#seaxburh

[wonder-worker]

Seaxburh of Wessex [...] is the only woman to appear in an Anglo-Saxon regnal list. She was the wife of Cenwalh, king of the West Saxons, who had at one time been married to and repudiated the sister of Penda of Mercia, thereby provoking the latter’s ire [and leading to his own temporary exile, probably alongside his new queen]. Bede recorded that after Cenwalh’s death there was a troubled period during which sub-kings ‘took upon themselves the government of the kingdom, dividing it up and ruling for about ten years.’ The ASC, on the other hand, says that in 672, ‘Cenwalh died and his queen Seaxburh reigned one year after him.’

— Annie Whitestead, Women and Power in Anglo-Saxon England / Stefany Wragg, Early English Queens, 650-850

We cannot be fully certain of the background or circumstances that led to the reign of Seaxburh, but it seems quite apparent that she did rule as a widowed queen or queen dowager following the death of Cenwealh. Later medieval sources characterize her reign in different ways. William of Malmesbury praises her military and political accomplishments, doing all that was required of a king but also ruling ‘her subjects mercifully … [she] did everything, in short, in such a way that there was no difference to be seen, except her sex’. [In the thirteenth century, Roger of Wendover likewise claimed that Seaxburh ruled for one year in Cenwalh’s stead, 'but was expelled [from] the kingdom by the indignant nobles, who would not go to war under the conduct of a woman.']

[venicepearl]

Seaxburh, also Saint Sexburga of Ely (died about 699), was an Anglo-Saxon queen and abbess, venerated a saint of the Christian Church. She was married to King Eorcenberht of Kent.

After her husband's death in 664, Seaxburh remained in Kent to bring up her children. She acted as regent until her young son Ecgberht came of age.

Seaxburh founded the abbeys at Milton Regis and Minster-in-Sheppey where her daughter Ermenilda was also a nun. She moved to the double monastery at Ely where her sister Æthelthryth was abbess and succeeded her when she died in 679.

According to Bede, in 695, Seaxburh organised the movement (or translation) of Æthelthryth's remains to a marble sarcophagus, after they had lain for sixteen years in a common grave. On opening the grave, it was discovered that her body was miraculously preserved. The legend is described in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which celebrates the saintly virtues of Æthelthryth, but speaks less highly of Seaxburh, referring only to her marriage, succession as abbess and translation of her sister's relics. The date of Seaxburh's death at Ely is not known. The surviving versions of the Vita Sexburge, compiled after 1106, describe her early life, marriage to Eorcenberht, retirement from secular life and her final years as a nun and abbess at Ely.

[grayjoy15]

Day 15: Seaxburh, queen of Wessex. After the death of her husband Cenwalh, she ruled Wessex in her own right for over a year, possibly two. She is the only woman listed in the regnal list of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

[ladyniniane]

City of Ladies: the game

This post is based on a discussion with @lilias42. The idea was to imagine what an all-women Civilization-like game would look like. Would that be even possible?

This was done for fun, my choice of leaders is in no way a political statement. My goal is to showcase amazing historical ladies. I couldn't include everyone, so some choices were made. Let's go!

Angola: Njinga Mbande

Arabia: Samsi/Al-Khayzuran

Byzantine Empire: Irene of Athens/Theodora the Armenian/Theodora Porphyrogenita/Eudokia Makrembolitissa/Anna Dalassene

Carthage: Elissa-Dido

China: Fu Hao/Queen Dowager Xuan/Wu Zetian/Empress Liu

Celts: Boudica/Cartimandua

Denmark: Thyra of Denmark/Margaret I of Denamrk

Egypt: Merneith/Ahhotep I/Sobekneferu/Hatshepsut

England: Seaxburh of Wessex/Æthelflæd of Mercia/Empress Matilda/Eleanor of Aquitaine/ Elizabeth I

France: Blanche of Castile/ Emma of France/Brunehilda/Fredegund/Anne of France

Georgia: Tamar of Georgia

Germany: Theophanu Skleraina/ Matilda of Quedlinburg

Greece: Laskarina Bouboulina/Manto Mavrogenous

Inca: Mama Huaco/Chañan Cori Coca

India: Rani Lakshmibai/Rudrama Devi/Didda of Kashmir/Ahilyabai Holkar

Italy: Matilda of Tuscany/Joanna I of Naples/Caterina Sforza/Lucrezia Borgia

Japan: Himiko/Empress Suiko/Empress Jito/Hojo Masako

Korea: Seondeok/Jindeok/Empress Myeongseong

Macedonia: Olympias/Eurydice I of Macedon

Maya: Lady K'abel/Wak Chanil Ajaw/ Lady K’awiil Ajaw

Mongolia: Sorghaghtani Beki/Mandukhai Khatun

Nigeria: Amina of Zaria

Nubia: Amanirenas/Amanitore

Ottoman Empire: Hürrem Sultan/Kösem Sultan

Persia/Iran: Atossa/Boran/Qutlugh Turkhan

Poland: Jadwiga of Poland

Roman Empire: Fulvia/ Agrippina the Younger/ Julia Domna/ Galla Placidia

Russia: Catherine the Great/Elizabeth of Russia

Scythians/Sarmatians: Tomyris/Sparethra/Amage/Zarinaia

Senegal: Ndaté Yalla Mbodj

South Africa: Mmanthatisi

Spain: Urraca of León and Castile/Isabella I of Castile

United States of America: Harriet Tubman

+indigenous nations and their leaders such as : The Lady of Cofitachequi/ Weetamoo (Wampanoag)/Nonhelema (Shawnee) / Bíawacheeitchish (Apsáalooke)/Pretty Nose (Arapaho)

Vietnam: The Trưng sisters

Yemen: Arwa al-Sulayhi/Asma bint Shihab

[bunnywoman]

🤍baby girl trending names predictions🤍

Æthelflæd

Ælfwynn

Æthelthryth

Eadgifu

Eanflæd

Seaxburh

Eormenhild

Godgifu

Hildegund

Nanthild

Cynethryth

Clotilde

Leofwynn

Ƿynflæd

Sæthryth

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (June 23)

St. Æthelthryth, also known as Etheldreda or Audrey, especially in religious contexts, was Queen of Northumbria.

Her father was King Anna of East Anglia.

Her siblings were Wendreda and Seaxburh of Ely, both of whom eventually retired from secular life and founded abbeys.

She was born at around 630 in Exning, near Newmarket in Suffolk.

While still very young, she was given in marriage by her father to Tondberct, chief or prince of the South Gyrwe. He was a subordinate prince who gave her a piece of land locally known as the Isle of Ely.

She managed to persuade her husband to respect her vow of perpetual virginity that she had made prior to their marriage.

Upon his death in 655, she retired to the Isle of Ely, which she had received from Tondberct as a morning gift.

Etheldreda was forced to marry again out political convenience, this time to Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria.

Throughout her 12 years of marriage, she kept her virginity. She gave much of her time to devotion and charity.

St. Wilfrid was her friend and spiritual guide. He helped to persuade her husband that Etheldreda should live for some time in peace as a sister of the Coldingham nunnery, founded by her aunt, St. Ebb.

During this time, she only ate once a day, except on feast days or while she was sick, and wore only clothes made of wool.

After midnight prayers, she would always go back to the church and continue praying until morning.

Etheldreda took pain and humiliation as a blessing.

On her death bed, she thanked God for an illness that had painfully swollen her neck, which she considered to be punishment for having vainly worn necklaces with jewels as a young lady.

She died on 23 June 679. She was buried in a wooden coffin, as she had asked.

When her body was moved to a stone coffin, it was found incorrupt and her neck was perfectly healed, according to physicians.

She is the patron saint of throat and neck complaints.

[anglosaxonpersonalnames]

Seaxburg

Seaxburg is an Anglo-Saxon feminine name composed of Seax (Saxon) and burg (fort).

Variants:

Saxburga [Sharon Turner 1807 The History of the Anglo-Saxons, 2nd edition, 1: 150].

Sexburg [Joseph Stevenson 1838 Venerabilis Bedæ Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, page 174].

Sexburga [Joseph Stevenson 1838 Venerabilis Bedæ Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, page 107].

Sexburch [Joseph Stevenson 1841 Liber Vitæ Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis, page 15].

Seaxburg [John Earle 1865 Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, 1st edition, page 34].

sexburc [Henry Sweet 1886 The Oldest English Texts, page 138].

saexburg [Henry Sweet 1886 The Oldest English Texts, page 144].

Seaxburh [William Searle 1897 Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum, page 412].

Sexburg [Edward Gomme 1909 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, page 30].

Sexburh [Maria Boehler 1930 Die altenglischen Frauennamen, page 112].

Note:

Forms ending with -a are Latinizations.

Prototheme:

Seax = Saxon [Leonard Neidorf 2018 Childhood & Adolescence in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture, page 37].

Deuterotheme:

burg = fort, city [Henry Sweet 1886 The Oldest English Texts, page 553].

Usage:

Seaxburg was the name of a Queen of Wessex: “Her forþferde Cenwalh and Seaxburg an gear ricsode his cuen æfter him” [John Earle 1865 Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, 1st edition, page 34, annal (A) 672]: “Here king Cenwalh died and Sexburg his queen reigned one year after him” (Edward Gomme 1909 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, page 30, annal 672 [A]).

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Thursday, July 6, 2023

july 6_june 23

THE HOLY MARTYR AGRIPPINA OF ROME  (around253 260)

The Holy Martyr Agrippina, was by birth a Roman. She did not wish to enter into marriage and totally dedicated her life to God. During the persecution against Christians under the emperor Valerian (253-259), the saint went before the court and bravely confessed her faith in Christ, for which she was given over to torture. They beat the holy virgin with sticks so severely that her bones broke. Afterward, they put Saint Agrippina in chains, but an angel freed her from her bonds.

The holy confessor died from the tortures she endured. The Christians Bassa, Paula, and Agathonike secretly took the holy martyr's body and transported it to Sicily, where many miracles were worked at her grave. The sacred Martyr Agrippina relics were transferred to Constantinople in the eleventh century.

SAINT ETHELDREDA of ELY ( England_679)

The Anglo-Saxon historian Bede gives us the earliest known account of Etheldreda’s life in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which he completed in 731, around half a century after Etheldreda’s death. He tells us that she was the daughter of Anna, King of the East Angles, and was brought up in the Christian faith (at the time of her birth, some kingdoms, notably Mercia, were still pagan).

Etheldreda entered into two arranged marriages. The first was to an ealdorman, or chieftain, of the local South Gyrwe tribe, a man named Tondberht, who died a few years later. She was then married to Ecgfrith, a prince of Northumbria. Ecgfrith and Etheldreda became King and Queen of Northumbria in 670.

It may seem surprising, in the circumstances, that Etheldreda was venerated as a virgin saint. In the early church, virginity was prized as the highest state of life for both men and women, and Bede is insistent that Etheldreda remained a virgin throughout both of her marriages. He says that he consulted Bishop Wilfrid, who had been Etheldreda’s spiritual advisor, on the subject, and that Wilfrid had unequivocally confirmed her virginity.

Bede does not tell us what Tondberht, Etheldreda’s first husband, felt about this situation, but Ecgfrith was clearly not happy – as a King, he would presumably have wanted an heir to the throne. He asked Bishop Wilfrid several times to intercede with Etheldreda, to persuade her to consummate the marriage, but she consistently refused and begged to be allowed to become a nun. Eventually, after twelve years of marriage, Ecgfrith agreed to let her go, and she entered the monastery of Coldingham. This allowed Ecgfrith to remarry, which he did. He died in battle, fighting the Picts, in 685.

Pictish symbol stone depicting the Battle of Dun Nechtain, in which Ecgfrith was killed.

A year after she had taken the veil at Coldingham, Etheldreda returned to her home in the Kingdom of the East Angles and founded her own monastery at Ely, where she became Abbess and was famed for her ascetic lifestyle. Etheldreda’s foundation was a double monastery, housing both men and women, which was the practice of the Anglo-Saxon church up to 787, when the Second Council of Nicaea banned mixed foundations.

Etheldreda died in 679, from a tumour in her neck – which she is said to have regarded as a divine punishment for her earlier fondness for necklaces. Her sister Seaxburh, widow of King Eorcenberht of Kent, succeeded her as Abbess of Ely. Etheldreda had insisted on being buried in a simple wooden coffin, but sixteen years after her death, Seaxburh decided to move her body to a more impressive tomb within the Abbey church. On exhumation, her body was discovered to be incorrupt, a sure sign of sainthood.

In the medieval period, Etheldreda’s shrine at Ely became an important pilgrimage center. As stories of cures and miracles at the site of her tomb spread, Etheldreda’s reputation grew; by the 14th century, she was known and revered throughout Western Europe.

By this time, Bede’s brief biography of Etheldreda had been expanded by later writers, most notably in the Liber Eliensis, a 12th-century chronicle of the monastery and Isle of Ely – now available in an English translation by Janet Fairweather (Boydell Press, 2005). The Liber was written by a monk of Ely, now an exclusively male Benedictine monastery. His chronicle recounts stories and traditions that had grown up around Etheldreda in the four centuries since Bede’s History. These include an exciting account of Ecgfrith’s supposed pursuit of Etheldreda as she journeyed south from Coldingham to Ely, and the miracles that accompanied her on the way. Several of these miracles – such as leaves sprouting from a staff, and water springing from rocks – recall Old Testament stories and can be found in the Lives of other saints.

A number of the stories about Etheldreda that appear in the Liber have been written with more than one purpose. They bolster her reputation as a powerful and holy woman, but at the same time, they further the interests of the medieval monastery.

One of the themes running through the Liber is the justification of the monastery’s claims to ownership of its lands, especially the Isle of Ely. The author refers a number of times to a story that Tondberht, Etheldreda’s first husband, gave her the Isle as a wedding gift. This is not necessarily untrue, although the story clearly has a practical function in the Liber, where it is invariably linked in the text with assertions that absolute ownership of the Isle had passed directly from Etheldreda to the medieval monastery.

Etheldreda was also portrayed by the author of the Liber as the protector of the monastery, a warrior saint who would defend its interests and punish its enemies. This occasionally took the form of actual violence against offenders: in the late 11th century, a man called Gervase, one of the administrators of the Norman sheriff of Cambridge, who was hostile to the monastery, took legal proceedings against the Abbot. The Liber recounts that, before the case could take place, Gervase was visited by Etheldreda and her sisters, Wihtburh and Seaxburh, who rebuked him and then ‘wounded him with the hard points of their staves’ – that is, their abbesses’ staffs. The servants heard his screams, and the unfortunate man lived long enough to tell them he had been attacked by the saints before dying of his wounds.

The monastery of Ely was dissolved at the Reformation in 1539, and its shrines were destroyed. Etheldreda’s reputation suffered an eclipse in the following centuries, which lasted until the revival of interest in the saints in the late nineteenth century, sparked by the rise of the Anglo-Catholic movement and a lessening hostility towards Catholicism within the established Church.

The Church of England’s calendar celebrates Etheldreda on two feast days: 23rd June (her death) and 17th October (when her body was moved and found to be incorrupt). A relic, believed to be the saint’s hand, is displayed in Ely’s Catholic church, which bears her name. This year 2023, the cathedral is marking the 1,350th anniversary of the foundation of Saint Etheldreda’s monastery with a unique program of events, concerts, exhibitions, and services.

 by Elaine Thornton

Published: 17th March 2023 in Historic. UK

ROMANS 15:17-29

17 Therefore, I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation, 21 but as it is written:"To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand." 22 For this reason, I also have been much hindered from coming to you. 23 But now no longer having a place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come to you, 24 whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. I hope to see you on my journey and be helped there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. 25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 26 For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a specific contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. If the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, they must also minister to them in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. 29 But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

MATTHEW 12:46-13:3

46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. 47 Then one said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You." 48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?" 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, sister, and mother.

1 Jesus left the house and sat by the sea the same day.  2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so He got into a boat and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 He spoke many things to them in parables: "Behold, a sower went out to sow.

[never-a-president]

Seaxburh of Ely was never president of the United States.

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 23 June – St Etheldreda (c 636-679) Abbess and widow, an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely – born in c 636 probably n Exning, near Newmarket in Suffolk, England.   She died on 23 June 679 of natural causes.   When her body was re-interred in 694 it was found to be incorrupt and again in 1106 when her relics were transferred to Ely Cathedral where her shrine now remains, her body was incorrupt.   Patronage – throat ailments, widows, neck ailments, th University of Cambridge.

She was one of the four saintly daughters of Anna of East Anglia, including Wendreda and Seaxburh of Ely, all of whom eventually retired from secular life and founded abbeys.

Born and brought up in the fear of God-her mother and three sisters are numbered among the Saints – Etheldreda had but one aim in life, to devote herself to His service in the religious state.   Her parents, however, had other views for her and, in spite of her tears and prayers, she was compelled to become the wife of Tonbercht, a tributary of the Mercian king.   She lived with him as a virgin for three years and at his death retired to the Isle of Ely, that she might apply herself wholly to heavenly things.

This happiness was but short-live,; for Egfrid, the powerful King of Northumbria, pressed his suit upon her with such eagerness that she was forced into a second marriage.   Her life at his court was that of an ascetic rather than a queen – she lived with him not as a wife but as a sister and, observing a scrupulous regularity of discipline, devoted her time to works of mercy and love.

After twelve years, she retired with her husband’s consent to Coldingham Abbey, which was then under the rule of St Ebba, and received the veil from the hands of St Wilfrid.  As soon as Etheldreda had left the court of her husband, he repented of having consented to her departure and followed her, meaning to bring her back by force.   She took refuge on a headland on the coast near Coldingham and here a miracle took place, for the waters forced themselves a passage round the hill, barring the further advance of Egfrid.

The Saint remained on this island refuge for seven days, till the king, recognising the divine will, agreed to leave her in peace.   God, who by a miracle confirmed the Saint’s vocation, will not fail us if, with a single heart, we elect for him.

In 672 she returned to Ely, and founded there a double monastery.   The nunnery she governed herself and was by her example a living rule of perfection to her sisters.

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St Bede the Venerable records many miracles worked by her relics at her Shrine.   Below is her Statue and resting place in Ely Cathedral.

Saint of the Day – 23 June – St Etheldreda (c 636-679) Saint of the Day - 23 June - St Etheldreda (c 636-679) Abbess and widow, an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely - born in c 636 probably n Exning, near Newmarket in Suffolk, England.   

[wonder-worker]

It is true that Æthelflæd exercised a degree of authority unmatched by any royal woman prior to Edgar’s controversial queen, Ælfthryth. Nevertheless, her career should not be viewed as wholly distinct from that of other well-born women of the period. The charters depict a woman who gained political prominence, not in spite of contemporary gender expectations, but through them. Her rise to domina Merciorum followed a traditionally gendered path from daughter to sister, wife, and widow. She, like other noble women, provided her father, brother, and husband with a means of fulfilling their ambitions for themselves and their family. Yet she should not be seen as a passive or unwilling participant in this project; rather, it was her place at the intersection of West Saxon familial expectations and Mercian royal traditions that positioned her to achieve the sort of political influence typically available only to men. At the same time, like the Alfredian entries in the Chronicle or Asser’s vita Alfredi, Æthelflæd’s charters must also be understood as the political propaganda of a savvy West Saxon dynasty accustomed to crafting both a public narrative and a documentary record to suit their needs. The Æthelflæd of the charters is no less fictional than the Alfred of Asser or, for that matter, the Alfred of the prologue to the OE Pastoral Care. The charters, like these texts, are an exercise in political image-making. If the “real” Æthelflæd still remains elusive, however, we may at least be able to catch a glimpse of her in the documents of the law.

— Andrew Rabin, "The Charters of Æthelflæd", Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, and Women in Tenth-Century England (Edited by Rebecca Hardie)

[venicepearl]

Æthelthryth (c. 636 – 23 June 679 AD) was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely. She is an Anglo-Saxon saint, and is also known as Etheldreda or Audrey, especially in religious contexts. Her father was King Anna of East Anglia, and her siblings were Wendreda and Seaxburh of Ely, both of whom eventually retired from secular life and founded abbeys.

[thecalendarwomen]

1st November, Queen Seaxburh

The Calendar Woman for 1st November is Queen Seaxburh (600s)

Seaxburh was a Queen of Wessex and the only woman to rule Anglo-Saxon England in her own right. She was the wife of King Cenwalh, who ruled Wessex until his death in 672 and she is also known as the Queen of Gewisse, an early name for the tribe which ruled Wessex. Very Little is known of Seaxburh’s rule, which lasted only two years, and her cause of death remains unknown. According to chroniclers of the era, sub-kings helped to rule the kingdom while Seaxburh was acting as Queen Regnant and after her death there was a period of around ten years when several men made claims to the throne of Wessex

[wonder-worker]

“The condition of the dowager queen in early Anglo-Saxon England seems less secure than among the Franks, but this appears to result from political implications rather than loss of the dignity of queenship. There were few active queen-regents, but the mature succession and semi-elective nature of Anglo-Saxon monarchy virtually eliminated this avenue of occupation for a king's widow.”

— Julie Anne Smith, Queen-Making and Queenship in Early Medieval England and Francia / Stefany Wragg, Early English Queens, 650-850: Speculum Reginae

"Several mothers of kings were influential [in early Anglo-Saxon England] but examples of queens serving as regents seem rare […]. This is a major difference from, for example, Frankish queens, because of the nature of early English kingship. Frankish kings were more strictly patrilineal, descending in the first instance from father to son and, only in their absence, then to other male relatives. Kingship in early England, on the other hand, derived from two major principles. Firstly, a candidate for the throne had to be a male descended from the royal stock, usually with a mythic progenitor. Secondly, he had to be a proven and effective military leader. There are almost no examples of kings younger than their late teens. Ecgfrith of Mercia [son of Offa and Cynethryth] is a notable counterexample, but the circumstances of his accession were remarkable […]. Queens in early England, then, were sometimes mothers, though rarely continued as dowager queens, but were always defined by their close proximity to kings."

[wonder-worker]

The liminal place Eadburh occupies in history is wildly fascinating to me. We know so much more about her compared to her predecessors, but it's nowhere near enough for us to truly understand her life. She's like a puzzle that's only half-finished because the remaining pieces are lost. She's even introduced to us like a myth - the dark fairytale of a wicked queen, the origin story of Wessex, a cautionary tale for all women. She's both infamous and voiceless, an echo of history turned into a legend. Everything and nothing all at once.

[wonder-worker]

Are there any historical women whose lives are very vague who you wish there was more information on?

Yes, many! Seaxburh, Cratesipolis, Dandi Mahadevi, Charumati, Duchess Mu of Xu, Stratonike, Aelfgifu of Northampton, etc.