CHRISTINA OF MARKYATE, ST.

Recluse, daughter of Auti and Beatrix, gentlefolk of Huntingdon, England; d. c. 1155. As a child she took a private vow of virginity on a visit to the Abbey of St. Albans. At the age of 16 she incurred the emnity of Ralph Flambard, bishop of Durham and former chancellor of England, by repulsing his immoral advances; in revenge he had her betrothed to one of his friends, Burhtred. Upon Christina's refusal to marry, her parents used flattery, ridicule, magic, and physical violence to force her hand. The Augustinian prior of Huntingdon was induced to use his authority to change her mind, and on failing, he brought her before Bp. Robert Bloet of Lincoln, who at first decided in her favor but revoked his decision after a bribe. Encouraged by Ralph d'Escures, archbishop of Canterbury, and abetted by the hermit Eadwine, Christina took refuge with Alwen, a recluse at Flamstead, where she stayed for two years. A disagreement caused her to join Roger, a hermit at Caddington, with whom she stayed for four years. Upon Roger's death, Archbishop thurstan of york wished to make her superior of a convent in York, but she settled at Markyate. There Abbot Geoffrey of St. Albans, where her brother Gregory was a monk, built a convent for her. She exercised a beneficent influence over the abbot and his community. She was celebrated for her prophetic insight and wonder-working, and was revered by King Henry II and Pope adrian iv. For Adrian she made three miters and sandals. Her Psalter is preserved at Hildesheim.

Feast: Dec. 26.

Bibliography: The Life of Christina of Markyate, a Twelfth-Century Recluse, ed. and tr. c. h. talbot (Oxford 1959, rep. Toronto 1998). o. pÄcht et al., The St. Albans Psalter (London 1960).

[c. h. talbot]