynefrith, the disease was fatal. She died on June 23, 679 and was buried in a wooden coffin in her abbey cemetery. Her sister Seaxburg succeeded Ely as abbess.

Reception and adoration

In 695 Seaxburg had Æthelthryth's bones raised and transferred to a new sarcophagus made of white marble. Her corpse was found in the process. Her grave became a popular place of pilgrimage. Numerous sick people are said to have healed at her grave and even the blind regained their sight. The possessed were healed by touching their clothes.

In the early 8th century Beda Venerabilis composed a hymn in honor of the virgin Æthelthryth. Around 950 the cleric Ælfhelm in Ely wrote a book about the miracles of the holy Æthelthryth, which was lost, but was quoted in Liber Eliensis I, 43-49 from the late 12th century. In 1022 the "feast day of the holy queen and virgin" ( the festiuitatis sanctae Æðeldredae reginae et uirginis ; June 23) was used to date a document. Gregory of Ely wrote two Latin Æthelthryth vites in prose and verse in the early 12th century. The Liber Eliensis went into detail on the saint.

Her grave remained the destination of many pilgrims until the Reformation. She is still revered in England today. She is called in case of eye problems. In art she is represented as an abbess, with baby Jesus, branch of flowers, spring, devil, book, crown and ermine. Her feast day is June 23.

swell

literature

Web links

Commons : Æthelthryth  - collection of images
Wikisource: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913): St. Etheldreda  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Æthelthryth 2 ( memento of July 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) in Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE): The name has been handed down in around 30 spelling variants.
  2. ^ Anna in Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
  3. ↑ a b c Janet Fairweather: Liber Eliensis. A History of the Isle of Ely from the Seventh Century to the Twelfth, compiled by a Monk of Ely in the Twelfth Century , Boydell, 2005, ISBN 978-184383015-3 , p. 14.
  4. ↑ Sam Newton: The Origins of Beowulf: And the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia , Boydell & Brewer, 2004, ISBN 978-085991472-7 , p. XIII.
  5. ↑ a b c Beda: HE 3.8
  6. ↑ a b c d e f R. C. Love: Æthelthryth . In: Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes, Donald Scragg (eds.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England , Wiley-Blackwell, 2001, ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1 , p. 18.
  7. ↑ Janet Fairweather: Liber Eliensis. A History of the Isle of Ely from the Seventh Century to the Twelfth, compiled by a Monk of Ely in the Twelfth Century , Boydell, 2005, ISBN 978-184383015-3 , p. 17.
  8. ↑ a b c Beda: HE 4.19
  9. ^ Eddius Stephanus: Vita Wilfridi , 22
  10. ↑ Æthelthryth 2, Event / Healing ( Memento from July 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) in Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE)
  11. ↑ Beda: HE 4.20
  12. ↑ Michael Lapidge: Ælfhelm . In: Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes, Donald Scragg (eds.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England , Wiley-Blackwell, 2001, ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1 , p. 7.
  13. ↑ S958
  14. ↑ Janet Fairweather (transl.): Liber Eliensis. A History of the Isle of Ely from the Seventh Century to the Twelfth, compiled by a Monk of Ely in the Twelfth Century , Boydell, Woodbridge 2005, ISBN 978-184383015-3 .
  15. ↑ Ekkart Sauser :  Etheldreda (Edeltraud). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-073-5 , Sp. 962-962.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
personal data
SURNAME Æthelthryth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ætheldreda; Æðelþryð; Etheldreda; Ethelreda; Saint Audrey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anglo-Saxon saint, Queen of Northumbria
DATE OF BIRTH at 636
PLACE OF BIRTH Exning, Suffolk
DATE OF DEATH June 23, 679
Place of death Ely