Hilda of Whitby

Definition

Hilda of Whitby (also known as Saint Hilda of Whitby, l. 614-680 CE) was the founder and abbess of the monastery at Whitby, Kingdom of Northumbria, Britain. She was a Northumbrian princess who converted to Christianity with the rest of the court of her great-uncle, King Edwin of Deira (r. 616-633 CE), when she was 13. She was raised at Edwin's court in the tradition of Roman Catholicism, but at the age of 33 became an adherent of Celtic Christianity, tutored in the faith by Aidan of the monastery of Lindisfarne, and was abbess at Hartlepool Abbey before founding the monastery at Whitby.

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