Feast day: 8 March
Felix was born in the late sixth century in the Frankish Kingdom of Burgundy. According to St Bede, he was ordained in Burgundy. The historian Peter Hunter Blair suggests that he was associated with Irish missionaries in Francia (roughly modern-day France) and particularly with Columbanus and Luxeil Abbey, which the latter founded. At that time there were connections between the Kingdoms of Francia and East Anglia, which was a small Anglo-Saxon kingdom comprising what are now the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The buried ship at Sutton Hoo in Norfolk, with its treasure trove of jewels and precious metals, suggest Franconian origins.
Felix is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals compiled in the late ninth century, covering the fifth and sixth centuries and ending in the twelfth century. Manuscript A of the Chronicle states that Felix “preached the faith of Christ to East Angles”. Another version of the chronicle, Manuscript F (written in the 11th century in both Old English and Latin) adds more detail. “Here came from the region of Burgundy a bishop who was called Felix, who preached the faith to the people of East Anglia; called here by King Sigeberht, he received a bishopric in Dommoc, in which he remained for seventeen years." Bede related that Felix was sent to bring Christianity to East Anglia by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Bede wrote of King Sigeberht: “As soon as he began to reign he made it his business to see that the whole kingdom shared his faith. Bishop Felix most nobly supported his efforts. This bishop who had been born and consecrated in Burgundy, came to Archbishop Honorius, to whom he expressed his longings; so the archbishop sent him to preach the word of life to this nation of the Angles.”
There is an East Anglian tradition that Felix founded a church at Babingley in Norfolk when he arrived in 631. The ruins stand about 200 metres north of where a navigable estuary once existed and where Felix is said to have landed. Sigeberht had become a Christian during his enforced exile and had also become well educated.
Soon after his arrival at Sigeberht’s court Felix established his see at Dommoc, which is considered to be Dunwich in Suffolk. This town, which thrived as a port in the Middle Ages, has since been destroyed by coastal erosion and is now just a small village. The other suggestion is that his see was at Walton Castle near Felixstowe, where there was a Roman fort. In fact Felixstowe may have been named after the saint.
According to Bede, Felix started a school “where boys could be taught letters”. He is said to have founded Soham Abbey and a church at Redham in Norfolk. Since the East Anglian diocese was large, this seems probable. Bede, who provided much of the information about Felix, claims that he had freed “the whole of this kingdom from long standing evil and unhappiness.”
During his years as bishop, the East Anglian church was made still stronger when the Irish monk Fursey arrived from Ireland and founded a monastery at Cnobheresburg, probably located at Burgh Castle, in Norfolk.
Felix died in 647 or 648 after he had been bishop for seventeen years. He was buried at Domnac, but his relics were at a later date removed to Soham, according to the twelfth-century historian William of Malmesbury. His shrine was desecrated by the Vikings, when the church was destroyed. According to William, Felix’s body was discovered and buried at Ramsey Abbey. This was noted for collecting the relics of saints. In an apparent attempt to get the better of their rivals from Ely Abbey, the monks at Ramsay escaped by rowing their boats through thick fenland, carrying with them the bishop’s remains.
There is an amusing legend about Felix being nearly shipwrecked when he landed at Babingley. A family of beavers is said to have guided him to safe harbour. Felix in gratitude made the chief beaver a bishop!
Felix was canonised before the Schism of 1054, so he is venerated in both the East and West. There are six churches in England dedicated to him, all located either in North Yorkshire or East Anglia. He is one of the patrons of the Catholic Diocese of East Anglia.
St Felix, pray for us.