Osburh (or Osburga) was an Anglo-Saxon saint who rested at Coventry Cathedral.Blair, "Handlist", p. 548 Although there is some tradition holding her to be an early 11th-century

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, Copt ...

of Coventry Abbey, it is suspected that her cult predates the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

. A 14th-century note in MS Bodley 438 mentions an early nunnery at Coventry.Baxter, ''Earls of Mercia'', p. 161 The 15th-century writer

John Rous John Rous (21 May 1702 – 3 April 1760) was a privateer and then an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during King George's War and the French and Indian War. Rous was also the senior naval officer on the Nova Scotia station during Father ...

related that

Cnut the Great Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

destroyed the old Coventry minster, and noted that the "holy virgin Osburga now laid there in a noble shrine" (probably lay in the south transept of the church).Baxter, ''Earls of Mercia'', p. 160; Blair, "Handlist", p. 548 As the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records the devastation of neighbouring

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

in 1016, Cnut's attack on a monastery at Coventry is possible. Leofric's 1043 Coventry charter relates that the abbey was dedicated to Osburh (as well as St Mary, St Peter and All Saints), though this could be a later addition. Osburh was said to rest at Coventry in the 12th-century resting-place list of

Hugh Candidus Hugh Candidus (c. 1095 – c. 1160) was a monk of the Benedictine monastery at Peterborough, who wrote a Medieval Latin account of its history, from its foundation as Medeshamstede in the mid 7th century up to the mid 12th century. . ...

. She is mentioned the 13th-century Scandinavian ''Ribe Martyrology'', which gives 21 January as her feast-day. According to a description of Coventry's relics made in 1539, her head was enclosed with copper and gold.Blair, "Handlist", p. 548; the saint was thought to be male and called 'Osburn'

Notes

References

* * {{authority control Anglo-Saxon abbesses Mercian saints

See also

Notes

References