St. Wihtburh, depicted in St Nicholas's Church, Dereham, Norfolk
Died
17 March 743 Dereham
Venerated in
Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church
Major shrine
Ely Cathedral
Feast
8 July (translation of relics) , March 17 (repose)
Attributes
A pair of does; church
Catholic cult suppressed
1540s[1]
Wihtburh (also Withburga or Withburge; died 743) was an East Anglian saint, princess and abbess. According to tradition, she was the youngest daughter of Anna, king of the East Angles, but Virginia Blanton has suggested that the royal connection was probably a fabrication. One story says that the Virgin Mary sent a pair of female deer to provide milk for Wihtburh's workers during the construction of her convent at Dereham, in Norfolk. When a local official attempted to hunt down the does, he was thrown from his horse and killed.
Withburh died in 743 and was buried at Dereham. Her body was said to be uncorrupted by age or decay when her tomb was opened half a century after her death, and the church and the tomb subsequently became a place of pilgrimage. When her relics were stolen on the orders of the abbot of Ely Abbey, the remains were re-interred at Ely next to her sisters Æthelthryth and Seaxburh. In 1106, Withburh's body was again examined and found to be intact.
Wihtburh’s cult in Eastern England, which was never large, was closely linked with that of her sister Æthelthryth. It was suppressed during the Reformation in the 1540s, and her relics were all destroyed.
^"The Story of Ely". Ely Cathedral. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
Wihtburh (also Withburga or Withburge; died 743) was an East Anglian saint, princess and abbess. According to tradition, she was the youngest daughter...
his daughters – Seaxburh, Æthelthryth, Æthelburh and possibly a fourth, Wihtburh – were canonised. Little is known of Anna's life or his reign, as few records...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
926 5 January 1047 by Pope Clement II Wihtberht 7 May 675 13 August 747 Wihtburh unknown 17 March 743 Wilfrid c. 633 709 or 710 Wilfrid II unknown 29 April...
other animals were kept or grazed. According to local tradition, Saint Wihtburh (aka Withburga), claimed to be the daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles...
VIII Now believed to be buried beneath her shrine in Chester cathedral. Wihtburh of East Anglia, relics destroyed under Henry VIII Winibald of Wessex, tomb...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
Frankish abbot and bishop Theudimer (also known as Tudmir), Visigothic count Wihtburh, Anglo-Saxon abbess Brian Todd Carey (2012). Road to Manzikert: "Byzantine...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
similar to the interior walls of the Galilee porch. The relics of the saints Wihtburh, Seaxburh (sisters of St Etheldreda) and Ermenilda (daughter of St Seaxburh...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
I Wihtberht, Anchorite Benedictine, died 743, born to Wessex nobility Wihtburh, Abbess and Princess of Kingdom of East Anglia, died 743 Wilgyth, obscure...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
Kent Emma ♀ Ecgfrith ♂ king of Northumbria St Æthelthryth ♀ of Ely St Wihtburh ♀ of Ely St Seaxburh ♀ of Ely Eorcenberht ♂ king of Kent St Eanswith ♀...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
suggestion. Seaxburh was buried at Ely with her sisters Æthelthryth and Wihtburh, along with her daughter Eormenhild. Seaxburh was connected with the royal...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...
other places. Goscelin is last recorded as the author of a life of St Wihtburh of Ely, completed following her translation in 1106. William of Malmesbury...
Thorney Torthred of Thorney Tova of Thorney Walstan of Bawburgh Wendreda Wihtburh of Ely Wulfric of Holme East Saxon Æthelburh of Barking Hildelith of Barking...