13. THE ABBEY OF MINSTER IN THANET
The story of this house is told by William
Thorne (fn. 1) and Thomas de Elmham, (fn. 2) the latter of
whom gives the text of several doubtful charters (fn. 3)
granted to it by early, Kentish kings. Egbert,
king of Kent, is said in expiation of the murder
of his kinsmen Ethelred and Ethelbert at Eastry
with his consent by his servant Thunor to have
given land in Thanet to their sister Domneva for
the foundation of a monastery. The boundaries
were determined by the course taken by a tame
doe belonging to her, and Domneva, who is also
called Ermenburga and Eabba, built the monastery on the south side of the island near the
water and was consecrated abbess by Theodore,
archbishop of Canterbury (669-90). . She was
succeeded on her death by her daughter Mildred, (fn. 4)
who had earlier been a nun at Chelles near
Paris, and who afterwards became the principal
Kentish saint with the exception of St. Augustine.
Edburga (fn. 5) became abbess on the death of
Mildred, and finding the monastery too small
she built another near by, which she, caused to
be dedicated in honour of St. Peter and St. Paul
by Cuthbert, archbishop of Canterbury (741-58),
and removed the body of Mildred there,
the translation producing many miracles. In
or before her time Ermengitha, sister of
Domneva, built another monastery a mile to the
east, but all traces of this had disappeared before
Elmham wrote his chronicle.
Edburga died in 751, and in her place
Sigeburga was ordained abbess by Cuthbert.
The first raid of the Danes took place in her
time, and thenceforward little by little the
monastery began to decline. She died in 797,
and was succeeded by Siledritha, who worked
hard at restoration, but was eventually burnt
with all her nuns in the monastery by the
Danes.
The monastery was again burnt by the Danes
in 980, (fn. 6) and in 1011 Leofruna, the abbess, was
taken captive by Sweyn. (fn. 7) After this it was
deserted by the nuns and inhabited only by a
few clerks; and in 1027 Cnut granted the body
of Mildred and all her land to the abbey of
St. Augustine, the body being translated to Canterbury on 18 May, 1030. (fn. 8)
Abbesses Of Thanet
Domneva
St. Mildred
St. Edburga, died 751 (fn. 9)
St. Sigeburga, died 797 (fn. 10)
Siledritha
Leofruna, occurs 1011