Edith of Polesworth
Saint Edith of Polesworth (Eadgyth) | |
---|---|
Born | England |
Died | 10th century |
Venerated in | Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy |
Major shrine | Tamworth, Staffordshire, England |
Feast | 15 July |
Saint Edith of Polesworth (also known as Editha or Eadgyth; d. ?c.960s[1]) is an Anglo-Saxon abbess associated with Polesworth (Warwickshire) and Tamworth (Staffordshire) in Mercia. Her historical identity and floruit are uncertain. Some late sources make her a daughter of King Edward the Elder, while other sources claim she is the daughter of Egbert of Wessex. Her feast day is 15 July.
Identity
Edith (Ealdgyth) is included in the first section of the late Old English saints' list known as Secgan, which locates her burial place at Polesworth.[2] The question of St Edith's historical identity is fraught with difficulties.
As sister to a West-Saxon king
The tradition which was written down at the monastery of Bury St Edmunds in the 12th century and was later re-told by Roger of Wendover (d. 1236) and Matthew Paris (d. 1259) asserts that she was a sister of King Æthelstan, who gave her in marriage to Sihtric Cáech, a Hiberno-Scandinavian king of southern Northumbria and Dublin. It then suggests that the marriage was never consummated. When Sihtric broke his side of the agreement by renouncing the Christian religion and died soon thereafter, she returned south and founded a nunnery at Polesworth, not far from the Mercian royal seat at Tamworth, spending the rest of her life as a devout nun and virgin.[2][3]
The story appears to take its cue from an earlier source, the D-version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which confirms that on 30 January 926 King Æthelstan married his sister to Sihtric (d. 927) and attended the wedding feast at the Mercian royal centre of Tamworth. The Chronicle, however, gives no name. Reporting on the same event in the early part of the 12th century, William of Malmesbury identified her as a daughter of Edward the Elder and Ecgwynn, and therefore a full-blooded sister to Æthelstan, but says that he was unable to discover her name in any of the sources available to him.[4] A variant version of the Bury tradition, which locates her burial place at Tamworth rather than Polesworth, identifies this Edith as a daughter of Ælfflæd, Edward's second wife, and hence Æthelstan's half-sister.[5][6] However, another late source drawing upon earlier material, the early 13th-century Chronicle of John of Wallingford, names Sihtric's wife Orgiue.[3][7]
These late, contradictory statements have garnered a mixed response from modern historians. Some scholars favour Roger's identification or at least the possibility that her name was Eadgyth/Edith.[5][8] Alan Thacker, for instance, states that "given the strong Mercian connections of Æthelstan himself, it is not at all unlikely that such a woman, if repudiated, should have ended her days in a community in the former heartlands of the Mercian royal family. Perhaps, like Æthelstan, she had been brought up at the Mercian court."[5] Barbara Yorke, however, argues that the name Eadgyth is unlikely to belong to two of Edward's daughters at the same time, the other being a daughter by Ælfflæd.[2]
A slightly earlier if largely legendary source which potentially casts some light on traditions surrounding St Edith is Conchubran's Life of Saint Modwenna, a female hermit who supposedly lived near Burton-on-Trent. The text, written in the early 11th century, mentions a sister of King Alfred by the name of Ite, a nun who served as the saint's tutor and had a maidservant called Osid. Although an Irish nun called St Ita was active in the 7th century, Ite's name has been interpreted as "almost certainly a garbling of Edith"[5] and that of Osid a rendering of Osgyth.[9]
As early Mercian saint
Yorke prefers to identify the historical figure of Edith with an earlier namesake instead. The saint's inclusion in Secgan, grouped as she is with other early saints buried near rivers, may be taken as evidence for the hypothesis that she was a Mercian saint who flourished in the 7th or 8th century.[10] According to Alan Thacker, on the other hand, the entry in Secgan may also be a later addition, along with at least two other items which seem to reflect interests peculiar to Æthelstan's time.[5]
Later traditions
The saint is commemorated in a number of churches around the Midlands, the most notable of these being Polesworth Abbey and the Collegiate Church of Tamworth, which bears her name. Other churches dedicated to St. Edith include Church Eaton in Staffordshire, Amington Parish Church (in Tamworth), St Edith's Church in Monks Kirby, Warwickshire as well as a number of churches in Louth, Lincolnshire.
See also
- Church of St Editha, a Grade I listed building
Notes
- ^ Baugh, G. C.; et al. (1970). "Colleges: Tamworth, St Edith". In Greenslade, M. W.; Pugh, R. B. (eds.). A History of the County of Stafford. Victoria County History. Vol. 3. London. pp. 309–315, notes 2–6. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c Yorke (2003), pp. 77–8.
- ^ a b Hudson (2005), pp. 28–9.
- ^ William of Malmesbury (1998), Book II, ch. 126.
- ^ a b c d e Thacker (2001), pp. 257–8.
- ^ Edwards (1866), p. 11.
- ^ Hudson (2005), "Óláf Sihtricson".
- ^ Hudson (2005), p. 29, considers it possible that her name was Eadgyth (and hence also a source for confusion with namesakes).
- ^ Bartlett in Geoffrey of Burton (2002), pp. xviii–xix.
- ^ Yorke (2003), pp. 22, 39 n. 58, 77–8.
References
Primary sources
- Edwards, Edward, ed. (1866). "'Hyde' Chronicle". Liber monasterii de Hyda. London: Longman, Green, Reader, and Dyer – via Internet Archive.
- Geoffrey of Burton (2002). Bartlett, Robert (ed.). Life and Miracles of St. Modwenna. Translated by Robert Bartlett. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820606-4.
- William of Malmesbury (1998). "Gesta regum Anglorum". In Mynors, R. A. B.; Thomson, R. M.; Winterbottom, M. (eds.). Gesta Regum Anglorum: The History of the English Kings. Vol. 1. Translated by Roger Aubrey Baskerville Mynors. Oxford: Oxford Medieval Texts. 2 vols.
Secondary sources
- Hudson, Benjamin T. (2005). Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion, and Empire in the North Atlantic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Thacker, Alan (2001). "Dynastic monasteries and family cults: Edward the Elder's sainted kindred". In N. J. Higham and D. H. Hill (ed.). Edward the Elder 899–924. London: Routledge. pp. 248–63. ISBN 0-415-21497-1.
- Yorke, Barbara (2003). Nunneries and the Anglo-Saxon Royal Houses. London.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Further reading
- Foot, Sarah (2000). Veiled Women. Vol. II. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. pp. 191–196. ISBN 978-0-7546-0044-2.
- Hagerty, R. P. (1987). "The Buckinghamshire Saints Reconsidered 2: St Osyth and St Edith of Aylesbury". Records of Buckinghamshire. 29: 125–32.
- Hohler, C. (1966). "St Osyth of Aylesbury". Records of Buckinghamshire. 18 (1): 61–72.
- Hollis, Stephanie, ed. (2004). Writing the Wilton Women: Goscelin's Legend of Edith and Liber Confortatorius. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. ISBN 978-2-503-51436-9.
External links
- Eadgyth 12 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
- Who was Saint Editha? (article discussing the Editha legend)
- Polesworth Abbey's website Archived 23 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine (which includes a history of the abbey]
- St Editha's Church, Tamworth Archived 5 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- v
- t
- e
- Aldate of Oxford
- Barloc of Norbury
- Brannoc of Braunton
- Branwalator of Milton
- Credan of Bodmin
- Congar of Congresbury
- Dachuna of Bodmin
- Decuman of Watchet
- Elfin of Warrington
- Ivo of Ramsey
- Judoc of Winchester
- Melorius of Amesbury
- Nectan of Hartland
- Neot of Cornwall
- Patrick of Glastonbury
- Rumon of Tavistock
- Samson of Dol
- Sativola of Exeter
- Æthelberht of East Anglia
- Æthelburh of Faremoutiers
- Æthelflæd of Ramsey
- Æthelthryth of Ely
- Æthelwine of Lindsey
- Athwulf of Thorney
- Blida of Martham
- Botwulf of Thorney
- Cissa of Crowland
- Cuthbald of Peterborough
- Eadmund of East Anglia
- Eadnoth of Ramsey
- Guthlac of Crowland
- Herefrith of Thorney
- Hiurmine of Blythburgh
- Huna of Thorney
- Pega of Peakirk
- Seaxburh of Ely
- Sigeberht of East Anglia
- Tancred of Thorney
- Torthred of Thorney
- Tova of Thorney
- Walstan of Bawburgh
- Wendreda
- Wihtburh of Ely
- Wulfric of Holme
Frankish
and Old Saxon
- Balthild of Romsey
- Bertha of Kent
- Felix of Dommoc
- Helier of Jersey
- Grimbald of St Bertin
- Monegunda of Watton
- Odwulf of Evesham
- Wulfram of Grantham
- Æbbe of Thanet (Domne Eafe)
- Æthelberht of Kent
- Æthelburh of Kent
- Æthelred of Kent
- Albinus of Canterbury
- Berhtwald of Canterbury
- Deusdedit of Canterbury
- Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet
- Eanswith of Folkestone
- Eormengyth of Thanet
- Mildrith of Thanet
- Nothhelm of Canterbury
- Sigeburh of Thanet
- Ælfnoth of Stowe
- Ælfthryth of Crowland
- Æthelberht of Bedford
- Æthelmod of Leominster
- Æthelred of Mercia
- Æthelwynn of Sodbury
- Aldwyn of Coln
- Beonna of Breedon
- Beorhthelm of Stafford
- Coenwulf of Mercia
- Cotta of Breedon
- Credan of Evesham
- Cyneburh of Castor
- Cyneburh of Gloucester
- Cynehelm of Winchcombe
- Cyneswith of Peterborough
- Eadburh of Bicester
- Eadburh of Pershore
- Eadburh of Southwell
- Eadgyth of Aylesbury
- Eadweard of Maugersbury
- Ealdgyth of Stortford
- Earconwald of London
- Egwin of Evesham
- Freomund of Mercia
- Frithuric of Breedon
- Frithuswith of Oxford
- Frithuwold of Chertsey
- Hæmma of Leominster
- Merefin
- Mildburh of Wenlock
- Mildgyth
- Mildrith of Thanet
- Milred of Worcester
- Oda of Canterbury
- Oswald of Worcester
- Osburh of Coventry
- Regenhere of Northampton
- Rumbold of Buckingham
- Tibba of Ryhall
- Werburgh of Chester
- Wærstan
- Wigstan of Repton
- Wulfhild of Barking
- Acca of Hexham
- Æbbe "the Elder" of Coldingham
- Æbbe "the Younger" of Coldingham
- Ælfflæd of Whitby
- Ælfwald of Northumbria
- Æthelburh of Hackness
- Æthelgyth of Coldingham
- Æthelsige of Ripon
- Æthelwold of Farne
- Æthelwold of Lindisfarne
- Alchhild of Middleham
- Alchmund of Hexham
- Alkmund of Derby
- Balthere of Tyningham
- Beda of Jarrow
- Bega of Copeland
- Benedict Biscop
- Bercthun of Beverley
- Billfrith of Lindisfarne
- Bosa of York
- Botwine of Ripon
- Ceadda of Lichfield
- Cedd of Lichfield
- Ceolfrith of Monkwearmouth
- Ceolwulf of Northumbria
- Cuthbert of Durham
- Dryhthelm of Melrose
- Eadberht of Lindisfarne
- Eadfrith of Leominster
- Eadfrith of Lindisfarne
- Eadwine of Northumbria
- Ealdberht of Ripon
- Eanmund
- Eardwulf of Northumbria
- Eata of Hexham
- Ecgberht of Ripon
- Eoda
- Eosterwine of Monkwearmouth
- Hilda of Whitby
- Hyglac
- Iwig of Wilton
- John of Beverley
- Osana of Howden
- Osthryth of Bardney
- Oswald of Northumbria
- Oswine of Northumbria
- Sicgred of Ripon
- Sigfrith of Monkwearmouth
- Tatberht of Ripon
- Wihtberht of Ripon
- Wilfrith of Hexham
- Wilfrith II
- Wilgils of Ripon
- Æbbe of Abingdon
- Ælfgar of Selwood
- Ælfgifu of Exeter
- Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
- Ælfheah of Canterbury
- Ælfheah of Winchester
- Æthelflæd of Romsey
- Æthelgar of Canterbury
- Æthelnoth of Canterbury
- Æthelwine of Athelney
- Æthelwold of Winchester
- Aldhelm of Sherborne
- Benignus of Glastonbury
- Beocca of Chertsey
- Beorhthelm of Shaftesbury
- Beornstan of Winchester
- Beornwald of Bampton
- Centwine of Wessex
- Cuthburh of Wimborn
- Cwenburh of Wimborne
- Dunstan of Canterbury
- Eadburh of Winchester
- Eadgar of England
- Eadgyth of Polesworth
- Eadgyth of Wilton
- Eadweard the Confessor
- Eadweard the Martyr
- Eadwold of Cerne
- Earmund of Stoke Fleming
- Edor of Chertsey
- Evorhilda
- Frithestan of Winchester
- Hædde of Winchester
- Humbert of Stokenham
- Hwita of Whitchurch Canonicorum
- Mærwynn of Romsey
- Margaret of Dunfermline
- Swithhun of Winchester
- Wulfsige of Sherborne
- Wulfthryth of Wilton