St. Frideswide St.

Frideswide was a princess of Mercia in the eighth century, who became abbess of a monastery in Oxford, but as patron saint of the city, her story probably deserves a little closer attention, as it continues to be told to this day. She was a Mercian priness who, in the desire to retain her virginity, had an abbey erected in her name in Oxford. A royal suitor, who wished her hand in marriage, attempted to gain entry to the city, to claim her by force. When he got into Oxford he was struck blind, and only recovered when St. Frideswide explicitly forgave him. The monastery of which she was abbess was on the site where Christ Church now stands. In 1002 it was burned to the ground, resulting in a massacre of the Vikings in the city at that time on St. Frideswides day. Having been rebuilt it became the Augustinian Priory of St. Frideswide in 1122, the cemetery of which has been excavated in Christ Church meadow. With the dissolution of the monasteries, the priorys possessions and lands were acquired by Cardinal Wolsey, in preparation for the college he was building on the site. When Wolsey fell into disfavour with Henry VIII, and was executed, the building was turned over to Henry himself, who built the Cathedral that stands there today, in what we know as Christ Church.