SHE was daughter of Offa, king of the Mercians in England, and of Queen Quindreda. Having refused to marry Ethelbert, king of the East-angles, from an ardent desire of consecrating herself entirely to God, she quitted the court, and retired to a small cell near Croyland, in Lincolnshire, where she lived during the space of forty years. Several miracles gave testimony of her eminent sanctity; and assiduous prayer, accompanied with the practice of other Christian virtues, rendered her worthy of the society of angels, to which God was pleased to remove her about the year 834. Her relics were lost during the ravages of the Danes. See her acts; also Ingulphus, Bromton, and F. Bosch, the Bollandist, t. 1, Aug. p. 171.
Butler’s Lives of the Saints
There is an ancient church in London, right of Hoborn Circle, which is dedicated to this saint. I have visited the curch several times and it worth the visit. You can read more on the website. It also has association with Shakespeare – http://www.stetheldreda.com/index.php/history-of-st-etheldredas/shakespeare-and-st-etheldredas/.
Patrick, thank you for the link. I am English on my father’s side. Perhaps that is why I am always interested to learn more about the 40 Martrys, recusants and their descendants, and clues to Shakespeare’s Catholicism..