Mildred (d. 700?)

English saint and abbess. Name variations: Mildryth or Mildthryth (thryth means commanding or threatening; thus, Mildthryth means "one who is gently or mildly strict"). Died around 700; daughter of Merowald or Merwald, king of Mercia, and Ermenburga, the abbess of Minster; sister ofMildgyth and SaintMilburg ; great-niece of Egbert, king of the English.

Ermenburga , queen of the Mercia, sent her daughter Mildred over to France, to the Abbey of Chelles, near Paris, where Mildred took the veil and was tutored in ecclesiastical learning. But she was persecuted by the abbess and returned to England, where she was appointed abbess of her mother's newly founded Monastery of Minstre. St. Theodorus, archbishop of Canterbury, conducted the installation service, and 70 girls joined the community on the same occasion.

St. Mildred proved to be a gentle and humble leader, and by her own holy life and example pointed the way for her charges. After a lingering and painful illness, Mildred died at the close of the 7th century. The monastery over which she had presided was on several occasions plundered by the Danes and the nuns and clerks murdered, most notably in 980 and 1011. After 1011, the monastery ceased to be occupied by any but a few secular priests, and in 1033 St. Mildred's remains were transferred to the monastery of St. Austin's at Canterbury, where, according to William of Malmesbury, they were venerated above all other relics, and many miracles were wrought by them. Two churches in London were dedicated to St. Mildred, one in Bread Street (1170) and the other in the Poultry (1247).