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🗓️ 6 December 2022
⏱️ 44 minutes
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According to tradition, if it rains on Saint Swithun's bridge in Winchester on St. Swithun’s day — 15 July — it will continue for 40 days. But who was the real Swithun? And why has his historical importance as an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester been overshadowed by his reputation as a miracle worker?
In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman finds out more about Swithun from Associate Professor Karl Christian Alvestad from the University of South-Eastern Norway.
This episode was edited by Matthew Peaty and produced by Rob Weinberg.
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1:33.1 | Hello and welcome to Gone Medieval. I'm Dr Cat Jamon. If you cast your mind back to summer, |
1:40.0 | you may remember that the 15th of July is Saint Swithand's Day and according to folklore, |
1:46.0 | if it rains on that day, it will rain for the next 40 days and if it's dry, it will remain so. |
1:52.0 | But who actually was Saint Swithand and why did that legend come about? |
1:56.4 | Now as it happens, Saint Swithand actually became a hugely significant saint in Winchester and |
2:01.8 | Wessex, just as England was beginning to form as a country. And not long after, |
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