Saint Everild of Everingham ( ang, Eoforhild) was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

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 ...

of the 7th century who founded a convent at

Everingham Everingham is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is west of Market Weighton town centre and south of Pocklington town centre. The village lies in a civil parish also officially called "Everingham" by the Office for Nati ...

, in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

. All we know of her comes from the York Breviary.David Hugh Farmer, ed. ''The Oxford Dictionary Of Saints'', ''s.v.'' "Everild (Everildis, Averil)". There are two churches dedicated to St Everilda:

St Everilda's Church, Nether Poppleton St Everilda's Church lies in Nether Poppleton, a village immediately north-west of York, in England. The church is one of only two in the country dedicated to Everilda, an Anglo-Saxon saint who established a monastic community which may have be ...

, and

Ss Mary & Everilda, Everingham The Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Everilda, in the village of Everingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, is an impressive Italianate-style Roman Catholic chapel within the Diocese of Middlesbrough. The chapel is owned by the Gue ...

. She was converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

by Saint Birinus, along with King Cynegils of Wessex, in 635. Her legend in the York Breviary states that she was of the Wessex

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. She fled from home to become a nun, and was joined by Saints Bega and Wuldreda. Saint Wilfrid of York made them all nuns at a place called the Bishop's Dwelling, later known as Everildisham. This place has been identified with present-day Everingham. She gathered a large community of some eighty women.

Veneration

Her name appears in the '' Martyrology of Usuard'' as well as in the church calendars of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

. 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 d ...

9 July Events Pre-1600 *118 – Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome. * 381 – The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodosi ...

Notes

External links

"St. Everildis, Virgin, in England"
''Butler's Lives of the Saints''
Saints of July 9: Everild of EveringhamCatholic Online entry
{{Authority control Converts to Christianity from pagan religions West Saxon saints Northumbrian saints Anglo-Saxon nuns History of the East Riding of Yorkshire Christianity in the East Riding of Yorkshire Yorkshire saints 7th-century Christian saints Female saints of medieval England 7th-century English nuns