Sexburga of Ely

The Venerable Sexburga of Ely was an Anglo-⁠Saxon queen of Kent and then abbess at Ely, venerated as a saint; she fell asleep around 699. Her feast is on 6 July.

She was one of the four daughters of Anna, king of East Anglia, and her sisters were Æthelburg and Saethryth, both abbesses of Faremoutiers monastery in Brie, Saint Æthelthryth, abbess at Ely, and perhaps Withburga. She married Eorcenberht, king of Kent from 640 to 664; they had two sons, Ecgberht and Hlothhere, both kings of Kent, and two daughters, the saints Eormenhild and Ercongota. After her husband's death, in 664, Sexburga remained in Kent to raise her children and was regent until her son Ecgberht came of age. She founded the monasteries of Milton Regis and Minster-⁠in-⁠Sheppey, where her daughter Ermenilda was also a nun. Then she moved to the double monastery at Ely, where her sister Æthelthryth was abbess, and succeeded her after her death in 679.

According to Bede, in 695 Sexburga had the remains of her sister moved to a marble sarcophagus, after they had lain sixteen years in a common grave; on opening the grave it was found that her body was miraculously preserved incorrupt. Bede praises the virtues of Saint Æthelthryth, but speaks less of Sexburga, mentioning only her marriage, her succession as abbess and the translation of her sister's relics. The date of her death at Ely is not known. The surviving versions of the Life of Saint Sexburga, compiled after 1106, tell of her youth, marriage, withdrawal from secular life and last years as nun and abbess. She was buried at Ely, with her sisters Æthelthryth and Wihtburh and her daughter Eormenhild.