Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich (died 8 March 647 or 648), was a saint and the first bishop of the
East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom of East Anglia. Almost all that is known about the saint originates from ''
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), 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 conflict be ...
'', completed by
Bede in about 731, and the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. Bede praised Felix for delivering "all the province of East Anglia from long-standing unrighteousness and unhappiness".
Felix originated from the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
kingdom of
Burgundy, and may have been a priest at one of the monasteries in Francia founded by the Irish missionary
Columbanus—the existence of a
Bishop of Châlons
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
with the same name may not be a coincidence. Felix travelled from his homeland of Burgundy to
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
before being sent by
Honorius to
Sigeberht of East Anglia
Sigeberht of East Anglia (also known as Saint Sigebert), (Old English: ''Sigebryht'') was a saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the first English king ...
's kingdom in about 630 (traveling by sea to
Babingley
Babingley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sandringham, in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England, about northwest of Castle Rising and north-north-east of King's Lynn. In 1931 th ...
in Norfolk, according to local legend). On arrival in East Anglia, Sigeberht gave him a
see at
Dommoc
''Dommoc'' (or ''Domnoc''), a place not certainly identified but probably within the modern county of Suffolk, was the original seat of the Anglo-Saxon bishops of the Kingdom of East Anglia. It was established by Sigeberht of East Anglia for S ...
, possibly at
Walton, Suffolk
Walton is a settlement and former civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, lying between the rivers Orwell and Deben. It is now part of Felixstowe parish. In 1911 the parish had a population of 4226.
Hi ...
near
Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...
, or
Dunwich
Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast.
In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was ...
in
Suffolk. According to Bede, Felix helped Sigeberht to establish a school in his kingdom "where boys could be taught letters".
Felix died on 8 March 647 or 648, having been bishop for 17 years. His relics were translated from Dommoc to
Soham Abbey
Soham Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon monastery in Soham, which at the time was in the Kingdom of East Anglia. Constructed by St Felix of Burgundy during the early part of the 7th century, it was the first Roman Christian site to be established in Cambr ...
and then to the abbey at
Ramsey
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
. After his death, he was venerated as a saint; several English churches are dedicated to him. Felix's feast date is 8 March.
Background and early life
![Frankish dominions 629](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Frankish_dominions_629.svg)
Felix was born in the
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
kingdom of
Burgundy, although his name prevents historians from conclusively identifying his nationality. According to the English
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
Bede, he was ordained in Burgundy.
It is possible that Felix was associated with Irish
missionary activity in Francia, which was centred in Burgundy and was particularly associated with
Columbanus and
Luxeuil Abbey
Luxeuil Abbey (), the ''Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul'', was one of the oldest and best-known monasteries in Burgundy, located in what is now the département of Haute-Saône in Franche-Comté, France.
History Columbanus
It was founded circa 5 ...
. Columbanus had arrived in
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
in about 590, after leaving
Bangor along with twelve companions and going into voluntary exile. Upon Columbanus's arrival, he was encouraged to stay, and in about 592 settled at Annegay, but was then forced to find an alternative site for a monastery at Luxeuil, when lay people and the sick continually sought his counsel and that of his fellow monks.
The connection between the
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 king. ...
ruling dynasty and the abbess
Burgundofara
Burgundofara (died 643 or 655), also Saint Fara or Fare, was the founder and first Abbess of the Abbey of Faremoutiers.
Life
Her family is knowns as the Faronids, named after her brother Saint Faro. Her name may mean: 'She who moves the Burgundi ...
at
Faremoutiers Abbey was an example of the associations that existed at the time between the Church in the
kingdom of East Anglia
la, Regnum Orientalium Anglorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Angles
, common_name = East Anglia
, era =
, status = Great Kingdom
, status_text = Independent (6th centu ...
and religious establishments in Francia. Such associations were partly due to the work of Columbanus and his disciples at Luxeuil; together with
Eustace
Eustace, also rendered Eustis, ( ) is the rendition in English of two phonetically similar Greek given names:
*Εὔσταχυς (''Eústachys'') meaning "fruitful", "fecund"; literally "abundant in grain"; its Latin equivalents are ''Fæcundus/Fe ...
, his successor, Columbanus inspired Burgundofara to found the abbey at Faremoutiers. It has been suggested that a connection between the disciples of Columbanus, (who strongly influenced the Christians of Northern Burgundy) and Felix, helps to explain how the Wuffingas dynasty established its links with Faremoutiers. The historian
N. J. Higham notes various suggestions for where Felix may have originated, including Luxeuil, Châlons or the area around
Autun
Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...
. Other historians have made connections between Felix and the Burgundian king
Dagobert I
Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dyna ...
, who had contact with both King
Sigeberht of East Anglia
Sigeberht of East Anglia (also known as Saint Sigebert), (Old English: ''Sigebryht'') was a saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the first English king ...
and
Amandus
Amandus ( 584 – 679), commonly called Saint Amand, was a bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht and one of the great Christian missionaries of Flanders. He is venerated as a saint, particularly in France and Belgium.
Life
The chief source of details ...
, a disciple of Columbanus.
A bishop named Felix held the
see of Châlons
See or SEE may refer to:
* Sight - seeing
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Music:
** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals
*** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See''
** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho
* Television
...
in 626 or 627. It is possible that Felix may have become a political fugitive as a result of losing his see at Châlons following the death of
Chlothar II
Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the ...
in 629.
Arrival in the kingdom of the East Angles
![Norwich Cathedral statue of Saint Felix](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Norwich_Cathedral_statue_of_Saint_Felix.jpg)
Felix is mentioned in the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', a collection of
annal
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between anna ...
s that was compiled in the late 9th century. The annal for 633 in "Manuscript A" of the ''Chronicle'' states that Felix "preached the faith of Christ to the East Angles". Another version of the ''Chronicle'', "Manuscript F", written in the 11th century in both
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
and
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, elaborates upon the short statement contained in "Manuscript A":
:"Here there came from the region of Burgundy a bishop who was called Felix, who preached the faith to the people of East Anglia; called here by King Sigeberht; he received a bishopric in Dommoc, in which he remained for seventeen years."
According to Bede, Felix was sent to promote Christianity in the land of the East Angles by the
Archbishop of Canterbury,
Honorius. Bede wrote how the exertions of Sigeberht, king of the East Angles, "were nobly promoted by Bishop Felix, who, coming to Honorius, the archbishop, from the parts of Burgundy, where he had been born and, ordained, and having told him what he desired, was sent by him to preach the Word of life to the aforesaid nation of the Angles". Later sources tend to differ from the version of events described by Bede and the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. 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 ...
'', an English
chronicle and history written at
Ely Abbey in the 12th century, states that Felix came with Sigeberht from Francia, and was then made Bishop of East Anglia. According to another version of the story, Felix travelled from
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
and reached the hamlet of
Babingley
Babingley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sandringham, in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England, about northwest of Castle Rising and north-north-east of King's Lynn. In 1931 th ...
, via the
River Babingley
The Babingley is a minor river in the northwest of the county Norfolk in England.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 250 - Norfolk Coast West''. . It runs from its source at the village of Flitcham to the River Great Ouse at Wootton Mar ...
. He then made his way to
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
. He was ordained as a bishop in about 630 or 631 by Honorius.
Felix's arrival in East Anglia seems to have coincided with the start of a new period of order established by Sigeberht, following the assassination of
Eorpwald and the three years of
apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
that occurred after Eorpwald's murder. Sigeberht had become a devout Christian before returning from exile in Francia to become king. His accession may have been decisive in bringing Felix to East Anglia. The historian
Peter Hunter Blair
Peter Hunter Blair (22 March 1912 – 9 September 1982) was an English academic and historian specializing in the Anglo-Saxon period. In 1969 he married his third wife, the children's author Pauline Clarke. She edited his ''Anglo-Saxon Northumbri ...
challenged the assertion by mediaeval sources that spoke of Felix and Sigeberht travelling together from Francia to England, as in his view Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' implied that Felix went to East Anglia because of Honorius at Canterbury.
Bishop of the East Angles
![The ruined church of St Felix - blocked chancel arch - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/The_ruined_church_of_St_Felix_-_blocked_chancel_arch_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1528074.jpg)
Soon after his arrival at Sigeberht's court, Felix established a church at Dommoc, his
episcopal see, which is widely taken to mean
Dunwich
Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast.
In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was ...
, on the
Suffolk coast, which during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
was a thriving town. Dunwich has since been almost totally destroyed by the effects of
coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...
. Other historians have suggested as an alternative site for Felix's see the coastal
Walton, Suffolk
Walton is a settlement and former civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, lying between the rivers Orwell and Deben. It is now part of Felixstowe parish. In 1911 the parish had a population of 4226.
Hi ...
near
Felixstowe
Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...
, where there was once a ''
castra'' (
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
fort),
Walton Castle
Walton Castle is a 17th-century, Grade II listed mock castle set upon a hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, on the site of an earlier Iron Age hill fort.
History
The Domesday Book records the site as belonging to "Gunni The Dane", how ...
, since washed away by the sea. A church and
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
were dedicated to him there by
Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Roger Bigod (died 1107) was a Norman knight who travelled to England in the Norman Conquest. He held great power in East Anglia, and five of his descendants were earls of Norfolk. He was also known as Roger Bigot, appearing as such as a witness t ...
, in 1105.
Bede related that Felix started a school, "where boys could be taught letters", to provide Sigeberht with teachers. There is no evidence that Felix's school was at
Soham
Soham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 10,860 at the 2011 census.
History Archaeology
The region between De ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a 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 Northamptonshire to the ...
, as is maintained by later sources. Bede is unclear as to the origin of the teachers at the school that he established; they may have been from Kent. The ''Liber Eliensis'' mentioned that Felix also founded
Soham Abbey
Soham Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon monastery in Soham, which at the time was in the Kingdom of East Anglia. Constructed by St Felix of Burgundy during the early part of the 7th century, it was the first Roman Christian site to be established in Cambr ...
and a church at
Reedham, Norfolk
Reedham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk and within The Broads. It is on the north bank of the River Yare, some east of the city of Norwich, south-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and the same distance north-wes ...
: "Indeed, one reads in an English source that St Felix was the original founder of the old monastery of Sehem and of the church at Redham". According to the historian Margaret Gallyon, the large size of the East Anglian diocese would have made the foundation of a second religious establishment at Soham "appear very probable".
Bede praised Felix for delivering "all the province of East Anglia from long-standing unrighteousness and unhappiness". During Felix's years as bishop, the East Anglian Church was made still stronger when
Fursey arrived from Ireland and founded a monastery, at Cnobheresburg, probably located at
Burgh Castle
Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the east bank of the River Waveney, some west of Great Yarmouth and within the Norfolk Broads National Park. The parish was part of Suffolk until ...
, in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
.
Death and veneration
Felix died in 647 or 648, after he had been bishop for 17 years. Following his death, which probably occurred during the reign of
Anna of East Anglia
Anna (or Onna; killed 653 or 654) was king of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. He was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles, and one of the three sons of Eni who ruled the kingdom of East Ang ...
,
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, a
fenman, became the second Bishop of the East Angles. Felix was buried at Dommoc, but his
relics were at a later date removed to Soham, according to the 12th century English historian
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...
. His
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...
was desecrated by the
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to 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 ...
when the church was destroyed. Some time later, "the body of the saint was looked for and found, and buried at
Ramsey Abbey". Ramsey was noted for its enthusiasm for collecting saints' relics, and in an apparent attempt to out-compete their rivals from the abbey at
Ely, the Ramsey monks escaped by rowing their boats through thick Fenland fog, carrying with them the bishop's precious remains.
Felix's feast day is celebrated on 8 March. There are six churches dedicated to the saint, all located in either
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
or
East Anglia. According to the mediaeval
Custumal
A custumal is a medieval-English document that stipulates the economic, political, and social customs of a manor or town. It is common for it to include an inventory of customs, regular agricultural, trading and financial activities as well as l ...
of
Bury St Edmunds, known as the ''Liber Albus'', Felix is said to have visited Babingley and '' 'maden... ... the halige kirke' '' – "built the holy church".
Felix is
remembered in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
with a
commemoration
Commemoration may refer to:
*Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion
*Commemoration (liturgy)
In the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church, a commemoration is the recital, within the Li ...
on
8 March.
The Yorkshire village of
Felixkirk
Felixkirk is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated about three miles north-east of Thirsk. The population of the civil parish was estimated at 100 in 2014.
History
The vill ...
and the town of Felixstowe may both have been named after the saint, though an alternative meaning for Felixstowe, "the ''stow'' of Filica", has been suggested.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
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*
*
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*
*
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*
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felix Of Burgundy
Bishops of the East Angles
647 deaths
East Anglian saints
7th-century English bishops
7th-century Christian saints
Year of birth unknown
Burials in Cambridgeshire
Anglican saints