St. Wulfhilda of Barking, Abbess
9 September
Died c. 980-1000; other feasts include that of her translation on
September 2, c. 1030 (with the relics of Saints Hildelith and
Ethelburga), as well as on March 7 and September 23 at Barking.
Saint Wulfhilda was raised in the abbey of Wilton. When she was a
novice, King Saint Edgar sought her hand in marriage, but she had a
vocation that was irrevocable. Her aunt, Abbess Wenfleda of Wherwell,
invited the young novice to become her successor, but it was just a ploy
to lure her from Wilton. When she arrived at Wherwell, she found the
king waiting for her and her aunt willing to allow him to seduce her.
Wulfhilda escaped through the drains despite the chaperons inside and
the guards outside the convent. The king pursued her back to Wilton and
caught her in the cloister, but she escaped his grasp and took refuge in
the sanctuary among the altars and relics. Thereafter Edgar renounced
his claim on her and took her cousin Saint Wilfrida as his mistress
instead.
Wulfhilda went on to found and serve as the first abbess of the convent
of Horton in Dorsetshire. Later she was appointed abbess of the convent
of Barking, which had been restored by King Edgar and endowed with
several churches in Wessex towns. During this period she was credited
with several miracles, including the multiplication of drinks when King
Edgar, Saint Ethelwold, and a naval officer from Sandwich visited the
abbey.
After Edgar's death, his widowed queen, Elfrida (Aelfthryth), conspired
with some of Wulfhilda's nuns, to drive her out of Barking. She retired
to Horton for the next 20 years until she was recalled to Barking by
King Ethelred. For the last seven years of her life, Wulfhilda served as
abbess of both Horton and Barking. Goscelin wrote her "vita" within 60
years of her death.
(Benedictines,
Farmer).
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content © 2008, Ambrose Mooney
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Page last updated: 21 December 2008
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