Confessor (died c.717),Bishop of Worcester, founder of the Abbey of Evesham. A prince of the royal house of Mercia, he was forced from the seclusion of the religious life and made Bishop of Worcester by popular acclaim, 692. He aroused resentment by his zeal for ecclesiastical discipline and accusations having been made against him at Rome, he undertook a pilgrimage there in order to vindicate himself with the pope. According to the legend he locked shackles on his feet and threw the key into the River Avon and on his arrival in Rome the key was found in a fish caught in the Tiber. Reinstated by the pope, he returned to England and founded the abbey. He participated in the first Council of Clovesho. Feast, December 30, and January 11,.