Saint Hilda of Whitby

Life story

Hilda was born around 614 into the royal family of the kingdom of Deira, in northern England. According to Bede, she was baptised with her family under King Edwin around 627. At about thirty-three she decided to take up the religious life, encouraged by Bishop Aidan. She became the second abbess of Hartlepool.

In 657 she founded the monastery of Whitby, then called Streoneshalh, and ruled it until her death. It was a double house of monks and nuns and was famous for learning. Bede reports that five men who lived there later became bishops, among them John of Beverley and Wilfrid. In 664 her monastery hosted the Synod of Whitby, where the Northumbrian court decided to follow the Roman method of reckoning Easter. Hilda herself leaned toward the Irish custom, but she accepted the synod's conclusion.

Bede also tells of Caedmon, a herdsman at the monastery who was given a gift for poetry, and she encouraged him to become a monk. Hilda died on 17 November 680 after years of serious illness. Bede describes her as a woman whom kings and ordinary people alike sought out for advice. The Catholic Church keeps her feast on 17 November. The ruins of Whitby are still a well-known landmark on the Yorkshire coast. Bede's account is the main source for her life, and he wrote of her energy, wisdom and care for study. Her Whitby community also produced one of the earliest lives of Pope Gregory the Great, an anonymous text written there around the year 700.

Works and witness

• Abbess of Hartlepool, appointed by Bishop Aidan
• Founded the double monastery of Whitby in 657 and ruled it until death
• Her monastery hosted the Synod of Whitby in 664
• Five of her monks became bishops, including Wilfrid
• Encouraged Caedmon to become a monk and a poet

Saints from the same country

Saint Thomas Becket, Saint Thomas More, Saint Carlo Acutis, Saint Bede the Venerable

References

• Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
• Martyrologium Romanum
• Vita sancti Wilfridi (Eddius Stephanus)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.