Eof

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For other uses, see EOF (disambiguation).

Eof (also Eoves) was a swineherd who claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary at Evesham in England, about 701.[1] Eof related this vision to Egwin, Bishop of Worcester, who founded the great Evesham Abbey on the site of the apparition. Evesham means Eof's ham (homestead).

Legend

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The standard Lives,[2] and Saint Egwin and his Abbey of Evesham [3] say Eof was a swineherd. A letter, apparently written by Ecgwin, says "... primum cuidam pastori gregum ...", and the Acta Sanctorum (Lives of the Saints) states something similar: " ...pastores gregum ..." The Latin means either a shepherd or a herdsman. William Dugdale in Monasticon Anglicanum says "Eoves, a herdsman of the bishop ...". George May, the most eminent of Evesham historians, gives both herdsman and swineherd.[4]

The story that Eof was a swineherd goes back at least to William of Malmesbury, writing in the twelfth century. The obverse of the conventual seal of Evesham Abbey clearly shows stylised pigs rather than sheep;[5][6] the monks of the Abbey clearly thought Eof kept pigs.

The legend of Eof's vision has been commemorated by a bronze statue sited in the town centre paid for by public subscription and created by the British born sculptor John McKenna. The statue was unveiled in a public ceremony that took place on Sunday 15 June 2008.[7]

Eof vs. Eoves

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The question of whether the swineherd was named Eof or Eoves is a long-standing question. Writing in 1920, the historian O.G. Knapp argued that the real name of the Swineherd was not Eoves, Eofes, or even Eofa, but Eof.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Public Domain Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Evesham Abbey". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. ^ Butler’s Lives of the Saints, vol. IV, p.643
  3. ^ Saint Egwin and his Abbey of Evesham, by the Benedictines of Stanbrook, p.14
  4. ^ Descriptive History of Evesham, p22
  5. ^ George May, Descriptive History of Evesham, p.87.
  6. ^ The Book of Evesham, p.24
  7. ^ ""The Statue of Eof", Evesham Town Council". Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  8. ^ 'Evesham and Eof', by O.G. Knapp, part III, in Old Days in and around Evesham (edited by E.A.B. Barnard), no.13 (Evesham Journal April 3, 1920)
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