Edith of Wessex: Difference between revisions

{{short description|11th-century Queen consort of England from 1045 to 1066}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=SeptemberJuly 20172023}}

| caption = Illustration of Edith by [[Matthew Paris]]

| death_date = 18 December {{death year and age|1075|1025}}

'''Edith of Wessex''' ({{lang-ang|Ealdgyth}}; {{circa}} 1025 – 18 December 1075) was [[List of English consorts|Queen of England]] fromthrough her marriage to [[Edward the Confessor]] infrom 1045 until Edward's dieddeath in 1066. Unlike most English queens in the 10th and 11th centuries, she was crowned.<ref>Pauline Stafford, 'Edith, Edward's Wife and Queen', in Richard Mortimer ed., ''Edward the Confessor: The Man and the Legend'', The Boydell Press, 2009, pp. 119, 129–130. Stafford states (p. 124) that Edith was between 12 and 25 when she married, and probably nearer 25.</ref> The principal source on her life is a work she herself commissioned, the ''[[Vita Ædwardi Regis]]'' or the ''Life of King Edward who rests at Westminster'', which is inevitably biased.<ref>Historians disagree whether this was partly written in 1065–66, before Edward's death, or was a unitary work of the late 1060s. Stafford, 2009, pp. 119–120 and note, Ann Williams, ODNB, Edith</ref>

Edith was the daughter of [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex|Godwin]], the most powerful earl in England. Her mother [[Gytha Thorkelsdóttir|Gytha]] was sister of [[Ulf the Earl|Ulf]], a Danish earl who was [[Cnut the Great]]'s brother-in-law. She was probably born in or before 1027.<ref name=ODNB/> Edith was originally named Gytha, but renamed Ealdgyth (or Edith) when she married King Edward the Confessor.<ref name="Harold Godwinson">[[Harold Godwinson]]</ref> Her brothers were [[Sweyn Godwinson|Sweyn]] (c. 1020 – 1052), [[Harold Godwinson|Harold]] (later King Harold II) (c. 1022 – 1066), [[Tostig Godwinson|Tostig]] (c. 1026 – 1066), [[Gyrth Godwinson|Gyrth]] (c. 1030 – 1066), [[Leofwine Godwinson|Leofwine]] (c. 1035 – 1066), and [[Wulfnoth Godwinson|Wulfnoth]] (c. 1040 – 1094). Edith was the firstborn of Godwin's three daughters, which included her sisters Gunhild (or Gunhilda) (c. 1035 – 1080) and Ælfgifu (c. 1035 – ?). The exact birthdates of the [[House of Godwin|Godwin children]] are unknown, but Sweyn was the firstborn and Harold was the second son.<ref name=Mason35>Mason ''House of Godwine'' p. 10</ref> Harold was aged about 25 in 1045, which makes his birth date around 1020.<ref name="Harold Godwinson"/><ref name=Rex31>Rex ''Harold'' p. 31</ref>

Edith was brought up at [[Wilton Abbey]]. She was an educated woman who spoke several languages including English, Danish, French, Irish, and Latin, skills she probably acquired at Wilton.<ref>Tyler, 2017, pp. 209</ref> She remained attached to it, and in later years rebuilt its church.<ref>Stafford, 2009, pp. 121–126</ref> Her niece, [[Gunhild of Wessex]], would also be educated at Wilton.

The ''Vita Edwardi'' emphasised her piety. She helped [[Gisa (Bishopbishop of Wells)|Giso]], the [[Bishop of Wells]], secure the endowments of his see, and gave lands to [[Abingdon Abbey]], but the monks of Evesham alleged that she had the relics of many monasteries brought to Gloucester so that she could select the best for herself. When Gervin, abbot of [[Saint-Riquier]], who was visiting the English court, he rejected her kiss of greeting, and she took offence. Edward reproved her, and she accepted the rebuff, even going on to urge English churchmen not to kiss women, although they did not object to the custom.<ref name=ODNB/>

Edith lost four of her brothers in a very short span. Tostig died on 25 September 1066 during the [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]]. Three others – Harold, Gyrth, and Leofwine – all died less than three weeks later on 14 October 1066, during the [[Battle of Hastings]].<ref>[[Gytha Thorkelsdóttir]]</ref>

In 1051, Godwin and his sons fell out with Edward and fled the country. Edith was sent to a nunnery, possibly because she was childless and Edward hoped to divorce her.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>Stafford, 2009, pp. 133–138</ref> When the Godwins effected their return through force in 1052, Edith was reinstated as queen. In later years, she became one of Edward's inner group of advisers.<ref>Barlow, p. 167.</ref> In the ''Vita Edwardi'', according to Barlow, "although she is always placed modestly behind the throne, the author does not minimize her power or completely conceal her will. Whenever we catch sight of her elsewhere, we see a determined woman, interfering, hard, probably bad-tempered."<ref>Barlow, pp. 189–190.</ref>

As the king's wife, she was responsible for his regal presentation. She commissioned works for his personal ornament, and had at least one [[goldsmith]] among her tenants. When he died, the [[Domesday Book]] shows that she was the richest woman in England, and the fourth wealthiest individual, after the king, [[Stigand]], (the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]), and her brother [[Harold Godwinson|Harold]]. She held land valued at between £1,570 and £2,000 per annum.<ref>Stafford, 2009, pp. 126–128</ref>

She was close to her brother [[Tostig Godwinson|Tostig]], and in 1055 she and Harold secured his appointment as [[Earl of Northumbria]]. His rule was unpopular, and in 1064 Edith was accused at court of engineering the murder of the [[Northumbria]]n noble Gospatrick in Tostig's interest. In 1065, Tostig was probably hunting with King Edward when the [[Northumbrian Revolt of 1065|northerners rebelled]] and elected Morcar, Harold's brother-in-law, as earl. Tostig charged Harold with conspiring with the rebels, a charge which Harold purged himself of with a public oath. Edward demanded that the rebels be suppressed, but to his and Edith's fury, Harold and the English [[thegn]]s refused to enforce the order. Morcar was confirmed as earl and Tostig forced into exile.<ref name=ODNB/><ref>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27571 William M. Aird, ''Tostig'', Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004]</ref><ref>Stafford, 2009, p. 135</ref>

Upon Edward's death (5 January 1066), he was succeeded by Edith's brother, [[Harold Godwinson]]. At the [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]] (25 September 1066) and the [[Battle of Hastings]] (14 October 1066), Edith lost four of her remaining brothers ([[Tostig]], Harold, [[Gyrth Godwinson|Gyrth]] and [[Leofwine Godwinson|Leofwine]]). Her brother [[Wulfnoth Godwinson|Wulfnoth]], who had been given to Edward the Confessor as a hostage in 1051 and soon afterwards became a prisoner of [[William the Conqueror]], remained in captivity in Normandy. Edith was therefore the only senior member of the Godwin family to survive the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman conquest]] on English soil, the sons of Harold having fled to Ireland.

{{English consort|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:11th-century English peoplenobility]]