She is the patron of the city of Oxford, a princess of Wessex (born about 680) whose hand was sought by a young man she did not wish to marry. She fled to Oxford; he followed her, but, according to the story, was struck blind and healed at her intercession [a clear warning against overenthusiasm in pursuing ones intended]. She founded a religious house on the site of what is now Christ Church, and died in 735. That is all we know from the medieval account culled from older traditions. The monastery was destroyed by Vikings, but rebuilt by Augustinian Canons in the 12th. century; her tomb survived until 1538 when the monastery was suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey to provide funds for his Cardinal College (now Christ Church). After Wolsey’s fall, the monastery church became the new Cathedral of Oxford; the saint’s shrine, briefly restored under Mary, was finally taken down in 1558. Frideswide was made patron saint of the University of Oxford in the early 15th. century