Richeldis de Faverches, also known as Rychold, was a devout

English Catholic The Catholic Church in England and Wales ( la, Ecclesia Catholica in Anglia et Cambria; cy, Yr Eglwys Gatholig yng Nghymru a Lloegr) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th ce ...

noblewoman who is credited with establishing the original shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. The story of the vision of "Rychold" was recounted in the 15th century in "The Foundation of the Chapel of Walsingham" (ca. 1485, also known as the "Pynson Ballad"), published by

Richard Pynson Richard Pynson (c. 1449 – c. 1529) was one of the first printers of English books. Born in Normandy, he moved to London, where he became one of the leading printers of the generation following William Caxton. His books were printed to a high s ...

. The reputed appearance of the Virgin Mary to Richeldis is one of the earliest Marian apparitions.

Traditional account

According to

Roman Catholic 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 ...

and

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

belief, Richeldis wished to do something special to honour the

Blessed 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 Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

and in 1061 had a series of three

visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

in which the Virgin Mary appeared to her."A Brief History", The Roman Catholic Shrine of Our Lady, Walsingham, England
/ref> In these visions Richeldis was shown the house of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

in Nazareth and was requested to build a replica of the house in Walsingham as a place of pilgrimage where people could honour the Virgin Mary. Mary is said to have promised, "Whoever seeks my help there will not go away empty-handed.""A Brief History of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham", Archdiocese of Southwark
/ref> According to tradition, there were early construction problems. One night, Richeldis heard singing and went out to her garden where she found that the little house had been completed about two hundred yards from the site of the original construction. Richeldis saw what she took to be angels leaving the now completed building.
/ref> The original Holy House was a simple wooden structure measuring approximately 24 ft. by 13 ft., with four small turrets and a central tower. The 'Holy House' was later encased in stone to protect it from the elements. Based upon a review of relevant documents, historian J.C. Dickinson (1959) posits a later date for the foundation of the shrine, sometime between 1130 and 1153, the founding of the nearby priory.
/ref> The Richeldis identified by J.C. Dickinson died in 1145, leaving her estate to her son. Before leaving to join the Second Crusade, Lord Geoffrey de Faverches had left the Holy House and its grounds to his chaplain, Edwin, to establish a religious order to care for the chapel of Our Lady of Walsingham. As travelling abroad became more difficult during the time of the Crusades, Walsingham became a place of pilgrimage, ranking alongside Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostella."History of Walsingham", Walsingham Village, Norfolk, England
/ref> The historian

Henrietta Leyser Henrietta Leyser is an English historian. She is an expert on the history of medieval England, in particular the role of women. Career Leyser is an Emeritus fellow at St Peter's College, Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. ...

also rejects the date of 1061, arguing that Richeldis flourished around 1130 and the family is not recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as landowners in the area.

References

External links

*{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212141853/http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/5th-june-1987/7/walsingham-in-a-marian-year , date=December 12, 2013 , title=Cooper, Kristina. "Walsingham in a Marian Year", ''Catholic Herald'', June 5, 1987
Gapen, George Ben. "Our Lady of Walsingham: an Orthodox Introduction", 2002
"(dead link as of 15 January 2021)" English Roman Catholics Medieval English nobility Marian visionaries Anglo-Catholicism Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England History of Catholicism in the United Kingdom History of the Church of England People from Walsingham