Pega (c. 673 – c. 719) is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

who was an anchoress in the ancient

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

kingdom of

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

, and the sister of St Guthlac.

Life

The earliest source of information about Pega is in Felix's 8th-century Latin ''Life of Guthlac'', where she is referred to as 'the holy virgin of Christ Pega'. As the sister of Guthlac, Pega would have been the daughter of Penwalh of Mercia and thus belonged to one of Mercia's great noble families. She lived as an anchoress at what is now Peakirk ("Pega's church") near

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, not far from Guthlac's hermitage at

Crowland Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. ) is a town and civil parish in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland ...

. When Guthlac realised that his end was near in 714, he summoned Pega, who travelled by boat to her brother's oratory to bury him. One year later, she presided over the translation of his remains into a new sepulchre, when his body was found to be

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Catholic and Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their holiness. I ...

. At this time, Pega also used a piece of glutinous salt, which had been previously consecrated by Guthlac, to cure the eyesight of a blind man who had travelled to Crowland from

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

. Henry of Avranches, in his 13th-century poetic life of Guthlac, adds the detail that Guthlac banished Pega from Crowland after the devil assumed her appearance and tempted him to break his fast. In the 15th-century

Croyland Chronicle The ''Croyland Chronicle'', also called ''Crowland Chronicle'', is an important primary source for English medieval history, particularly the late 15th century. It is named for its place of origin, the Benedictine Croyland Abbey, Abbey of Croyl ...

Pseudo-Ingulf Pseudo-Ingulf is the name given to an unknown English author of the ''Historia Monasterii Croylandensis'', also known as the ''Croyland Chronicle''. Nothing certain is known of Pseudo-Ingulf although it is generally assumed that he was connected wi ...

claims that Pega inherited Guthlac's

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters were ...

and

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, both of which she later gave to Kenulph, the first abbot of

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (historically often spelled Croyland Abbey; Latin: ) is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building. Histor ...

Death, miracles and legacy

Pega went on pilgrimage to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

after Guthlac's death and died there on 8 January 719, according to a 12th-century account by

Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis (; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 6 Working out of ...

. Orderic claims that her remains were kept at a church built in Rome in her honour, and that miracles took place there. The precise location of Pega's hermitage is not known, but it is possible that it was on the site of the 13th-century chapel at St Pega's Hermitage in Peakirk, which is now a private residence. Peakirk's

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

is uniquely dedicated to Pega. There is a local legend that Pega's heart was returned to Peakirk and was kept as a relic in the church contained in a heart stone. Its broken remains can still be seen in the south aisle window.

St Pega's Hermitage

St Pega's Hermitage is a chapel, now a private home, on what is considered likely to have been the site of St Pega's cell. A chancel was expanded with a 15th-century nave. It was rebuilt and restored over various centuries, with an order of Anglican nuns housed in accommodation built in the 1850s and extended in 1937 for the Community of the Holy Family. The nuns, after 1980 from the Society of the Precious Blood, left in 2001, after which the property was deconsecrated by the Bishop of Peterborough, Ian Cundy, and sold. It has been converted into a private residence with an atrium linking the chapel, which retains the altar and other historic features, with the convent buildings. The Hermitage is Grade II listed.

References

{{authority control 7th-century births 8th-century deaths Mercian saints People from Peterborough 8th-century Christian saints 7th-century English people 8th-century English people East Anglian saints Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 7th-century English women 8th-century English women