Werburgh (also ''Wærburh'', ''Werburh'', ''Werburga'', meaning "true city"; ; c. AD 650 – 3 February 699/700) was an
Anglo-Saxon princess who became the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of the city of
Chester in
Cheshire. Her feast day is 3 February.
Life
Werburgh was born at
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
(now in
Staffordshire), and was the daughter of King
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Nort ...
(himself the Christian son of the
pagan 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 theor ...
) and his wife
St Ermenilda, herself daughter of the
King of Kent
This is a list of the kings of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent.
The regnal dates for the earlier kings are known only from Bede. Some kings are known mainly from charters, of which several are forgeries, while others have been subjected to tampe ...
. She obtained her father's consent to enter the
Abbey of Ely, which had been founded by her great-aunt
Etheldreda (or Audrey), the first
Abbess of Ely and former queen of
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 ...
, whose fame was widespread. Werburgh was trained at home by St
Chad (afterwards Bishop of Lichfield), and by her mother; and in the cloister by her aunt and grandmother. Werburgh was a
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 ...
for most of her life. During some of her life she was resident in
Weedon Bec
Weedon Bec, usually just Weedon, is a village and parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is close to the source of the River Nene. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,706.
Geography
Weedon is around southeas ...
, Northamptonshire.
Werburgh was instrumental in
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...
reform across England. She eventually succeeded her mother Ermenilda, her grandmother
Seaxburh, and great-aunt Etheldreda as fourth Abbess of Ely. She died on 3 February 700 and was buried at
Hanbury Hanbury may refer to:
People
*Harold Greville Hanbury (1898–1993), English law academic and Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford
* John Hanbury (disambiguation), a number of men with this name
* Robert Hanbury Brown (191 ...
in Staffordshire.
Veneration
![Chester Cathedral misericord Hamilton 0172](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Chester_Cathedral_misericord_Hamilton_0172.JPG)
Following Werburgh's death, her brother
Coenred became king of
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879) Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era= Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ...
. In 708 he decided to move his sister's remains to a more conspicuous place within the church at
Hanbury Hanbury may refer to:
People
*Harold Greville Hanbury (1898–1993), English law academic and Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford
* John Hanbury (disambiguation), a number of men with this name
* Robert Hanbury Brown (191 ...
. When the tomb was opened, her body was found to be miraculously intact. This preservation was taken as a sign of divine favour. A year later Coenred had abdicated as king and taken holy orders, becoming a monk in Rome.
[ It was at this time that the most famous story about Werburgh appeared, according to which she restored a dead goose to life, as recounted by the medieval ]hagiographer
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
Goscelin
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (or Goscelin of Canterbury, born c. 1040, died in or after 1106) was a Benedictine hagiographical writer. He was a Fleming or Brabantian by birth and became a monk of St Bertin's at Saint-Omer before travelling to Englan ...
.[ A stained glass window in the Church of St Peter and St Paul, ]Weedon Bec
Weedon Bec, usually just Weedon, is a village and parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is close to the source of the River Nene. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,706.
Geography
Weedon is around southeas ...
, Northamptonshire relates to another tale in which she was said to have banished all the geese from the village.
The shrine of St Werberh remained at Hanbury until the threat from Danish Viking raids
The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...
in the late 9th century prompted their relocation to within the walled city of Chester. A shrine to St Werberh was established at the Church of St Peter and St Paul (the site is now occupied by Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...
). In 975, the Church of St Peter and St Paul was re-dedicated to St Werburgh and the Northumbrian saint Oswald Oswald may refer to:
People
*Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name
*Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name
Fictional characters
*Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbur ...
. A monastery in the names of these two saints was attached to the church in the 11th century.
By 1057 the Abbey church was rebuilt and further endowed by Leofric, Earl of Mercia
Leofric (died 31 August or 30 September 1057) was an Earl of Mercia. He founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock. Leofric is most remembered as the husband of Lady Godiva.
Life
Leofric was the son of Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce, ...
. By this time, Werburgh was regarded as the patron saint and protector of Chester. A miracle attributed to her was the unexpected withdrawal of the Welsh king Gruffudd ap Llywelyn from besieging the city.
Even after 1066 and the Norman conquest of England, the shrine of St Werburgh was a place of veneration. In 1093, Hugh d'Avranches
Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England.
Early life and career
Hugh d'Avra ...
, the second Norman Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, and a ...
, presented gifts of property to the abbey and had the church enlarged and rebuilt. He also established a Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery. Its monks came from Bec Abbey in Normandy, which had provided the first two post-Conquest Archbishops of Canterbury: Lanfranc and Anselm. Like many other Anglo-Norman barons, Hugh d'Avranches entered the monastery shortly before he died and, in turn, was buried there. During the Middle Ages, the badge of a gaggle of geese was adopted as proof of having made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St Werburgh.[
In 1540 the ]dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
of the abbey led to the creation of Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...
, which was rededicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although an elaborate shrine had been constructed in the 14th century to Werburgh, this was broken up at the time of the Dissolution. Werburgh's relics were lost. Parts of the shrine's stonework that survived were reassembled in 1876. The shrine remains on display in the cathedral's Lady Chapel at the back of the main nave.
Today
St Werburgh remains the patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of Chester. Her feast day is 3 February.
At least ten churches in England, and some overseas, are dedicated to St.Werburgh, including those in Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
and Spondon
Spondon is a ward of the city of Derby. Originally a small village, Spondon dates back to the Domesday Book and it became heavily industrialised in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with companies such as British Celanese.
History
The n ...
. The village of Warburton in Greater Manchester (previously Cheshire) is named after its parish church of St Werburgh, and a neighbourhood in Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
is named St Werburghs
St. Werburgh's is an area in north-east central Bristol, England. It is surrounded by the M32 motorway, railway embankments and allotment slopes.
Geology
The solid geology of St Werburghs comprises Triassic Redcliffe Sandstone to the south- ...
after its church (now a climbing centre). The Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink (branded locally simply as Metrolink) is a tram/ light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the most extensive light rail system in the United Ki ...
line to East Didsbury has St Werburgh's Road, at the crossroads with Wilbraham Road where there is a church dedicated to St Werburgh.
See also
* St Werburgh's Church (disambiguation) St Werburgh's Church, dedicated to Saint Werburgh, may refer to a number of churches in England, and one in Ireland.
Churches England
* St Werburgh's Church, Birkenhead, Merseyside
*St Werburgh's Church, Bristol (deconsecrated, now a climbing cent ...
References
Further reading
*Gordon Emery, ''Curious Chester'' (1999)
*Gordon Emery, ''Chester Inside Out'' (1998)
*Gordon Emery, ''The Chester Guide'' (2003)
*Roy Wilding, ''Death in Chester'' (2003)
External links
*
Life of St Werbergh
{{authority control
699 deaths
People from Stone, Staffordshire
Anglo-Saxon nuns
Anglo-Saxon royalty
Mercian saints
Abbesses of Ely
7th-century Christian saints
Incorrupt saints
Year of birth unknown
Female saints of medieval England
House of Icel
People from Weedon Bec
7th-century English nuns