S4.04 Edith of Wilton

Summary

Rex Factor Podcast — S4.04: Edith of Wilton
Released: May 22, 2026
Hosts: Graham Duke and Ali Hood

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Episode Overview

This episode explores Edith of Wilton, a 10th-century Anglo-Saxon royal woman, saint, and “nearly monarch” of England. Graham and Ali delve into Edith's unusual life as the daughter of King Edgar the Peaceable, her complex status at Wilton Abbey, the intersection between her secular and religious identities, her near-claim to the English throne, and the hagiographic traditions that have shaped her story. This marks the first female featured in their “Nearly Monarchs” series.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

I. Background & Context

• Edith’s Birth and Family (03:47)

  • Born c.961, daughter of King Edgar the Peaceable and Wulfrith.
  • Story of Edgar seducing Wulfrith—a nun at Wilton Abbey—leading to Edith’s birth.
  • Discussion of ambiguity over Wulfrith’s status as a nun or secular woman.

• Wilton Abbey: Elite Nunnery or Royal Boarding School? (06:38)

  • Wilton as a prestigious place for education, not all residents were full nuns.
  • “Some accounts suggest...her mother, Wulfrith, was a nun that Edgar abducted, forced himself on her...others suggest he wasn't a nun and that they were fully married.” (07:12 – Graham)

• Edith’s Place in the Royal Family

  • Edgar had multiple marriages and children in a short span; Edith was one of three royal offspring, each by a different woman.
  • Despite irregular family ties, Edgar favored Edith and sent respected foreign clerics to tutor her.

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II. Sources for Edith’s Life

• Edith’s Hagiography (04:08)

  • “Edith is unusual in these early episodes...not restricted to just a few lines...Instead, we have a full near-contemporary biography...a hagiography, which is a saint's life—a vita.” (Graham)
  • Written by Goscelin, a chaplain at Wilton Abbey about 80 years after Edith’s death.
  • Noted as one of the rare near-contemporary accounts of a female religious in late Saxon England, though Goscelin’s motives and presentation are questioned.

• Bias in the Source

  • Goscelin “is also rather cynically angling after potential future employment” by dedicating a second version of Edith’s vita to Norman Archbishop Lanfranc.
  • This led to minimizing “un-saintly” behaviors and emphasizing connections to male authority figures (esp. Dunstan) to appeal to contemporary sensibilities (05:56).

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III. Edith’s Life at Wilton: Nun, Princess, or Both?

• Education & Talents (09:38 – 14:27)

  • Edith was “blessed with talents...angelic singing...a goldsmith’s skill...embroidered vestments.”
  • Noted for her beauty (“Her appearance was more like her father…her hair, reddish gold...her eyes the likeness of doves’ eyes.”) (14:32)

• Religious Devotion vs. Luxurious Living

  • Edith’s public image is one of pious abstinence: wearing a hair shirt, copying prayers, serving the sick and lepers.
  • Simultaneously, she lived in “some luxury”: personal menagerie, heated bath, splendid embroidered vestments, and regular royal visits. Goscelin struggles to reconcile these traits, providing sometimes tortured justifications.

• Goscelin’s Contradictions (19:38)

  • “His narrative is full of Edith receiving royal visits, interacting with fellow nuns, living in luxury...more like a princess than a recluse.”

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IV. The Throne Offer & Power Politics

• Succession Crisis (25:52)

  • After Edgar’s death in 975, Edith’s brothers Edward and Aethelred vied for the throne. Edward became king but was assassinated, leaving Aethelred as the principal heir.

• Edith's “Eyes Fall Out” Dream (25:53)

  • Edith allegedly foresaw Edward’s death in a vision—a typical medieval omen.

• The Offer of the Crown (27:49)

  • According to Goscelin, after Edward’s murder, nobles asked Edith to abandon monastic life and rule:

    “They all agreed to take St. Edith from the monastery and elevate her to her father's throne. For women rule among many nations. Believing...a lady of mature foresight could govern...better than childish ignorance.” (Graham quoting Goscelin)

  • Edith is said to have refused, citing humility and devotion to God.
  • The hosts are skeptical—no corroborating sources, and Wessex was hostile to female monarchs. Historians (e.g., Susan Ridgard) think the tale is hagiographical invention.

• Alternative Possibilities

  • Perhaps Edith was considered as the wife of a claimant rather than a direct ruler, as a way for nobles to avoid Aethelred or ensure Wilton’s status.
  • Ultimately, she remained at Wilton, and Aethelred (“the Unready”) became king.

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V. Death, Cult, and Saintly Reputation

• Edith’s Early Death & Legacy (34:53–36:38)

  • “Dunstan prophesied at the dedication of her chapel that she’d die in 43 days—sadly, this comes to pass.” (Graham)
  • Died on 16 Sept 984 at about age 23.
  • Her cult developed primarily after her death, promoted in part by her brother Aethelred to bolster his own legitimacy.
  • Posthumous miracles focus on Edith defending Wilton’s treasures and interceding for both the powerful and the poor.

• The Lifelong Princess—A Saint with a Zoo (20:25)

  • “She purchased a relic of the True Cross at great cost...had a metal casket for heating her bath water...and even had her own personal menagerie from gifts from foreign ambassadors.” (Graham)
  • Goscelin struggles to cast her menagerie and baths as saintly attributes.

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VI. Character & Notable Anecdotes

• Refusal to Submit to Male Authority (43:04)

  • After criticism from Bishop Ethelwold for her rich clothes:

    “A mind by no means poorer in aspiring to God will live beneath this covering than beneath the goat skin I possess. My Lord, who pays attention to the mind, not to the clothing.” (Edith, 43:29)

  • “Effectively, get stuffed—with all due respect, get stuffed.” (Graham, 44:18)

• Tensions with Step-mother Elfrith

  • Elfrith, the power behind Aethelred, was hostile to Wilton and Edith’s family. Some nunneries under Elfrith’s oversight invented negative legends about her.

• Scandal or Just Worldliness? (48:13–54:45)

  • Her ostentatious clothes and tastes caused tension and explanation from chroniclers. But for a royal woman, were they truly scandalous, or simply incompatible with idealized monastic poverty?
  • “Edith has a very large disposable income and dresses accordingly...the notion of her living as a reclusive anchorite doesn’t really fit.” (Graham, 50:47)
  • “It’s only really scandalous because she’s meant to be a nun...but she is a saint, so she’s better than a nun.” (Graham and Ali, 53:13–53:42)

• Longevity & Achievements

  • Edith built and decorated a significant new chapel at Wilton, and her personal seal (depicting herself as “regal sister”) survived in later copies (57:40).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Edith’s Contradictions:

  “Does a reclusive nun have heated baths and a zoo?” (Graham, 22:22)

• On Being a “Nearly Monarch”:

  “What happens to all those nobles? ...Just politics.” (Ali, 30:01) “It’s really more of a sort of...not really meant to be a question, to be honest. It’s kind of rhetorical.” (Graham, 30:15)

• On Hagiography vs. Reality:

  “Is it Rexy when sort of looking at some of the ones to come, I sort of think...what will we be talking about that makes her Rexy?” (Graham, 64:15)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:55 – Episode introduction/overview of Edith’s significance
• 04:08 – Discussion of primary source: Edith’s hagiography
• 14:27 – Description of Edith’s talents and appearance
• 19:38 – Contrast between Edith’s ascetic image and her luxurious lifestyle
• 25:52 – Edgar’s death and the succession crisis
• 27:49 – “Throne offer” and hagiographical doubts
• 34:53 – Dunstan’s prophecy, Edith’s early death
• 36:56 – Promotion of Edith’s cult and miracle tales (with preview of more in Privy Chamber)
• 43:04 – Edith’s famous retort to Bishop Ethelwold
• 54:05 – Discussion of Edith’s practical influence and legacy
• 62:01 – “Rex Factor” decision: Does Edith have that certain something?

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Final Segment: Rex Factor Decision

• Does Edith have the Rex Factor?
  • Ali: YES (“She’s got that certain something. I can picture her at least, which is more than with others.”)
  • Graham: NO (“It’s an interesting person to learn about, but actually...she feels a long way from being an actual realistic throne person.”)
  • Edith ranks highly for personality but falls short on actual claim to power.

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Takeaways & Legacy

• Edith of Wilton emerges as a compelling personality full of contradictions: an educated, talented, and resourceful woman balancing royal privilege, religious devotion, and political neutrality amid a turbulent period.
• While hagiographical sources overstate her claim to the throne (likely never a serious possibility), they do reveal a rare glimpse of female power, agency, and wit in early medieval England.
• Her story is a striking “what if,” foreshadowing later debates on female succession—she remained a “nearly” monarch, memorable for her unique path rather than her political authority.

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For Further Listening

• See the Privy Chamber follow-up episode for discussion of Edith’s miracles, more on hagiography, and extra tales about Dunstan.
• Next episode: Edward the Exile—father of Edgar the Atheling and another nearly-forgotten claimant.

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Links & Patreon:
See rexfactorpodcast.com for show notes, bonus content, and information on live events. Support and hear ad-free/bonus episodes at patreon.com/RexFactor.

Transcript

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[Ali Hood]

welcome to Rex Factor. This week Edith of Wilton. With your hosts Graham Duke and Ali Hood.

[Graham Duke]

Hello, hello and welcome to Rex Factor. Reviewing all the nearly monarchs of England and the United Kingdom, from Aethelwold to Albert Victor, the people who could or should have become monarch only for fate to intervene. And today we consider our first female nearly monarch, Edith of Wilton, a sister and potential rival to Ethelred the Unready in the late 10th century, as well as being a saint. Sister, sister, a sister and a sister.

[Ali Hood]

Okay, don't know why that I suppose. Yeah, but that is surprising, isn't it, to have a female on the list?

[Graham Duke]

So suits indeed, yes, particularly because of the known antipathy and Wessex towards the idea of Queens. So we'll find out what's going on there before we start. If you want to find out more about us, head to our website rexfactorpodcast.com where you'll get more information about the podcast and and also links to our social media. And if you want more from us, then you can go to patreon.com RexhFact to sign up to become a free counsellor and you get an ad free version of this podcast. Over 450 additional bonus podcasts plus access to our Discord Channel. You're sort of trying to poke yourself with A toy gnarl tusk.

[Ali Hood]

I was just tickling the end. Tickling the end of my nose. Induces quite a gag reflex, but in a nice way.

[Graham Duke]

Each to their own. You can also now watch the podcast that we are available to watch on Spotify and on YouTube if you'd like to have a visual of Ali sticking a novel tusk into his face.

[Ali Hood]

I really like this.

[Graham Duke]

I mean, it's genuinely a bit sort of, you know. You wouldn't want to inadvertently poke yourself up the nose with it.

[Ali Hood]

No. Anywhere, really.

[Graham Duke]

Anyway, we're not doing an Arwall today. We are doing Edith of Wilton. So let's find out who she is.

[Ali Hood]

Biography.

[Graham Duke]

Edith of Wilton was born in about 961, the daughter of Edgar the Peaceable and Wulfreth. This is a notable match in Rex Factor lore because Edgar is said to have seduced Wulfrith while she was a nun at Wilton Abbey.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Thus, Wulfrith is the original nun in sex with nuns.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Although we found out. Not the first.

[Graham Duke]

Indeed, yes. That there were. There were predecessors. Edith is unusual in these early episodes of the series, and that we are not restricted to just a few lines here and there in the odd medieval chronicle or later medieval histories. Instead, we have a full near contemporary biography, or to be more specific, a hagiography, which is a saint's life, a vita.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, cool.

[Graham Duke]

Because she was a saint, so they're gonna. Yeah. So it's thus a sort of a biased account which is intended to promote her sanctity.

[Ali Hood]

But at least it is an account.

[Graham Duke]

But it is an account. And thankfully for us, rather than the usual hagiographical fair, which is often written centuries after the fact and basically invented, Edith's Vita is not only near contemporary, but it's written by the foremost hagiographer of the 11th century, a Flanders monk called Gosselin.

[Ali Hood]

Did she know him?

[Graham Duke]

She didn't know him. It is after her death. So it's near contemporary. He is, though. He is a chaplain to the nuns at Wilton Abbey about 80 years after Edith's time.

[Ali Hood]

Okay.

[Graham Duke]

So it's sort of secondhand. It's passed down oral tradition, but generally speaking, that's pretty close. Usually we'd be talking hundreds of years later and they just. Yeah, write whatever. And it's. Indeed, it is clearly basing his hakaography on a lot of anecdotes or traditions from the nuns at Wilton, which often reveals unexpected characteristics for a holy saint. So it's almost unique in being a near contemporary account of a female religious community. In the late Saxon period. Gosselin, though, is also rather cynically angling after potential future employment. So he made a second, slightly different version of the Vita, which he dedicated to the Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, the slimy toad.

[Graham Duke]

And he sort of attempts to explain away some of the less traditionally saintly behaviour that we have with Edith. And he also tries to greater legitimize her by associating her with more respectable male figures, because he knows that lan Frank's going to be suspicious about A Saxons, B.

[Ali Hood]

Women.

[Graham Duke]

Women. But from our perspective, it's this sort of dissonance between these kind of austere, reclusive figure that Gosselin promotes in the Vita. But also the anecdotes that include that are obviously from the nuns, which seem to contradict.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

The saint.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, brilliant.

[Graham Duke]

And probably within those two we get a sense of the actual character.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, nice.

[Graham Duke]

Now, for one thing, it is debated at a very basic level whether Edith actually was a nun at all or just a woman of noble birth living at Wilton Abbey. So the abbey had a reputation for. For learning, for education. So it was almost like an elite boarding school for high born, sort of noble daughters. Some would eventually leave, get married and live entirely secular lives, but others would remain at Wilton all their lives and become nuns.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, that you just know it wouldn't you get in. What's it called? Institutionalized.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. So some accounts suggest that her mother, Wilfrith was a nun, that Edgar abducted her, forced himself on her.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Others suggest he wasn't a nun and that they were fully married before she ultimately turns to Wilton.

[Ali Hood]

Edith.

[Graham Duke]

Well, Edith's mother. Yeah, that sort of thing. So there's this grey area. We talked about that in Aethelworld's episode earlier in the series as well. This grey area with women who are in nunneries but not necessarily fully nuns. But not necessarily fully. Not nuns.

[Ali Hood]

Because it's the closest thing to boarding school at the time, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

And the fellows would have been sent off to do. Well, they used to get sent off to other families to get trained up in nightly ways. Maybe exactly what you do with a

[Graham Duke]

woman, send her to another way. I mean, I don't know if that was your scenario where you were sort of potentially an alternate life force was just be tonsured and sing away for the next 50 years.

[Ali Hood]

If I was a. If I were a more keen, I don't know, Gardener Brewer, I'd love it. In fact, I'd probably love it.

[Graham Duke]

Whatever the Airfix equivalent of the 10th century is.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah. Must sit there. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So in terms of Edgar and Wulfreth, whether for a night or for a year, the ultimate extent is that the relationship is fairly short lived. So either during or just after her pregnancy, Wilfrith returned to Wilton, which with newborn Edith and indeed Wulfreth becomes the abbess of Wilton.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

Edgar, however, remarries, possibly for the third time in about four or five years to Elfrith, who is the first anointed Queen consort of England.

[Ali Hood]

Okay. Is that where we started the.

[Graham Duke]

Not where we started, but she was one of the big. Okay, one of the big ones. So Edgar's marital relations, as you can probably tell, notoriously irregular. And Edith is one of three children by three different women within just a few short years of each other.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

But he does seem to favour Edith. Wilton is positioned pretty close to the royal court and has a close relationship with court. So there's probably quite a lot of toings and fro ings between Wilton and Winchester. Edgar apparently sends two foreign chaplains to tutor Edith Benno of Trier and the slightly ominously named Radbod of Reims.

[Ali Hood]

Nice Radbod. Don't think you should be sending her out to see Edgar. Or is it him? Oh, damn right.

[Graham Duke]

Shouldn't be sending him to see Edith.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, quite right.

[Graham Duke]

But thankfully Gosselin is straight in to allay any fears of impropriety that you may have at this stage.

[Ali Hood]

Shame.

[Graham Duke]

She continued to dwell in the paradise of the cloister, where her own place is still remembered. The chaste teacher instructed her from outside the window and accustomed himself to being heard rather than being seen, as was appropriate for the young pupil with her holy modesty.

[Ali Hood]

So she was getting taught behind a wall?

[Graham Duke]

Yes. Or rather she's in her classroom and the teacher's outside next to the window, sort of shouting instructions in.

[Ali Hood]

How peculiar. Why are they doing that?

[Graham Duke]

One suspects that probably that's just Gosselin being like. I know it might seem a bit odd that she had these men coming and teaching her and one of them was called Radbod, but actually they stayed outside the whole time and never saw her times. In addition to her sort of schooling tutors, Gosselin also tells us that he had spiritual mentors in the form of England's two most prominent clerics. So we've got Bishop Ethelwold of Winchester. This is the local bishop and also the Archbishop of Canterbury, no less, teaching her a spiritual mentor. And the Archbishop of country is of course, Dunstan.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, I knew you were holding Something back. I could see it in your face. Of course it is. It's exactly this time. It is.

[Graham Duke]

It is exactly this time. Now, new listeners might be confused by Ali's reaction, but Dunstan was a recurring character in a large number of episodes in the first series of Rex Factor, always casting a disapproving glance on anything fun that might have been going on. You ultimately dubbed him the fun sponge. Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

Well, what's he up to here?

[Graham Duke]

He's back.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Dunstan's back again.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Brilliant. What's he doing? What is he mucking up?

[Graham Duke]

For those who don't know and haven't heard previous episodes, Dunstan, he's one of the key figures in shaping the religious and political direction of England, which is newly formed now as a state. We do now have England as a country, but Dunstan's one of the figures that really helps to create it as an institution rather than just sort of a military borders and territory. And according to Gosselin, he is very close to Edith and she's something of a protege.

[Ali Hood]

This is really bad because it just. I know, I'm aware of it, of this happening, but he has tainted her now. I got. So. All right, but no impropriety there.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, Stunstone.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, but that's where I thought you were going. And I think I was a bit disappointed when obviously, his name popped up.

[Graham Duke]

Now, I will apologize, Ali, that you're no doubt wondering whether there's a little jingle to accompany Dunstan.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Into the third series. There isn't at this stage, but only because I've been doing so many episodes in one week that I couldn't add it on. But don't worry, when we do the privy chamber, he may get a little musical. Musical entrance. So if you sign up to be a privy counsellor, then you get to hear Ali's reaction to that one as well. Now, perhaps for your benefit and Edith,

[Ali Hood]

are you going to do loads of monastic reform now?

[Graham Duke]

No, I'm going to tell you is that the historian Stephanie Hollis is actually skeptical about the extent of Dunson closeness to Edith.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

She suspects that Dunstan has been artificially inserted, so to speak, to appeal to Lanfranc sensibilities. Because we mentioned before how the dedication to Lanfranc, Gosselin knows that he's a bit suspicious about Saxons, bit suspicious about women. So he's like, right, if I can associate her with known worthy men, then that will help her cause in the context of the Norman audience. So you can't, of course, get any worthy or Glorious. And Dunstan. So here we have Dunstan in the thick of things. But perhaps that could be exaggerated just to try and appeal to the audience for Gosselin rather than.

[Ali Hood]

They would definitely have met, right?

[Graham Duke]

Absolutely, definitely would have met. Because Dunstan is one of the closest advisors to Edgar. He presumably will have encountered all of Edgar's children. He will go to Wilton because it's a notable place close to court. So it's absolutely plausible.

[Ali Hood]

I mean, everyone in the country must have done something. Such a. Turning up all over the place.

[Graham Duke]

Anyway, Edith seems to have made the most of her educational opportunities. Augustine tells us she was blessed with talents. She shone out in grace, a voice like a swan. Angelic singing, sweet eloquence. A noble intellect capable in all kinds of thought. A perceptive ardour in reading hands, as eloquent as they were accomplished in painting and in writing, as scribe or as author. The fingers of a goldsmith or jeweller. She embroidered with flowers the pontifical vestments of Christ with all her skill and capacity to make. Splendid.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, Being good at needlework is a big thing in these days. That and having a comely nose or something.

[Graham Duke]

Yes. And we even get a bit of a description of Edith. Handsome in the gleaming garment of her body was clothed, her soul more gleaming still. In a beautiful court, a more beautiful queen resided. Her appearance was more like her father, her sense of reverence more like her mother. Her eyes which shone from her inner radiance, the likeness of doves, eyes. Her mother did not desire to load her reddish hair with gold.

[Ali Hood]

So she's got like black beady little eyes like a pigeon.

[Graham Duke]

And red hair, presumably.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Dominant. It's quite striking, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Medium stature, apparently.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Now, while historians and some of the evidence may dispute this, Gosselin is very clear that Edith was. Was committed to the religious life right from the off. So supposedly, when she was just two years old, Edgar visits her at Wilton, along with numerous senior clergymen and courtiers, as if to the court of Christ and a heavenly betrothal feast. So it should be kind of big stately state event that they all go along.

[Ali Hood]

So he's saying he'd planned to marry her since she was 2?

[Graham Duke]

No, no, this is Edgar visiting his daughter.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, fine.

[Graham Duke]

So they all go to see her at Wilton and her parents laid out in front of her the finest clothes and jewelry of royalty and a whole host of religious objects.

[Ali Hood]

I think she'd prefer a cuddle.

[Graham Duke]

Well, that wasn't one of the options. So in absence of that, she chose the Religious objects obviously indicating a deeply thought through process in the two year old's mind that she was determined on a religious life. And reportedly she grows into a deeply holy young woman. So she wore a hair shirt which is the sort of uncomfortable under garment.

[Ali Hood]

Why are they still making those? Like you'd have made it once and gone, this isn't an appropriate material for a shirt.

[Graham Duke]

Version two, I think they have items of clothing that aren't hair shirts. So it's something you deliberately wear when you are intending to live this sort of life of religious suffering.

[Ali Hood]

It's rubbish. You should just put a stone in your shoe.

[Graham Duke]

So anyway, she's got the hair shirt. We don't know if she's got stones in her shoe. But if she did then she wouldn't complain about it.

[Ali Hood]

No.

[Graham Duke]

She copied out prayers with her virginal hand and embraced a life of abstinence.

[Ali Hood]

What's a virginal hand?

[Graham Duke]

Is the hand belonging to a virgin. I think it's not that.

[Ali Hood]

It's never written a poem before.

[Graham Duke]

I don't think so, no. I don't know why that's never a smutty limerick has this.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. What a very strange thing to say.

[Graham Duke]

Anyway, she embraces abstinence. She encouraged her table companions with holy cheerfulness and the kindest joyfulness. Abstaining herself as if she were feasting. Feasting in such a way that frugality was preserved and love spread around.

[Ali Hood]

Can you be. Was she saying she's promotes abstinence? Is she talking about booze or sexual?

[Graham Duke]

I mean, I imagine both.

[Ali Hood]

How can you do that in this day and age? In that day and age, not the sex bit, the drinking because you've got no water.

[Graham Duke]

Well, I think it's more that she's not being excessive in it. Well, in anything but like in terms of eating.

[Ali Hood]

She's not gonna get lathered.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. She's not getting to Deliveroo and getting a cheeseburger or whatever. She'll just be getting the finest wafer thin bit of.

[Ali Hood]

Well in that case she doesn't need the stone in the shell. Well, okay. I mean she. I can see Dunstan in all of this.

[Graham Duke]

Could I just maybe, maybe a bit of cheese between the bread?

[Ali Hood]

No, no, no, bigger stone for your shoe for descent.

[Graham Duke]

Reportedly she's devoted to the sick and destitute. Cared for lepers, paupers, the disabled, those who'd fallen foul of the law. And such was the reputation that she built that Dunstan decided she was ready to bring forth a spiritual shoot for the supernal father as her blooming youth had already matured fruitfully by her way of life.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, Dunstan, stop it, you dirty old man.

[Graham Duke]

So Edgar offered her the position of abbess at no less than three convents.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

Edith initially refused, preferring the obscurity of the cloister and to stay under her mother's authority, not because she wasn't up to the job, but by an overabundance of humility. Just to be clear, it's not that I couldn't do the job, because obviously I could. I'm just so humble that I couldn't actually accept the offer.

[Ali Hood]

Well, she's. She's gorging on humbleness, then.

[Graham Duke]

Well, indeed, yes, but not for too long. So she is duly persuaded. So we're not sure, as one of them is Wilton, where her mother is the abbess. That's presumably not the case, but apparently she is consecrated as abbess at Nunnaminster and Barking, but she's effectively working from home, so she actually stays at Wilton and appoints spiritual mothers to act as guardians in her absence.

[Ali Hood]

So it's just a status thing or something?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

All right.

[Graham Duke]

Now, Sarah Foote thinks these appointments are implausible because she's still only. But barely even a teenager at this point.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

And there is a clash, as I mentioned, between Gosselin's portrayal of Edith pursuing this reclusive lifestyle, what's called an anchorite, which basically just somebody living a sort of excessively frugal, excessively reclusive life, and the many anecdotes that presumably are from genuine recollections of her life, which seem to run completely counter to this. So his narrative is full of Edith receiving royal visits, interacting with her fellow nuns, and living a life of some luxury. So it almost seems like when she was offered the jewels or the religious items as an infant, she went straight to the religious items, but she probably then went to the jewels and just got to basically keep everything. Okay, so she purchased a relic of the true Cross from abroad at great cost, had a metal casket for heating her bath water.

[Ali Hood]

Wicked.

[Graham Duke]

And even had her own personal menagerie from all the exotic animals she received as gifts from foreign ambassadors.

[Ali Hood]

That is the first thing I do with money in those days. Does the roof leak? Is it warm in here? Can I have a bath? I think that would be the biggies.

[Graham Duke]

And if the answer is yes to all of those, and I still have a lot of money, can I have a zoo?

[Ali Hood]

Well, I think that would feature quite low. After. After that, I think I'd go for, like, just something that wasn't true. To eat, you know, it's also grim, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Although, again, though, to be fair, weirdly, in terms of your proclivities, just sort of being given a basic staple that will get you functioning through the day, probably actually about as much as you really want. So.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Fine. Just give me a bath, then.

[Graham Duke]

Bath. And roll on the zoom.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah. She's a wise woman, this.

[Graham Duke]

I have to put the bear somewhere. I suppose so. Also, despite very strict rules about what a nun could and couldn't wear, Gotelin describes, or rather spends quite a long time describing her luxurious clothes, particularly a sumptuous linen alb, which is a particular church vestment for special occasions, which she designed and embroidered herself. But even her regular apparel over the haircloth, she's got this sort of very nice purple number.

[Ali Hood]

She's pimping it all.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. Which is. Obviously, it's meant to be the regular black sackcloth that they all wear and they all have to wear, but apparently she's. She's got purple. So Gosselin does his very best to justify this and find way that actually, if you think about it, that's even more humble. Just wearing the not fancy clothes that doesn't cost any money. So even if she is technically a nun, she's also living like a princess.

[Ali Hood]

And this is the bit where. Okay, so this is the gray area. When in Edgar's episode we were talking about, well, she. Wasn't she actually a nun or her

[Graham Duke]

mother, in that case.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, really?

[Graham Duke]

Because this is Edgar's daughter, not his padamore.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

But it is the grey area. And it's the same thing as with Wilfrid, as with her mother. She's there. She's there the whole time. She's never leaving the nunnery. And yet, does a reclusive nun have heated baths and a zoo?

[Ali Hood]

No, but she is traditionally. But does a princess live in a nunnery?

[Graham Duke]

Well, indeed. That's confusing.

[Ali Hood]

It is.

[Graham Duke]

Now, Gosselin claims she had to wear these clothes because Wilton needed her to maintain her high status to ensure the abbey's royal patronage continued. From Edgar.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

Which, to be fair, is probably is an element of truth there, because having the king's daughter is quite a big opportunity from the patronage stake. So I guess they're like, let's just remind everyone that you are the king's daughter. Not hide you in the corner, not seeing anybody. Because then no one's gonna realize that we've got the king's daughter here and maybe they want to come along with all their money.

[Ali Hood]

Would anyone forget? I mean, who's gonna be looking out for the gown, saying, oh, yeah, better go and give her a chocolate bar or something.

[Graham Duke]

Well, I guess the alternative is that the foreign visitors are saying, and should we come and visit her?

[Ali Hood]

Wilton?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, of course. Come along. Do we get to meet the king's daughter? Oh, no, absolutely not. No. She's a recluse. Maybe I bother.

[Ali Hood]

Okay. Okay. So there were people actually going along to see her.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, yeah, so it seems to work. So at her vocation ceremony when she's two, Edgar gave lands, bestowed royal gifts and increased pastures. And Gosselin tells us later on that she obtained without difficulty her father's indulgence.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So panniers Edgar wrapped around her finger. Whether this be money for Wilton, it's sister churches for herself to beg for clemency for criminals. Whatever it is, it seems like she is able to get what she wants. So as a result, she becomes a beacon for petitioners, not just from ordinary people, but also these foreign envoys who see her as a go between to Edgar. So they think, well, if we can get Edith to speak up for us, she's able to get Edgar to do stuff. Yeah, as long as they've got an exotic animal going spare, she can be persuaded.

[Ali Hood]

Wonder how you kept fish in those days.

[Graham Duke]

Now we're talking.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, I don't think you could, could you?

[Graham Duke]

I mean, they had ponds. Yeah.

[Ali Hood]

But you want to see them side on.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. I don't know if they would have

[Ali Hood]

had an aquarium or even goggles. Imagine that. When was the. When did you first get to see a fish? Then properly? When was the first aquarium? These are the real questions you need answering.

[Graham Duke]

Now. I don't have the answer to that, unfortunately, but things do move forward for Edith, even if not towards an aquarium. Edgar dies very much the height of his powers in975 when he's only 31 years old. So he doesn't leave an adult heir. Consequently, we have a disputed succession between his two young sons. Edward, who's the oldest, nethelred, who is the youngest, but Alfred's son and she's the one who's the crowned consort. So perhaps feels should be her son. Dunstan and the Wheatan ultimately favor Edward, the older boy. But the division seemed to remain 978. Edith has a very ominous dream. Edith, in contemplation, dreamed that her right eye fell out when she remembered this and immediately interpreted it to some of her sisters. She said, it seems to me that this vision foretells some disaster to my brother Edward.

[Ali Hood]

Mmm.

[Graham Duke]

As I'm sure you yourself were beginning to think.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

What else could that mean?

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. And then all of a sudden, Edward dies.

[Graham Duke]

Sure enough, when Edward decided to pay a visit to his brother and stepmother, Alfrith, he is assassinated.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So he is known as Edward the Martyr.

[Ali Hood]

Yes.

[Graham Duke]

Hmm.

[Ali Hood]

Because she kills him because she's the stepmother and wants his. Yeah, this is all coming back.

[Graham Duke]

Goslin describes Edith as being grief stricken when this sudden news struck her like lightning and tells us that she went to his funeral, had to struggle to overcome her grief. Now, we don't have any direct evidence of her relationship with Edward, but, you know, it's perfectly plausible they might have done. They're very close to each other in age and perhaps both might have been demonized by Elfrith, the stepmother, as the other children that she wants to do away with to promote Aethelred, her son, as being the king's heir.

[Ali Hood]

But she would have been at the funeral too, right?

[Graham Duke]

Oh, yes, yes.

[Ali Hood]

God. So the murderer was at the funeral?

[Graham Duke]

Oh, well, actually there was a legend. I'm not sure if it was for the funeral, for the translation of Edward's bones. There was a legend that Elfrith tried to go, but the horse wouldn't take her. So who knows, maybe she got held up. Anyway. Nevertheless, it's shocking. The murder of Edward the Martyr, the king, and a boy king at that, is shocking. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle described it as the worst crime committed among the English peoples since their first coming to England. Might have topped that subsequently, but at the time, apparently. Now Elfrith is widely blamed for the murder and there is genuine outrage at the idea that she basically will win and get her son on the throne, because Aethelred is the only Etheling, the only male heir surviving of Edgar. But he's not the only child.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, that's why we're here, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Gosselin tells us a firstborn daughter survived, more worthy of her father's eminence. After discussions along these lines, they all agreed to take St. Edith from the monastery and elevate her to her father's throne. For women rule among many nations. Believing indeed that a lady of mature foresight could govern so great a kingdom better than childish ignorance. A very well attended assembly of the nobles and the people was held at Wilton and Elfhere was the leader and head of the military. The lord's bride was invited and asked to return to earthly dregs after the embraces of Christ. And so that the monastic profession should suffer no loss, all the leading statesmen and princes offered their daughters to be consecrated together.

[Ali Hood]

So it would take lots of daughters to replace one Edith.

[Graham Duke]

Replace one Edith. But nevertheless, they're saying, look, if you come out and do this, well, our daughters will go in and be nuns in your place.

[Ali Hood]

What's the. What's the economics of that? Because doesn't more nuns mean more expense for the Church?

[Graham Duke]

Well, I mean, they're living very austere lives, aren't they? It's only so many.

[Ali Hood]

And maybe they pay, like. Oh, I don't know, Mad.

[Graham Duke]

I don't know how well they're planning these things in the budget.

[Ali Hood]

No.

[Graham Duke]

Oh. Anyway, the offer is there. Edith is asked, will you be the monarch? Will you be queen?

[Ali Hood]

Who's. Who's yours?

[Graham Duke]

By the nobles?

[Ali Hood]

Because alternatively, it's that the person who's there only because the other fellow was stabbed. So the nobles actually got together and

[Graham Duke]

said, let's stop Elthris. Who've we got? The only other child of Edgar is Edith. Wow. But such was Edith's devotion to God that despite apparently increasingly forceful argument, she rejects the offer of the earthly throne.

[Ali Hood]

Wow.

[Graham Duke]

And her younger brother Ethelred does become king.

[Ali Hood]

What happens to all those nobles? Just politics.

[Graham Duke]

Carry on nobling, I guess.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Yeah. Golly. That's got to be the other than Cromwell. It's got to be the first time you've been offered a throne and not taken it. First time someone said no.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah. People really. It's really more of a sort of just. It's not really meant to be a question, to be honest. It's kind of rhetorical, really.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. And also, you know, we do have these swords. So

[Graham Duke]

the question is, did it really happen?

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Gosselin's account is the only one we have telling us that she is offered the throne. And as we previously discussed, Wessex is notoriously cynical about the concept of queens, even as consorts, never mind the queen regnant.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So it seems quite a leap to go to the idea of a woman ruling the supposed head of the delegation that he mentions, Elfair, the head of the military. I mean, that is who he is. He is the most powerful nobleman in the country at the time. But he's also seen as being a key ally of Elthrith, and thus Ethelred, perhaps even could have been behind the murder. So it feels a bit odd to have him popping along to offer Edith the throne at this juncture. The historian Susan Ridgeard has dismissed it as Highly improbable. It must be regarded as the creation of an. Of an 11th century hagiographical imagination. So it's basically another example of Edith rejecting earthly trappings in favor of commitment to God. So, like at the start, when she's two, do you want the jewels or do you want the cross? She chooses the cross and the religious stuff. Do you want to be the monarch of England or do you want to stay being a nun? Of course I want to stay a simple, humble nun serving God rather than the earthly treasures, definitely, of kingship. However, before we dismiss this out of hand, should be noted, Aethelred is not crowned immediately after his brother's death. There does seem to be a period of negotiation and standoff between rival groups and factions at court where it seems like there is a resistance to accepting him as king. So if you are seeking to stop him becoming king, surely Edgar's only other child must have been an essential part of the scheme. Surely there's no other way that you can really legitimately challenge him as king. Unless you use Edith because she's the only one that is a child of Edgar the Peaceable.

[Ali Hood]

Does that matter at this point? Does he have Edgar have any brothers that they can mine?

[Graham Duke]

No, there's no other brothers and no nephews and nieces, anything like that.

[Ali Hood]

This system is utterly flawed, isn't it? If you. You can. You have too many, there's a problem, or you got none, I don't know.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, you've got a nun.

[Ali Hood]

Very nice.

[Graham Duke]

But so what you might imagine might have happened, we saw like with Aethelwold when he was claiming the throne and he went to a nunnery, found a noble born woman and married her. And that increases his appeal. Maybe. Here the idea is we've got a royal daughter. Obviously she's not actually going to be in charge, but if we have a chap that we like that we can marry to her, then through her he can legitimately rule.

[Ali Hood]

That's more realistic, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

That feels more realistic rather than sort of, let's all bend to the knee and good Queen Edith will rule us for 50 years and we'll do what the woman says. More likely, it's like, look, you're the only one that's actually the child of the king. Marry you to this chap, he'll do all the work. But nevertheless, it's legit because you're the king's daughter.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So you can see, actually it's maybe not so implausible that they could have done that if you don't want Aethelred, there's not really another way of doing it with any sense of legitimacy other than through Edith.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, I'm flip flopping here. Between. That definitely never happened to. That's really very sensible.

[Graham Duke]

Regardless, what is certain is that Edith didn't become queen. Yeah. And instead she settled into her religious life. So she took on a new grand project, overseeing the construction of a magnificent new chapel at Wilton, dedicated to St. Denis. As ever, the dedication in 984 was a grand affair, the ceremony presided over by no less than Dunstan. And he made a suitably cheerful contribution to the occasion. So he sighed and drew out his voice from the depth of his breast. Now this soul, beloved of God, this stellar jewel, will be snatched away from its earthly defilement and from our dwelling in hardship to the land of the saints. For this wicked world is no longer worthy of the presence of so great a light. For on the 43rd day from today, our most bright star will set.

[Ali Hood]

Is he predicting the future now?

[Graham Duke]

He is. He's prophesizing that Edith will die.

[Ali Hood]

Isn't that illegal?

[Graham Duke]

In 43 days.

[Ali Hood]

Imagine if someone had said that to Henry VIII. They'd have his head sneaked off.

[Graham Duke]

Well, indeed, yes.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, that man needs putting out his job, at least.

[Graham Duke]

Now, in fairness to Dunstan, apparently he makes his prophecy to an underling in private rather than actually at the dedication ceremony. But sadly, his oddly specific prophecy is to prove correct, and she does die 43 days later, on 16 September 984, aged only about 23.

[Ali Hood]

Did she finish her building?

[Graham Duke]

Well, yes, because that was at the dedication ceremony. Her mother, Wulfrith, was apparently tormented with grief, but no doubt comforted by the fact that Dunstan was there unto her last gasp, and indeed performed her funeral service, apparently in tears. Though he criticized everybody else for being in tears.

[Ali Hood]

Of course he did. Seriously, he's such a loser.

[Graham Duke]

We don't know why she died. Perhaps she entered the nunnery because her health was poor, so perhaps they knew that she wasn't likely actually to go on to have marriage and children, etc. So that's why she went in. Alternatively, Jane Schulenberg has observed that there is something of a pattern in medieval Europe, in this sort of period of premature deaths amongst sanctified nuns who are celebrated for their sort of ascetic living. So these sort of impatient angels, as they're dubbed, who almost embrace death in their abstemious living to get to heaven more quickly. Because you think if they're not really eating very much. The hair shirts, the stones in their shoe, all this sort of stuff. Think also these very young girls, you think of, you know, sort of eating disorders now and that sort of stuff add a kind of holy element to it and you think, well, actually, maybe it's not very surprising that you have so many of these.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Girls dying at very young age when they're starving themselves and living goddess. Yeah, maybe not actually that surprising. Now, usually this is where the story ends in the biography, but of course she is St. Edith, so dying is only part of the story.

[Ali Hood]

Okay.

[Graham Duke]

Her cult was actually quite slow to get going. Her mother, as the abbess was a more celebrated figure at Wilton initially and ironically is actually her brother Ethelred, who's the one that really promotes the cult both for her and for his older brother Edward in the 990s. Because having saintly siblings is a way to enhance his own prestige. And perhaps in the context of Viking raids, internal divisions. There's been a cattle plague recently. Aethelred feels he needs some of that saintly stardust just to give his reign a little bit of a boost.

[Ali Hood]

Yep.

[Graham Duke]

So reportedly, Edith appears in visions to Aethelred, to some of his senior magnates and of course to Dunstan, urging them to elevate her remains and translate her bones to Wilton itself. So apparently when she died, Dunstan had taken her right hand after she made the sign of the cross and he prophesied. Or maybe she prophesied. Well, one of them prophesises, never shall this thumb which makes the sign of our salvation, see corruption. And sure enough, Edith now told him in the dream that when he opened her coffin, he would see she was only decayed in the organs of the body, which I misused in girlish light mindedness, that is my eyes, my hands and my feet. But her thumb on the right hand would be uncorrupted.

[Ali Hood]

Well, she should have said that phrase about her whole body.

[Graham Duke]

And thus it was. So in 997, Edward the Martyr is translated Shaftesbury. And Gosling tells us that Dunstan oversaw the translation of Edith into Wilton Abbey, which was an impressive feat given that he himself had actually died nine years ago. Perhaps a slight flaw in the narrative there. So either Gossen didn't know who actually did it, or he just felt that narratively it made a bit more of an impact for Dunstan to do it.

[Ali Hood]

I feel like that with these, these chroniclers, it's not. It's not just making an account of the story. It's like if we were. If I was to be able to get some sort of budget and film this, this would make much more sense.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, he was dead. It doesn't really matter. It's just a bunch of. So we're not really going year by year, it's just stuff happening.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Wouldn't I hear what you're saying, but wouldn't it be better if it were done? Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

And I put it back to you that there is no sentence you should ever make which involves saying, wouldn't it be better if it was Dunstan?

[Ali Hood]

Yes, that's true. Don't clip that and chop that up.

[Graham Duke]

Still, it's not till the 1030s that her cult really gets going. And perhaps just because it suits some of the abbesses at Wilton who do have a personal connection to Edith and thus it's a way for them to promote themselves, particularly if there is a bit of a dispute over who gets to be the absent Wilton, saying, oh, well, of course, the saintly Edith said to me, oh, yeah. Also we have the Viking ruler Canute seems to have promoted her cult, perhaps as a part of his bid to appear as the perfect Saxon king. He cultivates an association with a royal saint and technically, because you love your family trees, his wife, Emma of Normandy, who was initially the wife, the second wife of Ethelred the Unready. So Emma of Normandy is technically a sister in law to Edith of Wilton.

[Ali Hood]

I believe you.

[Graham Duke]

It's a weird connection. In the family tree, there are now a large number of miracles reported in association with Edith. Well, we'll go through them in the privy chamber rather than here because there are a lot of them, but a large number of them have her protecting Wilton's property and riches from thieves. So, like there's one where a man takes some stuff from Wilton, dies, and then he just sits up from death and tells everyone, oh, my God, I'm so scared because Edith is really cross with me and she won't let me go to heaven until I've sorted this out. So please take your land back and let me go.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

She's a fierce protector of Wilton.

[Ali Hood]

Is this after she died?

[Graham Duke]

Oh, yes.

[Ali Hood]

Okay.

[Graham Duke]

And indeed after he dies.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

However, it does seem that perhaps her star had started to wane a little bit with the Norman Conquest and they're not quite so interested in Saxon female saints. But that is why Goslin is on hand to promote her and Wilton to a new audience.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So that is the life and non reign of Edith of Wilton. We shall now move on to review Her.

[Commercial Announcer]

After a quick break, tomorrow morning is knocking. Stock your fridge now. How about a creamy mocha Frappuccino drink? Or a sweet vanilla smooth caramel maybe? Or white chocolate mocha? Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries.

[Graham Duke]

So just a quick message to say that Rex Factor are going to be doing a live show at the Ludlow assembly rooms on Friday 21st August at 7 o' clock pm. We're going to be looking at the four main contenders for the throne in 1066. Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror, Harald Hardrada and Edgar the Atheling. And we're going to ask the audience who comes to the show to decide who should have become the king. We've had lots of fun, we've been to Ludlow in previous years and we've really loved getting the chance to meet Rex Factor fans in person. So if you are able to, then please do come along to join us on Friday 21st of August at the Ludlow Assembly Rooms. You can get tickets directly from the Ludlow Assembly Rooms website or we will have a link to it on our website, rexfactorpodcast.com hopefully we'll get to see you there.

[Ali Hood]

Battleliness.

[Graham Duke]

There is a hint of a steely side to Edith between the lines of Gosselin's portrayal. So one curious anecdote relates to Edith's ostentatiously luxurious tastes in fashion, which are of course, somewhat at odds with how a nun is supposed to dress. Now, perhaps not surprisingly, this attracted criticism from a certain senior cleric, not Dunstan, though Bishop Ethelwald of Winchester took her to task. Oh, daughter, not in these garments does one approach the marriage chamber of Christ. Nor is the heavenly bridegroom pleased with exterior elegance.

[Ali Hood]

Why is Jesus getting married?

[Graham Duke]

It's all symbolic. The nuns are the brides of Christ, aren't they? That's part of the language.

[Ali Hood]

And she probably said, get stuffed.

[Graham Duke]

Well, exactly. I mean, you might. I mean, obviously you didn't because you just said that, but you usually you might expect some kind of suitably chastened response or something, but a little spiky. Edith replies, believe, O Reverend Father, that a mind by no means poorer in aspiring to God will live beneath this covering than beneath the goatskin I possess. My Lord, who pays attention to the mind, not to the clothing.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So she's saying, God loves us for what is on the inside, not what is on the outside. God cares about my soul, not about my clothes.

[Ali Hood]

Isn't that what he was saying? And that was using that as an argument as well, saying, don't. Don't dress up because God wants you to. God wants to know what you. You know, your inside bits.

[Graham Duke]

But she's saying God doesn't really care what's on the outside. I am wholly within.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Doesn't matter what I'm wearing.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, completely.

[Graham Duke]

So Ethelwold put firmly in his place. Now, obviously, dusty old man criticizing young women for their fashion choice is by no means a unique occurrence in human history. So something quite satisfying. Just the fact that she's able to deflect his criticism with a sort of fixed holy smile, little bit of an edge, and as you said, effectively, get stuffed. With all due respect. Get stuffed.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. I've got the brothers. My brother's the king, mate.

[Graham Duke]

However, the anecdote may also enter deeper tensions. Now, unlike Dunstan, who really doesn't like Aethelwold, is a close ally to Edgar's queen, Elfrith. And Elspreth was given oversight of the country's nunneries, perhaps ansible, given Edgar's proclivities.

[Ali Hood]

I remember this. This was her job, wasn't it? Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Head of the nuns. But the nunneries don't seem to have been very keen on this idea, this central control. And indeed central control from Elfrith and Wilton seemed to be a notable example. And indeed, it's all of these nunneries where these extreme legends about Elfrith were invented. You might remember there was a thing about her turning into a horse and murdering the Abbot of Ely.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, I do remember that.

[Graham Duke]

That all comes from these nunneries which are supposedly under her jurisdiction, but seem like they are resistant to that.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

And this perhaps hints at a rivalry when you think of Wilton. Wulfrith, Edith's mother, is the Abbess of Wilton and Edgar was married to Wilfrith. And then he marries Elfrith and Wulfrith has a child. Aelfryth has a child. You think, well, there's. There's more layers going on here.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Than simply control of it. Now, Goslin is at pains to stress how definitely legitimately married either parents were.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

In contrast to accounts likely encouraged by Elfrith to suggest otherwise, Gosselin also explicitly states that Edward the Martyr is murdered at the connivance of his stepmother, again is Elfrid. So in this context, we've got Edith giving a bit of a put down to Bishop Aethelwold, who is Elfrith's ally, whereas Edith loves Dunstan, who was Edward the Martyr's ally, not Aethelred Right. So you can see this sort of division draw. Exactly. You can see it's all part of it. And then if you look at the context of Edith being offered the throne, that sort of plays into this a little bit more as well. You could see that Wulfrith and Edith and indeed Wilton would have sought, if not to stop Elfrith and Aethelred, then certainly to have used any uncertainty to maybe secure guarantees about their positions and Wilson's independence. So they might have been like, well, if you want this, then this is what we want out of it. So maybe Edith wasn't exactly expecting to become the monarch, but they might have said, well, look, we can make life difficult for you. You've just killed Edward the Martyr. She's the king's daugh. What are you gonna do for us?

[Ali Hood]

Mmm. Interesting.

[Graham Duke]

Now, against Edith, of course, is the fact that, according to Gosselin, she is offered the throne and turns it down. And we consider all the other people that we're gonna do in this series and how close they come and all that sort of stuff.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

The basic thing of just saying yes, having a go. So either she just says no, which is a bit rubbish, or she had coveted power, then she failed to get it.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So if you imagine Gossan is maybe making it all look a bit more pretty and nice and holy, but maybe actually there was a failed attempt to do it. Yeah. So she doesn't manage to become queen, but, you know, a little bit of spikiness.

[Ali Hood]

One,

[Graham Duke]

it's not very spiky, but it's in the mix.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. I mean, I'm just giving it something.

[Graham Duke]

Yes, I think I'll give it something as well. I think also A1. It feels A. It would feel excessive to go any higher than that.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

And I'm not. It's not. Not battalioness, but it's equally.

[Ali Hood]

We're looking for it here, aren't we?

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, we're having to look for it. So it's. It feels like it's a little bit of something in a personality that's not just this holy dove that Gosselin tries to paint, which I like. But I'm not sure that means she should get a big battleliness score.

[Ali Hood]

No.

[Graham Duke]

So one for you, one for me, two for Battliness Scandal. Well, it's quite a fun disparity we've got between Edith's public image and her private self. So what she's really up to when Dunstan isn't looking. So, for example, we had Gosselin claiming That she wore a hair shirt. And yet on top of her hair shirt here, purple dyed with punic red with murex and Sidonian shellfish and twice dipped scarlet interwoven with gold chrysolite, topaz, onyx and beryl. And precious stones were intertw with gold union pearls, the shelled treasure which only India produces in the east and Britain, the land of the English in the west, were set like stars in gold. The golden insignia of the cross, the golden images of the saints were outlined with a surround of pearls.

[Ali Hood]

Sounds so gaudy.

[Graham Duke]

It sounds very, very gaudy. But again, when you think that Gosselin is trying to tell us about how reclusive and humble she is, then say, oh, what, what does she wear? Just gold and jewels and more gold and more jewels and gold.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, it's conflicting but.

[Graham Duke]

And it's because like this is sort of stuff that actually in Gosselin's time there was this owl I mentioned was surviving. They still had it at that point. So again, he's having to describe an actual item of clothing that they have there and then.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

So he still wants to portray her as being humble and holy and all that, but equally is like. But this is quite bling.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. And I've got to describe it to you, dear reader.

[Graham Duke]

Now you might think that's a problem, but. But without doubt she made her humility more glorious by public elegance. So that together with the gold clad Cecilia, she might please the father who alone sees in secret with her hidden pearl and that visible frivolities might conceal hidden martyrdom.

[Ali Hood]

What's the hidden pearl?

[Graham Duke]

I know, yes, it does sound a bit suggestive. I don't think it's necessarily meant to, but I think what he's saying is that, ah, well, it. It might look like she's got very gaudy clothes on. And of course the public elegance of her clothes, gaudiness of her clothes only serves to mask more greatly how actually reclusive and austere and humble she is beneath. And of course God will see what

[Ali Hood]

strange line of argument.

[Graham Duke]

I mean, I think the. The truth is that it's quite hard to reconcile and clearly she's wearing princess clothes.

[Ali Hood]

I'm a vegetarian because I eat so much meat.

[Graham Duke]

Yes, exactly. Yes, exactly, yes. I think the reality is we've got. Edith has a very large disposable income and dresses accordingly. So the notion of her living as this reclusive anchorite doesn't really. So you see, this is why some historians think, well, surely she's not Really? A nun, is she? Yeah, she's the King's daughter and she's just grown up at Wilton.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, I think that's right. But it does introduce that lovely amount

[Graham Duke]

of grey, except when you actually look at what she's wearing, in which there

[Ali Hood]

is no hint of grey on it. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Gosling also devotes a fair bit of time trying to explain why the reclusive, understated Edith has a personal menagerie. And thus we get another slightly confused portrait. She also gathered together an innumerable household of wild animals, loving with the compassion all those works of the Creator in the spirit of his love, who is kind to all things. Certainly whenever she was at leisure, she visited these guests with the mind of a recluse. Those animals which strongly armed men would hesitate to confront this lone unarmed girl, so confident is innocence delighted to receive as they ran to her and stroke with a gentle hand the bear and the boar rather feared than frightened her, armed as she was, only with faith. So she's got all these animals.

[Ali Hood]

She's a pig whisperer. She's. Yes, she's.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly. But again, this is quite frivolous stuff to be getting on with when you're meant to be a nun doing nothing but worshipping God all day, and yet you've got a zoo. So Gosselin even acknowledges that many might review. Might view these things as irrelevant to the religious life. Indeed, as he says, a product of her royal nature and totally pointless. But of course, it's all part of a holy, perfect character. Did not Jesus visit animals during his 40 days? It shows a concern for all of God's creation and.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, I mean, that's an easier line to take.

[Graham Duke]

It's an easier line to take. But again, it's the same as the clothes. She's got blingy clothes, she likes hot baths and she's got a zoo.

[Ali Hood]

It's not understated as. Especially for a nun. Yes, it's understated for a princess. Or at least. No, it's not even that, is it? No.

[Graham Duke]

Throw into the mix the idea that she's machination for the throne and against Elthrith and. Yeah, it's a much spikier character and someone that's. You could imagine being a little more.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Scandalous than perhaps two. Well, yes. I mean, the thing is, I guess even if she is part of the lay community or is much more worldly than Gosselin wants us to believe, I guess it's not scandalous, really, if she's just a princess living at Wilton Is any of this scandalous? Yeah, it's only really scandalous because she's meant to be a nun.

[Ali Hood]

But if we agree she's not a nun, then it's just.

[Graham Duke]

But she is a saint, so, yeah,

[Ali Hood]

she's better than a nun.

[Graham Duke]

So I feel like let's. For the benefit of her getting points, let's assume she is a nun and let's assume. Let's assume that she's one of these. Where she's always got the perfect smile, perfectly appears, always has a perfectly reasonable explanation, and yet is clearly doing her own thing behind closed doors.

[Ali Hood]

It's Prince Andrew, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Well, I mean, let's not make it quite down.

[Ali Hood]

No, I'm gonna go down. I'm gonna go to two.

[Graham Duke]

Where were you three?

[Ali Hood]

Oh, no, I was on two before. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I'll stick with two.

[Graham Duke]

Stay on the two. Yeah, I think it's. It's tall because I. I love the dichotomy. I love the dissonance. I love the sort of. It's. I think it's quite fun, the fact that she's sort of going, yes, of course, of course. But really.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's going back to her cell.

[Graham Duke]

But none of it's that scandalous, really. It's just not very nunny. So, yeah, I think I'll give her a two and a half. Let's imagine that there's some stuff that Goslin has actually left out.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Graham Duke]

He's like, okay, I know I'm putting in all this stuff. Cannot explain that one. I've explained a lot of stuff really dubiously. That is too far.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, you should have just missed it out. Jocelyn, whatever his name is.

[Graham Duke]

So two from you. Two and a half for me, Four and a half for scandal, subjectivity. Well, she's a saint, so obviously we've got loads of good deeds reported by Gosselin.

[Ali Hood]

I'm not going to count any of these.

[Graham Duke]

She devoted herself to the sick and destitute. She preferred to serve the leprous rather than have royal power. Rather than ruling, she preferred to be beside ulcerated feet as if they were the footstool of Christ, and to tend them with bathing and with her hair and kisses. She made herself an eye to the blind, a support to the weak, and a refuge and comfort for all the distress the ragged people did not fear. The lady in purple.

[Ali Hood]

Good. That's nice.

[Graham Duke]

I don't know if that's so implausible, even if it is, that she's not really actually quite as saintly as he makes out, there's, you know.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, I believe that. I thought it was gonna all be miracles.

[Graham Duke]

Well, there's a lot of miracles, but obviously the miracles comes after she dies.

[Ali Hood]

Ah, right.

[Graham Duke]

Not surprisingly, the common people were said to have thronged to Wilton, where Edith made charitable donations. She also had a soft spot for condemned criminals. She suffered on behalf of thieves as much as if they were her brothers, Edward or Aethelred. She interposed herself before the sword and the neck so that the executioner would have to strike an innocent woman or spare the guilty. That feels a bit less plausible. Yeah, it's like, oh, God, someone removes the princess, she's here again. Never get a good execution done these days.

[Ali Hood]

So it was a nun turning up

[Graham Duke]

to become a saint. Of course, you need miracles. And there are plenty to go on for Edith. As I said, I'll save the details for the privy chamber episode. But as a quick overview, she protects Wilton's property and treasure from thieves. She intercedes to save Canute during a storm at sea. She cures her sick and even heals a troop of epileptic dancers trapped in perpetual motion. She can do it all.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. Why did she stop them? Sounds amazing.

[Graham Duke]

Apparently, even foreign ambassadors sought her favor by letters and gifts, and high ranking ecclesiastics sought her intercession. Foreign kingdoms and principalities also gave her respect with greetings, letters and gifts. Religious leaders begged her to act as a saving intercessor. So she seems like she's an important personage. People come to her, they ask her to intercede with the king. And that makes sense again, as she is the king's daughter and king's sister. She has those connections. Yeah, she's more worldly than Gosselin implies.

[Ali Hood]

She's close to the seat of power. It is Andrew, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Remarkably, she even has her own seal. Now, that's not. Not one of those. Not for the menagerie, but a seal of governance. So the wax seal used from official government.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. It's like having a being given a government email address.

[Graham Duke]

Well, exactly. And that's a very clear indication of her high status and wealth. So it's a depiction of her on it, the seal. So it is her seal. And indeed, it's used as an official emblem by Wilton until the Abbey's dissolution in 1539. Describes her as Regalis Adelpha, royal sister. So again, stressing her status. And even more impressively, it survives to this day. We have Edith's seal. It's the only Surviving object. But we do have Edith of Wilful Seal. So that's absolutely not an invention of Goslin. It's a real thing that we have.

[Ali Hood]

Where is it?

[Graham Duke]

Oh, I'm not sure, actually.

[Ali Hood]

I want. Let's have a look at that, because that'd be great. But I wonder if it's. The bm. Now lies. Okay. The original seal was used by Wilton Abbey, which was now destroyed during the Reformation and now lies underneath Wilton House in Wiltshire.

[Graham Duke]

Ah. The original wax seal is lost, but its design survives through 14th and 16th century casts.

[Ali Hood]

That's all right.

[Graham Duke]

But still, it's based on the. Based on the original. Her final act in the world is completing her project to build a chapel. And Gossin tells us she's fully engaged in the project from start to finish. So she plans it, pays for the construction, has one of her tutors, Benno, provide the decoration. Dunstan, of course, to do the dedication. She even seems to be in a regular visitor to the building site. So not just to encourage the workers, but perhaps she even got her hands dirty. So she carried stones in her sleeves to assist them.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, but that was. Thank you. Edith really helped us out today. Thank you. Do come back. Just gotta keep the money flowing as such.

[Graham Duke]

Catherine Kharkov has suggested that such close level of involvement makes her the first member of the Wessex royal family to be a known creator of a monumental work of art.

[Ali Hood]

Right.

[Graham Duke]

The only sort of criticism I found against her is later on failing as a saint.

[Ali Hood]

How can she do that when she's dead?

[Graham Duke]

Well, after the Norman Conquest, Wilton's reputation and fortunes dip somewhat, and some nuns felt she wasn't doing enough to support them. So they've not got as much patronage. Apparently, there'd been a plague that a number of them, large numbers, no blaming Edith, died. Well, you know, she's there. She is their saint. She's apparently all these miracles that she's doing all over the shop. But all of this is happening at Wilton and where's Edith? So, as Stephanie Hollis put it, it wasn't that she couldn't help them, apparently, but that she wouldn't. Either that or she was the laziest saint in England.

[Ali Hood]

It's up to them to commercialize her, though, isn't it?

[Graham Duke]

Well, apparently Edith appeared to them in a dream to point out that while she, of course, had a special affection for Wilton, she was a saint for all the people. And they must accept their temporal sufferings as a means of becoming spotless brides of the Lord.

[Ali Hood]

They've always got an Answer for everything, haven't you?

[Graham Duke]

You've got nice stuff there. She builds, designs and builds a lovely chapel. She's, you know, she's an influential figure at court. She's got her own seal. Miracles. Yeah. Good deeds.

[Ali Hood]

Three and a half.

[Graham Duke]

Four.

[Ali Hood]

Four.

[Graham Duke]

Oh, I was gonna go. I was gonna go more up to a five because it's, you know, she's doing nice things.

[Ali Hood]

She's doing nice things, you know, I suppose, yeah. It's about how to score this series. They're not going to be king or queen. No, I'll stick with four. That's where my gut came.

[Graham Duke]

So four and a five. That's nine for subjectivity, longevity. Well, obviously we have the debate over whether she was actually off of the throne or somewhere in the mix in 978, but if we assume that there was a passing moment of nearliness, this would count as one month or less. So 0.08 years of nearly reigning, which gives her a score of 0.55 for longevity.

[Ali Hood]

Okay.

[Graham Duke]

Joint 29th dynasty. Not the program. Edith, of course, never married or had any children, so it's a score of zero for dynasty.

[Ali Hood]

Bad news.

[Graham Duke]

So overall, that gives Edith a total score of 16. He's actually second for the series so far.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. How did he get.

[Graham Duke]

He's saying, looking a bit more impressive at the top there, isn't he? 44.5.

[Ali Hood]

Wow. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

But it's not all about the score. Does she have that certain something, that lasting legacy, the great achievement, the star quality that we call Rex factor? Well, I mean, she's a saint.

[Ali Hood]

She is the most rexy so far.

[Graham Duke]

I'd say she's got a more worldly life than we might expect. That sort of contrast between the real anecdotes and the saintly write up that weirdly ends up giving us more of a personality than you'd usually have. The fact that he's trying to reconcile the two things. You feel like you get a bit more of actually her in there.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Than you usually would. So we've got that fun real life princess. We've got the heated bath, the zoo, the fancy clothes.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, dad, I'll give it to her.

[Graham Duke]

Bit spiky with the bishop.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

And we've got that what if, you know, what if there had been a female monarch as early as the 970s. That's 150 years or so before the Empress Matilda nearly pulled it off. Over 500 years before Mary Tudor does eventually manage it.

[Ali Hood]

Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Flip side is we don't know how much of that is actually the case or how much is just.

[Ali Hood]

Yes.

[Graham Duke]

A web well done by Gosselin.

[Ali Hood]

She's got those pigeon eyes, flame red hair.

[Graham Duke]

Doves eyes.

[Ali Hood]

Doves eyes. Telling the bishop to do one. Carrying rocks in her sleeves, in her shoes. I can picture her at least. Which is more than can save the others. Yeah. I'll give it to her now.

[Graham Duke]

It seems again not to, you know, to put give denied it or opportunity. But it sort of felt like throughout, particularly look at the scores that you weren't particularly in her corner.

[Ali Hood]

But she's just. Yeah, she has. Well, she got certain something.

[Graham Duke]

Something. There is a certain something about her. It's tricky. I really like her one just because of that. The dissonance, the real Edith, the not really Edith and the mix between the two. I don't know. Is it. Is it Rexy? When sort of looking at some of the ones to come, I sort of think how much are we gonna have to talk about now? In a way it shouldn't be. It should be standalone and you know, you shouldn't. Shouldn't be measuring it by everybody else. But I'm just thinking, you know, when. What. What will we be talking about that makes her Rexy? If. Let's say we've got, I don't know, however many of them at the end that have the Rex factor and she's one of them. And we're making a case for why she is a contender. What's she got?

[Ali Hood]

She's made the Rex factor finals but isn't getting out the groups.

[Graham Duke]

Now you do have people like that. That is allowed. But.

[Ali Hood]

Well, I'm sticking with yes. Are you gonna. Is she gonna be your nearly then?

[Graham Duke]

She might be, yeah. I. I think I'm gonna go on the side of no. And it's interesting. I like it. It's a funny one because obviously you said no to Aethelwold and I said yes.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah. So wish I'd said yes now.

[Graham Duke]

And I've got. I feel like there's more to go on in some ways personality wise with Edith.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

That thus makes her a little bit more.

[Ali Hood]

That's the only reason I'm doing that.

[Graham Duke]

But yeah, I don't quite think there's enough there.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

I think it's in terms of the throne bit really. I don't think there's actually really. I think it's quite an interesting person to learn about, but actually feels like we've obviously honed it on it because that's why she's in the series.

[Ali Hood]

But she's a long way from the

[Graham Duke]

throne, but it feels a long way from actually being a realistic throne person.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, there's a lot of personality, not a lot of power politics being chatted.

[Graham Duke]

So that's a yes from Ali, but a no from me.

[Ali Hood]

No one's got the Rex factor yet.

[Graham Duke]

Yeah, so she doesn't have the Rex factor, but she is another nearly, nearly Rex factor monarch. So we've had now one this series where I said yes and you said no and one where you said no and I said yes.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah.

[Graham Duke]

Or have I just said that the same thing, different way around?

[Ali Hood]

I don't know, because I. I sort of listened for the meaning rather than the words.

[Graham Duke]

We've both said yes, but the other hasn't agreed.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, no one's got the Rex factor. All four.

[Graham Duke]

Exactly. Correspondence corner. Well, let us know what you think and whether you would have been a yes with Ali or a no with me on this one. Head to rexfactorpodcast.com to get all our links and more information about the podcast. And if you want to support the podcast and hear more from us, sign up to become a privy [e-mail] RexFactor. You get an ad free version of the main podcast, as well as access to over 450 bonus podcast episodes and our Discord Server. And that will include the Privy Chamber episode for Edith of Wilson, where we'll go into more detail about those miracles, about some other elements of stuff that Gosselin described and maybe a little bit more Dunstan as well.

[Ali Hood]

Yeah, let's hope.

[Graham Duke]

And we have some new Privy Councillors.

[Ali Hood]

Oh, brilliant.

[Graham Duke]

To welcome to the fold.

[Ali Hood]

Who's here? I thought. I thought I smelt something new. So arise and welcome to Elise Bethany J, Joe Bowden, Courtney Smith, Lindsey Kramer, Hannah Hunt, Louise Crick, Gemma Edwards, Martin Evans, Taylor Goodwin, Kate Caseley, Alyssa Martin, Jenny Jeffrey, Martha Krieg, Ian Aceta or Aketa Ksenia V. Alexander Herbert, Emily Watson, Sharon o' Sullivan and Richard Heaps. Thank you.

[Graham Duke]

Yes, thank you one and all. So that is all from us today. Next time we will be reviewing the father of Edgar the Atheling. Something of a forgotten man in the mix of 1066, but very much a key part of that story. Edward the Exile.

[Ali Hood]

Cool.

[Graham Duke]

See you next time.

[Ali Hood]

Bye bye.

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[Graham Duke]

Up.

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