15
July. 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Day of
Remembrance: Bishop Swithun.
Swithin,
Bishop of Winchester, Translation. Bishop (838-862) at
the beginning of the monastic reforms, and the increase of the authority of
Rome, which led to the struggle under Dunstan in the next century. He was
buried, by his own desire, outside the Cathedral, where men might walk over his
grave. After canonization in 912, his remains were translated to a shrine in
the Cathedral; and, according to the legend, the saint showed his anger by a
rain which stopped the work for 40 days. Hence the common belief that rain on
St. Swithin's day presages a continued rain of 40 days. -- July 15th.
15
July. 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Day of
Remembrance: Bishop Swithun
Swithun (or Swithin, Old English: Swīþhūn;
died c. 862) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for
posthumous miracle-working. According to tradition, the weather on his feast
day (15 July) will continue for forty days. The precise meaning and origin of
Swithin's name is unknown, but it is largely considered to mean 'Pig Man'.[1] Another possible
meaning is "strong".
Contents
- 1 Recorded life
- 2 Traditional life
- 3 Veneration
- 4 Patronage
- 5 Legacy
- 6 Proverb
- 7 References
- 8 Sources
- 9 Further reading
- 10 External links
Recorded life
Swithun was Bishop of Winchester from his consecration in October 852 or October 853 until his death on 2
July sometime between 862 and 865.[2] However, he is
scarcely mentioned in any document of his own time. His death is entered in the
Canterbury manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS F) under the year 861.[3] His signature is
appended to the witness lists of several Anglo-Saxon charters. Of these charters three belong to 833,[4] 838, 860–862. In
the first Swithun signs as Swithunus presbyter regis Egberti, in the
second as Swithunus diaconus, and in the third as Swithunus episcopus.
More than a hundred years later, when Dunstan and Æthelwold of Winchester were inaugurating their church reform, Swithun was adopted as patron of
the restored church at Winchester, formerly dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul. His body was transferred from its
almost forgotten grave to Æthelwold's new basilica on 15 July 971, and
according to contemporary writers, numerous miracles preceded and followed the
move.
Traditional life
The revival of Swithun's fame gave
rise to a mass of legendary literature. The so-called Vita S. Swithuni
of Lantfred and Wulfstan,
written about 1000, hardly contain any biographical fact; all that has in later
years passed for authentic detail of Swithun's life is extracted from a
biography ascribed to Goscelin of St Bertin's, a monk
who came over to England with Hermann, bishop of Salisbury from 1058 to 1078. From this writer we learn that Saint Swithun was born
in the reign of Egbert of Wessex, and was ordained priest by Helmstan, bishop of Winchester (838-c. 852). His fame reached the king's ears, and
he appointed him tutor of his son, Æthelwulf (alias
Adulphus), and considered him one of his chief friends.[5]
Under Æthelwulf, Swithun was appointed
bishop of Winchester, to which see he was consecrated by Archbishop Ceolnoth. In his new office he was known for his piety and his zeal in building new
churches or restoring old ones. At his request Æthelwulf gave the tenth of his
royal lands to the Church. Swithun made his diocesan journeys on foot; when he
gave a banquet he invited the poor and not the rich. William of Malmesbury adds that, if Bishop Ealhstan of Sherborne was Æthelwulf's minister for temporal matters, Swithun was the minister
for spiritual matters.[5]
Swithun's best known miracle was his
restoration on a bridge of a basket of eggs that workmen had maliciously
broken. Of stories connected with Swithun the two most famous are those of the
Winchester egg-woman and Queen Emma's ordeal. The former is to be found in
Goscelin's Life (c. 1100), the latter in Thomas Rudborne's Historia major (15th
century), a work which is also responsible for the not improbable legend that
Swithun accompanied Alfred on his visit to Rome in 856. He died on 2 July 862. On his deathbed Swithin begged that he
should be buried outside the north wall of his cathedral where passers-by
should pass over his grave and raindrops from the eaves drop upon it.[5]
Veneration
Swithun's feast
day in England is on 15 July and in Norway (and formerly in
medieval Wales) on 2 July. He was moved from his grave to an indoor shrine in the Old Minster at Winchester in 971. His body was
probably later split between a number of smaller shrines. His head was
certainly detached and, in the Middle Ages, taken to Canterbury Cathedral. Peterborough Abbey had an arm.[4] His main shrine
was transferred into the new Norman
cathedral at Winchester in 1093. He was installed
on a 'feretory platform' above and behind the high altar. The retrochoir was
built in the early 13th century to accommodate the huge numbers of pilgrims
wishing to visit his shrine and enter the 'holy hole' beneath him. His empty tomb in the ruins of the Old Minster was also popular with visitors. The shrine
was only moved into the retrochoir itself in 1476. It was demolished in 1538 during the English Reformation. A modern representation of it now stands on the site.
Patronage
Swithun is regarded as one of the
saints to whom one should pray in the event of drought.[6]
Legacy
As he was Bishop of Winchester, there
are many dedications to Swithun at churches throughout the south of England, especially in Hampshire. An example is the church
in Headbourne Worthy to the north of Winchester. It is surrounded on three sides by a brook
that flows from a spring in the village. The lych
gate on the south is also a bridge over the brook, which is
unusual. Other churches dedicated to St Swithun can be found in Walcott, Bath,[7] Lincoln, Worcester[8] and western Norway, where the cathedral in Stavanger is dedicated to him. He is also commemorated by having St Swithin's Lane
in the City of London (site of the
former church of St Swithin, London Stone), St Swithun's School for girls in Winchester and St. Swithun's quadrangle in Magdalen College, Oxford named after him.
Proverb
The name of Swithun is best known
today for a British weather lore proverb, which says that if it rains on Saint Swithun's day, 15 July, it will rain
for 40 days.
St Swithun's day if thou
dost rain
For forty days it will
remain
St Swithun's day if thou
be fair
For forty days 'twill rain
nae mare
A Buckinghamshire variation has
If on St Swithun's day it
really pours
You're better off to stay indoors.
Swithun was initially buried out of
doors, rather than in his cathedral, apparently at his own request. William of
Malmesbury recorded that the bishop left instructions that his body should be
buried outside the church, ubi et pedibus praetereuntium et stillicidiis ex
alto rorantibus esset obnoxius [where it might be subject to the feet of
passers-by and to the raindrops pouring from on high], which has been taken as
indicating that the legend was already well known in the 12th century.
In 971 it was decided to move his body
to a new indoor shrine, and one theory traces the origin of the legend to a
heavy shower by which, on the day the move, the saint marked his displeasure
towards those who were removing his remains. This story, however, lacks proof,
and cannot be traced further back than the 17th or 18th century at most. Also,
it is at variance with the 10th century writers, who all agreed that the move
took place in accordance with the saint's desire expressed in a vision. James Raine suggested that the legend was derived
from the tremendous downpour of rain that occurred, according to the Durham chroniclers, on Saint Swithun's Day, 1315.
More probable is John Earle's suggestion that the legend comes from a pagan or possibly prehistoric day of augury. In France, Saint Medard (8 June), Urban of Langres, and Saint Gervase and Saint Protais (19 June) are credited with an influence on the weather almost identical
with that attributed to St Swithun in England. In Flanders, there is St Godelieve (6 July) and in
Germany the Seven Sleepers' Day (27 June).
There is a scientific basis to the legend of St Swithun's day. Around the
middle of July, the jet stream settles into a pattern
which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of
August. When the jet stream lies north of the British Isles then continental high pressure is
able to move in; when it lies across or south of the British Isles, Arctic air
and Atlantic weather systems predominate.[9][10]
References
5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Webster, Douglas Raymund. "St. Swithin."
The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 20
May 2013
Sources
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- Andrew Godsell "Saint Swithin and the Rain" in "Legends of British History" (2008).
Further reading
- Lapidge, Michael. Cult of St Swithun (Oxford, 2003) (Winchester Studies, 4.ii).
- Yorke, Barbara. "Swithun [St Swithun] (d. 863)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Deshman, Robert, "Saint Swithun in Early Medieval Art," in Idem, Eye and Mind: Collected Essays in Anglo-Saxon and Early Medieval Art Edited by Adam Cohen (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2010) (Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center).
External links
- Guardian netnotes on St. Swithin's Day
- Wilson's Almanac
- Prosopography of Anglo Saxon England entry for Swithun
- BBC "Landward" feature on St. Swithin's Day
|
Preceded by
Helmstan |
Bishop of Winchester
852–862 |
Succeeded by
Ealhferth |
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