Saint Arnulf of Eynesbury is an obscure English saint, apparently a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

who lived in the 8th or 9th century (Alford 1663 quotes a date of death of AD 740). He was venerated in Eynesbury, about half a mile from

St Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, in the 9th century (feast day 22 August).

Background

The name ''Eynesbury'' is probably a corruption of ''Ernulfs-bury'' and refers to the site where he had his cell, which was destroyed in the Danish invasions in the late 9th century. The saint seems to have been forgotten by the 11th century, as ''

On the resting-places of the saints ''On the Resting-Places of the Saints'' is a heading given to two early medieval pieces of writing, also known as ''Þá hálgan'' and the ''Secgan'', which exist in various manuscript forms in both Old English and Latin, the earliest surviving m ...

'' mentions

Saint Neot Neot (died 31 July 877) was an English monk. Born in the first half of the ninth century, he lived as a monk at Glastonbury Abbey. He preferred to perform his religious devotions privately, and he later went to live an isolated life in Cornwall ...

(feast day 31 July) but not Arnulf. His historicity is doubtful. He may also have been a folkloristic duplicate of

Saint Arnulf of Metz Arnulf of Metz ( 582 – 645) was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia. He later retired to the Abbey of Remiremont. In French he is also known as Arnoul or Arnoulf. In English he is known as Arnold. G ...

(this supposition is also due to Alford 1663, who notes that the saints' feast days are identical, and who cites a French tradition according to which the remains of Arnulf of Metz were translated to England).

References

Sources

*''R.P. Michaelis Alfordi Annales ecclesiastici et civiles Britannorvm, Saxonum, Anglorum'', tomus 2 (1663), p. 553. * George Cornelius Gorham, ''The history and antiquities of Eynesbury and St. Neot's, in Huntingdonshire, and of St. Neot's in the county of Cornwall'', 1820
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{{Authority control Anglo-Saxon saints English hermits 8th-century English people 9th-century English people 8th-century Christian saints