Pega (c. 673 – c. 719) is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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 ...

who was an

anchoress In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are ...

in the ancient

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- ...

kingdom of Mercia, and the sister of

St Guthlac Saint Guthlac of Crowland ( ang, Gūðlāc; la, Guthlacus; 674 – 3 April 714 CE) was a Christian hermit and saint from Lincolnshire in England. He is particularly venerated in the Fens of eastern England. Life Guthlac was the son of Penwal ...

Life

The earliest source of information about Pega is in Felix's 8th-century Latin ''Life of Guthlac'', where she is referred to as 'the holy virgin of Christ Pega'. As the sister of Guthlac, Pega would have been the daughter of Penwalh of Mercia and thus belonged to one of Mercia's great noble families. She lived as an anchoress at what is now

Peakirk Peakirk is a village and civil parish in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. For local government purposes it forms part of Glinton and Castor ward; for parliamentary purposes it falls within Peterbor ...

("Pega's church") near Peterborough, not far from Guthlac's hermitage at

Crowland Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland c ...

. When Guthlac realised that his end was near in 714, he summoned Pega, who travelled by boat to her brother's oratory to bury him. One year later, she presided over the translation of his remains into a new sepulchre, when his body was found to be

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their ...

. At this time, Pega also used a piece of glutinous salt, which had been previously consecrated by Guthlac, to cure the eyesight of a blind man who had travelled to Crowland from Wisbech.

Henry of Avranches Henry of Avranches (died 1260) was a poet of the first half of the 13th century, writing in Latin. He is sometimes assumed to have been born in Avranches, but is otherwise said to have been of German birth with a Norman father. He is described as a ...

, in his 13th-century poetic life of Guthlac, adds the detail that Guthlac banished Pega from Crowland after the devil assumed her appearance and tempted him to break his fast. In the 15th-century

Croyland Chronicle Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland c ...

Pseudo-Ingulf Pseudo-Ingulf is the name given to an unknown English author of the ''Historia Monasterii Croylandensis'', also known as the ''Croyland Chronicle''. Nothing certain is known of Pseudo-Ingulf although it is generally assumed that he was connected wi ...

claims that Pega inherited Guthlac's

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...

and scourge, both of which she later gave to Kenulph, the first abbot of Crowland Abbey.

Death, miracles and legacy

Pega went on pilgrimage to Rome after Guthlac's death and died there on 8 January 719, according to a 12th-century account by

Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...

. Orderic claims that her remains were kept at a church built in Rome in her honour, and that miracles took place there. The precise location of Pega's hermitage is not known, but it is possible that it was on the site of the 13th-century chapel at St Pega's Hermitage in Peakirk, which is a private residence. Peakirk's parish church is uniquely dedicated to Pega. There is a local legend that Pega's heart was returned to Peakirk and was kept as a relic in the church contained in a heart stone. Its broken remains can still be seen in the south aisle window.

St Pega's Hermitage

St Pega's Hermitage is now a private home on what is considered most likely to have been the site of St Pega's cell. A chancel was expanded with a 15th-century nave. It was rebuilt and restored over various centuries, with an order of Anglican nuns housed in accommodation built in the 1850s, and which was extended around 1930. The nuns, latterly from the

Society of the Precious Blood The Society of the Precious Blood is an Anglican religious order of contemplative sisters with convents in England, Lesotho and South Africa. The sisters follow the Rule of St Augustine. History The Order dates its history from 1905 when Mother ...

, had left by the end of the 20th century, after which the property was deconsecrated by the Bishop of Peterborough,

Ian Cundy Ian Patrick Martyn Cundy (23 April 19457 May 2009) was a Church of England cleric who served successively as area Bishop of Lewes and Bishop of Peterborough. Background Born in Sherborne, Dorset, on 23 April 1945, he was the son of Henry Mart ...

, and sold. It has since been converted into a private residence with an atrium linking the chapel buildings, which retain the altar and other historic features, with the convent buildings. The Hermitage is Grade II listed.

References

{{authority control 7th-century births 8th-century deaths Mercian saints People from Peterborough 8th-century Christian saints 7th-century English people 8th-century English people East Anglian saints Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 7th-century English women 8th-century English women