
Acha of Lincoln was a Roman Catholic abbess who lived in Lincoln, Lincolnshire during the late 9th century AD.
Biography[]
Acha was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. She was said to have been a stoic woman who devoted her life to the service of God, serving an abbey in Lincoln in the Diocese of Lindsey, which was presided over by Bishop Herefrith of Lincoln during the late 9th century AD. She was friends with Ealdorman Hundbeorht of Lincolnshire's son Hunwald, but she kept the truth of his father's death hidden from him in 875 AD, as Herefrith - secretly a member of the Order of the Ancients - had engineered Hundbeorht's sudden disappearance and concealed his death in order to justify his assumption of the regency.
With the help of his Viking friend Eivor, Hunwald discovered his father's death, and, when Acha confessed that she knew of Hundbeorht's death, Hunwald angrily stormed out of the room, pouting that Acha had lied to him. Acha was rebuked by Eivor for lying, but she later invited him to serve as the tie-breaking elector at the shiremoot, as she was convinced that her earlier lie was for the good of the shire, holding no ill feelings against Eivor for his negative reception of her actions. After Herefrith revealed himself to be a murderous and power-hungry Order member following the massacre at the shiremoot, Acha fell into despair, and she later sent a letter to Eivor apologizing for lending credence to Herefrith's lies and inadvertently enabling him to kill several fellows "Yellowbellies" (people of Lincolnshire), and telling Eivor that she loved and respected him, as she prayed daily for the light that shone through him.