Saint Egwin, third bishop of Worcester and founder of Evesham AbbeyEgwin of Evesham, O.S.B. Monk, bishop and founder
Died 30 December 717 @ Evesham Abbey
Having already become a monk, his biographers say that king, clergy, and commoners all united in demanding Egwin's elevation to bishop; but the popularity which led him to the episcopal office dissipated in response to his performance as bishop. He was consecrated bishop in 693.
Egwin was born in Worcester of a noble family, and was a descendant of Mercian kings. He may possibly have been a nephew of King Æthelred of Mercia. He struggled with the local population over the acceptance of Christian morality; especially Christian marriage and clerical celibacy
Egwin's stern discipline created a resentment which, as King Æthelred of Mercia was his friend, eventually found its way to his ecclesiastical superiors. He undertook a pilgrimage to Rome to seek vindication from the pope himself. According to a legend, he prepared for his journey by locking shackles on his feet, and throwing the key into the River Avon. While he prayed before the tomb of the Apostles in Rome, one of his servants brought him this very key — found in the mouth of a fish that had just been caught in the Tiber. Egwin then released himself from his self-imposed bonds and straightway obtained from the pope an authoritative release from his enemies' obloquy.
Upon his return to England, he founded Evesham Abbey, which became one of the great Benedictine houses of medieval England. It was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who had reportedly made known to a swineherd named Eof just where a church should be built in her honor.
One of the last important acts of his episcopate was his participation in the first great Council of Clovesho. According to the Benedictine historian, Jean Mabillon, he died on 30 December 720, though his death is generally accepted as having occurred three years earlier on 30 December 717. He died at the abbey he had founded, and his remains were enshrined there.
He was regarded as a saint following his death. A Vita Sancti Egwini was written by Dominic of Evesham, a medieval prior of Evesham Abbey around 1130. His tomb was destroyed, along with the abbey church, at the time of the dissolution of the abbey in 1540.
