Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 8755
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Fell , Christine E.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Saint Æðelþryð: A Historical-Hagiographical Dichotomy Revisited [The author examines Bede's account of St. Aethelthryth in his "Ecclesiastical History." He celebrates her as the closest English equivalent to a virgin martyr. Later accounts built a whole line of royal abbesses after Aethelthryth (beginning with her sister Seaxburh), but contemporary evidence suggests that Ely was only a personal monument to her particular asceticism. It was not a center of learning and probably faded soon after her sister's death only to be refounded as a male monastery which enhanced and capitalized on Aethelthryth's reputation for sanctity. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Nottingham Medieval Studies 38, ( 1994): Pages 18 - 34.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Abbesses Æthelthryth of Ely, Queen of Northumbria, Saint Asceticism Bede, The Venerable, Scholar Hagiography Latin Literature Monasticism Virginity Women in Religion
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 7-8
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: University of Nottingham
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1994.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 00782122