Feastday: February 7
Richard was the father of Saints Willibald, Winnebald, and Walburga. He was on a pilgrimage to Rome from his native Wessex, England, with his two sons when he was stricken and died at Lucca, Italy. Miracles were reported at his tomb and he became greatly venerated by the citizens of Lucca, who embellished accounts of his life by calling him "king of the English". His feast day is February 7th.
This article is about the saint. For the author of the crusade history, see Chanson d'Antioche.
Stained glass window in St Ricarius Church, Aberford
Saint Richard the Pilgrim or Richard of Wessex (died 720) was the father of the West Saxon saints Willibald, Winnibald, and Walpurga. He led his family on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land but died en route in Lucca, where he was buried in the church of Saint Fridianus.
The name of the saints' father is not given in the 8th-century Hodoeporicon (Itinerary) of Hygeburg, the earliest source, nor is Richard listed in the earliest martyrologies. The name Richard and his identity as a "king of the English" are inventions of the 10th century from the monastery of Heidenheim. His relics were being publicly displayed in both Lucca and Eichstätt in the 12th century. His feast day was celebrated on 7 February, but he was dropped from the Roman Martyrology after 1956.
There is one church in England dedicated to him, St Ricarius Church, Aberford.
Legend
The reigning king of the West Saxons in 720 was King Ine, who ascended the throne in 688 and died in or possibly after 726. Bede states that he abdicated after 37 years, i.e. 725-26. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to him abdicating in and around 726-28, then traveling to Rome and dying there.
Richard was from Wessex, England, and his real name is uncertain. He appears to have been an Anglo-Saxon chieftain or a Brittonic under-king in Wessex, probably of part of Devon. His wife was Saint Wuna of Wessex, and they were the parents of Willibald, Bishop of Eichstätt, Saint Winibald, Abbot of Heidenheim, and Walpurga, Abbess of Heidenheim. He obtained by his prayers the recovery of his three-year-old son Willibald, whom he laid at the foot of a great crucifix erected in a public place in England, when the child’s life was despaired of in a grievous sickness.
In 720, he entrusted his eleven-year-old daughter Walpurga to the abbess of Wimborne in Dorset, renounced his estates, and set sail with his two sons from Hamblehaven near Southampton. They landed in France and temporarily stayed in Rouen. From there, they set off on the pilgrimage route to Italy, where they prayed at shrines situated along the way.
He died unexpectedly after developing a fever in Lucca, Tuscany, where he was buried in the Church of San Frediano, founded by the Irish monk Fridianus. Miracles were reported to have occurred at his tomb and a cult venerating him developed. The people of Lucca gave him the name "Richard" and embellished their accounts of his life, describing him as an English prince. Another apocryphal story described him as the Duke of Swabia in Germany.
Eichstätt Mittelschrein
His son, Willibald, continued the pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Richard's niece, a nun called Hygeburg (Huneburc of Heidenheim), wrote an account of the pilgrimage, entitled "Hodoeporicon"; historians date the text between 761 and 786.
Veneration
Some of Richard's relics were transported to Eichstätt, where Willibald eventually became Bishop. Richard's feast day is 7 February.
Richard is depicted with the Blessed Mother and his three children at Eichstätt Cathedral.
In religious artworks, Richard is portrayed as a royal pilgrim in an ermine-lined cloak with two sons, one a bishop and one an abbot. His crown appears to lie on a book (Roeder). Richard is particularly venerated at Heidenheim and Lucca (Roeder).
