St Etheldreda (c. 636–679) was an Anglo-Saxon princess, abbess, and one of the most influential female saints of early medieval England. She is best known as the foundress of Ely Abbey, which later developed into Ely Cathedral, and as a model of royal sanctity grounded in asceticism and monastic leadership.
Saint Léger (Leodegar) was bishop of Autun in the later 7th century and one of the most prominent political martyrs of Merovingian Francia. His episcopate unfolded amid intense factional conflict, and his execution around 680 transformed him into a saint whose cult spread widely across northern France and, later, into England. Léger’s veneration was shaped less by miracle legend than by memory of unjust suffering, making him an enduring figure in contexts marked by political trauma, dispossession, and later rehabilitation.
St Wilfrid (c. 634–709) was one of the most prominent and controversial figures of the early English Church. A bishop, reformer, and monastic founder, he played a central role in aligning the English Church with Roman ecclesiastical practice during the 7th century.
