St Richard of Wessex & King Alfred the Great

St Richard of Wessex

St Richard of Wessex:  More than any other race, the Anglo Saxons are distinguished for the royal patronage bestowed upon the Christian Church, and for the way in which kings and their families have worked in the spreading of the gospel in their own lands and overseas.

St. Richard and his family are outstanding examples. He was one of the kings or princes of Wessex, related to the royal house of Kent, and married to Winna, herself a descendant of Cerdic and aunt to Boniface of Crediton.

When Willibald reached manhood, he returned to his family with a desire to spread the faith abroad, and persuaded his father and brother to accompany him on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land.

Richard had a daughter, Walburga, by a second marriage, and she now entered the convent at Wimborne, under the Abbess Tetta.

King Alfred the Great

When Richard had renounced his royal estate, he set sail with his two sons from Hamblehaven near Southampton. They made a leisurely progress through France, spending time at various Christian centres including Rouen, and it seems that at some time during their journey Richard took monastic vows.

They reached Italy and came to Lucca, where the Cathedral had been built by an Irish monk called Frigidian, but known by the local inhabitants as Frediano.

Richard, who was growing old and had become infirm during his travels, now succumbed to the heat and died. St Richard of Wessex: Died 722 A.D. His sons saw to his burial in St. Frediano's church and then continued their journey.

Later they joined their uncle St. Boniface and their sister St. Walburga in the work of converting the Germans.Their father, St. Richard, is still venerated in Lucca. A famous account of the pilgrimage on which he died was written by his son's cousin, the nun Hugeburc, entitled Hodoeporicon (Baring-Gould). 

Canterbury Coin

In art, King Saint Richard is portrayed as a royal pilgrim (ermine-lined cloak) with two sons--one a bishop and one an abbot. His crown may be on a book (Roeder). He is venerated at Heidenheim and Lucca (Roeder1955). (Roeder). Left, Negroid gold coin pendant, about 590 A.D., found near St. Martin’s church, Canterbury, England.

King Alfred the Great: Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfrēd, Ælfrǣd, "elf counsel" or "wise elf"; 849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by the time of his death had become the dominant ruler in England.[1] He is one of only two English monarchs to be given the epithet "the Great", the other being the Scandinavian Cnut the Great.

He was also the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of Alfred's life are described in a work by the 10th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system, military structure and his people's quality of life.