Mærwynn
Saint Mærwynn | |
|---|---|
| Abbess of Romsey | |
| Died | 10th Century |
| Venerated in | |
| Canonized | Pre-congregation |
| Feast |
|
Mærwynn, also known as St. Merewenna or Merwinna, (fl. 967−975 AD) was a 10th-century abbess of Romsey Abbey. She is recognised as a saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.[1][2][3]
Life[edit]
Mærwynn was the founding abbess of the reconsecrated Abbey of Romsey, and there is some certainty that she was appointed to the position by King Edgar the Peaceable on Christmas in 974.[4] While medieval legend had it that she was born in Ireland and educated by St. Patrick, historical understanding that five centuries separate them discounts this.[5]
She is instead known more historically from several surviving documents: a king's charter, by Edgar the Peaceable, to Romsey Abbey; the medieval confraternity book of Winchester, known as the Liber Vitae of the New Minster;[6] and the Secgan manuscript's hagiography.[5]
King Edgar sent Ælfflæd, his daughter,[7][8] to Mærwynn for care, and she became like a foster mother to the princess.[6]
Veneration[edit]
Mærwynn was buried at Romsey Abbey, close by to where her protégé Ælfflæd was buried. Her primary feast day is 10 February in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. There are secondary commemorations in the Catholic Church marking the date of the translation of her relics (and of Ælfflæd's) on 29 October,[2] with certain other secondary days of note mentioned by the Monks of Ramsgate.[9][10]
Romsey Abbey[edit]
The foundations of Mærwynn's abbey have been located under the tower, choir stalls and part of the nave of the current Norman church. Mærwynn's abbey was the second of the four church buildings to be built on the site; it was destroyed by Vikings in 1003 AD.[11]
References[edit]
- ^ "St. Merewenna". Eucharist and Truth.
- ^ a b Farmer, David Hugh (2011). "Merewenna (10th century)". The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5th rev. ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 307−308. ISBN 978-0-19-959660-7.
- ^ Alban Butler, Paul Burns, Butler's Lives of the Saints, Volume 10 (Alban Butler, Paul Burns, A&C Black, 1995) page 30
- ^ Thomas Perkins, Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey (Project Guttenberg, 2007) p. 70.
- ^ a b Liebermann, Felix (1889). Die Heiligen Englands: Angelsächsisch und Lateinisch (in German and Latin). Hanover. II.34.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (Contains full text of Secgan in Old English and Latin — via archive.org) - ^ a b Liber vitae ('The New Minster Liber Vitae of Winchester'). The British Library Digitised Manuscripts. Folio 26r.20.ix. Stowe MS 944. Manuscript images viewable online here at the British Library's Digitised Manuscript viewer
- ^ Farmer, David Hugh (2011). "Ethelfleda (fl. c. 960)". The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5th rev. ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-19-959660-7.
- ^ "The Abbey Church of St. Mary & St. Aethelfla". Archived from the original on 19 June 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
- ^ Akker, Dries (Andries Antonius) van den (2007). "Merwenna van Romsey". Heiligen (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ^ The Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate (1921). "Morwenna". The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonised by the Catholic Church. London: A. & C. Black Ltd. p. 198.
- ^ Thomas Perkins, Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey (Project Guttenberg, 2007) p17.