Winchester, Hampshire - Cathedral - St Swithins Day superstition - postcard

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  St. Swithin's Day myth [St Swithin was Bishop of Winchester, hence Winchester Cathedral connection]
• Publisher: Frith & Co. Reigate
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Swithun (or Swithin, Old English: Swīþhūn, Latin: Swithunus; died 863 AD) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchesterand subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. According to tradition, if it rains on Saint Swithin's bridge (Winchester) on his feast day (15 July) it will continue for forty days. The precise meaning and origin of Swithun's name is unknown, but it most likely derives from the Old English word swiþ, 'strong'.^[1]

Swithun's feast day in England is on 15 July and in Norway (and formerly in medieval Wales) on 2 July. He was moved from his grave to an indoor shrine in the Old Minster at Winchester in 971. His body was probably later split between a number of smaller shrines. His head was certainly detached and, in the Middle Ages, taken to Canterbury Cathedral. Peterborough Abbey had an arm.^[4] His main shrine was transferred into the new Norman cathedral at Winchester in 1093. He was installed on a 'feretory platform' above and behind the high altar. The retrochoir was built in the early 13th century to accommodate the huge numbers of pilgrims wishing to visit his shrine and enter the 'holy hole' beneath him. His empty tomb in the ruins of the Old Minster was also popular with visitors. The shrine was only moved into the retrochoir itself in 1476. It was demolished in 1538 during the English Reformation. A modern representation of it now stands on the site.

The shrine of Swithun at Winchester was supposedly a site of numerous miracles in the Middle Ages. Æthelwold of Winchesterordered that all monks were to stop whatever they were doing and head to the church to praise God every time that a miracle happened. A story exists that the monks at some point got so fed up with this, because they sometimes had to wake up and go to the church three or four times each night, that they decided to stop going. St Swithun then appeared in a dream to someone (possibly two people) and warned them that if they stopped going to the church, then miracles would cease. This person (or persons) then warned the monks about the dream they had, and the monks then caved in and decided to go to the church each time a miracle happened again. ^[7]

Many churches dedicated to St Swithun can be found throughout the south of England, especially in Hampshire – see list St Swithun's Church (disambiguation). An example is St Swithun's, Headbourne Worthy, to the north of Winchester. This church is surrounded on three sides by a brook that flows from a spring in the village; the lych gate on the south side is also a bridge over the brook, which is unusual. Other churches dedicated to St Swithun can be found at Walcot,^[9] Lincoln, Worcester^[10]and western Norway, where Stavanger Cathedral is dedicated to him. He is also commemorated at St Swithin's Lane in the City of London (site of the former church of St Swithin, London Stone), St Swithun's School for girls in Winchester and St Swithun's quadrangle in Magdalen College, Oxford. It can be assumed that the fictitious St Swithin's Hospital in the British comedy series Doctor in the House, is also named after this Saint.