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Saint Frithuswith〔John Blair, "Frithuswith (d. 727)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 (accessed 5 January 2010 )〕 (c. 65019 October 727; ; also known as Frideswide, Frideswith, Fritheswithe, Frevisse, or simply Fris) was an English princess and abbess. She is credited with establishing a religious site later incorporated into Christ Church in Oxford — Frithuswith was the first abbess of this Oxford double monastery. Frithuswith was the daughter of a Mercian sub-king named Dida of Eynsham, whose lands occupied western Oxfordshire and the upper reaches of the River Thames. Dida is known to have endowed churches in Bampton and Oxford. ==Life== Two twelfth-century Latin texts (edited by John Blair)〔''Oxoniensia'' 52 (1987): 71-127.〕 were adapted into two Middle English accounts of the Life of Saint Frithuswith, which are included in the ''South English Legendary''.〔"The Legend of Frideswide of Oxford, an Anglo-Saxon Royal Abbess: Introduction." 2003. TEAMS Middle English Texts Series. Ed. Sherry L. Reames. 14 June 2010 ()〕 The accounts differ slightly in their story. The shorter tale recounts that Frithuswith was born to Didan (an Anglo-Saxon sub-king) and his wife Safrida around AD 650. With the help of her father, Frithuswith founded a priory (St Frideswide's Priory) while still young, but even though Fritheswith was bound to celibacy, Algar (that is, Æthelbald), a Mercian king, sought to marry her. When Frithuswith refused him, Algar tried to abduct her. A longer tale is attributed to Robert of Cricklade, then prior of Oxford, and was later recorded by William of Malmsbury.〔 According to this account (recorded in the ''South English Legendary''), Fritheswith flees to Oxford. There she finds a ship sent by God which takes her to Bampton. Meanwhile the King searches for her in Oxford, but the people refuse to tell him where she is. When he has searched the whole town but cannot find her, he becomes blind.〔"Longer South English Legendary Life of St. Frideswide." 2003. TEAMS Middle English Texts Series. Ed. Sherry L. Reames. 14 June 2010 ()〕 In the shorter version, Frithuswith hides in a forest outside Oxford, but when Algar comes to look for her, she sneaks back into the town. The king follows her, but just outside the Oxford city gates he falls off his horse and breaks his neck.〔"Shorter South English Legendary Life of St. Frideswide." 2003. TEAMS Middle English Texts Series. Ed. Sherry L. Reames. 14 June 2010 ()〕 In the longer life, the nuns in Binsey complain of having to fetch water from the distant River Thames, so Frideswide prays to God and a well springs up. The well water has healing properties and many people come to seek it out. This well can still be found today at the Church of St Margaret in Binsey, a few miles upriver from Oxford. Frithuswith remained abbess of the Oxford monastery until her death in about 727, where she was later buried. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Frithuswith」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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