Edith fan Tamworth

Who they were

Butler notes that the references to St Edith of Polesworth conflict so much that some have supposed there were several women of that name. One suggestion, from Goscelin, makes her a sister of King Edgar; another identifies her with the sister of King Athelstan who in 925 married Sihtric, the Viking king of York.

Sihtric died the next year, and his widow, who seems to have had a reputation for holiness, was buried at Tamworth, a few miles from Polesworth. Butler thinks she is probably the one and only St Edith called of Polesworth.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

A tenth-century English royal widow honoured at Polesworth and Tamworth.

Connected on this site

• Edith of Polesworth Saint
  “Butler notes that the references to St Edith of Polesworth conflict so much that some have supposed there were several women of that name.” — this site's research