Ælfthryth, also known as Alfreda, Alfritha, Aelfnryth, or Etheldritha, is 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 ...

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, and

recluse A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...

, venerated in both 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

Antiochian Orthodox Church The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch ( el, Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East ( ar ...

. She was a daughter of King

Offa Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æt ...

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

and his consort,

Cynethryth Cynethryth (''Cyneðryð''; died after AD 798) was a Queen of Mercia, wife of King Offa of Mercia and mother of King Ecgfrith of Mercia. Cynethryth is the only Anglo-Saxon queen consort in whose name coinage was definitely issued. Biography Ori ...

. Ælfthryth was "either betrothed to or loved by" St. Ethelbert, the king of the

East Angles la, Regnum Orientalium Anglorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Angles , common_name = East Anglia , era = , status = Great Kingdom , status_text = Independent (6th centu ...

. In 793, after visiting Ælfthyth, he was taken captive and murdered by her mother so that Cynethryth's brother could ascend to the throne instead; Ælfthryth's was horrified by the murder, so she departed the court and retired to the

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (also spelled Croyland Abbey, Latin: ''Croilandia'') 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. History A ...

in the marshes of

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

, where she lived as a recluse for 40 years, until her death of natural causes in 835. Ælfthryth's sister Aelfreda also lost a husband due to their parents' political intrigue. According to the ''Oxford Dictionary of Saints'', Ælfthryth was "famous for her prophecies". Her tomb was arranged around St. Guthlac's. A Crowland tradition states that Ælfthryth's relics were destroyed in 870 when Danes destroyed the abbey, but there is little evidence for it. Her feast day is 2 August.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aelfthryth 8th-century births 795 deaths Anglo-Saxon royalty Mercian saints People from Crowland 8th-century Christian saints 8th-century English women House of Icel 8th-century English people Female saints of medieval England