| Botwulf of Thorney | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7th century |
| Died | 680 |
| Honored in | Anglican Communion Orthodox Church[1][2] Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | 17 June (England) 25 June (Scotland) |
| Patronage | the patron saint of travellers and farming |
Botwulf of Thorney (also called Botolph, Botulph or Botulf; died around 680) was an English abbot and saint. He is the patron saint of travellers and the various aspects of farming. His feast day is celebrated either on 17 June (in England) or 25 June (in Scotland), and his translation on 1 December.
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Little is known about Botwulf's life, other than doubtful details in a surviving account written four hundred years after his death by the 11th-century monk Folcard. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records for the year 6531: The Middle Angles, under earldorman Peada, received the true faith. King Anna was killed and Botulf began to build the church at Ikanho. Icanho, which means 'ox hill', has now been identified as Iken, which is located by the estuary of the Alde in the East Anglian county of Suffolk: a church remains on top of an isolated hill in the parish.2 The Life of St Ceolfrith, written around the time of Bede by an unknown author, mentions an abbot named Botolphus in East Anglia, "a man of remarkable life and learning, full of the grace of the Holy Spirit".3
Botwulf is supposed to have been buried at his foundation of Icanho. In 970, Edgar I of England gave permission for Botwulf's remains to be transferred to Burgh, near Woodbridge, where they remained for some fifty years before being transferred to their own tomb at the abbey of Bury St Edmunds, on the instructions of Cnut. The saint's relics were later transferred, along with those of his brother Adulf, to Thorney Abbey, although his head was transferred to Ely Cathedral and other portions to Westminster Abbey and other houses.
Many English churches are dedicated to Botwulf. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 64 ancient English churches were dedicated to him, but later research has suggested the true number may have been as high as 71. There is a high concentration of dedications in East Anglia. The Stump, in the Lincolnshire town of Boston, is one of the most famous. Boston, or 'Botwulf's town', gave the Massachusetts city of Boston its name.
In his role as a patron saint of travellers, four City of London churches were dedicated to him, all of which were close to gates in the City walls: St Botolph Billingsgate, which was destroyed in the Great Fire and never rebuilt; St Botolph Aldersgate; St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, where the poet Keats was baptised; and St Botolph's Aldgate. It is believed that these dedications were made because the churches provided places for incoming travellers to give thanks for their safe arrival and for outgoing travellers to pray for a safe journey. An alternative possibility is that the churches were dedicated to the saint because his relics came through the four gates when Edgar moved them from Iken to Westminster Abbey.
St. Botolph founded the monastery of Ikanhoe in Suffolk. Boston was 'Botolphston' (from "Botolph's stone" or "Botolph's town").
He is remembered in the names of both the market town of Boston in Lincolnshire (100 miles north of London), and Boston in Massachusetts, United States.
In Boston in Massachusetts, St Botolph is the name of a street (St. Botolph Street), a private club [3] and the President's House at Boston College. There is also a St. Botolph Street in London, as well several London churches are dedicated to the saint.
Botolph gave his name to several English villages. Originally called Botulph’s Bridge, Bottlebridge lost its identity when it became part of Orton Longueville parish in 1762.[4]
Cambridge University's poetry journal in the 1950s, in which Ted Hughes contributed, was called St. Botolph's Review. It was named for St. Botolph's Church in Cambridge, since one of its co-founders, Lucas Myers, lived on the grounds of its rectory. A second edition of the journal was published in 2006.