| Saint Withburga | |
|---|---|
St. Wihtburh, depicted in a rood screen in Dereham |
|
| Virgin; Abbess | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | March 17, 743 Dereham, England |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church; Anglican Communion; Eastern Orthodoxy |
| Feast | July 8 |
Wihtburh (or Withburga) (died 743) was an East Anglia saint, princess and abbess who was possibly a daughter of Anna of East Anglia. She founded a monastery at Dereham in Norfolk and a traditional story says that the Virgin Mary sent a pair of does to provide milk for her workers during the monastery's construction. Her body is supposed to have been uncorrupted when discovered half a century after her death: it was later stolen on the orders of the abbot of Ely and a spring then appeared at the site of the saint's empty tomb at Dereham.
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Tradition describes Wihtburh as the youngest of the daughters of Anna of East Anglia, but she is not mentioned by Bede, who was well-informed about her elder sisters[1] Seaxburh of Ely, Æthelthryth and Æthelburh of Faremoutiers and Sæthryth, her older half-sister.
After her father's death (c.653) Wihtburh built a convent in East Dereham, Norfolk. A traditional story relates that while she was building the convent she had nothing but dry bread to give to the workmen. She prayed to the Virgin Mary and was told to send her maids to a local well each morning. There they found two wild does which provided milk for the workers. This allowed the workers to be fed.[2]
The local overseer did not like Wihtburh or her miracles and decided to hunt these does down with dogs and prevent them from coming to be milked. He was punished for his cruelty when he was thrown from his horse and broke his neck. This story is commemorated in the large town sign in the centre of East Dereham.
Wihtburh died in 743 and was buried in the abbey cemetery.[3] Her body was dug up 55 years later, was found not to have decayed and was moved into the church that she had built. Dereham became a place of pilgrimage, with people coming to visit Wihtburh's tomb.
In 974 Brithnoth, the abbot of Ely, elected to steal her body so that he could have financial gain from the pilgrims. Brithnoth and some armed men came to Dereham and organised a feast. When the Dereham men were properly drunk, the Ely mob stole Withburga's body and set off for home. Dereham soon found out that this crime had taken place and set off after the Ely criminals.[4]
There was a large fight between the two sides, with spears as well as fists being thrown. As the men approached Ely, however, the thieves had the advantage of knowing their way through the swamps and marshes - and Wihtburh was deposited in Ely.
When the Dereham men returned home, however, they found that a spring had appeared in Wihtburh's violated tomb. The water in this spring was considered to be compensation for the loss of their saint and pilgrims continued to come and drink from the water. The spring has never run dry and the water, in Withburga's violated tomb, can be visited to this day.