Wulfhilda of Barking
Wulfhilda, also known as Wulfhild and Wulfreda among several other names (c. 940 – c. 996), was an Anglo-Saxon abbess who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
Life
Wulfhilda was the daughter of a
According to
Goscelin also described Wulfhilda's service to her followers, which he compared to the qualities of a humble, attentive, and nurturing mother[2] and included "drawing water, gathering wood, kindling fires, preparing provisions, distributing clothes, and bathing her sisters",[7] which he called her ministry. Goscelin praised her hands during his description of her regular and secret practice of sitting in front of the abbey church's doors and distributing alms to the poor as they passed by. He also praised her protégée and successor, Leofflǽd, for following Wulfhilda's teachings and example of caring for others.[7] He dedicated his vita of Wulfhilda to Bishop Maurice of London, Barking Abbey's diocesan at the time, and appealed to him to defend and accept the nuns who kept her memory alive, citing the role of women's testimony throughout the history of the Christian Church.[8]
She died c. 996[9] and was buried at the abbey with two other saints, Hildelith and Ethelberga.[5] According to Goscelin, her veneration was widespread and long-lasting.[10]
Notes
- ^ Monks of Ramsgate. "Wulfilda". Book of Saints 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 9 December 2016 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Bugyis 2019, p. 96.
- ISBN 0-8146-2385-9.
- ^ Dunbar, Agnes (1904). A Dictionary of Saintly Women. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9781843842958.
- ^ Bugyis 2019, p. 104.
- ^ a b Bugyis 2019, p. 36.
- ^ Bugyis 2019, p. 41.
- ^ Bugyis 2019, p. 3.
- ^ Bugyis 2019, p. 39.
References
- Bugyis, Katie Ann-Marie (2019). The Care of Nuns: The Ministries of Benedictine Women in England During the Central Middle Ages. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-085128-6.
External links
- Wulfhild 2 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
- ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)