Saint Edith

Imagine being a toddler, being raised by your mother in a convent, and then discovering that you are a royal princess. I cannot imagine how that must have affected Edith of Wilton (c.961 - c.984) growing up.

Her mother was Wulfthryth, who was taken from the nunnery at Wilton Abbey by King Edgar the Peaceable, who initially wanted Wulfthryth's sister, Wulfhild. After bearing him a daughter, Wulfthryth decided to return to the nunnery, taking her daughter and leaving Edgar to find another wife (which he did in Ælfthryth).

There is a later story that, when Edith was two, her father came to Wilton and laid before her royal clothing and jewelry, while her mother presented her with religious objects. Edith supposedly reached for the religious objects, displaying her devotion to religion. This story is likely apocryphal, but Edith did, in fact, devote her life to religion. It is also said that, when she was 15, Edgar offered to make her an abbess and gave her a choice of three convents, but she chose to remain at Wilton for the rest of her life.

A saint's life written a century later by Goscelin of Canterbury suggests that Edgar was a supporter of his daughter, his former wife, and the Abbey. Goscelin describes her as wearing very grand clothing at the Abbey, annoying the other residents. Her choice of these royal garments was tested when a candle fell on the chest containing them; the chest burned, but the clothing inside was unharmed.

Edith may have remained a secular member of Wilton and not become a nun. She seems to have lived a grand life. Edgar sent her two foreign tutors, gave her clothing, financed the re-building of the convent with a chapel designed by Edith, and Edith occasionally visited her father's court. Edith also had a private zoo of exotic animals at the convent.

In 984, she built a chapel dedicated to the 3rd-century Saint Denis. The dedication ceremony was performed by St. Dunstan, who predicted that Edith would die in three weeks. She did. At the moment of her death, a nun at Wilton saw ranks of angels singing in the abbey church.

After her death, there were only a few miracles attributed to her, so the progress to canonize her was slow, but she was eventually named a saint by her brother King Æthelred II 13 years after her death.

Of course the stories, especially written long after her death and relying on legends told by the abbey, cannot be taken at face value. There was a great deal of politics to be found in acknowledging certain saints. Tomorrow I want to talk about Edith's sainthood and what it meant to the king.

Wulfthryth and Edith of Wilton

King Edgar (c.944 - 975) had a few children by a few women. One of the women was Wulfthryth of Wilton, an English noblewoman born c.937 who was being educated at the nunnery at Wilton Abbey when Edgar came along. His goal was to marry her cousin, Wulfhild, who was also at the abbey. Wulfhild resisted his amorous advances—her goal was to be a nun, and she eventually became the abbess—and he chose to marry Wulfthryth instead.

With Wulfthryth he had a child, Edith, born c.961. The relationship did not last long, however: in a year or two Wulfthryth chose to return to Wilton Abbey, and took Edith with her. Although Wulfthryth had born a daughter, that did not disqualify her from becoming Wilton's abbess later.

St. Dunstan (supposedly) did not approve of Edgar's actions, taking Wulfthryth away, impregnating her, and then whatever action caused her to leave. He described penance for Edgar, who did not wear his crown for seven years. Edgar also gave Wulfthryth six estates—although that may have been out of actual care for her, not as penance—which later she gave to Wilton Abbey. When bailiffs wanted to arrest a thief who had requested sanctuary at Wilton, she was able to prevent it by her connection to the king. Likewise she secured the release of two priests who had been imprisoned.

Like Wulfthryth, Edith was raised and educated at Wilton Abbey, and chose to enter the religious life. There is a story that, when she was two years old, King Edgar visited her and placed before her a set of clothing and jewelry suitable for a royal princess. At the same time, her mother placed before her religious objects. Edith reached for the religious objects. This story is likely apocryphal, and existed to emphasize her piety by turning away from riches to religion.

At the age of 15, Edgar offered her the chance to be abbess of one of three different convents, but she chose to remain at Wilton. Edgar continued to be supportive of his only daughter, and the balance between her identity as a royal personage and her status as a nun at Wilton remained an issue. I'll talk about her progress to become a saint tomorrow.

Edgar's Families

King Edgar the Peaceable was known to have three consorts, one or two of whom he might even have married. Two of his sons went on to become kings of England themselves.

The first woman with whom he "consorted" and married was Æthelflæd Eneda ("The White Duck"). An 11th-century scholar named Eadmer wrote a Life of St. Dunstan in which he relates that she was the legitimate wife of Edgar by 957-959, and that she died "a few years later." The two had a son, Edward, born c.962.  Edgar was known to have relations with two others not long after 962, so Æthelflæd may have died not long after Edward's birth.

Edgar next (or concurrently) consorted with Wulfthryth of Wilton in the early 960s, but by 964 was married to Ælfthryth. By Wulfthryth he had a daughter, Edith of Wilton, who was born c.961 (yes, before the birth of the son, Edward). The story goes that Edgar took Wulfthryth out of the nunnery at Wilton Abbey and to Kent, where Edith was born. William of Malmesbury wrote that they were married, but that she renounced the marriage after Edith's birth, leaving Edgar and taking Edith with her back to Wilton Abbey, where Wulfthryth remained for the rest of her life (more on them later).

The third consort—whom he married—was Ælfthryth. This was her second marriage; her first was to Æthelwald, son of Æthelstan Half-King (mentioned in Edgar's link above), and there is an interesting story about that marriage.

Ælfthryth was considered exceptionally beautiful, and Edgar sent his trusted lieutenant Æthelwald to see if the rumors of her beauty were true and to propose that she marry Edgar. It turns out the rumors were true, and the proposal was from Æthelwald himself, who married her and told Edgar that she was not beautiful at all. Hints of this betrayal got back to Edgar, who said he would visit the poor woman, whereupon Æthelwald told her to make herself as unattractive as possible. Instead, she set her eyes on being a queen and made herself as beautiful as possible. Edgar fell for her, and either killed Æthelwald during a hunt or simply posted him to Northumbria. In either case, he got Æthelwald out of the way and married Ælfthryth in 964/65.

Ælfthryth was from the Wessex royal line, and was the first wife of a king of England to be crowned herself as queen, a ceremony which took place on 11 May 973. Queen Ælfthryth was very involved in the administration of the realm, being an advocate in at least six legal cases. She was also interested in the dynastic succession, and looked carefully at Edgar's children from his previous women. Ælfthryth had her own children with Edgar, and wanted them to succeed Edgar. I'll tell you tomorrow what steps she took to ensure that outcome. Yes, it is what you think.

Edgar the Peaceable

Edgar (c.944 - 8 July 975) was king of England, a son of Edmund I, gaining the throne after the death of his older brother Eadwig. His immediate predecessors had dealt with Viking invasions of England, especially in the north, but Edgar's reign (959 - 975) was blessed in that there were no invasions to deal with, allowing him to focus on local matters.

His mother Ælfgifu seems to have died shortly after childbirth, so he was raised by Ælfwynn, the wife of Æthelstan Half-King, an ealdorman of East Anglia, whose nickname is recorded in a Life of St. Oswald and explained as the result of the authority he wielded in East Anglia and the value of his advice to the five kings of England he served. Ælfwynn was very religious, and Edgar's upbringing was exposed to the idea of monastic reform.

His teacher in this was Æthelwold of Winchester, the abbot of Abingdon Abbey.

As king, therefore, he supported English Benedictine Reform, the late 10th-century religious and intellectual movement to replace monasteries (which at the time were largely staffed by often-married secular clergy) with celibate and contemplative monks who would follow the Rule of St. Benedict. Edgar's influence in this matter was more prominent in southern England; as yet his sway over practices in the north was tentative, a holdover from the previous decades of their independence under Viking rule.

In fact, most of the contemporary or near-contemporary sources we have on Edgar come from accounts of the Benedictine Reform movement—logical, since literate clergy were the likeliest sources of writing and recording at the time. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle only has ten entries that mention him.

Later historians have a lot to say about Edgar, his three consorts—one or two of which he might have actually married—and the children he fathered with them. They make for interesting reading, and we'll start those stories tomorrow.

Oslac and Eadwulf Evil-Child

It would appear, after the death of Oswulf I of Bamburgh, that Northumbria was divided between two earls, Oslac of York and Eadwulf Evil-Child of Bamburgh. Oslac apparently managed the southern part of Northumbria, while Eadwulf held the north. Their origins are similarly obscure, but circumstantial evidence suggests a connection to Oswulf: the "Os-" element in Oslac's and Oswulf's names and the fact that "Eadwulf" was also the name of a previous ruler of Bamburgh who may have been Oswulf's father.

On the map shown, Jorvik (its original name) refers to the kingdom of York. The area north would have been Eadwulf's.

Their names appear in official documents. Oslac appears as witness to three charters in 963 as a thegn, not quite the earl status that later histories gave him. Eadwulf likewise appears as witness to royal charters between 968 and 970. Still, those charters—assuming the names on the charters are the same persons as the men administering the north—show that each of them was a trusted member of the court and traveled to meet with the king, who at the time was Edgar the Peaceable (who succeeded Eadwig who succeeded Eadred, who had worked diligently to re-unite Northumbria with southern England).

By 994, a charter is attested by Waltheof, Eadwulf's successor, suggesting that Eadwulf was either deceased or simply no longer in charge for some reason that no histories mention. Oslac was banished from England not long after the death of King Edgar. Edgar's death had led to a conflict over the succession, and some suggest that both Oslac and Eadwulf backed the unsuccessful Æthelred the Unready instead of Edward the Martyr, and lost their positions because of that misplaced loyalty (Æthelred was not even a teenager yet; Edward was older, but illegitimate; hence the debate over the succession.)

Whatever the case, Oslac and Eadwulf have their footnote in history. Oh, and why the nickname "evil child"? Who knows? His given name means "happy wolf"; perhaps it was simply a joke: "happy wolf, evil boy." Or he was truly considered to be less than a good person. Anyone who knows the reason for the name is long dead.

As is King Edgar the Peaceable, but at least we know more about him, and I'll share some of the with you next time.