Æthelthryth of Ely in a lost calendar from Munich

Abstract

A fragment of a calendar, written s. viii^2/4, either in England or in an Anglo-Saxon centre on the Continent was preserved in Munich until 1939, but was subsequently lost. While still extant, the fragment had been printed, and from this edition it can be seen that, in addition to universally culted saints, the entries included the obits of five Anglo-Saxons, Æthelthryth among them. After a brief review of how the commemorations of the universal saints relate to the earliest manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum and to Bede's Martyrology, the article focuses on the English obits, in particular on the question of what light may be shed on the origin and first ambience of the calendar by its commemoration of Æthelthryth and by the form in which her obit there appears.