Royal Saints

'Finding Eanswythe was about bringing that forgotten history back to the surface.'
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"England's missing saint is found: Scientists reveal skeletal remains squirrelled into the wall of Kent church belong to St Eanswythe who died 1400 years ago " dm

"St Eanswythe was the only daughter of King Eadbald and his wife Emma, a Frankish princess. Born in around 614, it is believed that she was baptised and raised as a Christian. The princess committed her life to the service of God as a nun, and refused to marry."

She is believed to have founded the first nunnery in England in around AD 660 and made a saint soon after her death, supposedly in her late teens or early 20s.

Various legends are told about her, including that she chose not to marry and turned down a Northumbrian prince as suitor.

"Her grandfather King Ethelbert, who was married to Queen Bertha, was the first English king to convert to Christianity under St Augustine. Her parents were Eadbald, King of Kent and Emma, daughter of the King of the Franks."

Her bones were first discovered in 1885, hidden in the Church of St Mary in Folkestone, which sits near the original site of St Eanswythe's nunnery.

However it is only now that historians can say with near certainty that they belonged to St Eanswythe. Her remains might well have been destroyed during the Reformation had they not been hidden in the hole in the north wall of the church.

"The patron saint of Folkestone, Eanswythe is believed to have founded one of the earliest monastic communities in England, most likely around 630 on the Bayle, the overlooked historic centre of the town.

She is thought to have died in her late teens or early 20s, though currently the cause of her death is unknown.

Now, over 1,300 years after her death, Kent archaeologists and historians, working with Queen's University in Belfast, have confirmed the human remains kept at the Church of St Mary and St Eanswythe are those of the saint."

"The findings, which are a landmark in the histories of both England and of Christianity - Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican - have been hailed as bringing Folkestone's 'forgotten history back to the surface'

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8083387/Scientists-confirm-skeletal-remains-church-belong-St-Eanswythe.html