Ely Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon monastic establishment on the Isle of Ely first established in 673 by Æthelthryth the daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia.[1] The first establishment was destroyed by the Danes in 870, but Edgar, King of England re-established the monastery in 970 as part of the English Benedictine Reform.
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First establishment
editThe precise siting of Æthelthryth's original monastery is not known. It was built on land she had received from her late husband, Tondberct, "prince of the South Gyrwas",[2] as a morning gift.[3]
The original Abbey was established in 673 as a double monastery[4] with facilities for both monks and nuns.[5] Athelthryth's sister, Seaxburh married King Eorcenberht of Kent. Upon her husband's death, she served as regent for her son, Ecgberht. Despite having founded abbeys at Milton Regis and Minster-in-Sheppey (where her daughter, Ermenilda was a nun), she subsequently chose to retire to her sister's foundation at Ely.[6] When Athelthryth died in 679, Seaxburh succeeded her as abbess.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey and cathedral priory of Ely". Victoria County History. 2 (A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely): 199–210. 1948. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, iv, 19
- ^ Macpherson, Ewan. "St. Etheldreda." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Lawrence, C.H., Medieval Monasticism. London: Longman, 1984. p, 52
- ^ Grout, James. "Byrhtnoth at Ely Cathedral". penelope.uchicago.edu. James Grout. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
- ^ Yorke, Barbara. Nunneries and the Anglo-Saxon Royal Houses, London, Continuum, 2003, p. 52 ISBN 978-0-8264-6040-0
