7th century – 30 December 717
Third Bishop of Worcester and founder of Evesham Abbey; a monastic bishop and friend of St. Aldhelm.
Our Father among the Saints Egwin, Bishop of Worcester
Egwin (Ecgwine) of Worcester was an eighth-century English bishop, the third to hold the see of Worcester in the kingdom of Mercia, and the founder and first abbot of Evesham Abbey. Born in the seventh century at Worcester into a noble family said to descend from the Mercian royal line, he was consecrated bishop after 693 and served until his death in 717.
A monastic bishop known for strict discipline in matters of Christian morality, marriage practice, and clerical celibacy, Egwin drew local resentment even while enjoying the friendship of King Æthelred of Mercia. Tradition holds that, facing accusation, he made a penitential pilgrimage to Rome and was vindicated by papal authority. After returning to England he founded Evesham Abbey, one of the great Benedictine houses of medieval England, and later resigned his see to govern it as abbot.
He is venerated as a saint in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, commemorated on 30 December.
As the third Bishop of Worcester, Egwin governed his see with a strictness that touched on Christian morality, marriage practices, and clerical celibacy. This rigor, according to tradition, provoked resentment among some in his flock, and he came to face accusation and reproach even though he retained the friendship of King Æthelred of Mercia.
He took part in the first Council of Clovesho, one of the significant ecclesiastical assemblies of the early English Church.
Tradition relates that, to answer his accusers, Egwin undertook a pilgrimage to Rome to seek papal vindication. Before departing, he is said to have locked shackles on his own feet and cast the key into the River Avon as an act of penance.
While in Rome, praying at the tomb of the Apostles, a servant reportedly brought him the very key, said to have been found in the mouth of a fish taken from the River Tiber. He obtained an authoritative papal release from the accusations of his enemies. The story gives rise to his iconographic attributes: a bishop holding a fish and a key.
On his return to England, Egwin founded Evesham Abbey, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The foundation followed, by tradition, a vision of the Virgin reported by a swineherd named Eof. King Æthelred granted Egwin the whole peninsula in 701, and construction began that year.
The abbey received papal recognition through a charter attributed to Pope Constantine, dated 709, documenting the consecration of the site; scholars have proposed dates ranging from 701 to 714 for the various stages of its foundation. Organized as a Benedictine monastery, Evesham grew into one of the great religious houses of medieval England. After witnessing the consecration of the church he had built, Egwin resigned his bishopric and became abbot of the community.
Egwin is venerated as a saint in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, with a feast day of 30 December. His life was recorded in hagiographies by Byrhtferth of Ramsey (c. 1016) and Dominic of Evesham (c. 1130).
His tomb was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540.
Egwin was buried at Evesham Abbey, the monastery he founded, where his tomb became a place of veneration. The tomb was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540.
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