The Memorial of Saint Botulph of Ikanhoe (Botwulf of Thorney)

Saint Botulph of Ikanhoe (Botwulf of Thorney) is the Patron Saint of

• Agricultural workers, farm workers, farmers
• Sailors, mariners, watermen
• Travellers
• 7 cities

Saint Botulph of Ikanhoe (Botwulf of Thorney) Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Profession, Place of Work, Date of Death, Place of Death, Feast Day, Beatification Date, Canonization DateMatrimony/Holy OrdersMonks who became Saints

Saint Botulph of Ikanhoe (Botwulf of Thorney) Short life History

Saint Botulph of Ikanhoe is also known as Botolph, Botulf, Botwulf

• she was born to a Christian Saxon noble family. Brother of Saint Adolph of Utrecht.
• Educated with his brother at the monastery of Cnobersburg (Burgh Castle), Suffolk under the direction of its founder, Saint Fursey.
• When Mercian forces under King Penda invaded the region, the boys were sent to study at the monastery at Bosanham, Sussex.
• He became a Benedictine monk at Farmoutiere-en-Brie, Gaul (modern northeastern France), and was sent back to the British Isles in 647 to establish the Benedictine Order there.

• With the support of Saint Syre, Saint Aubierge, and their brother, King Anna of East Anglia, Botulph founded the monastery of Ikanhoe in East Anglia, declining the offer of a part of the royal estate, and settling for a wild, barren site that was removed from people, reported to be haunted by demons, and which would require endless work to sustain the monks.
• For many years it was believed that the area that grew up around it came to be called Botulph’s Town, contracted to Botulphston, and later contracted to Boston in Lincolnshire, but recent reasearch has shown that the original site is another location.
• The Saxon Chronicle indicates that by 654 Botulph had attracted enough brother monks and hermits that work began on the monastery.
• Through hard work and faith, the monastery grew in population; the monks built several structures, turned large areas of marsh and scrub into productive farming and grazing lands, and dispelled the people’s fears of demons.

• Botulph served as spiritual director for Saint Ceolfrith, and worked as a travelling missionary through rough, bandit-plagued areas of East Anglia, Kent and Sussex.
• His legacy continued for centuries in the strength of the Benedictine movement in the Isles, and in the dozens of churches named for him, many of them built at city gates to serve as safe-haven for travellers in times when robbers roamed the roads, and many in port or river towns.

Today’s Catholic Quote:

Botwulf of Thorney died on 17 June 680 of natural causes following a lengthy illness while being carried to chapel for compline services. He was buried at Ikanhoe.