Richard the Pilgrim | |
---|---|
Born | Anglo-Saxon Britain |
Died | Lucca, Italy |
Honored in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church [1] |
Richard the Pilgrim or Richard of Wessex [2] (died 720) was an English nobleman and Christian saint. He was the husband of Wuna of Wessex and the father of the West Saxon saints Willibald, Winnibald, and Walpurga. He led his family on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but died en route in Lucca, where he was buried in the church of Saint Fridianus. [3]
The name of the saints' father is not given in the 8th-century Hodoeporicon (Itinerary) of Hygeburg, the earliest source, nor is Richard listed in the earliest martyrologies. [3] The name Richard and his identity as a "king of the English" are inventions of the 10th century from the monastery of Heidenheim. [4] His relics were being publicly displayed in both Lucca and Eichstätt in the 12th century. His feast day is celebrated on February 7.
There is one church in England dedicated to him, St Ricarius Church, Aberford.
The reigning king of the West Saxons in 720 was King Ine, who ascended the throne in 688 and died in or possibly after 726. Bede states that he abdicated after 37 years, i.e. 725–26. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to him abdicating in and around 726–28, then traveling to Rome and dying there. [5]
Richard was from Wessex now part of England, [6] and his real name is uncertain. [2] He appears to have been an Anglo-Saxon chieftain or a Brittonic under-king in Wessex, probably of part of Brittonic Dumnonia. [7] His wife was Wuna of Wessex, and they were the parents of Willibald, Bishop of Eichstätt, Winibald, Abbot of Heidenheim, and Walpurga, Abbess of Heidenheim. [6] He obtained by his prayers the recovery of his three-year-old son Willibald, whom he laid at the foot of a great crucifix erected in a public place in Wessex when the child's life was despaired of in a grievous sickness. [8]
In 720, he entrusted his eleven-year-old daughter Walpurga to the abbess of Wimborne in Dorset, [9] renounced his estates, and set sail with his two sons from Hamblehaven near Southampton. They landed in France and temporarily stayed in Rouen. From there, they set off on the pilgrimage route to Italy, where they prayed at shrines situated along the way.
He died unexpectedly after developing a fever in Lucca, Tuscany, where he was buried in the Church of San Frediano, founded by the Irish monk Fridianus. Miracles were reported to have occurred at his tomb and a cult venerating him developed. The people of Lucca gave him the name "Richard" and embellished their accounts of his life, describing him as an English prince. Another apocryphal story described him as the Duke of Swabia in Germany. [6]
His son, Willibald, continued the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Richard's niece, a nun called Hygeburg (Huneburc of Heidenheim), wrote an account of the pilgrimage, entitled "Hodoeporicon"; historians date the text between 761 and 786. [10]
Some of Richard's relics were transported to Eichstätt, where Willibald eventually became Bishop. Richard's feast day is 7 February. [2]
Richard is depicted with the Blessed Mother and his three children at Eichstätt Cathedral.
In religious artworks, Richard is portrayed as a royal pilgrim in an ermine-lined cloak with two sons, one a bishop and one an abbot. His crown appears to lie on a book (Roeder). Richard is particularly venerated at Heidenheim and Lucca (Roeder). [2]
On the evening of February 6, 2022, Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Somerville, Massachusetts served a complete All-Night Vigil service for Richard using a newly-composed office text. Modern Byzantine chant composers, including Jessica Suchy-Pilalis, composed music for the idiomela. Iconographer Brian Matthew Whirledge painted a new icon of Richard for the Vigil's procession. [11] The Dormition parish served the All-Night Vigil again on February 6, 2023. [12]
Boniface was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church in Germany and was made bishop of Mainz by Pope Gregory III. He was martyred in Frisia in 754, along with 52 others, and his remains were returned to Fulda, where they rest in a sarcophagus which remains a site of Christian pilgrimage.
700 (DCC) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 700th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 700th year of the 1st millennium, the 100th and last year of the 7th century, and the 1st year of the 700s decade. As of the start of 700, the Gregorian calendar was 3 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which was the dominant calendar of the time.
Walpurgis Night, an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night, also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve, is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in Francia, and is celebrated on the night of 30 April and the day of 1 May. This feast commemorates the canonization of Saint Walpurga and the movement of her relics to Eichstätt, both of which occurred on 1 May 870.
Walsingham is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval monastic houses. Walsingham is 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Norwich.
Eichstätt is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Eichstätt.
The Via Francigena is an ancient road and pilgrimage route running from the cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. It was known in Italy as the "Via Francigena" or the "Via Romea Francigena". In medieval times it was an important road and pilgrimage route for those wishing to visit the Holy See and the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul.
Walpurga or Walburga was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Frankish Empire. She was canonized on 1 May c. 870 by Pope Adrian II. Saint Walpurgis Night is the name for the eve of her feast day in the Medieval period, which coincided with May Day; her feast is no longer celebrated on that day, but the name is still used for May Eve.
Birinus was the first Bishop of Dorchester and was known as the "Apostle to the West Saxons" for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity. He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Anglican churches.
July 6 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 8
The Basilica of San Frediano is a Romanesque church in Lucca, Italy, situated on the Piazza San Frediano.
Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself during the 6th century. Both Ecgberht of Ripon and Ecgbert of York were instrumental in the Anglo-Saxon mission. The first organized the early missionary efforts of Wihtberht, Willibrord, and others; while many of the later missioners made their early studies at York.
February 6 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar – February 8
Willibald was an 8th-century bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria.
Hygeburg, also Hugeburc, Hugeberc, Huneberc or Huneburc, was an Anglo-Saxon nun and hagiographer at the Alemannian monastery of Heidenheim. She is "the first known Englishwoman to have written a full-length literary work" and "the only woman author of a saint's life from the Carolingian period".
Heidenheim is a municipality in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany.
Winibald was abbot of the Benedictine double monastery of Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm. Traditionally, he is called the brother of Willibald and Walpurga.
Fridianus, was an Irish prince and hermit, fl. 6th century. Tradition names him as a son of King Ultach of Ulster. He later migrated to Italy, where he was appointed as Bishop of Lucca. The Basilica of San Frediano in the city is dedicated to him, as are churches in Florence.
Saint Thecla of Kitzingen was a Benedictine nun and abbess. Born in England, she went to Germany to assist Saint Boniface in his missionary labors.
Pellegrino of Ireland, Irish prince and hermit, fl. 7th-9th centuries. Returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he became a hermit in the mountain forests of Tuscany. His feast day is August 1.
Wuna of Wessex was a 7th and 8th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and Christian saint. The name Wuna means "The Joyful One". Her actual name is unknown, but she has been called Wuna since the Middle Ages.