"The patron of Oxford and daughter of a Mercian subking, Frideswide was born in the mid-VII Century. She lived at a double-monastery, which her family, who donated money for the establishment of several churches and monasteries, had endowed. One legend says that a neighboring king, Aethelbald, planned to seduce her and was, by her prayers to be preserved, blinded. When he repented, her prayers on his behalf cured him. Another legend says that King Algar hoped to marry her after her father died; she refused the king, and he planned to have her kidnapped and put in a brothel. Through her prayers to be protected, his men were blinded, and when all had repented, her prayers on their behalf cured them. From these stories arose another legend: that English kings, Henry II in particular, avoided Oxford, lest they be blinded". Today, 19 October, is the feast of St Frideswide, and this medieval stained glass image of the saint is from the Latin Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral, where St Frideswide's reconstructed shrine now stands.
