16 Facts About Saint Winifred

Saint Winifred was a Welsh virgin martyr of the 7th century.

Saint Winifred's story was celebrated as early as the 8th century, but became popular in England in the 12th, when her hagiography was first written down.

Saint Winifred's mother was Wenlo, a niece of Saint Beuno, and a member of a family closely connected with the kings of south Wales.

Saint Winifred's head was rejoined to her body due to the efforts of Beuno, and she was restored to life.

Accordingly, Saint Winifred went upon her pilgrimage to seek a place of rest.

Saint Winifred later became a nun and abbess at Gwytherin in Denbighshire.

Saint Winifred is not recorded in any Welsh pedigree of saints nor in the 13th-century calendar of Welsh saints.

Saint Winifred is mostly venerated in England, not in Wales, which led Caesar Baronius to list her as an "English saint" in his Roman Martyrology of 1584.

In 1138, relics of Saint Winifred were carried to Shrewsbury to form the basis of an elaborate shrine.

The Church of St Saint Winifred, Stainton is a 12th century church located in the village of Stainton, South Yorkshire, England.

Prior Robert is generally credited with greatly promoting the cult of St Winifred by translating her relics from Gwytherin to Shrewsbury Abbey and writing the most influential life of the saint.

Saint Winifred is listed as follows: "At the spring located at Holywell in Wales, St Winefride the Virgin, who is outstanding in her witness as a nun".

Saint Winifred appears as a character in the 2021 film adaptation of the poem, portrayed by actress Erin Kellyman.

William Rowley's 17th-century comedy A Shoemaker a Gentleman dramatises St Saint Winifred's story, based on the version in Thomas Deloney's story The Gentle Craft.

St Saint Winifred appears as a spirit to Sir Gawain in the 2021 movie The Green Knight.

Saint Winifred asks Sir Gawain to retrieve her severed head from a spring, which he does.