8th century
Feast: December 30
A bishop who founded Evesham Abbey and made a famous pilgrimage to Rome in chains.
Egwin of Evesham (died 717) was Bishop of Worcester who founded the great Benedictine monastery at Evesham around 701. When conflicts arose with local nobles and clergy who opposed his reforms, he made a dramatic pilgrimage to Rome, binding himself with chains and throwing the key into the river. Miraculously, the key was later found in a fish caught in the Tiber, which Pope Constantine took as divine approval. He returned vindicated and continued his reform work.