Editing Swithun

{{Short description|Bishop of Winchester (died 863)}}
{{redirect|Saint Swithun}}
{{redirect|Saint Swithin's Day}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]]
|name=Swithun
|birth_date={{circa|lk=no}} 800
|death_date={{death date|863|7|2|df=y}}
|feast_day=2 July (Norway)<br/>15 July (England)
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]<br>[[Anglican Communion]]<br>[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image=St Swithun, Benedictional of Æthelwold, London, BL, Ms Add. 19598, Fol 90V.jpg
|imagesize=200px
|caption=Portrait of St Swithun in the<br> [[Benedictional of St Æthelwold]], c. 970s
|birth_place=possibly [[Hampshire]]
|death_place=[[Winchester]], [[Hampshire]]
|titles=[[Bishop of Winchester]]
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=Bishop, holding a bridge, broken eggs at his feet
|patronage=[[Hampshire]]; [[Winchester]]; [[Southwark]]; the [[weather]]
|major_shrine=[[Winchester Cathedral]]. Parts survive in cathedral museum. Also modern replacement shrine.
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}

'''Swithun''' (or '''Swithin'''; {{langx|ang|Swīþhūn}}; {{langx|la|Swithunus}}; died 863) was an Anglo-Saxon [[bishop of Winchester]] and subsequently patron saint of [[Winchester Cathedral]].  His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working.  According to tradition, if it rains on Saint Swithun's bridge (Winchester) on his feast day (15 July) it will continue for forty days.

==Biography==
St. Swithun was [[Bishop of Winchester]] from his consecration on 30 October 852 until his death on 2 July 863.<ref>Keynes, "Archbishops and Bishops", p. 549</ref> However, he is scarcely mentioned in any document of his own time. His death is entered in the Canterbury manuscript of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' (MS F) under the year 861.<ref>''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' (MS F).</ref> He is recorded as a  witness to nine charters, the earliest of which (S 308) is dated 854.<ref>Lapidge, ''Cult of St Swithun'', p. 4</ref>

More than a hundred years later, when [[Dunstan]] and [[Æthelwold of Winchester]] were inaugurating their church reform, Swithun was adopted as patron of the restored church at Winchester, formerly dedicated to [[St. Peter]] and [[Paul of Tarsus|St. Paul]]. His body was transferred from its almost forgotten grave to Æthelwold's new basilica on 15 July 971; according to contemporary writers, numerous miracles preceded and followed the move.

==In legend==
[[File:St-Swithin.jpg|thumb|left|Swithun shown in the [[Benedictional of St. Æthelwold]], [[Winchester]], 10th century. [[British Library]], London.]]
The revival of Swithun's fame gave rise to a mass of legendary literature. The so-called ''Vita S. Swithuni'' of [[Lantfred]] and [[Wulfstan the Cantor|Wulfstan]], written about 1000, hardly contains any biographical fact; all that has in later years passed for authentic detail of Swithun's life is extracted from a late eleventh-century [[hagiography]] ascribed to [[Goscelin]] of St. Bertin's, a monk who came over to England with [[Herman (bishop of Salisbury)|Hermann]], [[bishop of Salisbury]] from 1058 to 1078. According to this writer Saint Swithun was born in the reign of [[Egbert of Wessex]], and was ordained priest by [[Helmstan]], bishop of Winchester (838-c. 852). His fame reached the king's ears, and he appointed him tutor of his son, [[Æthelwulf of Wessex|Æthelwulf]] (alias Adulphus), and considered him one of his chief friends.<ref name=webster/>  However, [[Michael Lapidge]] describes the work as "pure fiction" and shows that the attribution to Goscelin is false.<ref>Lapidge, ''Cult of St Swithun'', p. 69</ref>

Under Æthelwulf, Swithun was appointed bishop of Winchester, to which [[Episcopal see|see]] he was consecrated by Archbishop [[Ceolnoth]]. In his new office he was known for his piety and his zeal in building new churches or restoring old ones. At his request Æthelwulf gave the tenth of his royal lands to the Church. Swithun made his diocesan journeys on foot; when he gave a banquet he invited the poor and not the rich. [[William of Malmesbury]] adds that, if Bishop [[Eahlstan|Ealhstan]] of [[Sherborne]] was Æthelwulf's minister for temporal matters, Swithun was the minister for spiritual matters.<ref name=webster/>

Swithun's best-known miracle was his restoration on a bridge of a basket of eggs that workmen had maliciously broken. Of stories connected with Swithun the two most famous are those of the Winchester egg-woman and Queen Emma's ordeal. The former is to be found in the hagiography attributed to Goscelin, the latter in [[Thomas Rudborne]]'s ''Historia major'' (15th century), a work which is also responsible for the story that Swithun accompanied [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]] on his visit to [[Rome]] in the 850s. He died on 2 July 862. On his deathbed Swithun begged that he should be buried outside the north wall of his cathedral where passers-by should pass over his grave and raindrops from the eaves drop upon it.<ref name=webster>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14357c.htm  Webster, Douglas Raymund. "St. Swithin." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 20 May 2013]</ref>

==Veneration==
[[File:wincath1-11S7-9724wiki.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|St Swithun's memorial shrine in the [[Retroquire|retrochoir]] of [[Winchester Cathedral]] in [[Hampshire]], where the saint's relics were originally kept.]]
Swithun's [[feast day]] in England is on 15 July and in Norway (and formerly in medieval Wales) on 2 July. He is also listed on 2 July in the [[Roman Martyrology]]. He was moved from his grave to an indoor [[shrine]] in the [[Old Minster, Winchester|Old Minster]] at [[Winchester]] in 971. His body was probably later split between a number of smaller shrines. His head was certainly detached and, in the [[Middle Ages]], taken to [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. [[Peterborough Cathedral|Peterborough Abbey]] had an arm.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/210/7/153.html Butler, Alban. ''The Lives of the Saints'', Vol. VII, 1866]</ref> His main shrine was transferred into the new [[Norman architecture|Norman]] cathedral at [[Winchester]] in 1093. He was installed on a 'feretory platform' above and behind the high altar. The [[retrochoir]] was built in the early 13th century to accommodate the huge numbers of pilgrims wishing to visit his shrine and enter the 'holy hole' beneath him. His empty [[tomb]] in the ruins of the Old Minster was also popular with visitors. The shrine was only moved into the retrochoir itself in 1476. It was [[demolition|demolished]] in 1538 during the [[English Reformation]]. A modern representation of it now stands on the site.

The shrine of Swithun at Winchester was supposedly a site of numerous miracles in the Middle Ages. [[Æthelwold of Winchester]] ordered that all monks were to stop whatever they were doing and head to the church to praise God every time that a miracle happened. A story exists that the monks at some point got so fed up with this, because they sometimes had to wake up and go to the church three or four times each night, that they decided to stop going. St. Swithun then appeared in a dream to someone (possibly two people) and warned them that if they stopped going to the church, then miracles would cease. This person (or persons) then warned the monks about the dream they had, and the monks then caved in and decided to go to the church each time a miracle happened again.<ref>Studies in the Early History of Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset County Council, 1999</ref>

Swithun is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Lesser Festival (Anglicanism)|Lesser Festival]] on [[July 15|15 July]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-03-27|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref>

==Patronage==
Swithun is regarded as one of the saints to whom one should pray in the event of drought.<ref name=farmers>{{Cite web |url=http://www.farmersalmanac.com/blog/2011/07/15/today-is-st-swithins-day/ |title=McLeod, Jaime. "Today is St. Swithin's Day", ''Farmers' Almanac'', 15 July 2011 |access-date=20 May 2013 |archive-date=9 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109134646/https://www.farmersalmanac.com/blog/2011/07/15/today-is-st-swithins-day/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Legacy==
There are in excess of forty [[Church (building)|churches]] dedicated to St Swithun, which can be found throughout the south of England, especially in [[Hampshire]] – see [[St Swithun's Church (disambiguation)|this list]]. An example is [[St Swithun's Church, Headbourne Worthy|St Swithun's, Headbourne Worthy]], to the north of Winchester. This church is surrounded on three sides by a brook that flows from a spring in the village; the [[lych gate]] on the south side is also a bridge over the brook, which is unusual. Other churches dedicated to St Swithun can be found at [[Walcot, Bath|Walcot]],<ref name=walcot>[http://www.stswithinswalcot.org.uk/ St. Swithin's, Walcot, Bath]</ref> [[St Swithin's Church, Lincoln|Lincoln]], [[St Swithun's Church, Worcester|Worcester]],<ref name=worcester>[http://www.swithun.org.uk/page02_Swithun.htm St. Swithun's, Worcester] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130707075735/http://www.swithun.org.uk/page02_Swithun.htm |date=7 July 2013 }}</ref> Cheswardine, Shropshire and western [[Norway]], where [[Stavanger Cathedral]] is dedicated to him. He is also commemorated at St Swithin's Lane in the [[City of London]] (site of the former church of [[St Swithin, London Stone]], demolished after wartime damage in 1962), [[St Swithun's School, Winchester|St Swithun's School]] for girls in Winchester and St Swithun's quadrangle in [[Magdalen College, Oxford]]. In [[Stavanger]], Norway, several schools and institutions are named “St Svithun” after him.

==Proverb==
[[File:St Swithun Statue.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of St. Swithun originally on the [[façade]] of [[Winchester Cathedral]]; now housed in the [[Crypt]].]]
The name of Swithun is best known today for a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[weather lore]] [[proverb]], which says that if it rains on St. Swithun's day, 15 July, it will rain for forty days.

{{poemquote|St. Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mare}}

A Buckinghamshire variation has:
{{poemquote|If on St. Swithun's day it really pours
You're better off to stay indoors}}

Swithun was initially buried outdoors, rather than in his cathedral, apparently at his own request. William of Malmesbury recorded that the bishop left instructions that his body should be buried outside the church, ''ubi et pedibus praetereuntium et stillicidiis ex alto rorantibus esset obnoxius'' [where it might be subject to the feet of passers-by and to the raindrops pouring from on high], which has been taken as indicating that the legend was already well known in the 12th century.

In 971 it was decided to move his body to a new indoor shrine, and one theory traces the origin of the legend to a heavy shower by which, on the day of the move, the saint marked his displeasure towards those who were removing his remains. This story, however, cannot be traced further back than the 17th or 18th century. Also, it is at variance with the 10th century writers, who all agreed that the move took place in accordance with the saint's desire expressed in a vision. [[James Raine (antiquary)|James Raine]] suggested that the legend was derived from the tremendous downpour of rain that occurred, according to the [[Durham, England|Durham]] chroniclers, on St. Swithun's Day, 1315.

[[John Earle (professor)|John Earle]] suggests that the legend comes from a [[paganism|pagan]] or possibly prehistoric day of [[augury]]. In [[France]], [[Medardus|St. Medard]] (8 June), [[Urban of Langres]], and [[Gervasius and Protasius|St. Gervase and St. Protais]] (19 June) are credited with an influence on the weather almost identical with that attributed to St. Swithun in England. In [[Flanders]], there is [[Godelieve|St. Godelieve]] (6 July) and in Germany the [[Seven Sleepers]]' Day (27 June). In Russia it is the day of [[Sampson the Hospitable]] (27 June [[old style]]).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.calend.ru/narod/6660/ | title=Самсон Сеногной }}</ref> 

There is a scientific basis to the weather pattern behind the legend of St. Swithun's day. Around the middle of July, the [[jet stream]] settles into a pattern which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of August. When the jet stream lies north of the [[British Isles]] then continental high pressure is able to move in; when it lies across or south of the British Isles, Arctic air and Atlantic weather systems predominate.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/wxfacts/St-Swithuns-Day.htm
|publisher = Weather Online
|access-date = 23 May 2012
|title = St. Swithun's Day}}</ref>  The most false that the prediction has been, according to the [[Guinness Book of Records]], was in 1924 when 13.5 hours of sunshine in London were followed by 30 of the next 40 days being wet, and in 1913 when a 15-hour rainstorm was followed by 30 dry days out of 40.<ref>{{Cite book|page=76|author=Norris and Ross McWhirter|edition=1973|title=Guinness Book of records}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Saint Swithun in popular culture]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* [[Andrew Godsell]] "Saint Swithin and the Rain" in "Legends of British History" (2008).
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Keynes  |first=Simon  |title=Appendix II: Archbishops and Bishops 597–1066  |year=2014|editor1-first= Michael|editor1-last= Lapidge|editor2-first= John|editor2-last= Blair|editor3-first= Simon|editor3-last= Keynes |editor4-first= Donald|editor4-last= Scragg |encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England|edition=Second|location=Chichester, UK|publisher= Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-470-65632-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Lapidge|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Lapidge|title=The Cult of St Swithun|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|year =2003|isbn=0-19-813183-6}}
*{{cite book|chapter = [[s:Ælfric's Lives of Saints/Of Saint Swythun|Of Saint Swythun]]|title = Ælfric's Lives of Saints|year = 1881| publisher = London, Pub. for the Early English text society, by N. Trübner & co.|author=[[Ælfric of Eynsham]]}}

===Further reading===
{{refbegin}}
* Aelfric, and Geoffrey Ivor Needham. Lives of Three English Saints. N.Y.: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1966. Series:	Methuen's old English library. 119 pages. OCLC: 422028061.
* Blakely, Ruth Margaret. St. Swithun of Winchester: An Investigation into the Literature Relating to His Life, Legends and Cult. Thesis (FLA) -- Library Association 1981, n.d. OCLC: 557018780.
* Bussby, Frederick. Saint Swithun: Patron Saint of Winchester. Winchester: Friends of Winchester Cathedral, 1971. OCLC: 7477761.
* Davidson, George, and John Faed. Legend of St. Swithin: A Rhyme for Rainy Weather. London: Hamilton, Adams, 1861. OCLC: 16140471.
* Deshman, Robert, "Saint Swithun in Early Medieval Art," in Idem, ''Eye and Mind: Collected Essays in Anglo-Saxon and Early Medieval Art''  Edited by Adam Cohen (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, 2010) (Publications of the Richard Rawlinson Center).
* Fridegodus, A. Campbell, Eddius Stephanus, Wulfstan, and Lamfridus. Frithegodi monachi Breviloquium vitae Beati Wilfredi, et Wulfstani cantoris Narratio metrica de Sancto Swithuno. Turici: In Aedibus Thesauri Mundi, 1950. 183 pages. Notes: Fridegodus' work is a versification of the Vita Sancti Wilfredi I, usually attributed to Eddi. Wulfstan's work is a versification of Lamfridus' Miracula Sancti Swithuni. OCLC:  62612752.
* Swithun, and John Earle. Facsimile of Some Leaves in Saxon Handwriting on St. Swithun, Copied by Photozincography, with Literal Translation and Notes. 1861. 20 pages. OCLC: 863315099.
* Wolstanus Wintonensis, Michael Huber, and Lamfridus. S. Swithinus, miracula metrica, I. Text; beitrag zur altenglischen geschichte und literatur. Landshut: J. Thomann'sche buch-u. kunstdruckerei, 1905. 105 pages. Notes: Programm—Humanistisches Gymnasium Metten. A versification of Lantfred's work. OCLC: 669193.
*{{cite journal|last=Yorke|first=Barbara|journal=Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society|title=The Bishops of Winchester, the Kings of Wessex and the Development of Winchester in the Ninth and Early Tenth Centuries|volume=40|year=1984|pages=61–70}}
* Yorke, Barbara. "Swithun [St Swithun] (d. 863)." [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26854 ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press, 2004].
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Subject bar|auto=y|d=y|Saints}}
*{{PASE|37830|Swithhun 5}}
*[https://www.theguardian.com/netnotes/article/0,6729,755807,00.html ''Guardian'' netnotes] on St. Swithin's Day
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007q095 BBC "Landward" feature on St. Swithin's Day]

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel| [[Christianity|Christian titles]] }}
{{s-bef | before=[[Helmstan]] }}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Bishop of Winchester]] | years= 852–862}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Ealhferth]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Bishops of Winchester}}
{{Anglo-Saxon saints}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Portalbar|Saints}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swithun}}

[[Category:800s births]]
[[Category:863 deaths]]
[[Category:9th-century English bishops]]
[[Category:9th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Bishops of Winchester]]
[[Category:Burials at Winchester Cathedral]]
[[Category:English legendary characters]]
[[Category:History of Winchester]]
[[Category:Weather lore]]
[[Category:West Saxon saints]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Saints' days|Swithun]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]