Eadgyth (Wessex) of Wilton (abt. 961 - abt. 984)

Born about 0961 in Kemsing, Kent, England

Ancestors

Died about 16 Sep 0984 at about age 23 in Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire, England

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Biography

Eadgyth was the daughter of King Edgar and Wulfthryth. She was born at Kemsing, Kent, probably in about 961.^[1] It is not certain if her parents were married.^[2] The only source indicating a possible marriage is Eadgyth's 11th-century hagiographer Goscelin who refers to their having sworn indissoluble vows^[2] and this may well be a pious fabrication to make Eadgyth and her mother more respectable: William of Malmesbury says simply that her mother was seduced by Edgar.^[3] Her father chose two chaplains, one from Rheims and the other from Trier, to oversee her education.^[1]

She became a nun at Wilton Abbey, which her mother had entered. According to the 11th-century hagiographer Goscelin, she lived a very saintly life and wore a hair shirt. Goscelin refers to her expertise at music, calligraphy, painting and embroidery, and appears to have seen an ornamented alb embroidered by her on which she was portrayed at the feet of Christ. Goscelin also makes the rather far-fetched claim that she refused the throne of England in 978 when her half-brother King Edward died.^[1]

Although a nun, she must have retained her own assets as she had a personal seal on which she was described as a royal sister. She used her resources to finance the building of an oratory at Wilton dedicated to St Denis.^[1]

Edith died on 16 September. The year is uncertain but was in the range 984 to 987. She was soon regarded as a saint. It was said that she appeared after death to Aethelred the Unready and Ordwulf, brother of one of King Edgar's wives, to persuade them to recognise her as a saint. King Canute allegedly attributed his preservation from a storm at sea to her intervention. She was also said to be responsible for a number of miraculous cures, including of a group of epileptic dancers.^[1] Her mother, as Abbess of Wilton, helped to promote her cult.^[2] Her hagiographer Goscelin describes some forceful interventions by her after her death in defence of the rights of Wilton Abbey: for instance, when someone called Agamund died after snatching lands owned by the Abbey, he rose from the dead while mourners were around and described how Edith's wrath was keeping him in torment and beseeched his friends to make good the wrong he had committed: once this was done, he was able finally to die in peace.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Edith [St Edith, Eadgyth]', print and online 2004
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Wulfthryth [St Wulfthryth]', print and online 2004
3. ↑ Susan J Ridyard. The Royal Saints of Anglo-Saxon England, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 42, Google Books, accessed 27 March 2021
4. ↑ Susan J Ridyard. The Royal Saints of Anglo-Saxon England, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1988, p. 149, Google Books, accessed 27 March 2021

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Edith [St Edith, Eadgyth]', print and online 2004
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, entry for 'EDITH or EADGYTH, Saint (962?–984)', Wikisource
• Wikipedia:Edith of Wilton
• Farmer, David. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 135-136, entry for 'Edith'