Hildelith of Barking, also known as Hildilid or Hildelitha, was an 8th-century

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 ...

, from Anglo-Saxon England but was of foreign origin. Very little is known of her life; however, she is known to

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

mainly through the

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

of the Secgan Manuscript, and the ''Life of St Hildelith'' written in 1087 by the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

hagiographical writer Goscelin. She was abbess of the nunnery at Barking in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She was also the ''superior'' to Cwenburh of Wimborne prior to that saint's founding of Wimborne Abbey.

Abbess of Barking

Earconwald is said to have engaged Hildelith to instruct his sister Æthelburh, abbess of the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

which he had founded at Barking. Hildilid succeeded her pupil as the abbess at some date later than 692, if we accept the charter of Æthelred to Æthelburga given under that date (Kemble, Codex Dipl. i. 39). According to another account it must have been after the death of Earconwald (693), who died on a visit to his sister. Florence of Worcester, however, gives her accession under 664, but again mentions it under 675 (i. 27, 33).

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

speaks of Hildelith's long rule, of her translation of the bones of saints into the church of St. Mary and of a miraculous cure of a blind man which took place in her time. It is not known who replaced her as the next known abbess is Wulfhild (c940-1000), three centuries later and just prior to the Norman Invasion. She was unique in that under her control the abbey acted as a double monastery.

Death and burial

The date of Hildilid's death is uncertain, but

speaks of her long rule and says she lived to a great age and historian Katie Bugyis states that Hildelith died sometime after 686. A letter dated to 716 from

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

to Eadburga, Abbess of Minster mentions Hildilid as the original source for his Vision of the Monk of Wenlock, but he does not indicate whether she was at the time still living or dead. She was abbess until about 700 AD and she may have died about 725 AD, being buried in Barking. On the other hand, an excavation of Hartlepool Abbey in 1833 found human burials and Anglo-Saxon artefacts, several of which, in consultation with the British Archaeological Association, were identified, including Hildelith, along with two other nuns of Barking Abbey, Eadgyd and Torchtgyd.1873. A Handbook for Travellers in Durham and Northumberland. J. Murray, page 116 However, this later 'identification' has been more recently discredited b
Tees Archaeology
who hold the Historic Environment Records for all known archaeological sites in Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees. See th
Corpus Record of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture
for further details.

References

{{authority control Anglo-Saxon saints 8th-century English nuns 8th-century Christian nuns Anglo-Saxon abbesses Christian female saints of the Middle Ages People from Barking, London