Minster Abbey is the name of two abbeys in

Minster-in-Thanet Minster, also known as Minster-in-Thanet, is a village and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is the site of Minster in Thanet Priory. The village is west of Ramsgate (which is the post town) and to the north east of Ca ...

, Kent, England. The first was a 7th-century foundation which lasted until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Beside its ruins is St Mildred's Priory, a Benedictine community of women founded in 1937.

History

According to the

Kentish Royal Legend The Kentish Royal Legend is a diverse group of Medieval texts which describe a wide circle of members of the royal family of Kent from the 7th to 8th centuries AD. Key elements include the descendants of Æthelberht of Kent over the next four ge ...

, Minster Abbey was a

double monastery A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East ...

founded AD 670 by

Domne Eafe Domne Eafe (; floruit late 7th century), also ''Domneva'', ''Domne Éue'', ''Æbbe'', ''Ebba'', was, according to the Kentish royal legend, a granddaughter of King Eadbald of Kent and the foundress of the double monastery of Minster in Thane ...

or Domneva; Eormenburg or Ermenburga is either her original name or that of her sister. Domne Eafe was a Kentish princess who accepted land for a house of prayer as

Weregild Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price ( blood money), was a precept in some historical legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, ...

for the killing of her brothers

Æthelred and Æthelberht Saints Æthelred and Æthelberht (also ''Ethelred'', ''Ethelbert'') according to the Kentish royal legend (attested in the 11th century) were princes of the Kingdom of Kent who were murdered in around AD 669, and later commemorated as saints an ...

. The story is that she was granted as much land as her pet deer could define in a day, whence the deer used to symbolise Minster-in-Thanet. The boundary so defined is shown on mediaeval maps, and has been called the Cursus Cerve or St Mildred’s Lynch. Domne Eafe was succeeded as abbess in about 700 by her daughter

Mildrith Saint Mildrith, also Mildthryth, Mildryth and Mildred, () (born c. 660, died after 732), was a 7th- and 8th-century Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon abbess of the Abbey at Minster-in-Thanet, Kent. She was declared a saint after her death, and, in 1030, ...

(Mildred), who was succeeded by Edburga, daughter of King Centwine of the West Saxons. At the end of the eighth century the abbess was Selethryth, sister of King

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

, and she was remembered for recovering estates of the abbey which had been seized by Archbishop

Wulfred Wulfred (died 24 March 832) was an Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury in medieval England. Nothing is known of his life prior to 803, when he attended a church council, but he was probably a nobleman from Middlesex. He was elected archbishop ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. She was succeeded by Abbess Cwoenthryth. According to late traditions the abbey was sacked by the

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

in about 855, but at the end of the ninth century

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh people, Welsh monk from St David's, Kingdom of Dyfed, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne (ancient), Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join ...

wrote in the present tense that "an excellent minster is established on the island". The boundary of the community is mentioned in Charter S 535 of 948. At the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

the abbeys were dissolved and Minster Abbey became Crown property. It became a private house until in 1937 it was bought by Benedictine nuns from St Walburga's Abbey in

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

, Bavaria as a refuge from persecution and became a dependent Priory. In 1953 a small relic of St Mildred was returned to Minster from

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

in the Netherlands.

Holy Days

* 13 July, St Mildred's feast day * 19 November, St Ermenburga's feast day * 12 December, St Edburga's feast day

Visiting

Most of the grounds of the abbey are closed to the public, although it is possible to view the outside of the Saxon and Norman wings on guided tours. The abbey's chapel is accessible for private prayer as is the nearby parish church, St Mary the Virgin. There is a train station ( Minster railway station) about 350 yards from the abbey.

References

External links

The website of Minster Abbey

Mappa Thaneti Insule
{{Archdiocese of Southwark Monasteries in Kent