Edith and Edward
A King and Queen gentler than the times in which they lived.
1042-1066
King Edward the Confessor 1042-1066
A King and Queen gentler than the times in which they lived.
1042-1066
King Edward the Confessor 1042-1066
The powerful Earl Godwin, a rough Saxon and an ambitious man, gave his support to King Edward the Confessor on condition that he marry Godwin’s daughter Edith.
IT was said throughout England that ‘Even as the rose springs from the thorn, so springs Edith from Godwin.’
Ingulf, the Abbot of Croyland, later recalled that when he was a schoolboy, Edith would examine him on his studies, and then having pressed a few coins into his hand, send him to the larder for a treat.
Edward, brought up among the Dukes of Normandy by his uncle Richard the Good, was also gentler than the times in which he lived — as we learn from the tale of a thief who crept into the king’s bedroom one night, and took money from a strongbox.
Edward pretended to be asleep, and said nothing. But when it happened again the following night, he unexpectedly mumbled from between the sheets: ‘Better take care. If Hugolin, my chamberlain, catches you, he will give you a thrashing.’
Hugolin soon came in, and was beside himself at the loss. ‘Never mind,’ said the King; ‘the poor man wants it more than we do.’