Hilda of Whitby


Hilda of Whitby
St. Hilda as depicted in a stained glass window in Chester Cathedral
Virgin
Bornc. 614
Kingdom of Deira
Died17 November 680
Whitby Abbey, Northumbria
Venerated inCatholic Church
Anglican Communion
Eastern Orthodox Church
CanonizedPre-Congregation
Feast17, 18 or 19 November
In the Anglican Use, her feast is on 23 June
AttributesCrozier of an abbess, model of Whitby Abbey

Hilda of Whitby (or Hild of Whitby) (c. 614 – 680) was a saint of the early Church in Britain. She was the founder and first abbess of the monastery at Whitby which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby in 664. An important figure in the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England, she was abbess in several convents and recognised for the wisdom that drew kings to her for advice.

The source of information about Hilda is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede in 731, who was born approximately eight years before her death. He documented much of the Christian conversion of the English.