Venerable Thecla of Kitzingen
d. c. 790
An Anglo-Saxon nun of Wimborne who joined Saint Boniface's mission to the German lands and became abbess of Kitzingen and Ochsenfurt.
Our Venerable Mother Thecla, Abbess of Kitzingen
Life
Thecla of Kitzingen (also called Tecla of England or Heilga) was an Anglo-Saxon nun and missionary who joined Saint Boniface's mission to the German lands in the eighth century and served as abbess of Ochsenfurt and Kitzingen. She is venerated in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Born in southern Britain, she was educated at the double monastery of Wimborne in Dorset under Abbess Tetta, alongside her kinswoman Saint Lioba. When Boniface sought helpers for his work among the Germans, Tetta chose Thecla and Lioba, and they crossed to Germany in 748.
Thecla governed the community at Ochsenfurt and, after about 750, assumed leadership of Kitzingen Abbey, from which she takes her name. She died there around 790.
Timeline5 momentsReadHide
- after 705Wimborne Abbey foundedCuthburh, sister of King Ine of Wessex, establishes the double monastery of Wimborne in Dorset, where Thecla is later educated under Abbess Tetta.
- 748Arrival in GermanyChosen by Tetta to assist Saint Boniface, Thecla travels to Germany with her kinswoman Lioba and others, settling at Bischofsheim.
- after 750Abbess of KitzingenAfter governing Ochsenfurt, Thecla becomes abbess of Kitzingen following the death of its abbess Hadelonga.
- c. 790Death at KitzingenThecla dies at Kitzingen Abbey.
- 1524-1525Relics dispersedHer enshrined relics at Kitzingen are scattered during the German Peasants' War.
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