ETHELBURGA, SS.

There are three contemporary saints by this name. (1) Ethelburga of Barking; d. c. 676. A sister of Bishop erconwald of london, she was the first abbess of the double monastery at barking.

Feast: Oct. 12 (Diocese of Brentwood).

(2) Ethelburga (or Aubierge, Edilburga); d. 695. A sister of St. ethelreda, she was abbess of faremou-tiers when she died.

Feast: July 7.

(3) Ethelburga (or Tata) of Lyminge; d. c. 644. The daughter of King ethelbert and Bertha. In the course of her father's diplomatic and apostolic maneuvers, she married the pagan King edwin of northumbria. Bishop paulinus accompanied her to the north as her chaplain and became the first bishop of york. Together they labored to spread the knowledge of Christianity throughout Northumbria, their biggest obstacle being the firm paganism of Edwin. Pope boniface v sent her a letter of encouragement. After the birth of a daughter, Edwin renounced his ancestral rites and became a Christian (627), an act that contributed to his death in the Battle of Heathfield in 633. After Ethelburga retired to Kent with her two children, her son was sent on to Gaul, where he died at the court of King Dagobert; her daughter ultimately married Oswy, king of Northumbria. Ethelburga herself founded the Abbey at Lymynge where she died as abbess.

Feast: April 5.

Bibliography: bede, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. c. plummer (Oxford 1896, repr. 1956) bks. 2, 3, 4. Acta Sanctorum Oct. 5:649–652; July 2:481–482. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 4:95–96; 3:34; 2:35. a. m.. zimmermann, Kalendarium Benedictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige (Metten 1933–1938) 2:20–21. f. l. cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (London 1957) 465. j. dubois, Catholicisme 3:1330.

[j. l. druse]