Edith (c. 1025–1075)
Edith (c. 1025–1075)
Queen of the English. Name variations: Ealdgyth; Eadgyth; Edgyth. Born around 1025; died on December 18, 1075, in Winchester, Hampshire, England; interred at Westminster Abbey; daughter of Godwin or Godwine (d. 1053), earl of Wessex, and Gytha ; sister of Harald or Harold II Godwineson (c. 1022–1066), king of the English (r. 1066); married Edward III the Confessor (c. 1002–1066), king of the English (r. 1042–1066), on January 23, 1045; children: none.
Edith was the daughter of Gytha and Godwine, earl of Essex. She married Edward III the Confessor, king of the English, in 1045, receiving Winchester and Exeter as her morning gift. Edith is said to have planned the murder of Gospatric, one of the king's thegns, in 1064, at the instigation of her brother Tostig, earl of Northumberland. She founded a church at Wilton, which was consecrated in 1065, and on the death of her husband retired to Winchester.