Biography
Born to a Christian Saxon noble family. Brother of Saint Adolph of Utrecht. Educated with his brother at the monastery of Cnobersburg (Burgh Castle), Suffolk under the direction of its founder, Saint Fursey. When Mercian forces under King Penda invaded the region, the boys were sent to study at the monastery at Bosanham, Sussex. He became a Benedictine monk at Farmoutiere-en-Brie, Gaul (modern northeastern France), and was sent back to the British Isles in 647 to establish the Benedictine Order there. With the support of Saint Syre, Saint Aubierge, and their brother, King Anna of East Anglia, Botulph founded the monastery of Ikanhoe in East Anglia, declining the offer of a part of the royal estate, and settling for a wild, barren site that was removed from people, reported to be haunted by demons, and which would require endless work to sustain the monks. For many years it was believed that the area that grew up around it came to be called Botulph's Town, contracted to Botulphston, and later contracted to Boston in Lincolnshire, but recent reasearch has shown that the original site is another location. The Saxon Chronicle indicates that by 654 Botulph had attracted enough brother monks and hermits that work begain on the monastery. Through hard work and faith, the monastery grew in population; the monks built several structures, turned large areas of marsh and scrub into productive farming and grazing lands, and dispelled the people's fears of demons. Botulph served as spirit Born: c.610 in East Anglia (part of modern England) Died: • 17 June 680 of natural causes following a lengthy illness • he died while being carried to chapel for compline services • buried at Ikanhoe • relics moved in 870 to keep them from being destroyed by invading Danes • relics transferred to Grundisburgh in 983 • relics later distributed to monasteries at Thornery, Westminster, and Edmundsburg, Suffolk • tradition says that for safety the cask of relics destined for Edmundsburg were taken there in the middle of the night, but the travellers were guided by a light that hovered above the relics' new shrine • processions of the relics through Edmundsburgh has ended droughts there