Litany of Saints
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Ealhswith

Anglo Saxon royal consort

SaintKingdom of MerciaPre-congregation

Feast: 20 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
852
Died
905
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Ealhswith or Ealswitha (died 5 December 902) was the wife of King Alfred the Great. She was the mother of King Edward the Elder who succeeded King Alfred to the Anglo-Saxon throne. Her father was a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini, which is thought to be an old Mercian tribal group. Her mother was Eadburh, a member of the Mercian royal family and her lineage was one of the primary reasons for Alfred taking Ealhswith as his wife. She founded the nunnery of Nunnaminster.

Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), until this page is written up in full.

The miracles

Limited information available on this saint.

Why that counted as sanctity

Limited information available on this saint.

Connected on this site

  • Alfred the Great Saint Spouse
    “Ealhswith or Ealswitha (died 5 December 902) was the wife of King Alfred the Great.” — Wikipedia
Sources
  • Wikidata Q242670 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
  • English Wikipedia — Ealhswith (CC BY-SA)

Not yet written up in full: no Church source with an account of this person has been found yet. The name, dates and step come from Wikidata and are not yet checked against Church records.

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