Charlbury's own saint

Fri 8 Dec 2023, 00:00

Well I am glad he was a Saint. Better than Manchester ;-)

Thu 7 Dec 2023, 21:22

Diuma also had a pint or two at the old Malborough Arms (I assume...)

Thu 7 Dec 2023, 18:40

“The earliest Mercian saint, Diuma, is almost unknown. When Peada was baptized by bishop Finan in 653, four priests returned with him to Mercia: Cedd, Adda, Betti, and an Irishman, Diuma. At the death of Penda, Oswy gained control of Mercia and Diuma was consecrated bishop of the Mercians and Middle Angles. His efforts were successful, and he gained a large amount of converts before dying in a district called Infeppingum. Unfortunately, this is all we know of Diuma. At the time when he was bishop, Mercia had no fixed see, so the bishop moved continually through the kingdom, possibly following the king. The Secgan be ∂am Godes sanctum ∂e on Engla lande ærost reston, an eleventh century list of resting places, lists Diuma in its first half, which was composed in the eighth or ninth century. In the list, he is said to lie at Charlbury, which is an area that has been tentatively identified as the land inhabited by the Feppingas. Using the Tribal Hidage, an eighth-century Mercian tribute list, Cyril Hart has identified the Feppingas as a small tribal group in the larger subkingdom of the Middle Angles. Once the major rulers had been converted to Christianity, the attention of the missionaries would have focused on the smaller political units, and it is likely that Diuma was preaching to this small tribal group when he died.”

(from an academic paper on “Saints and their Function in the Kingdom of Mercia”)

Thu 7 Dec 2023, 17:50

How interesting! Does he (she?) have a grave? 

Thu 7 Dec 2023, 14:10

Thank you for letting us know John. We often used to get a happy St Diuma's Day card from our neighbour David Kidd-May (who has now sadly moved out of Charlbury) so good to get a reminder!

Thu 7 Dec 2023, 12:43

Don't forget that today is the Feast of St Diuma, buried in Charlbury in 658 AD.  Greatly admired by Bede, and too little remembered today.