Wulfhilda, also known as Wulfhild and Wulfreda among several other names (c. 940-c. 996) was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

abbess and a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

Life

Wulfhilda was the daughter of a

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

nobleman named Wulfhelm. She was raised and educated by the

Benedictine nuns , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

Wilton Abbey Wilton Abbey was a Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, England, three miles from Salisbury, probably on the site now occupied by Wilton House. It was active from the early tenth century until 1539. History Foundation Wilton Abbey is first reco ...

and joined their community when she became of age. Around 970, she was appointed as

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

Barking Abbey Barking Abbey is a former royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as having been "one of the most important nunneries in the country". Originally established in the 7th century, fr ...

Edgar the Peaceful Edgar ( ang, Ēadgār ; 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. The younger son of King Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, he came to the throne as a teenager following ...

. Under Wulfhilda's leadership, the monastery flourished and was greatly expanded. Wulfhilda herself donated 20 villages to the abbey and established another monastery at

Horton Horton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Horton Glacier, Adelaide Island, Antarctica * Horton Ledge, Queen Elizabeth Land, Antarctica Australia * Horton, Queensland, a town and locality in the Bundaberg Region * Horton River (Australia), ...

in Kent. According to

Goscelin Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (or Goscelin of Canterbury, born c. 1040, died in or after 1106) was a Benedictine hagiographical writer. He was a Fleming or Brabantian by birth and became a monk of St Bertin's at Saint-Omer before travelling to Englan ...

of Saint-Bertin, the nuns at Barking laid complaints against their abbess Wulfhilda, and the English queen Ælfthryth deposed her, only to reinstate her twenty years later. The demotion might have been the result of jealousy as Ælfthryth's husband Edgar may have had romantic interest in Wulfhilda. Goscelin also described Wulfhilda's service to her followers, which included "drawing water, gathering wood, kindling fires, preparing provisions, distributing clothes, and bathing her sisters",Bugyis, p. 36 which he called her ministry. Goscelin praised her hands during his description of her regular and secret practice of sitting in front of the abbey church's doors and distributing alms to the poor as they passed by. He also praised her protégée and successor Leofflǽd for following Wulfhilda's teachings and example of caring for others. He dedicated his vita of Wulfhilda to Bishop Maurice of London, Barking Abbey's diocesan at the time, and appealed him to defend and accept the nuns who kept her memory alive, citing the role of women's testimony throughout the history of the Christian Church. She died around 996 and was buried at the abbey with two other saints,

Hildelith Hildelith of Barking, also known as Hildilid or Hildelitha, was an 8th-century Christian saint, from Anglo-Saxon England but of foreign origin. Very little is known of her life; however, she is known to history mainly through the hagiography of ...

and Ethelberga. According to Goscelin, her veneration was widespread and long-lasting.Bugyis, p. 39

References

External links

* * 940 births 1000 deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain People from Barking, London 10th-century English nuns 10th-century Christian saints Anglo-Saxon saints Female saints of medieval England Benedictine abbesses Benedictine saints Anglo-Saxon Benedictines {{saint-stub