Hilda of Whitby (or Hild; c. 614 – 680) was a saint of the early Church in Britain. She was the founder and first abbess of the monastery at Whitby which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby in 664. An important figure in the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England, she was abbess in several convents and recognised for the wisdom that drew kings to her for advice.

The source of information about Hilda is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede in 731, who was born approximately eight years before her death. He documented much of the Christian conversion of the English.

Early life

According to Bede, Hilda was born in 614 into the Deiran royal household. She was the second daughter of Hereric, nephew of Edwin, King of Deira, and his wife, Breguswīþ. When Hilda was still an infant, her father was poisoned while in exile at the court of the Brittonic king of Elmet in what is now West Yorkshire. In 616, Edwin, fighting alongside Rædwald of East Anglia with whom he sought protection, defeated Æthelfrith, the son of Æthelric of Bernicia, in battle. He created the Kingdom of Northumbria and took its throne. Hilda was brought up at King Edwin's court.

In 625, the widowed Edwin married the Christian princess Æthelburh of Kent, daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent and the Merovingian princess Bertha of Kent. As part of the marriage contract, Aethelburh was allowed to continue her Roman Christian worship and was accompanied to Northumbria with her chaplain, Paulinus of York, a Roman monk sent to England in 601 to assist Augustine of Canterbury. Augustine's mission in England was based in Kent, and is referred to as the Gregorian mission after the pope who sent him. Everyone had to study the Bible and do good works.

Five men from this monastery later became bishops. Two, John of Beverley, Bishop of Hexham and Wilfrid, Bishop of York, were canonized for their service to the Christian church at a critical period in its fight against paganism.

Character

thumb|[[Aidan of Lindisfarne visits Hilda. Gloucester Cathedral, by Christopher Whall.]]

Bede describes Hilda as a woman of great energy, who was a skilled administrator and teacher. As a landowner she had many in her employ to care for sheep and cattle, farming, and woodcutting. She gained such a reputation for wisdom that kings and princes sought her advice. However, she also had a concern for ordinary folk such as Cædmon. He was a herder at the monastery, who was inspired in a dream to sing verses in praise of God. Hilda recognized his gift and encouraged him to develop it. Bede writes, "All who knew her called her mother because of her outstanding devotion and grace".

Illness and death

Hilda suffered from a fever for the last seven years of her life, but she continued to work until her death on 17 November 680 AD, at what was then the advanced age of sixty-six. In her last year she set up another monastery, fourteen miles from Whitby, at Hackness. She died after receiving viaticum, and her legend holds that at the moment of her death the bells of the monastery of Hackness tolled. A nun there named Begu claimed to have witnessed Hilda's soul being borne to heaven by angels.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the feast day of Saint Hilda is 17 November. In some parts of the Anglican Communion, her feast, a Lesser Festival, is on 18 November, while in some others, such as the Anglican Church of Australia, it is on 17 November. In the Church of England however, it is kept on 19 November. In the calendar approved for formerly Anglican Personal Ordinariate and Pastoral Provision parishes in the Roman Catholic Church, the feast day of Saint Hilda is celebrated on 23 June, together with those of Saint Ethelreda, Abbess of Ely (died 679), and Saint Mildred, Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet (died ca. 700).

Patronage

Hilda of Whitby is considered one of the patron saints of learning and culture, including poetry, due to her patronage of Cædmon. Saint Hilda is the patron saint of the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C.

In addition, St Hilda's College, Oxford, established in 1893 for female students, remained with that status for more than 100 years, before turning co-educational when it was deemed that the percentage of women studying at Oxford had risen to near 50 per cent. The symbol of the college is the ammonite of St Hilda. During the centenary, 100 silver ammonites were created to honour the achievements of St. Hilda and the college's female students during its first 100 years. These now are owned by alumnae of the college .

Educational institutions

St Hilda has become the patron of many schools and colleges all over the world. The College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham, St Hild's Church of England School, Hartlepool, St Hilda's College, Oxford and St Hilda's Collegiate School, Dunedin are named after Saint Hilda. A stone from the 13th century ruins of Whitby Abbey where St Hilda founded the Monastery of Streoneshalh c. 657AD was donated to St Hilda's College (University of Melbourne) by the Whitby Urban Council. This stone is located at the college entrance. and Mosman Park, Western Australia.

On the upper west side of Manhattan in New York City is St Hilda's and St Hugh's School, an independent Episcopal day school that opened its doors in 1950. The school is coeducational and includes toddlers to grade eight.

St Hilda is honoured in Singapore in the St. Hilda's primary and secondary schools.

During the British Empire in India, Anglican missionaries built "St Hilda Boarding School" at Miri-Maka.

There are two St Hilda's CofE Primary Schools in Manchester - one in Prestwich, one in Firswood.

St Hilda's School, Ootacamund, southern India was established by Church of England sisters in 1895.

Fiction

Hilda appears as a main character in the 1994 novel Absolution by Murder, the first book in Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma mysteries.

Hilda appears as a main character in Melvyn Bragg's 1996 novel, Credo.

The 2013 novel Hild and 2023 sequel Menewood by Nicola Griffith is based on the life of Hilda.

Jill Dalladay's 2015 novel The Abbess of Whitby combines historical record and fiction to imagine Hilda's life before she became a nun.

Maureen Duffy's play The Choice premiered at the Jermyn Street Theatre in 2018. This monologue sees Hilda recount two episodes of her life that are recorded by Bede: the 'miracle' of the poet-cowherd Caedmon, and the role Hilda played in the transition from Irish to Roman Catholicism in the English church.

Vibeke Vasbo's Danish novel Hildas sang (Gyldendal, 1991) was translated into English by Gaye Kynoch and published in 2018 as The Song of Hild by Sacristy Press.

References

Citations

Sources

  • Sister Hilary OHP; (2003). St. Hilda of Whitby, Order of the Holy Paraclete, St. Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle, Whitby YO21 3QN.

Further reading

  • Bede (1996) The Ecclesiastical History of the English Church and People, Oxford University Press, World classics series.
  • Bradley, Ian (1999) Celtic Christianity, Edinburgh University Press.
  • Cavill, Paul (1999) Anglo-Saxon Christianity: exploring the earliest roots of Christian spirituality in England, London: Collins, Fount paperback.
  • Hume, Basil (1996) Footprints of the Northern Saints, London: Darton, Longman & Todd.
  • Simpson, Ray (2014) Hilda of Whitby: A spirituality for now, BRF
  • Warin, Anne (1989) Hilda, Lamp Press.
  • St. Hilda on Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time, 5 April 2007 (BBC Radio 4)