Wigstan
| Wigstan (Wystan, Wistan) | |
|---|---|
| Died | 849 |
| Feast | 1 June |
Wigstan (died 849), also known as Saint Wystan, was the son of Wigmund of Mercia and Ælfflæd, daughter of King Ceolwulf I of Mercia.
Wigstan may have been sub-king, or ealdorman, of the Hwicce, and may have ruled Mercia briefly in 840, before resigning the throne. Wigstan was killed by his successor, Beorhtwulf, who is said to have been his godfather. The cause of the dispute was Beorhtwulf's plan to marry his son Beorhtfrith to Wigstan's widowed mother. Wigstan objected to the marriage, and Beorhtwulf's response was to have him killed at a meeting. The site of his martyrdom has been variously claimed to be Wistanstow (Shropshire), Wistow (Leics) or Wistow (Cambs).
Wigstan's remains were reburied at Repton in 849, where his grandfather King Wiglaf was also buried, and a cult developed soon after. Repton became a centre of pilgrimage as a result. In the reign of Cnut the Great, his relics were translated to Evesham.
Of later kings of Mercia, Ceolwulf II is thought to be related to Wigstan, although the precise relationship is not known.
A Vita Sancti Wistani was written by Dominic of Evesham, a medieval prior of Evesham Abbey around 1130.[1] The name was used occasionally in the Middle Ages and again more recently, e.g. for Wystan Hugh Auden.[2]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jennings "Writings" English Historical Review p. 298
- ^ Withycombe, E. G. (1976). The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names (3rd edition). London: Omega Books. ISBN 1-855007-059-8
[edit] Sources
- Jennings, J. C. (April 1962). "The Writings of Prior Dominic of Evesham". The English Historical Review 77 (303): 298–304. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXVII.CCCIII.298.
- Walker, Ian, Mercia and the Making of England.
- Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Seaby, 1990. ISBN 1-85264-027-8
- Zaluckij, Sarah, Mercia: the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England. Logaston: Logaston Press, 2001. ISBN 1-873827-62-8
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