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Hilda of Whitby

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain); Religious figures and leaders

                       Saint Hilda of Whitby
   Born         614
   Died         17 November 680
   Venerated in Roman Catholic Church; Anglican Communion; Eastern
                Orthodox Church
   Feast        November 17
                           Saints Portal

   Hilda of Whitby ( circa 614–680) is a Christian Saint.

Early life

   Hilda's birthplace is not known, but according to Bede she was born in
   614. She was the second daughter of Hereric, nephew of Edwin of
   Northumbria, and his wife Breguswith. Her elder sister, Hereswith,
   married Æthelric, brother of king Anna of East Anglia. When she was
   still an infant her father was murdered by poisoning while in exile at
   the court of the British King of Elmet (in what is now West Yorkshire).
   It is generally assumed that she was brought up at King Edwin's court
   in Northumbria. In 627 King Edwin was baptised on Easter Day, 12 April,
   along with his 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. He accompanied Ethelburga, a Christian
   princess, when she came North from Kent to marry King Edwin. As Queen,
   she continued to practice her Christianity and, no doubt, influenced
   her husband's thinking.

   From her baptism to 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
   where she is about to join her widowed sister at a convent in Chelles
   in Gaul. She decided instead to answer the call of St. Aidan, Bishop of
   Lindisfarne to return to Northumbria and live as a nun.

As a nun

   Hilda's original convent is not known, except that it was on the north
   bank of the River Wear. Here, with a few companions, she learned the
   traditions of Celtic monasticism which Aidan brought from Iona. After a
   year Aidan appointed Hilda second Abbess of Hartlepool. No trace
   remains of this abbey but the monastic cemetery has been found near the
   present St Hilda's Church.

   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 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 monastery's church is unknown. Bede
   states that the original ideals of monasticism were strictly maintained
   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 bishops and one is revered as a
   saint - Saint John of Beverley.

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
   even kings and princes sought her advice, but she also had a concern
   for ordinary folk like Cædmon. 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 Oswiu 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. Most of those present,
   including Hilda, accepted the King's decision to adopt the method of
   calculating Easter currently used in Rome, but the monks from
   Lindisfarne, who could not accept this, withdrew to Iona and later to
   Ireland.

Illness and death

   Hilda suffered from fever for the last six years of her life but she
   continued to work until her death on 17 November, 680, at what was then
   the advanced age of sixty-six. In her last year she set up another
   monastery, fourteen miles from Whitby, at Hackness. 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.

Legacy

   Hilda was succeeded as abbess by Eanfleda, widow of King Oswiu, and her
   daughter, Ælfleda. From then onwards we know nothing about the abbey at
   Whitby until it was destroyed by the Danish invaders in 867. After the
   Norman conquest of England, 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 the saint. Another legend tells of a plague of
   snakes which Hilda turned to stone - supposedly explaining the presence
   of ammonite fossils on the shore. In fact, the ammonite Hildoceras
   takes its name from St. Hilda. It was believed that such ammonite
   fossils were the snakes which had been miraculously turned into stone
   by St. Hilda. It was not unknown for local “artisans” to carve snakes'
   heads onto ammonites, and sell these “relics” as proof of the miracle.
   The coat of arms of nearby Whitby actually include three such
   'snakestones'.

   From the late 19th century until the present day there has been a
   revival of interest in and devotion to St Hilda. With the development
   of education for women she has become the patron of many schools and
   colleges all over the world. College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham and
   St Hilda's College, Oxford are named after Saint Hilda. Hilda is
   considered one of the patron saints of learning and culture (including,
   due to her patronage of Cædmon, of poetry.)

   Two churches in Whitby ( Roman Catholic and Anglican) have been
   dedicated under her patronage.

   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 is still 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, etc.

   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, St. Hilda's feast day is November 17. In
   the Church of England, it is 19 November.

   On the upper west side of Manhattan in New York City is St. Hilda's and
   St. Hugh's School. St. Hilda’s & 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 8.

   St.Hilda's College at the University of Melbourne was founded in 1964
   as the women's college associated with the (then) exclusively male
   colleges Ormond (Presbyterian) and Queens (Methodist), becoming
   co-educational in 1973.

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