St. Edward the Confessor was the King of England from 1042 – 1066. Edward was the son of King Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy and was born at Islip, near Oxford. As much of his youth was spent with the Danes in control of England – through the dominating rule of King Canute the Great – Edward lived in Normandy, at the court of Emma’s brother, Duke Richard the Good. He tried unsuccessfully to press his claim to the throne in 1035, finally returning in 1041 when Hardecanute, son of Canute, probably named him his heir, as he died without children. Finally, in 1042, Edward became king, receiving his crown at Canterbury.

As king of England, Edward proved a holy but politically weak monarch. Much of the power in the realm rested in the hands of the scheming Saxon earls, in particular the house of Godwin of Essex. Godwin overcame the king’s efforts to find a counter to the earls, and after his death in 1053, most matters of state were the purview of Godwin’s son Harold Godwinson.

Overshadowed, Edward devoted his efforts to the completion of construction of Westminster Abbey, hunting, and prayer. Considered just, holy, and fair, he was much loved by his English subjects and was known as “Good King Edward.” He died without an heir and supposedly named Harold to succeed him, although a claim was made to the throne by Duke William of Normandy, thereby making war inevitable. The result of the struggle between William and Harold culminated in the battle of Hastings (1066). Edward was canonized in 1161 and his relics were enshrined behind the high altar of Westminster Abbey.