Ethelburga, Abbess of Barking
11 October -- Commemoration
If celebrated as a Lesser Festival,
Common of Religious, page 494
Ethelburga was sister of Erkenwald, Bishop of London, and
was probably of royal blood. As Bede describes her, it
seems she may well have owned, as well as been made Abbess
of, the joint monastery at Barking. There was a tradition
developing of monks and nuns sharing monasteries, often with
a woman superior, for example Hilda at Whitby and Cuthburga
at Wimborne. Though they lived quite separate lives, often
divided by high walls, they would occasionally celebrate the
Daily Office or the Mass together. There was also probably
an element of safety involved with the ever-present thread
of marauding Danes. Bede relates many miracles occurring
around Ethelburga but little else is known of her life. She
died on this day in the year 675.