#saint etheldreda

[caedmonofwhitby]

23rd June,feast-day of St Etheldreda of Ely

Alabaster panel in St Peter Mancroft, Norwich.

The Virgin saints depicted are: Upper row: St Barbara with a tower and palm, and the Anglo-Saxon Saints: St Withburga; St Etheldreda; St Sexburga; St. Ermenilda Lower row: St Catherine, St Ursula, St Margaret with a dragon and St Helena

St Peter Mancroft, Norwich

23 June is the feast-day of St Etheldreda of Ely, arguably the most important female saint from Anglo-Saxon England. Etheldreda (also known as Æthelthryth, the Old English form of her name, or as Audrey, a familiar late-medieval version) was the founder of a great monastery and the first in an influential dynasty of royal saints. The story of her life is told in this section of Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica: briefly, she was the daughter of the king of the East Angles, who despite being married twice preserved her virginity in hope of being able to pursue a religious life. She was eventually able to part from her second husband, King Ecgfrith of Northumbria, and fulfilled her wish to become a nun. After a year at the abbey of Coldingham she went to Ely, an island in the Fens situated within her family's ancestral kingdom, where she founded her own abbey with two other women. She died there on 23 June 679

Eleanor Parker, The Lady Etheldreda, Nun and Avenger, Clerk of Oxford Blog

[silentambassadors]

Requiescat in pace, Æthelthryth.  An East Anglian princess, Northumbrian and Fenland queen, first Abbess of Ely, and now a saint venerated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox churches, she is said to have founded a double monastery at Ely in 673 (which building was later destroyed during the Danish Invasion in 870), the present construction (built in 1083) of which is highlighted in the above stamps.  For this stamp enthusiast’s fellow lexicographer friends, in the Common Tongue Æthelthryth was known as St. Audrey, which gave us the word tawdry--Æthelthryth’s followers were known for the lace goods they would purchase: St. Audrey lace = tawdry lace = tawdry, for by the 17th Century, the lacework was seen as old-fashioned and/or of cheap quality.  Ouch.  Æthelthryth died on this date in 679, probably in her early 40s.

Stamp details: Issued on: November 14, 1989 From: London, England MC #1235-1239

[nomadchick]

7 Reasons to Visit Ely

7 Reasons to Visit #Ely #cambridgeshire #travel

Many people who are doing the tourist circuit of England hit Cambridge, but most will leave without journeying the 17 or so miles to visit the hidden gem that is Ely, just to the North.  It’s one stop I demanded be included on our Spring Cathedrals and Choirs tour for Big World(the travel company I run with a friend – we specialize in niche history tours).  You should totally come on our tour.…

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[rev-artistry]

Saint Etheldreda, stained glass. St. Peter’s Church, Walpole St. Peter, Norfolk, England

[francesspiegel-blog]

Medieval women had few choices: most either married or entered the religious life. Etheldreda, founder of Ely Cathedral, is one such person.