Saint Egwin OSB
Scenes from the life of Saint Egwin, St Lawrence's Church, Evesham
Bishop of Worcester Founder of Evesham
Born	7th century Worcester,Mercia
Died	30 December 717 Evesham Abbey,Mercia
Venerated in	Catholic Church,Eastern Orthodox Church
Majorshrine	Evesham Abbey
Feast	30 December
Attributes	bishop holding a fish and a key[1]

Egwin of Evesham^[a] (died 30 December 717) was aBenedictinemonk and, later, the thirdBishop of Worcester in England. He is venerated as asaint in theCatholic Church andEastern Orthodox Church.

Egwin was born inWorcester of anoble family, and was a descendant ofMercian kings.^[2] He may possibly have been a nephew of KingÆthelred of Mercia. Having become a monk, his biographers say that king, clergy, and commoners all united in demanding Egwin's elevation tobishop; but the popularity which led him to the episcopal office dissipated in response to his performance as bishop.^[2] He wasconsecrated bishop after 693.^[3]

As a bishop he was known as a protector of orphans and widows and a fair judge.^[4] He struggled with the local population over the acceptance of Christian morality, especiallyChristian marriage andclerical celibacy. Egwin's stern discipline created a resentment which, as King Æthelred was his friend, eventually found its way to his ecclesiastical superiors. He undertook apilgrimage toRome to seek vindication from thepope himself. According to a legend, he prepared for his journey by locking shackles on his feet, and throwing the key into theRiver Avon.

According to one account, as Egwin and his companions were passing through the Alps, they began to thirst. Those among his companions who did not acknowledge the bishop's sanctity asked him mockingly to pray for water as Moses once did in the desert. But others, who did believe in him, rebuked the unbelievers and asked him in a different tone, with true faith and hope. Egwin prostrated himself in prayer. On arising, they saw a pure stream of water gush forth out of the rock.^[5]

While he prayed before the tomb of theApostles in Rome, one of his servants brought him the very key—found in the mouth of a fish that had just been caught in theTiber.^[2] Egwin then released himself from his self-imposed bonds and straight away obtained from the pope an authoritative release from his enemies' obloquy.

Upon his return to England, he foundedEvesham Abbey, which became one of the great Benedictine houses of medieval England. It was dedicated to theVirgin Mary, who had reportedly made known to aswineherd namedEof just where a church should be built in her honour.^[6]

One of the last important acts of hisepiscopate was his participation in the first greatCouncil of Clovesho. According to the Benedictine historian,Jean Mabillon, he died on 30 December 720,^[2] although his death is generally accepted as having occurred three years earlier on 30 December 717.^[3] He died at the abbey he had founded, and his remains were enshrined there.

Ahagiography was written byByrhtferth of Ramsey, a monk atRamsey Abbey, around 1016.^[7] AnotherVita Sancti Egwini, was written byDominic of Evesham, a medieval prior of Evesham Abbey around 1130.^[8] His tomb was destroyed, along with the abbey church, at the time of thedissolution of the abbey in 1540.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Egwin".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

• 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.
• Jennings, J. C. (April 1962). "The Writings of Prior Dominic of Evesham".The English Historical Review.77 (303):298–304.doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXVII.CCCIII.298.

• Lapidge, Michael, ed. (2009).Byrhtferth of Ramsey: The Lives of St Oswald and St Ecgwine. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.ISBN 978-0-19-955078-4.

• Ecgwine 1 atProsopography of Anglo-Saxon England
• The Benedictines of Stanbrook.Saint Egwin and His Abbey of Evesham
• Butler, Alban.The Lives of the Saints, Vol. I, 1866

• 7th-century births
• 717 deaths
• 7th-century English bishops
• 8th-century English bishops
• Abbots of Evesham
• Mercian saints
• Bishops of Worcester
• 7th-century Christian saints
• 8th-century Christian saints
• English Benedictines
• Benedictine bishops
• Benedictine saints
• Founders of Catholic religious communities
• Burials at Evesham Abbey
• 8th-century Christian abbots

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