page_title: Saint Walpurga
section_title: Religious career
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Walpurga / Religious career
caption_attribution_description: English: Outside Walburgis Kapelle at Kirchehrenbach, Germany
context_page_description: Saint Walpurga or Walburga, also spelled Valderburg or Guibor, was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Frankish Empire. She was canonized on 1 May c. 870 by Pope Adrian II. Saint Walpurgis Night is the name for the eve of her feast day, which coincides with May Day.
context_section_description: In 721 Richard set out on a pilgrimage to Rome with his two sons. Before leaving he entrusted Walpurga, then 11 years old, to the abbess of the double monastery at Wimborne Abbey in Dorset. She had been there but a year, when she received word that her father had died at Lucca. After seeing to their father's burial in the Basilica of San Frediano, her brothers completed the pilgrimage to Rome, where they both became seriously ill. (Hygeburg, who wrote the Vita S. Willibaldi, says they contracted the Black Death; Francis Mershman suggests malaria).
  After recovering, Winibald, who was not of a particularly strong constitution, remained at Rome to pursue further studies, while Willibald set out for the Holy Land. After about seven years of traveling, Willibald returned to Italy and became a monk at Monte Cassino. In 730, Winibald returned to England and engaged a third brother and several amongst his kindred and acquaintance to accompany him in his journey back to Rome to begin a monastic life there.
  During this time Walpurga remained at Wimborne where she was educated; and in the course of time became a nun. The nuns of Wimborne were skilled at copying and ornamenting manuscripts; and celebrated for Opus Anglicanum, a fine needlework utilizing gold and silver threads on rich velvet or linen, often decorated with jewels and pearls. Such English embroidery was in great demand across Europe. She spent 26 years as a member of the community.
  In 737, Walpurga's uncle (her mother's brother), Saint Boniface, was in Rome and recruited his nephews to assist him in his religious work in Germany. Winnebald arrived in Thuringia on 30 November, 740, and after being ordained a priest, was placed in charge of seven churches. Willibald, upon arriving at Eichstätt, was ordained by Boniface on 22 July, 741 and began missionary work in the area.
  Walpurga then travelled with her brothers, Willibald and Winibald, to Francia (now Württemberg and Franconia) to assist Saint Boniface in evangelizing the still-pagan Germans. Because of her rigorous training, she was able to write her brother Winibald's vita and an account in Latin of his travels in Palestine. As a result, she is often called the first female author of both England and Germany.
  Walpurga became a nun in the double monastery of Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm, which was founded by Willibald. He appointed her as his successor and following his death in 751, Walpurga became the abbess of the monastery. Upon Winibald's death in 760 she also succeeded him as superintendent of the Heidenheim monastery.
caption: Statue of Walburgis at Walburgis Kapelle at Kirchehrenbach, Germany
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