Saint Edward the Confessor

King of England
(c. 1003–1066)

Saint Edward the Confessor was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, reigning from 1042 to 1066, and is one of the most important royal saints in the history of the English Church. He received his epithet Confessor, meaning one who confesses the faith by holy living rather than by martyrdom, to distinguish him from the earlier saint Edward the Martyr. He was born around 1003, the son of King Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, and spent much of his youth in exile in Normandy while Denmark ruled England.

When he became king he ruled with justice and piety, keeping close to the Church and to its ministers and living a life of personal prayer and mortification beneath the dignity of his royal office. He is said to have lived in a Josephite marriage with his queen Edith, though the historical evidence for this is uncertain. He was generous to the poor and to the Church, rebuilding Westminster Abbey in the Romanesque style, which he consecrated shortly before his death, and which has been the coronation church of the English monarchs ever since.

He faced constant political difficulties, particularly from the powerful Godwin family, but governed with a mildness and desire for peace that earned him the love of his people. He died on January 5, 1066, and was buried in his new abbey at Westminster. He was canonised by Pope Alexander III in 1161, and his shrine in Westminster Abbey, where his relics still rest, became one of the great pilgrimage destinations of medieval England.

He is the patron of kings and of England, and his feast is celebrated on October 13th. His memory is particularly honoured at Westminster Abbey, where his feast is still kept with great solemnity.