Saint Eanswith ( ang, Ēanswīþ; born c. 630,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Died c. 650,
Folkestone, England), also spelled Eanswythe or Eanswide, was an
Anglo-Saxon princess, who is said to have founded
Folkestone Priory
Folkestone Priory was a pre-Reformation Benedictine monastery at Folkestone in the English county of Kent. The priory church survives as the present parish church. It was the successor to Folkestone Abbey, an Anglo-Saxon nunnery on a different ...
, one of the first Christian monastic communities for women in Britain. Her possible remains were the subject of research, published in 2020.
Life
Eanswith was a princess of the
Kingdom of Kent
la, Regnum Cantuariorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Kentish
, common_name = Kent
, era = Heptarchy
, status = vassal
, status_text =
, government_type = Monarchy ...
. Her father was
Eadbald, who ruled as king of Kent from 616 to 640 CE. Her mother, Eadbald's second wife, was
Emma, who may have been a Frankish princess; she also bore him two sons,
Eormenred and
Eorcenberht. Eanswith's grandfather,
Æthelberht of Kent
Æthelberht (; also Æthelbert, Aethelberht, Aethelbert or Ethelbert; ang, Æðelberht ; 550 – 24 February 616) was King of Kent from about 589 until his death. The eighth-century monk Bede, in his ''Ecclesiastical History of the Engli ...
had been the first king of Anglo-Saxon England to accept Christian baptism.
Tradition has it that Eanswith founded the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
Folkestone Priory
Folkestone Priory was a pre-Reformation Benedictine monastery at Folkestone in the English county of Kent. The priory church survives as the present parish church. It was the successor to Folkestone Abbey, an Anglo-Saxon nunnery on a different ...
, the first
nunnery in England. She was supported in this by her father, Eadbald.
While the monastery was under construction, a pagan prince came to Kent seeking to marry Eanswith. King Eadbald, whose sister
Æthelburh (Ethelburga) had married the pagan
King Edwin two or three years before, recalled that this wedding resulted in Edwin's conversion. Eanswith, however, refused.
This was the first women's monastery to be founded in England. Eanswith lived there with her companions in the monastic life, and they may have been guided by some of the monks who had come to England with
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
in the
Gregorian mission of 597.
Veneration
![Church of St Mary and St Eanswythe, Folkestone 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Church_of_St_Mary_and_St_Eanswythe%2C_Folkestone_02.JPG)
She remained at the abbey until her death.
The first monastic site became abandoned by the 10th century, and began to be eroded by the sea, a problem which also afflicted a new foundation of 1095. A site further inland was provided for a new foundation of
Folkestone Priory
Folkestone Priory was a pre-Reformation Benedictine monastery at Folkestone in the English county of Kent. The priory church survives as the present parish church. It was the successor to Folkestone Abbey, an Anglo-Saxon nunnery on a different ...
by William de Abrincis in 1137, with a church dedicated to St Mary and to Eanswith. Saint Eanswith's day falls on 12 September; traditionally, this is the date on which her
remains were translated to the new church in 1138. The priory was closed at the Reformation, and the priory church became the
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of Folkestone,
St Mary and St Eanswythe's Church. During restoration work at the church in 1885, human remains were discovered in a lead
reliquary, embedded within the church's north wall, which were identified as a 12th-century vessel, and the bones of a young woman. This led to the supposition that they could be the translated relics of Saint Eanswith, hidden at the Reformation.
Iconography
Eanswith is sometimes portrayed with a fish, along with her abbess's staff, crown and a book. This appears to be a recent attribute, from Folkestone's fishing port connection.
Documentary sources
* Eanswith is named in the genealogies of some versions of the
Kentish Royal Legend
The Kentish Royal Legend is a diverse group of Medieval texts which describe a wide circle of members of the royal family of Kent from the 7th to 8th centuries AD. Key elements include the descendants of Æthelberht of Kent over the next four ge ...
*
Goscelin
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (or Goscelin of Canterbury, born c. 1040, died in or after 1106) was a Benedictine hagiographical writer. He was a Fleming or Brabantian by birth and became a monk of St Bertin's at Saint-Omer before travelling to Englan ...
of Saint-Bertin mentions Eanswith in his 11th-century ''Vita Sancta Werburge''.
*
John of Tynemouth (14th-century chronicler) has a substantive account in his ''Sanctilogium''. As with all the Kentish Abbesses,
Bede does not name Eanswith, so John must have had another source.
New research
In 2017 a collaboration began between Kent historians and archaeologists from
Canterbury Christ Church University and
Folkestone Museum
Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
. Church legislation was required for the removal and examination of the human remains that had been uncovered in 1885. In 2020, osteoarchaeologists were given the opportunity to examine the remains.
Osteologists tested teeth and bones and determined that they had come from one person, probably a woman, aged between 17 and 21, with no signs of malnutrition, all consistent with the history of Eanswith. Samples were sent to scientists at
Queen's University Belfast and
radiocarbon dating confirmed that the remains were from the mid-7th century. The 'Finding Eanswythe' project received a grant from the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
.
It can never be proven that the remains are St Eanswith but, if they were, they would be the earliest remains yet discovered of an English saint, and of a relative of the British monarch.
Church dedications
![St Eanswith, Brenzett](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/St_Eanswith%2C_Brenzett.JPG)
As well as the former priory church at Folkestone, Eanswith has the following church dedications:-
*
St Eanswith's Church, Brenzett, Kent, England
St Eanswythe's Church Altona, Victoria, Australia
See also
*
Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England
Notes
References
External links
*
Finding Eanswythe Project
{{authority control
614 births
640 deaths
Kentish saints
House of Kent