Edburga di Caistor

Who they were

Edburga was a nun who lived in the 7th century, daughter of Penda, the powerful pagan king of Mercia. Unlike her father, she embraced the Christian faith and entered the monastery of Caistor (or Domundcaster) in Northamptonshire, where she gave her life to prayer, contemplation and manual work as was customary for the nuns of the time.

Little else is known of her life there. She died in the second half of the 7th century; her relics, together with those of Saints Oswald and Lewin, were venerated at Peterborough Abbey until they were lost in a fire in 1558. Her feast is 20 June. She should not be confused with another Saint Edburga, venerated at Aylesbury, sister of Saint Edith.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Daughter of the pagan Mercian king Penda who became a nun at Caistor in Northamptonshire; her relics were venerated at Peterborough until lost in a fire in 1558.