Richard the Pilgrim

This article is about the saint. For the author of the crusade history, see Chanson d'Antioche.
Richard the Pilgrim
Stained glass window in St Ricarius Church, Aberford
BornAnglo-Saxon Britain
DiedLucca, Italy
Honored inRoman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church[1]

Richard the Pilgrim or Richard of Wessex[2] (died 720) was an English nobleman and Christian saint. He was the husband of Wuna of Wessex and the father of the West Saxon saints Willibald, Winnibald, and Walpurga. He led his family on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but died en route in Lucca, where he was buried in the church of Saint Fridianus.[3]

The name of the saints' father is not given in the 8th-century Hodoeporicon (Itinerary) of Hygeburg, the earliest source, nor is Richard listed in the earliest martyrologies.[3] The name Richard and his identity as a "king of the English" are inventions of the 10th century from the monastery of Heidenheim.[4] His relics were being publicly displayed in both Lucca and Eichstätt in the 12th century. His feast day is celebrated on February 7.

There is one church in England dedicated to him, St Ricarius Church, Aberford.

  1. ^ February 20 / February 7. https://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/htc/orthodox-calendar/
  2. ^ Rabenstein, Katherine I. (1998). "Saint of the Day : February 7". St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Washington, D.C. Richard the King (RM). Retrieved 2010-03-24., herself quoting Roeder, Helen (1956). Saints and Their Attributes. Chicago: H. Regnery Co. pp. ??. LCCN 56013630.
  3. ^ a b David Farmer (ed.), "Richard (d. 720)", in The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 5th rev. ed. (Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 378.
  4. ^ Paul Burns, ed., Butler's Lives of the Saints: February (The Liturgical Press, 1998), pp. 68–69.