Edith of Wessex: Difference between revisions

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'''Edith of Wessex''', (c. [[1029]] – [[December 19]] [[1075]]), married King [[Edward the Confessor]] of [[England]] in [[1045]]. The marriage produced no children - later ecclesiastical writers claimed that this was because Edward took a vow of celibacy, but modern historians have postulated alternative hypotheses (including the fact that Edward refused to consummate the marriage due to his antipathy to Edith's family, the Godwines).

Edith was the daughter of [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex]], one of the most powerful men in England at the time of King Edward's rule. Her mother [[Gytha Thorkelsdóttir]] was daughter to [[Torkel Styrbjörnsson]], granddaughter to [[Styrbjörn Starke]] and [[Tyra]] and great-granddaughter to both [[Olof (II) Björnsson]] and his sister [[Gyrid]] by [[Harold I of Denmark]].

Upon Edward's death, in January [[1066]], he was succeeded by Edith's brother, [[Harold Godwinson]].

Edith was the daughter of [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex]], one of the most powerful men in England at the time of King Edward's rule. When Godwine and his family were expelled from the country in 1051, Edith was put aside by Edward and sent to a nunnery. When the Godwines effected their return through force in 1052, Edith was reinstated.

Upon Edward's death, in January [[1066]], he was succeeded by Edith's brother, [[Harold Godwinson]]. At the Battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings later that year, Edith lost her remaining four brothers (Tostig, Harold, Gyrth and Leofwine) and was therefore the only 'senior' member of the Godwine family to survive the Norman Conquest (the sons of Harold fled to Ireland).

Her mother [[Gytha Thorkelsdóttir]] was daughter to [[Torkel Styrbjörnsson]], granddaughter to [[Styrbjörn Starke]] and [[Tyra]] and great-granddaughter to both [[Olof (II) Björnsson]] and his sister [[Gyrid]] by [[Harold I of Denmark]].

Carola Hicks, an art historian, has recently put her forward as a candidate for the author of the [[Bayeux Tapestry]] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2006_21_mon.shtml].([http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0701174633 Carola Hicks, The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life of a Masterpiece], ISBN 0701174633)