Saint Kenelm

Also known as

• Cynehelm

Memorial

• 17 July

Profile

Mercian prince, the son of King Coenwulf. Venerated as a boy king and martyr in the Middle Ages, though his biography became mixed with pious legends, one of which says he was killed on orders of his sister.

Mentioned in the Canterbury Tales’s Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Venerable John Henry Newman made frequent pilgrimages to the shrine of Saint Kenelm’s martyrdom. For many years the villagers of Kenelstowe, England celebrated Saint Kenelm’s Day with the ancient custom of “crabbing the parson” – bombarding the parson with crab apples!

Died

• killed in battle in 821 at Clent Hills near Birmingham, England
• relics discovered after a vision and taken to the abbey of Winchcombe, England

Canonized

• Pre-Congregation

Representation

• boy in royal robes holding a lily
• boy king trampling his disloyal sister

Additional Information

• Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
• Britannia Biographies
• Golden Legend
• Legend of Saint Kenelm
• Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
• Wikipedia