Wereburga

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Anglo-Saxon princess and abbess of the seventh century who is venerated as a saint in Staffordshire and Chester
2. A Mercian royal figure from the 600s, honoured as a holy woman and founder of religious houses in the English Midlands
3. The name of a early English saint, an abbess of royal Mercian birth remembered as a patron of the West Midlands region

Etymology: Wereburga was an Anglo-Saxon princess of the Mercian royal house in the late seventh century, daughter of King Wulfhere and later abbess of a double monastery at Weedon in Northamptonshire. Her Old English name, "Wērburh," is the source of the Latin form "Wereburga" used in medieval Latin sources. It is a name rather than a common word, and it is built from two elements: "burh," meaning a fortified place or protection, and a first element "wēr," whose exact sense is debated, with "man" and "truth" both proposed. The name outlived her in a particular place. Her relics were said to have been moved to Chester, traditionally dated to around 875, when monks fled Viking raids, and the city's medieval abbey was dedicated to her as St Werburgh. The shortened "Werburgh" still survives in Chester's street names and in the cathedral's dedication.