Hilda of Whitby
Encyclopedia
Hilda of Whitby or Hild of Whitby (c. 614–680) was a Christian
saint
and the founding abbess
of the monastery
at Whitby
, which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby
. An important figure in the conversion of England
to Christianity
, she was abbess at several monasteries and recognized for the wisdom that drew kings to her for advice.
The source of information about Hilda is The Ecclesiastical History of the English
by the Venerable Bede
in 731, who was born approximately eight years before her death. He documented much of the conversion away from the Anglo-Saxon paganism established in England when it was invaded and settled by Germanic tribes that resulted in the recall of the legions of the Roman Empire from the province of Britannia in 410.
, and his wife Breguswith. Her elder sister, Hereswith, married Æthelric
, brother of King Anna of East Anglia
, who with all of his daughters became renowned for their saintly Christian virtues.
When Hilda was still an infant, her father was murdered by poison while in exile at the court of the British King of Elmet
in what is now West Yorkshire
. It generally is assumed that she was brought up at King Edwin's court in Northumbria
. In 627 King Edwin was baptised
on Easter
Day, April 12, along with his entire court
, which included Hilda, in a small wooden church hastily constructed for the occasion near the site of the present York Minster
.
The ceremony was performed by the monk-bishop Paulinus
, who had come from Rome
with Augustine
at the request of the pope on what is referred to as the Gregorian mission
. He accompanied Æthelburg of Kent, a Christian princess, who was the daughter of King Ethelbert of Kent
and the Merovingian princess Saint Bertha
, when Æthelburg came North from Kent
to marry King Edwin. As queen, Æthelburg continued to practice her Christianity and no doubt influenced her husband's thinking, as her mother had influenced her father.
From the date of her baptism until 647 nothing is known about Hilda. It seems likely that when King Edwin was killed in battle in 633 she went to live with her sister at the East Anglian court. Bede resumes her story at a point when she was about to join her widowed sister at Chelles Abbey
in Gaul
. At the age of 33, Hilda decided instead, to answer the call of St. Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne
and chose to return to Northumbria
to live as a nun
.
. Here, with a few companions, she learned the traditions of Celtic
monasticism
, which Aidan
brought from Iona
. After a year Aidan appointed Hilda as the second Abbess
of Hartlepool Abbey
. No trace remains of this abbey, but its monastic cemetery has been found near the present St. Hilda's Church, Hartlepool.
In 657 Hilda became the founding abbess of a new monastery at Whitby
, then known as Streonshalh; she remained there until her death. Archaeological evidence shows that her monastery was in the Celtic style, with its members living in small houses, each for two or three people. The tradition in double monasteries, such as Hartlepool and Whitby, was that men and women lived separately, but worshipped together in church. The exact location and size of the church associated with this monastery, is unknown.
Bede states that the original ideals of monasticism were maintained strictly in Hilda's abbey. All property and goods were held in common; Christian virtues were exercised, especially peace
and charity
. Everyone had to study the Bible
and do good works.
Five men from this monastery became bishop
s and two also join Hilda in being revered as saint
s - Saint John of Beverley, Bishop of Hexham, and St. Wilfrid, Bishop of York. They rendered untold service to the Anglo-Saxon Church at this critical period of the struggle with paganism.
, however. He was a herder at the monastery, who was inspired in a dream to sing verses in praise of God. Hilda recognized his gift and encouraged him to develop it.
Although Hilda must have had a strong character she inspired affection. As Bede writes, "All who knew her called her mother because of her outstanding devotion and grace".
chose Hilda's monastery as the venue for the Synod of Whitby
, the first synod
of the Church in his kingdom. He invited churchmen from as far away as Wessex
to attend the synod.
Most of those present, including Hilda, accepted the King's decision to adopt the method of calculating Easter
currently used in Rome
, establishing Roman practice as the norm in Northumbria
. The monks from Lindisfarne
, who would not accept this, withdrew to Iona
and later, to Ireland
.
. She died after receiving viaticum
, and her legend holds that at the moment of her passing the bells of the monastery of Hackness tolled. A nun named Begu
also claimed to have witnessed Hilda's soul being borne to heaven by angels.
. From then onward we know nothing about the abbey at Whitby until it was destroyed by the Danish invaders in 867.
After the Norman conquest of England
that began in 1066 AD, monks from Evesham re-founded the abbey
as a Benedictine
house for men. Thus it continued until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
by King Henry VIII
in 1539.
A local legend says that when sea birds fly over the abbey they dip their wings in honour of Saint Hilda. Another legend tells of a plague of snake
s which Hilda turned to stone, supposedly explaining the presence of ammonite
fossils on the shore; heads were carved onto these 'petrified snakes' to honour this legend. In fact, the ammonite genus Hildoceras
takes its scientific name from St. Hilda. It was not unknown for local “artisans” to carve snakes' heads onto ammonites, and sell these “relics” as proof of her miracle. The coat of arms of nearby Whitby includes three such 'snakestones'.
From the late nineteenth century until the present day, there has been a revival of interest in and devotion to, St. Hilda. With the development of education for modern women she has become the patron of many schools and colleges all over the world. College of St Hild and St Bede
, Durham, St Hilda's College, Oxford
and St Hilda's College (University of Melbourne)
and St Hilda's Collegiate School, Dunedin
are named after Saint Hilda. Hilda is considered one of the patron saint
s of learning and culture, including poetry, due to her patronage of Cædmon.
Two churches in Whitby, (Roman Catholic and Anglican), have been dedicated under her patronage and another, in Bilsborrow, Lancashire.
There is an Anglican church named after St. Hilda in the Cross Green area of Leeds. It was opened in September 1882. There is a statue of St. Hilda in the nave, depicting her as the Mother of her Abbey at Whitby. She also appears in a stained glass window at the east end of the church. The church still is active and a sung mass is held there every Sunday. Several small streets in the immediate area are named after the church - St. Hilda's Mount, St. Hilda's Road, among them.
Since 1915 at St. Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle, on the western edge of Whitby
town, there has been a community of Anglican sisters - the Order of the Holy Paraclete - which draws inspiration from the monastic and educational ideals of St. Hilda. More recently, the Community of St. Aidan and St. Hilda has been founded on Lindisfarne
.
In the Roman Catholic
church, the feast day of St. Hilda is November 17, in other parts of the Anglican Communion, her feast is on November 18, in the Church of England
however, it is kept on November 19. In the calendar approved for the Anglican Use
in the Roman Catholic Church, the feast day of St. Hilda is celebrated on June 23, together with those of St. Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, d. 679, and St. Mildred, Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, d. c.700.
On the upper west side of Manhattan
in New York City is St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School. St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s School is an independent Episcopal day school that opened its doors in 1950. The school is coeducational and includes toddlers through grade eight.
St.Hilda's College at the University of Melbourne was founded in 1964 as the college for women associated with the (then) exclusively male colleges Ormond (Presbyterian) and Queens (Methodist), becoming co-educational in 1973.
St. Hilda's College, University of Toronto
is the women's college of University of Trinity College
. Although the schools have long been merged, only recently has the formerly women-only residence been made co-educational. Saint Hilda is honoured as co-patron (with Our Lady) of the Lady Chapel where daily services are held by Trinity's Faculty of Divinity.
There are two schools situated in Australia in recognition of St. Hilda. They are both 'St. Hilda's Anglican School for Girls' which is an independent, girls' school in Southport
, South-East Australia and Mosman Park, Western Australia
.
(http://www.sthildas.qld.edu.au/) and (http://www.sthildas.wa.edu.au/).
St. Hilda is the patron saint of the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C.
St. Hilda also is famous in Singapore
, being honored in St. Hilda's Primary and Secondary schools.
St. Hilda's Diocesan High School is an Anglican boarding school for girls in Brown's Town, St. Ann, Jamaica
. The grade levels go up to Fifth Form. The school was founded by Canon James Philip Hall, who was then Rector of St. Mark's Anglican Church in Brown's Town, in 1906-1907.
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
and the founding abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
at Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
, which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby
Synod of Whitby
The Synod of Whitby was a seventh century Northumbriansynod where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome, rather than the customs practised by Iona and its satellite institutions...
. An important figure in the conversion of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, she was abbess at several monasteries and recognized for the wisdom that drew kings to her for advice.
The source of information about Hilda is The Ecclesiastical History of the English
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
by the Venerable Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
in 731, who was born approximately eight years before her death. He documented much of the conversion away from the Anglo-Saxon paganism established in England when it was invaded and settled by Germanic tribes that resulted in the recall of the legions of the Roman Empire from the province of Britannia in 410.
Early life
According to Bede, Hilda (or Hild, the Old English form of her name) was born in 614, the second daughter of Hereric, nephew of Edwin of NorthumbriaEdwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
, and his wife Breguswith. Her elder sister, Hereswith, married Æthelric
Æthelric
Æthelric was a king of the Hwicce and son of Oshere; it is possible that he reigned jointly with Æthelheard, Æthelweard, and Æthelberht.He is known from charters....
, brother of King Anna of East Anglia
Anna of East Anglia
Anna was King of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. Anna was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles. He was one of the three sons of Eni who ruled East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia...
, who with all of his daughters became renowned for their saintly Christian virtues.
When Hilda was still an infant, her father was murdered by poison while in exile at the court of the British King of Elmet
Elmet
Elmet was an independent Brythonic kingdom covering a broad area of what later became the West Riding of Yorkshire during the Early Middle Ages, between approximately the 5th century and early 7th century. Although its precise boundaries are unclear, it appears to have been bordered by the River...
in what is now West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
. It generally is assumed that she was brought up at King Edwin's court in Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
. In 627 King Edwin was baptised
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
on Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Day, April 12, along with his entire court
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
, which included Hilda, in a small wooden church hastily constructed for the occasion near the site of the present York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
.
The ceremony was performed by the monk-bishop Paulinus
Paulinus of York
Paulinus was a Roman missionary and the first Bishop of York. A member of the Gregorian mission sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to Christianize the Anglo-Saxons from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism, Paulinus arrived in England by 604 with the second missionary group...
, who had come from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
with Augustine
Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
at the request of the pope on what is referred to as the Gregorian mission
Gregorian mission
The Gregorian mission, sometimes known as the Augustinian mission, was the missionary endeavour sent by Pope Gregory the Great to the Anglo-Saxons in 596 AD. Headed by Augustine of Canterbury, its goal was to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. By the death of the last missionary in 653, they...
. He accompanied Æthelburg of Kent, a Christian princess, who was the daughter of King Ethelbert of Kent
Ethelbert of Kent
Æthelberht was King of Kent from about 580 or 590 until his death. In his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the eighth-century monk Bede lists Aethelberht as the third king to hold imperium over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
and the Merovingian princess Saint Bertha
Bertha of Kent
Saint Bertha was the Queen of Kent whose influence led to the introduction of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of English history.Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, Merovingian King of Paris...
, when Æthelburg came North from Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
to marry King Edwin. As queen, Æthelburg continued to practice her Christianity and no doubt influenced her husband's thinking, as her mother had influenced her father.
From the date of her baptism until 647 nothing is known about Hilda. It seems likely that when King Edwin was killed in battle in 633 she went to live with her sister at the East Anglian court. Bede resumes her story at a point when she was about to join her widowed sister at Chelles Abbey
Chelles Abbey
Chelles Abbey was founded by Saint Balthild, widow of King Clovis II of Neustria circa 658. It was dissolved during the French Revolution.Chelles had been the site of a Merovingian palace, the villa Calae. A church, dedicated to Saint George had been founded at Chelles by Queen Clothilde...
in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. At the age of 33, Hilda decided instead, to answer the call of St. Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
and chose to return to Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
to live as a nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
.
As a nun
Hilda's original convent is not known, except that it was on the north bank of the River WearRiver Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
. Here, with a few companions, she learned the traditions of Celtic
Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity that were common, or held to be common, across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages...
monasticism
Monasticism
Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
, which Aidan
Aidan of Lindisfarne
Known as Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Aidan the Apostle of Northumbria , was the founder and first bishop of the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England. A Christian missionary, he is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. Aidan is the Anglicised form of the original Old...
brought from Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
. After a year Aidan appointed Hilda as the second Abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of Hartlepool Abbey
Hartlepool Abbey
Hartlepool Abbey was a Northumbrian monastery founded in 640 CE by Hieu, the first of the saintly recluses of Northumbria, and Aidan of Lindisfarne, on the Headland Estate of Hartlepool now called the Heugh or Old Hartlepool, in County Durham, England....
. No trace remains of this abbey, but its monastic cemetery has been found near the present St. Hilda's Church, Hartlepool.
In 657 Hilda became the founding abbess of a new monastery at Whitby
Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine abbey overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII...
, then known as Streonshalh; she remained there until her death. Archaeological evidence shows that her monastery was in the Celtic style, with its members living in small houses, each for two or three people. The tradition in double monasteries, such as Hartlepool and Whitby, was that men and women lived separately, but worshipped together in church. The exact location and size of the church associated with this monastery, is unknown.
Bede states that the original ideals of monasticism were maintained strictly in Hilda's abbey. All property and goods were held in common; Christian virtues were exercised, especially peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
and charity
Charity (virtue)
In Christian theology charity, or love , means an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others.The term should not be confused with the more restricted modern use of the word charity to mean benevolent giving.- Caritas: altruistic love :...
. Everyone had to study the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and do good works.
Five men from this monastery became bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s and two also join Hilda in being revered as saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s - Saint John of Beverley, Bishop of Hexham, and St. Wilfrid, Bishop of York. They rendered untold service to the Anglo-Saxon Church at this critical period of the struggle with paganism.
Her character
Bede describes Hilda as a woman of great energy, who was a skilled administrator and teacher. She gained such a reputation for wisdom that kings and princes sought her advice. She also had a concern for ordinary folk such as CædmonCædmon
Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known. An Anglo-Saxon who cared for the animals and was attached to the double monastery of Streonæshalch during the abbacy of St. Hilda , he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream,...
, however. He was a herder at the monastery, who was inspired in a dream to sing verses in praise of God. Hilda recognized his gift and encouraged him to develop it.
Although Hilda must have had a strong character she inspired affection. As Bede writes, "All who knew her called her mother because of her outstanding devotion and grace".
The Synod of Whitby
King OswiuOswiu of Northumbria
Oswiu , also known as Oswy or Oswig , was a King of Bernicia. His father, Æthelfrith of Bernicia, was killed in battle, fighting against Rædwald, King of the East Angles and Edwin of Deira at the River Idle in 616...
chose Hilda's monastery as the venue for the Synod of Whitby
Synod of Whitby
The Synod of Whitby was a seventh century Northumbriansynod where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome, rather than the customs practised by Iona and its satellite institutions...
, the first synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
of the Church in his kingdom. He invited churchmen from as far away as Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
to attend the synod.
Most of those present, including Hilda, accepted the King's decision to adopt the method of calculating Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
currently used in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, establishing Roman practice as the norm in Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
. The monks from Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
, who would not accept this, withdrew to Iona
Iona
Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Irish monasticism for four centuries and is today renowned for its tranquility and natural beauty. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats...
and later, to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Illness and death
Hilda suffered from fever for the last six years of her life, but she continued to work until her death on November 17, 680, at what was then thought to be the advanced age of sixty-six. In her last year she set up another monastery, fourteen miles from Whitby, at HacknessHackness
Hackness is a village and civil parish in the Scarboroughdistrict of the county of North Yorkshire, England.Hackness is mentioned as the site of a double monastery or nunnery by Bede, writing in the early 8th century. The church of Saint Mary has fragments of a high cross dating from the late 8th...
. She died after receiving viaticum
Viaticum
Viaticum is a term used especially in the Roman Catholic Church for the Eucharist administered, with or without anointing of the sick, to a person who is dying, and is thus a part of the last rites...
, and her legend holds that at the moment of her passing the bells of the monastery of Hackness tolled. A nun named Begu
Begu
Saint Begu was a nun and later saint from Hackness, Yorkshire . She served at the monastic conversation in the nunnery of Hackness, near Scarborough which was built by St. Hilda of Whitby shortly before her death....
also claimed to have witnessed Hilda's soul being borne to heaven by angels.
Legacy
Hilda was succeeded as abbess by Eanflæd, widow of King Oswiu, and her daughter, ÆlfflædÆlfflæd of Whitby
Saint Ælfflæd was the daughter of King Oswiu of Northumbria and Eanflæd. She was abbess of Whitby Abbey from the death of her kinswoman Hilda in 680, first jointly with her mother, then alone.Most of Ælfflæd's life was spent as a nun...
. From then onward we know nothing about the abbey at Whitby until it was destroyed by the Danish invaders in 867.
After the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
that began in 1066 AD, monks from Evesham re-founded the abbey
Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine abbey overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII...
as a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
house for men. Thus it continued until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
by King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in 1539.
A local legend says that when sea birds fly over the abbey they dip their wings in honour of Saint Hilda. Another legend tells of a plague of snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
s which Hilda turned to stone, supposedly explaining the presence of ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
fossils on the shore; heads were carved onto these 'petrified snakes' to honour this legend. In fact, the ammonite genus Hildoceras
Hildoceras
Hildoceras is a genus of ammonite form the upper Lower Jurassic in the ammonitid family Hildoceratidae characterized by a narrow discoidal evolute shell, keeled venter, concave ribs along the outer flanks, and a shallow spiral goove running along smooth inner flanks. Whorls slightly overlap,...
takes its scientific name from St. Hilda. It was not unknown for local “artisans” to carve snakes' heads onto ammonites, and sell these “relics” as proof of her miracle. The coat of arms of nearby Whitby includes three such 'snakestones'.
From the late nineteenth century until the present day, there has been a revival of interest in and devotion to, St. Hilda. With the development of education for modern women she has become the patron of many schools and colleges all over the world. College of St Hild and St Bede
College of St Hild and St Bede
The College of St Hild and St Bede, commonly known as Hild Bede, is a college of Durham University in England. It is the University's second largest collegiate body, with over 1000 students. The co-educational college was formed in 1975 following the merger of two much older single-sex...
, Durham, St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College, Oxford
St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.The college was founded in 1893 as a hall for women, and remained an all-women's college until 2006....
and St Hilda's College (University of Melbourne)
St Hilda's College (University of Melbourne)
St Hilda's College is a college of The University of Melbourne, providing a residential community for students from all parts of regional Victoria, interstate and overseas. It provides accommodation, academic and pastoral support for 178 undergraduate students and 20 graduate students...
and St Hilda's Collegiate School, Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
are named after Saint Hilda. Hilda is considered one of the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
s of learning and culture, including poetry, due to her patronage of Cædmon.
Two churches in Whitby, (Roman Catholic and Anglican), have been dedicated under her patronage and another, in Bilsborrow, Lancashire.
There is an Anglican church named after St. Hilda in the Cross Green area of Leeds. It was opened in September 1882. There is a statue of St. Hilda in the nave, depicting her as the Mother of her Abbey at Whitby. She also appears in a stained glass window at the east end of the church. The church still is active and a sung mass is held there every Sunday. Several small streets in the immediate area are named after the church - St. Hilda's Mount, St. Hilda's Road, among them.
Since 1915 at St. Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle, on the western edge of Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
town, there has been a community of Anglican sisters - the Order of the Holy Paraclete - which draws inspiration from the monastic and educational ideals of St. Hilda. More recently, the Community of St. Aidan and St. Hilda has been founded on Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
.
In the Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
church, the feast day of St. Hilda is November 17, in other parts of the Anglican Communion, her feast is on November 18, in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
however, it is kept on November 19. In the calendar approved for the Anglican Use
Anglican Use
The term Anglican Use has two meanings. First, it refers to parish churches founded by former Episcopalians, members of the United States' branch of the Anglican Communion, who have joined the Catholic Church...
in the Roman Catholic Church, the feast day of St. Hilda is celebrated on June 23, together with those of St. Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, d. 679, and St. Mildred, Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, d. c.700.
On the upper west side of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in New York City is St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School. St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s School is an independent Episcopal day school that opened its doors in 1950. The school is coeducational and includes toddlers through grade eight.
St.Hilda's College at the University of Melbourne was founded in 1964 as the college for women associated with the (then) exclusively male colleges Ormond (Presbyterian) and Queens (Methodist), becoming co-educational in 1973.
St. Hilda's College, University of Toronto
St. Hilda's College, University of Toronto
St Hilda's College is the women's college of the University of Trinity College, itself a federated college of the University of Toronto, Canada...
is the women's college of University of Trinity College
University of Trinity College
The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
. Although the schools have long been merged, only recently has the formerly women-only residence been made co-educational. Saint Hilda is honoured as co-patron (with Our Lady) of the Lady Chapel where daily services are held by Trinity's Faculty of Divinity.
There are two schools situated in Australia in recognition of St. Hilda. They are both 'St. Hilda's Anglican School for Girls' which is an independent, girls' school in Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
, South-East Australia and Mosman Park, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
(http://www.sthildas.qld.edu.au/) and (http://www.sthildas.wa.edu.au/).
St. Hilda is the patron saint of the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
St. Hilda also is famous in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, being honored in St. Hilda's Primary and Secondary schools.
St. Hilda's Diocesan High School is an Anglican boarding school for girls in Brown's Town, St. Ann, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. The grade levels go up to Fifth Form. The school was founded by Canon James Philip Hall, who was then Rector of St. Mark's Anglican Church in Brown's Town, in 1906-1907.
Further reading
- Bede (1996) The Ecclesiastical History of the English Church and PeopleHistoria ecclesiastica gentis AnglorumThe Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
, Oxford University Press, World classics series. - Bradley, Ian (1999) Celtic Christianity, Edinburgh University Press.
- Cavill, Paul (1999) Anglo-Saxon Christianity: exploring the earliest roots of Christian spirituality in England, London: Collins, Fount paperback.
- Hume, Basil (1996) Footprints of the Northern Saints, London: Darton, Longman & Todd.
- Thurston, H. (1910) St. Hilda.
- Warin, Anne (1989) Hilda, Lamp Press.
External links
- St. Hilda Page at St. Wilfrid's
- St. Hilda on Melvyn BraggMelvyn BraggMelvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
's In Our TimeIn Our Time (BBC Radio 4)In Our Time is a live BBC radio discussion series exploring the history of ideas, presented by Melvyn Bragg since 15 October 1998.. It is one of BBC radio's most successful discussion programmes, acknowledged to have "transformed the landscape for serious ideas at peak listening time"...
, 5 April 2007 (BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
)