9th-century Mercian royal and saint
"Wistan" redirects here. For the villages in Iran, see
Vistan
.
Wigstan
(
,
Old English pronunciation:
[?wiːj?st?ːn]
; died c. 840 AD), also known as Saint
Wystan
, was the son of
Wigmund of Mercia
and Ælfflæd, daughter of King
Ceolwulf I of Mercia
.
History
[
edit
]
Like many Mercians of the period very little is known about Wigstan. He was the son of
Wigmund
and
Ælfflæd
, both the offspring of Mercian kings,
Wiglaf
and
Ceolwulf I
respectively. Wigmund, according to the
Croyland Chronicle
, died of
dysentery
before his father King Wiglaf, making Wigstan heir to the kingdom of
Mercia
. However, when Wiglaf died in 839, Wigstan declined the kingship preferring religious life and monastic orders instead.
Beorhtwulf
, possibly Wigstan's great-uncle, became king instead.
William of Malmesbury
claims that Beorhtwulf's son, Beorhtfrith, wished to marry Wigstan's widowed mother, Ælfflæd, but Wigstan forbade the union as they were too closely related.
[1]
As revenge Beorhtfrith went to visit the young King ostensibly in peace but, when the two greeted each other, he struck Wigstan on the head with the shaft of his dagger and his servant ran him through with his sword.
Beorhtfrith, son of Beorhtwulf, king of Mercia, unjustly put to death his cousin, St Wigstan on the Kalends of June [1st June], being the eve of Pentecost. He was grandson of two of the kings of Mercia; his father, Wigmund, being the son of King Wiglaf, and his mother, Ælfflæd, the daughter of King Ceolwulf. His corpse was carried to a monastery which was famous in that age, called
Repton
, and buried in the tomb of his grandfather, King Wiglaf. Miracles from heaven were not wanting in testimony of his martyrdom; for a column of light shot up to heaven from the spot where the innocent saint was murdered, and remained visible to the inhabitants of that place for 30 days.
The site of Wigstan's martyrdom has been variously claimed to be
Wistanstow
,
Shropshire
,
[2]
and
Wistow, Leicestershire
, with
Wigston
being the nearest town which happens to be derived from his name. Wigstan became a famous saint and Repton became a centre of
pilgrimage
as a result, which led
Cnut the Great
to move Wigstan's relics to
Evesham
, where the
Vita Sancti Wistani
was written by
Dominic of Evesham
, a medieval prior there.
[3]
[4]
Hagiography
[
edit
]
The saint's relics were relocated to the Abbey at Evesham.
[5]
His
vita
(meaning "life", a history recording reputed acts of sanctity) has been attributed to the Benedictine chronicler
Dominic of Evesham
, an early 12th-century Prior at Evesham. The edifice of the abbey (including the tomb of the four saints and many monastic buildings) were demolished during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries
.
[
citation needed
]
Noted Edwardian artist
Margaret E.A. Rope
was commissioned for the windows in the parish church of
Wistanstow
in Shropshire dedicated to the miraculous pillar of light, leading to discovery of the earthly remains of the slain martyr.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
- Anglo-Saxon crypt tomb
at Repton, Derbyshire
- British poet
W. H. Auden
was named in honor of Saint Wystan,
[6]
A family connection with both Repton School and Wistanstow church in Shropshire is noted by Auden's biographer
Humphrey Carpenter
.
[7]
- Mick Sharp's book
The Way and the Light: An Illustrated Guide to the Saints and Holy Places of Britain
makes the case for Wistow as the likely location of St Wistan's martyrdom, attested to in the legend of the miraculous appearance of human hair on the anniversary of his death, 1 June.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Wasyliw, Patricia Healy.
Martyrdom, Murder, and Magic: Child Saints and Their Cults in Medieval Europe
, Peter Lang, 2008, p. 78
ISBN
9780820427645
- ^
St. Wistan, Prince of Mercia, Martyr, in Butler's
Lives of Saints
- ^
"Timeline", Vale of Evesham Historical Society
- ^
Jennings "Writings"
English Historical Review
p. 298
- ^
On St. Wigstan see ‘The Medieval Hagiography of Saint Ecgwine’, p.79 & p.83. This notes that Abbot Ælfweard occupied himself with increasing Evesham’s prestige, and instigated the translation of Saint Wigstan to Evesham, and
Evesham Abbey and the Parish Churches: A Guide
, p.8.
E.J. Rudge
, p.13 notes that Ælfweard entreated King Canute to present the abbey church with the relics of Wystan. George May (1834), p.47 refers to St Wulstan. Also see
The Victoria History of the County of Worcester
, p.387 and ‘The Mitred Abbey of St. Mary, Evesham’, p.12.
- ^
video clip of W. H. Auden reading a poem, bearing his full name
, accessed 20 September 2020
- ^
http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2007/03/martyrdom-of-st-wystan.html
Liberal England
blog
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
British / Welsh
| |
---|
East Anglian
| |
---|
East Saxon
| |
---|
Frisian,
Frankish
and Old Saxon
| |
---|
Irish and Scottish
| |
---|
Kentish
| |
---|
Mercian
| |
---|
Northumbrian
| |
---|
Roman
| |
---|
South Saxon
| |
---|
West Saxon
| |
---|
Unclear origin
| |
---|
|
---|
Kingdom of Mercia
527–918
| | |
---|
Later monarchs
| |
---|
- 1
Also King of
Kent
and
East Anglia
- 2
Also King of East Anglia
- 3
Recognising
West Saxon
overlordship
- 4
King of Mercia during the temporary separation of Mercia and Wessex
|