Saint Æthelburh (died after 686) or Ethelburga, founder and first

Abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...

of the

double monastery A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East ...

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, was the sister of

Earconwald __NOTOC__ Earconwald or Erkenwald (died 693) was Bishop of London between 675 and 693. Life Earconwald was born at Lindsey in Lincolnshire,Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 182 and was supposedly of royal ancestry. In 666, he established t ...

Bishop of London 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 ...

Life

The main source for Æthelburh is

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

's ''

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum 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 ...

'' which recounts the foundation of Barking, early

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

s there, and Æthelburh's death (Book IV, Chapters 6 to 10). Bede describes Æthelburg as "upright in life and constantly planning for the needs of her community". Some time before he became bishop of London in 675, Earconwold founded a

at Barking for his sister, and a monastery at Chertsey for himself. Barking appears to have already been established by the time of the plague in 664. A charter, believed genuine and drafted by Bishop Eorcenwald in the reign of King Sebbi of Essex (reigned –c. 694), records a grant of lands in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

by a certain Æthelred to Æthelburh and Barking. This is dated to between 686 and 688. The 9th century ''

Old English Martyrology The Old English Martyrology is a collection of over 230 hagiographies, probably compiled in Mercia, or by someone who wrote in the Mercian dialect of the Old English language, in the second half of the 9th century. The sources of the Old English ...

'' records a vision, recounted by a nun of Barking, who saw Æthelburh being drawn up into heaven by golden chains. She was buried at Barking. The ''Old English Martyrology'' records 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 ...

as 11 October. She is commemorated by the

Orthodox Church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (di ...

on 11 October. Her successor as abbess was

Hildelith Hildelith of Barking, also known as Hildilid or Hildelitha, was an 8th-century Christian saint, from Anglo-Saxon England but of foreign origin. Very little is known of her life; however, she is known to history mainly through the hagiography of ...

. Ethelburga founded the church of All Hallows Berkyngechirche (now known as All Hallows Barking or

All Hallows by the Tower All Hallows-by-the-Tower, at one time dedicated jointly to All Hallows (All Saints) and the Virgin Mary and sometimes known as All Hallows Barking, is an ancient Anglican church on Byward Street in the City of London, overlooking the Tower of ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

on land given to her by her brother Eorconwald c. 675. The church of St Ethelburga the Virgin in the City of London is dedicated to her. It survived the Great Fire and the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

but was extensively damaged in an IRA attack in 1993; however, it has been restored and is now a centre for international reconciliation. An area near

Battersea Park Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland reclai ...

and Albert Bridge was also named after her (Ethelburga Street, the Ethelburga Estate and Ethelburga Primary School in 1968-2000). Other churches dedicated to Æthelburh include the Grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

St Ethelburga's at

Great Givendale Great Givendale is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north of Pocklington. Great Givendale forms part of the civil parish of Millington. The church, dedicated to Saint Ethelburgh, was designated ...

, near

Pocklington Pocklington is a market town and civil parish situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded its population as 8,337. It is east of York and northwest of Hull. The town's sk ...

in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Ethelburga 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 Britain ...

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 11 October.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelburh Of Barking 7th-century births 7th-century deaths East Saxon saints Anglo-Saxon abbesses 7th-century Christian saints 7th-century English women Female saints of medieval England 7th-century English people Medieval landowners Anglican saints