Seaxburh Of Ely
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Seaxburh, also Saint Sexburga of Ely (died about 699), was an Anglo-Saxon queen and
abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...
, venerated a
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 ...
of the
Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...
. She was married to King
Eorcenberht of Kent Eorcenberht of Kent (also Ærconberht, Earconberht, or Earconbert) (died 14 July 664) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent from 640 until his death, succeeding his father Eadbald. The Kentish Royal Legend (also known as the Mildrith leg ...
. After her husband's death in 664, Seaxburh remained in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
to bring up her children. She acted as regent until her young son Ecgberht came of age. Seaxburh founded the abbeys at Milton Regis and Minster-in-Sheppey where her daughter Ermenilda was also a nun. She moved to the double monastery at Ely where her sister
Æthelthryth Æthelthryth (or Æðelþryð or Æþelðryþe; 23 June 679) was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely. She is an Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the Englis ...
was abbess and succeeded her when she died in 679. According to
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 ...
, in 695, Seaxburh organised the movement (or
translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...
) of Æthelthryth's remains to a marble
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...
, after they had lain for sixteen years in a common grave. On opening the grave, it was discovered that her body was miraculously preserved. The legend is described in Bede's ''
Ecclesiastical History of the English People The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' (), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the growth of Christianity. It was composed in Latin, and ...
'', which celebrates the saintly virtues of Æthelthryth, but speaks less highly of Seaxburh, referring only to her marriage, succession as abbess and translation of her sister's relics. The date of Seaxburh's death at Ely is not known. The surviving versions of the ''Vita Sexburge'', compiled after 1106, describe her early life, marriage to Eorcenberht, retirement from secular life and her final years as a nun and abbess at Ely.


Family

Seaxburh was a daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia, the son of
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
, who ruled the East Angles from the early 640s and was slain together with his son Jurmin at the Battle of Bulcamp in 653 or 654. Seaxburh married
Eorcenberht of Kent Eorcenberht of Kent (also Ærconberht, Earconberht, or Earconbert) (died 14 July 664) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent from 640 until his death, succeeding his father Eadbald. The Kentish Royal Legend (also known as the Mildrith leg ...
, and was the mother of kings Ecgberht (d. 673), Hlothhere (d. 685), and of Saints Eormenhild and Ercengota. Her marriage to Eorcenberht produced two sons, both of whom ruled, and two daughters. Seaxburh's sisters were Æthelburg of Faremoutiers, Saethryth,
Æthelthryth Æthelthryth (or Æðelþryð or Æþelðryþe; 23 June 679) was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely. She is an Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the Englis ...
and possibly Withburga. She was the sister of Æthelburg and Saethryth, who were both abbesses of Faremoutiers Abbey in
Brie Brie ( ; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie (itself from Gaulish ''briga'', "hill, height"), the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in colour with a slight gre ...
, and also the sister of Æthelthryth, who married firstly Tonberht an ealderman of the South Gyrwe in the Fens, and secondly
Ecgfrith of Northumbria Ecgfrith (; ; 64520 May 685) was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death on 20 May 685. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Nechtansmere agai ...
. Withburga, who died in 743, may also have been her sister. The historian
Barbara Yorke Barbara Yorke FRHistS FSA (born 1951, Barbara Anne Elizabeth Troubridge) is a historian of Anglo-Saxon England, specialising in many subtopics, including 19th-century Anglo-Saxonism. She is currently emeritus professor of early Medieval histo ...
mentions the possibility that Seaxburh and her namesake
Seaxburh of Wessex Seaxburh (; died c. 674) was a queen of Wessex. She is also called Queen of the Gewisse, an early name for the tribe which ruled Wessex. She is said to have ruled Wessex for between one and two years after the death of her husband, Cenwalh, i ...
were the same person, but also notes that the accounts of Seaxburh's religious life at Ely contradict this suggestion. Seaxburh was buried at Ely with her sisters Æthelthryth and Wihtburh, along with her daughter Eormenhild.


Marriage and widowhood

Seaxburh was connected with the royal family of the Magonsætan by her marriage to Eorcenberht, who was king of
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
from 640 to 664. Eorcenberht was the great-uncle of Mildburh and her sisters, the daughters of King
Merewalh Merewalh (sometimes given as Merwal or Merewald was a sub-king of the Magonsæte, a western cadet kingdom of Mercia thought to have been located in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Merewalh is thought to have lived in the mid to late 7th century, havin ...
of the Magonsætan. Their sons Ecgberht and Hlothhere both became kings of Kent. Their daughter Ercongota was a nun at Faremoutiers, who was eventually canonised. Eorcenberht is mentioned in the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
'' within the annal for 640: "Then his son Eorcenberht succeeded to the kingdom; he overthrew all devil-worship in his kingdom, and was the first of the English kings to establish the Easter festival". In the same passage is the ''Chronicles single reference to Seaxburh and Eorcengota, ''"...þaes dohter wæs ge haten Erchongata halifemne. and wundorlic man. thære modor wæs Sexburh Annan dohter East Engla ciningas"'' – '...his daughter was called Eorcengota, a holy and a remarkable person, whose mother was Seaxburh, daughter of Anna, king of the East Anglians'. Seaxburh and Eorcenberht had a second daughter, Ermenilda, who married
Wulfhere of Mercia Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...
and after his death became a nun and was later canonised. According to Barbara Yorke, Seaxburh's marriage was itself of seminal importance in the establishment of monastic life for women during the Anglo-Saxon period, as she became an example of an ex-queen who made retreating to an nunnery a desirable royal vocation. Eorcenberht died on 14 July 664, in an outbreak of plague that occurred that year. After her husband's death, Seaxburh remained in Kent to bring up her children. She played an important political and religious influence in the kingdom: she acted as regent for her son Ecgberht, ruling Kent until her young son came of age, and was the founder of Kent's first abbey for women at Milton. Thereafter, Seaxburh became a nun and founded the abbey of Minster-in-Sheppey. According to the ''
Liber Eliensis The ''Liber Eliensis'' is a 12th-century English chronicle and history, written in Latin. Composed in three books, it was written at Ely Abbey on the island of Ely in the fenlands of eastern Cambridgeshire. Ely Abbey became the cathedral of ...
'', a 12th-century chronicle and history written at Ely, an English source related that Seaxburh received "the veil of holiness" from Theodore, the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
, in her church on the
Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the districts of England, local government district of Borough ...
and that her daughter Eormenhild also became a nun there.Fairweather, ''Liber Eliensis'', p. 69. Seaxburh is said by her
hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...
to have sought refuge as a nun after living a secular role that she had found hard to tolerate: having reluctantly submitted to marriage, she hastened from queenhood to "a timely widowhood and a hasty withdrawal to the religious life", according to Susan Ridyard.


Religious life at Ely

Shortly afterwards Seaxburh moved to the
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 ...
at Ely, which was the precursor to
Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...
, and where her sister Æthelthryth was abbess. According to Yorke, Seaxburh's retirement to Ely is an example an Anglo-Saxon custom represented in a
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
: whereby a married woman remained the responsibility of the paternal side of her family, perhaps to spend the rest of her days as a nun or an abbess.Yorke, ''Nunneries'', p. 31. Described by the ''Liber Eliensis'' as a "''pretiosa virago''" (precious lady-warrior) she succeeded as abbess when Æthelthryth died, probably of plague, in 679. Seaxburh's previous political experience in East Anglia and Kent would have been useful in preparing her for the role of abbess at the double monastery at Ely. In 695 Seaxburh decided to translate the remains of her sister Æthelthryth (who had been dead for sixteen years) from a common grave to the new church at Ely in a vivid demonstration of the dynastic value of the cult of royal saints in Anglo-Saxon England,
Patrick Sims-Williams Patrick Sims-Williams is Emeritus Professor of Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University and founding editor of the journal '' Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies''. Education Sims-Williams was educated at Borden Grammar School in Sittingbourne, K ...
has identified Seaxburh as "the chief mover behind the translation of her body and the promulagation of her cult". The ''Liber Eliensis'' describes these events in detail. When her grave was opened, Æthelthryth's body was discovered to be uncorrupted and her coffin and clothes proved to possess miraculous powers. A
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...
made of white marble was taken from the Roman ruins at
Grantchester Grantchester () is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta (river), Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Granteset ...
, which was found to be the right fit for Æthelthryth. The architectural historian John Crook questions how such miraculous coincidences feature in hagiographies (the studies of the lives of saints), when he observes that "the miraculous discovery of a suitable coffin is, however, a hagiographic commonplace". Seaxburh's supervised the preparation of her sister's body, which was washed and wrapped in new robes before being reburied. She apparently oversaw the translation of her sister's remains without the supervision of her bishop, using her knowledge of procedures gained from her family's links with the abbey at Faremoutiers as a basis for the ceremony. The fourth book of the ''
Ecclesiastical History of the English People The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' (), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the growth of Christianity. It was composed in Latin, and ...
'', completed by the
Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...
n monk
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 ...
in 731, celebrates the monastery at Ely and focuses on Æthelthryth's piety and the translation of her relics. Bede does not mention the matrilinear succession established at Ely by Æthelthryth, where power passed in turn to Seaxburh before subsequently transferring to Seaxburh's daughter Eormenhild and to her granddaughter, Werburh. He praises the virtues of Æthelthryth, a princess who was married twice but still preserved her virginity. Seaxburh receives little praise from Bede, as she had borne children before becoming a nun. He only mentions Seaxburh's marriage to Eorcenberht, succession as abbess and translation of her sister's relics.Ridyard, ''Royal Saints'', p. 56.


Death and veneration

The date of Seaxburh's death is not known, but when she died at Ely, she was at "a good, late age", according to the ''Liber Eliensis'', which also related that Richard, the last Abbot of Ely, translated the remains of Seaxburh and of "all the saintly women reposing in that place". Her
feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...
is 6 July.Butler, ''Lives of the Saints: February'', p. 132. Seaxburh is mentioned in a written account of Kent's earliest Christian kings and their canonised relatives, known as the Kentish Royal Legend (Old English: ''Þá hálgan''). These kings, queens and princesses were unified by their holiness and royal connections. Pauline Stafford notes that the Legend "may have been a Christian alternative to pagan genealogy" to the rulers of 10th- and 11th-century mediaeval England, as it described an earlier period of sustained Christian piety within the royal dynasty of Kent. Being both a queen and a saint, Seaxburh was held in high regard within the Legend: within it her role as queen and the founder of the minster at Sheppey was highlighted. The 1913 edition of the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' lists several separate accounts of the saint's deeds and miracles, or ''Lives''. The ''Life'' (or ''Vita'') printed in
John Capgrave John Capgrave (21 April 1393 – 12 August 1464) was an English historian, hagiographer and scholastic theologian, remembered chiefly for ''Nova Legenda Angliae'' (New Reading from England). This was the first comprehensive collection of lives o ...
's ''Nova, Legenda'' and used by the
Bollandists The Bollandist Society (; ) is an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christia ...
, was perhaps copied from a Cotton manuscript in the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
. There is another ''Vita'' in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
in the same collection, but it was so damaged by fire that it is useless. The surviving versions of the ''Vita Sexburge'' were compiled after 1106 (the year the relics of Seaxburh were translated) and are copies from an earlier manuscript, now lost. The ''Vita'' describes Seaxburh's early life, marriage to Eorcenberht, withdrawal to Milton and then Minster-in-Sheppey, and her final years as a nun and the abbess at Ely. The section relating to her life at Sheppey is similar to another fragment, dating between the 9th and 11th centuries, and currently kept at
Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...
. It has been suggested that part of the ''Vita Sexburge'' was derived from this manuscript, or that both parts originated from an earlier version of Seaxburh's ''Life''.Ridyard, ''Royal Saints'', pp. 57-58.


See also

*
List of Catholic saints This is an incomplete list of humans and angels whom the Catholic Church has Canonization, canonized as saints. According to Catholic theology, all saints enjoy the beatific vision. Many of the saints listed here are found in the General Roman C ...
*
Anglo-Saxon Christianity In the seventh century the Anglo-Saxon paganism, pagan Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity () mainly by missionaries sent from Rome. Irish missionaries from Iona, who were proponents of Celtic Christianity, were influential in the conve ...
*
Wuffingas The Wuffingas, Uffingas or Wiffings were the ruling dynasty of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian kin ...


Notes


Footnotes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
Abbey Church of The Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Sexburgha
* Alaric Hall's page
''A Life of Saint Mildrith''
which contains the Old English version of the Mildrith legend known as ''Þá hálgan'', or the Kentish Royal Legend. * A page on th

(Archived 25 January 2015) depict

(Archived 5 March 2015), of Æthelthryth and an unknown saint, conjectured to be an image of Seaxburh. {{Authority control 7th-century births 699 deaths Anglo-Saxon royal consorts 7th-century English nobility East Anglian saints Abbesses of Ely 7th-century Christian saints 7th-century women regents Christian female saints of the Middle Ages English Christian royal saints 7th-century English women People from Minster, Swale Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain 7th-century regents 7th-century English nuns