Eadburh of Bicester (also Eadburth, or Edburg, death c. 650) was an English

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

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, Coptic ...

, and

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

from the 7th century. She has been called a "bit of a mystery"; there have been several

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

saints with the same name, so it is difficult to pinpoint which one was Eadburh. It is most likely that Eadburh of Bicester was the daughter of

King Penda of Mercia Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theo ...

, who was pagan but had several children who were Christians. Eadburgh was born in

Quarrendon Quarrendon or Quarrendon Leas is a medieval English village near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England, which has been depopulated since the 16th century and is now a scheduled monument. Description Quarrendon's site is now a large area of field ...

. Her sister was Edith (or Eadith), with whom she co-founded an abbey near Aylesburg; Eadburh probably became abbess at Aylesburg. She was also aunt of

Osgyth Osgyth (or Osyth; died 700 AD) was an English saint. She is primarily commemorated in the village of Saint Osyth, Essex, near Colchester. Alternative spellings of her name include Sythe, Othith and Ositha. Born of a noble family, she founded a ...

, whom she trained "in the religious life". There are legends that claim that Edburgh and Edith found Osyth after she had drowned three days earlier and "witnessed her return to life". Eadburgh might have lived at

Adderbury Adderbury is a winding linear village and rural civil parish about south of Banbury in northern Oxfordshire, England. The settlement has five sections: the new Milton Road housing Development & West Adderbury towards the southwest; East Adderb ...

, which may have been named for her, 30 miles from Aylesbury. She died in c. 650; her burial place is unknown. In 850, a simple Saxon church was built in

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...

. In 1182, her relics were moved to Bicester, when an

Augustinian priory Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

was founded by a group of

Canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

and dedicated to Saint Eadburgh and to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. Many pilgrims visited Eadburh's shrine and holy well there. During the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1536, Sir Simon Harcourt, the sheriff of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, destroyed the Bicester Priory church, but he saved Eadburth's shrine and moved it to

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

's Church in

Stanton Harcourt Stanton Harcourt is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southeast of Witney and about west of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton, north of the village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 960. Arch ...

so that it could be used as an Easter

sepulture Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

. Other parts of the shrine were combined into a tomb in the Harcourt chapel. In the late 1940s, there was an attempt to return the shrine to Bicester, but it was unsuccessful. Saint Eadburh's feast day is 18 July.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eadburh Of Bicester Anglo-Saxon royalty Mercian saints Anglo-Saxon nuns 7th-century Christian saints Bicester Female saints of medieval England 7th-century English nuns