Saint ÃÂthelburh or Ethelburga (died after 685) was the founder and first abbess of Barking Abbey and sister of Saint Earconwald, Bishop of London.
The main source for ÃÂthelburh's life is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Book IV, Chapters 6 to 10). Bede's account, which includes the founding of Barking Abbey, early miracles there, and ÃÂthelburh's death, is itself based on a "little book" (libellus), likely a Life of Saint Ethelburga written at Barking Abbey and now lost. Bede describes ÃÂthelburh as "upright in life and constantly planning for the needs of her community," and says that, upon her death, "no one who knew her ought to doubt that an entrance into the heavenly country was open to her."
Some time before he became Bishop of London in 675, ÃÂthelburh's brother Earconwald founded a double monastery at Barking for her and a monastery at Chertsey for himself. Barking Abbey's traditional founding date is 666, though Bede implies ÃÂthelburh was already the head of the monastery during the plague of 664, and charter evidence may suggest a founding c. 660âÂÂ664.
Around 675, ÃÂthelburh founded the church of All Hallows Berkyngechirche (now known as All Hallows Barking or All Hallows by the Tower) in the City of London on land given to her by Earconwald.
In the Hodilred Charter (dated most plausibly to 685âÂÂ687 or 691âÂÂ693), ÃÂthelburh was granted 40 hides of land to expand Barking Abbey. She is also the recipient of the Earconwald Charter (dated 687) of disputed authenticity.
The year of ÃÂthelburh's death is uncertain, though she is believed to have died on 11 October. Bede does not provide a year, instead thematically positioning ÃÂthelburh's story after the discussion of her brother Earconwald's appointment as Bishop of London in 675. He begins his narrative of events at Barking Abbey by calling back to his earlier description of the plague of 664. Florence of Worcester (1100s) mentions ÃÂthelburh's death under 664 and again under 675, perhaps following Bede. If the Hodilred Charter is genuine, ÃÂthelburh's death must fall after 685. If she was still alive in 693, it is possible that Earconwald died while visiting her at Barking Abbey.
ÃÂthelburh was succeeded as abbess by Saint Hildelith, who certainly held the position by 709, was recruited by Earconwald to teach ÃÂthelburh, and lived "to an extreme old age." ÃÂthelburh was buried at Barking Abbey, likely in the nuns' cemetery.
ÃÂthelburh's relics were translated within Barking Abbey several times over the centuries, including by Hildelith, Abbess ÃÂlfgifu (c. 1066âÂÂc. 1086), and Abbess Mabel de Bosham (1215âÂÂ1247). At the time of the monastery's dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539, ÃÂthelburh's relics occupied the central position in the abbey's saints' chapel, alongside Hildelith and Saint Wulfhilda. A trio of modern grave slabs at Abbey Green remember the three saints.
The following miracles are attributed to or associated with ÃÂthelburh. The primary sources are Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People and Goscelin of Saint-Bertin's Life of Ethelburga, commissioned by Abbess ÃÂlfgifu and completed c. 1087.
The church of St Ethelburga the Virgin in the City of London is dedicated to her. It survived the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz but was extensively damaged in an IRA attack in 1993; however, it has been restored and is now a centre for international reconciliation.
An area near Battersea Park and Albert Bridge was also named after her (Ethelburga Street, the Ethelburga Estate, and Ethelburga Primary School in 1968-2000).
Other churches dedicated to ÃÂthelburh include the Grade II listed St Ethelburga's at Great Givendale, near Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, as well as the Church of St Mary and St Ethelburga with St Erconwald in Barking, a short distance from the original site of the abbey.
ÃÂthelburh is remembered on her 11 October feast day in the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, and the Orthodox Church.