Day: April 20, 2024

Saint of the Day – 20 April – Saint Peter Caedwalla of Wessex (c658-689) Layman, King of Wessex. Venerable St Bede wrote of him in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Born in c658 in Wessex, England and died on 20 April 689 at Rome, Italy. Reign as King of Wessex, 685–688, when he abdicated. Patronages – of converts, of reformed murderers. Also known as – Caedwalla of Wales, Cadwallader, Cadwallador, Cadwalla… Cadwallon… Ceadwalla… Cedualla… Peter Caedwalla.

From St Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, we learn that Caedwalla was a nobleman of the West Saxons, exiled from his Country as a youth, who returned with an army and killed the reigning Monarch. After much plunder and bloodshed, he became the new King.

Caedwalla then conquered the pagan Isle of Wight and did his best to exterminate all the natives and replace them with settlers from his own region, although Bede states that the natives remained a majority on the island.Although not yet Baptised, Caedwalla is said to have vowed that, should he conquer the Island, he would give a quarter of all the land and his spoils to the God of the Christians. This promise was honoured when he gave the promised bounty to Bishop Wilfrid. Wilfrid appointed a Priest to preach on the Island and to Baptise all who wished to convert to the Christian Faith.

When Cædwalla first attacked the South Saxons, Wilfrid was at the court of King Æthelwealh and on Æthelwealh’s death, Wilfrid attached himself to Cædwalla. The Life of Wilfrid records that Cædwalla sought Wilfrid out as a spiritual father.

This stained glass window (above) can be seen in the south aisle of St Mary’s Church in Ryde. It was designed and installed by the Victorian Catholic artist, Nathaniel Westlake in 1882. It depicts St. Wilfrid, having landed on the Isle of Wight in 686, with Benedictine Monks, seeking permission from Caedwalla to preach the Gospel. Being granted permission and given land on the Island, St Wilfrid and his followers, built the Island’s first (wooden) Church at Brading, on the site of the present Church of St Mary the Virgin. Hence, it could be said that our St Peter Caedwalla was the first Isle of Wight Saint. (St Wilfred: https://anastpaul.com/2018/10/12/saint-of-the-day-12-october-st-wilfrid-c-633-709/).

Two young Princes, brothers of the former King, when Caedwalla invaded the Island, escaped across the Solent. They were eventually betrayed, however and ordered to be put to death. Caedwalla, at this time, was living in seclusion while he recovered from wounds received while fighting on the Isle of Wight. The Abbot of Redbridge petitioned him to allow the young Princes to receive instruction in the Christian Faith and to receive Baptism before their execution. Caedwalla consented to this request and they were duly instructed, Baptised and then executed.

In 688 Caedwalla, after governing the people of Wessex “most ably” for two years, abdicated his throne and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he hoped to receive Baptism. He arrived in Rome during the Pontificate of Pope Sergius and was Baptised by him (and given the name of Peter on account of his devotion to the Apostle, which had inspired his pilgrimage).

On Holy Saturday 689, Peter Caedwalla fell ill while “still wearing his white robes” that is, during Easter Week when the newly Baptised were wearing the white garment received by them as a sign of their purification from sin. He died on 20 April that year and was buried in St Peter’s. The Pope directed that an Epitaph be inscribed on his tomb to preserve his memory and devotion. It was composed by the Archbishop of Milan and is given in full by St Bede. The stone was discovered in the 16th Century when the Basilica of St Peter was being rebuilt. A s 16th Century mural in Chichester Cathedral depicts St Peter Caedwalla giving land to St Wilfrid, see below.