Æthelred and Æthelberht
Saints Aethelred and Aethelberht of Kent (of Eastry) | |
|---|---|
| Born | seventh century |
| Died | c. 669 |
| Venerated in | Anglo-Saxon Christianity |
| Major shrine | Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire; Canterbury[1] |
| Feast | 17 October (translation of relics)[1] |
| Attributes | with Aethelberht, as royal brothers, sometimes with swords[1] |
Saints Æthelred and Æthelberht (also Ethelred, Ethelbert) according to the
Historical context
King
The legend
According to the legend, the princes were very pious Christian youths and lived at Eastry, Kent, at a royal dwelling belonging to their cousin King Egberht. (It is likely that such a residence existed, for Sir Frank Stenton pointed out that the placename Eastry, comparable to Surrey in formation, represented an early administrative centre.) A royal retainer named Thunor wished to secure the succession of King Ecgberht from a possible rival claim by these youths. He therefore had them secretly murdered, and their bodies hidden beneath the royal seat in the Hall at Eastry. After they were missed, but nowhere found, the crime was revealed by a column of light which appeared shining above the place of concealment.
When King Egberht learned of the crime he was filled with sorrow and remorse at the act which had been done in his name, and planned to have the bodies buried at Canterbury. However, the people charged with the task of taking the bodies there found it impossible to move them. After these efforts the king took advice from his religious leaders, who recommended that he have them taken to Wakering in the Kingdom of Essex for burial, where a monastery already existed. The site was probably Great Wakering, not many miles away from the possibly royal burial-site of Prittlewell, Essex. With this new destination the bodies consented to be moved, and were venerated in their final resting-place as royal Christian martyrs.
At about this time Egberht's mother Queen Seaxburh founded her own double monastery at
In addition to the Latin Passio (edited by David Rollason) a version of the story appears in Roger of Wendover's Flores Historiarum (Flowers of History), compiled in the early thirteenth century. Excavations at Great Wakering have recently uncovered a site of Middle Saxon occupation including a fragment of ornamented stone-sculpture, which may derive from the place named in the legend.
References
- ^ a b c Rabenstein, Katherine (March 1999). "Ethelbert (Ædilberct, Ethelbricht) and Ethelred of Kent MM (AC)". Saints O' the Day for October 17. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. Retrieved 2007-03-08. unarchived version Accessed 2012-02-22.
Sources
- Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, Ed. and Trans. by B. Colgrave and R.A.B. Mynors (Oxford 1969).
- J. A. Giles, Roger of Wendover's Flowers of History, Translation, Vol.1 (London 1849).
- S. Plunkett, Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times (Stroud 2005).
- D. W. Rollason, The Mildrith Legend. A Study of Early Medieval Hagiography in England (Leicester 1982).
- F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd Edition (Oxford 1971).