ETHELBERT, KING OF EAST ANGLIA, ST.

Martyr, d. 794. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was killed at the order of Offa II of Mercia, perhaps because he stood for an independent East Anglia. Later hagiographers described him as a pious youth who wished to lead a celibate life, but was persuaded to propose marriage to Elfthryth, Offa's daughter. He was murdered at an interview with the king on the instigation of the queen. His body was later buried in the cathedral of hereford. He became patron saint of Hereford and is honored by extensive services in the Hereford Breviary (Henry Bradshaw Society 40:167–182; 46:31–36). His feast is now observed in the Dioceses of Cardiff, Wales, and Northampton, England.

Feast: May 20.

Bibliography: t. d. hardy, Descriptive Catalogue of Materials Relating to the History of Britain and Ireland, 3 v. (Rerum Brittanicarum medii aevi scriptores (London 1858–1896) 26; London 1862–71) 1.2:494–496. j. earle and c. plummer, eds., Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, 2 v. (Oxford 1892–99) 1:55, 2:61–62. m. r. james, ed., "Two Lives of St. Ethelbert" English Historical Review 32 (1917) 214–244. Landesbibliothek Gotha MS I, No. 81, folios 30–39, see p. grosjean, Analecta Bollandiana 58 (1940) 92–93. w. stubbs, A Dictionary of Christian Biography, ed. w. smith and h. wace, (London 1877–1887) 2:215–216. r. stanton, A Menology of England and Wales (New York 1887) 220–221. a.t. bannister, The Cathedral Church of Hereford (London 1924).

[b. w. scholz]