EBK Home
  Kingdoms
  Royalty
  Saints  
  Pedigrees
  Archaeology
  King Arthur
  Mail David

 


St. Edburga of Bicester,
Abbess of Aylesbury

(Died AD 650)

St. Edburga of Bicester was daughter of the great pagan warrior king, Penda of Mercia. For a time she was a nun at Castor in Northamptonshire under her sister, St. Cuneburga. However, with another sister, St. Edith of Aylesbury, she built a small monastery, on land given by her father, at Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. Here, the two educated their niece, St. Osith. The villages of Adderbury and Edburton nearby are said to be named after St. Edburga. She died at Aylesbury on 18th July AD 650. In 1182, her relics were translated to Bicester Priory, a house of Augustinian Canons, and became a popular attractions with medieval pilgrims. The base of her shrine can still be seen at Stanton Harcourt.

Partly edited from Agnes Dunbar's "A Dictionary of Saintly Women" (1904).

 

    © Nash Ford Publishing 2001. All Rights Reserved.