Mærwynn was the founding abbess of the reconsecrated Abbey of Romsey, and there is some certainty that she was appointed to the position by King Edgar the PeaceableonChristmas in 974.[5] While medieval legend had it that she was born in Ireland and educated by St. Patrick, historical understanding that five centuries separate them discounts this.[6]
Mærwynn was buried at Romsey Abbey, close by to where her protégé Ælfflæd was buried. Her primary feast day is 10 February in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. There are secondary commemorations in the Catholic Church marking the date of the translation of her relics (and of Ælfflæd's) on 29 October,[3] with certain other secondary days of note mentioned by the Monks of Ramsgate.[10][11]
The foundations of Mærwynn's abbey have been located under the tower, choir stalls and part of the nave of the current Norman church. Mærwynn's abbey was the second of the four church buildings to be built on the site; it was destroyed by Vikings in 1003 AD.[12]
^Akker, Dries (Andries Antonius) van den (2007). "Merwenna van Romsey". Heiligen (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 February 2023.
^The Benedictine Monks of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate (1921). "Morwenna". The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonised by the Catholic Church. London: A. & C. Black Ltd. p. 198.
