Eanflæd
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| Saint Enflaeda | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 April 626, Deira area, Northumbria[1] |
| Died | 11 December 704, Whitby, Yorkshire |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | November 24[2] |
 Saints Portal |
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Eanflæd (19 April 626 – 11 December 704) was the daughter of King Edwin of Deira and Æthelburg, daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent. In about 642 she married King Oswiu of Bernicia. After Oswiu's death in 670 Eanflæd retired to the Deiran family monastery of Whitby Abbey where she was abbess from around 680 until her death.
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[edit] Birth, baptism, exile
Eanflæd's mother had been raised as a Christian, but her father remained uncommitted to the new religion when she was born on the evening before Easter in 626 at a royal residence by the River Derwent. Bede recounts that earlier on the day that Eanflæd was born, an assassin sent by Cwichelm of Wessex made an attempt of Edwin's life. Edwin, prompted by Æthelburg's bishop, Paulinus, agreed to Eanflæd's baptism and promised to adopt Christianity himself if he was granted a victory over Cwichhelm. Eanflæd was baptised, Bede says, on the feast of Pentecost (8 June 626) with eleven others of the royal household.[3]
Edwin campaigned successfully against Cwichelm and adopted the new faith in 627.[4] His reign ended in 633 with his defeat and death at the battle of Hatfield Chase. Fleeing the unsettled times which followed Edwin's death, Æthelburg, together with Bishop Paulinus, returned to Kent where Eanflæd grew up under the protection of her uncle King Eadbald of Kent.[5]
[edit] Return, marriage
In 642 Oswiu, King of Bernicia, head of the rival Northumbrian dynasty, sent a priest named Utta to Kent, now ruled by Eanflæd's cousin Eorcenberht, to ask for her hand in marriage.[6] Oswiu had already been married, to a British princess named Rieinmellt, but had recently become King on the death of his brother Oswald at the battle of Maserfield. King Penda of Mercia, the victor of Maserfield, dominated central Britain, and Oswiu was in need of support. Marriage with Eanflæd would provide Kentish, and perhaps Frankish, support, and any children Oswiu and Eanflæd might have would have strong claims to all of Northumbria.[7] The date of the marriage is not recorded.[8]
If Oswiu's goal in marrying Eanflæd was the peaceful acceptance of his rule in Deira, the design was unsuccessful. By 644 Oswine, Eanflæd's paternal second cousin, was ruling in Deira.[9] In 651 Oswine was killed by one of Oswiu's generals. To expiate the killing of his wife's kinsman, Oswiu founded a monastery at Gilling where prayers were said for both kings.[10]
[edit] Mother, patron of Wilfred, supporter of Rome
Oswiu's complicated series of marriages and liaisons makes identifying the mothers of his children difficult. Eanflæd's children with Oswiu were, with varying degrees of certainty, Ecgfrith, Ælfwine, Osthryth and Ælfflæd. Aldfrith, Ealhfrith and Ealhflæd were not born to Eanflæd.[11]
Eanflæd was the early patroness of Wilfred, who played a large part in Northumbrian politics in the reigns of Ecfrith, Aldfrith and Osred, and elsewhere in 7th century Britain. When Wilfred wished to travel on pilgrimage to Rome, the Queen recommended him to her cousin the Kentish king Eorcenberht.[12]
[edit] Widow, abbess, saint
Eanflæd retired to the family monastery at Whitby on Oswiu's death. Following the death of her kinswoman Hild in 680, she was abbess jointly with her daughter Ælfflæd. She died in the reign of her stepson Aldfrith (685–704). During this time, the remains of King Edwin were reburied at Whitby.[13]
Some late sources give her feast day as 24 November. Along with Edwin, Oswiu, Hilda, and later Ælfflæd, she was buried at Whitby. William of Malmesbury believed that her remains had later been removed to Glastonbury Abbey where a monument to her was said to exist in the 12th century.[14]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Britannica.com
- ^ Catholic.org
- ^ Thacker; Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book II, Chapter 9. Thacker notes that according to a Welsh tradition recorded in the Historia Brittonum, chapter 64:
Higham, Northumbria, p. 81, suggests Sancton as the location of the royal residence in question.Eanfeld, his daughter, received baptism, on the twelfth day after Pentecost, with all her followers, both men and women. ... If any one wishes to know who baptized them, it was Rhun son of Urien.
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book II, Chapter 13.
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book II, Chapter 20. Bede states that Æthelburg did not trust her brother, or Edwin's sainted successor Oswald, with the lives of Edwin's male descendants whom she sent to the court of King Dagobert I in Francia.
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 15.
- ^ Higham, Convert Kings, p. 225; Holdsworth "Oswiu"; Thacker.
- ^ Thacker states "in or shortly after 642"; Holdsworth, "Oswiu", prefers 643.
- ^ Kirby, pp. 91–92; Yorke, 'Kings, pp. 78–79.
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 14; Holdsworth, "Oswiu"; Thacker; Higham, Convert Kings, pp. 226–230.
- ^ Higham, Northumbria, p. 80; Kirby, pp. 90 & 143; Thacker.
- ^ Eddius, Life of Wilfred, cc. 2–3.
- ^ Holdsworth, "Edwin"; Lapidge, "Eanflæd"; Thacker. Thacker gives her death date as "after 685", Lapidge, circa 704.
- ^ Thacker.
[edit] References
- Eanflæd. Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
- Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Translated by Leo Sherley-Price, revised R.E. Latham, ed. D.H. Farmer. London: Penguin, 1990. ISBN 0-14-044565-X
- Eddius, "Life of Wilfrid" in D.H. Farmer (ed.) & J.H. Webb (trans.), The Age of Bede. London: Penguin, 1998. IBN 0-140-44727-X
- Higham, N.J., The Convert Kings: Power and religious affiliation in early Anglo-Saxon England. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-7190-4828-1
- Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350-1100. Stroud: Sutton, 1993. ISBN 0-86299-730-5
- Holdsworth, Philip, "Edwin, King of Northumbria" in M. Lapidge, et al, (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0
- Holdsworth, Philip, "Oswiu" in M. Lapidge, et al, (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0
- Lapidge, Michel, "Eanflæd" in Michael Lapidge et al., The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0
- Lapidge, Michel, "Paulinus" in Michael Lapidge et al., The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0
- Thacker, Alan (2004). Eanflæd (St Eanflæd) (b. 626, d. after 685). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
