Eanswith


Saint Eanswith, also spelled Eanswythe or Eanswide, was an Anglo Saxon princess, who is said to have founded Folkestone Priory, one of the first Christian monastic communities for women in Britain. In 2020, osteoarchaeologists were given the opportunity to examine the remains of a skeleton long thought to be the remains of St. Eanswythe. They concluded that the bones belonged to a young female. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the remains were from the mid-7th century, adding to the evidence that this may well be St. Eanswythe. The results of DNA and isotope analysis are pending. It can never be proven that the remains are St. Eanswythe but the evidence certainly indicates that this could be the case. If so, these are the earliest remains yet discovered of an English saint, and of a relative of the British monarch.

Life

Tradition has it that Eanswith founded the Benedictine Folkestone Priory, the first nunnery in England. She was supported in this by her father, Eadbald, who ruled as king of Kent from 616 to 640 CE.
While the monastery was under construction, a pagan prince came to Kent seeking to marry Eanswythe. King Eadbald, whose sister St. Ethelburga had married the pagan King Edwin two or three years before, recalled that this wedding resulted in Edwin's conversion. Eanswythe, however, refused.
This was the first women's monastery to be founded in England. St. Eanswythe lived there with her companions in the monastic life, and they may have been guided by some of the Roman monks who had come to England with St. Augustine in 597.

Veneration

She remained at the abbey until her death.
The first monastic site became abandoned by the 10th century, and began to be eroded by the sea, a problem which also afflicted a new foundation of 1095. A site further inland was provided for a new foundation of Folkestone Priory by William de Abrincis in 1137, with a church dedicated to St Mary and St Eanswythe. Saint Eanswith's day falls on September 12. Traditionally, this is the date on which her remains were translated to the new church in 1138. The priory was closed at the Reformation, and the Church became Folkestone Parish Church. During restoration work at the church in 1885 human remains were discovered in a lead reliquary, embedded within the church wall, which were identified as a 12th-century vessel, and the bones of a young woman. This led to the conclusion that they could be the translated relics of Saint Eanswith, hidden away at the Reformation. A new expert analysis by historians and archaeologists concluded in March 2020 that the remains are almost certainly that of Eanswith.

Iconography

Eanswith is sometimes portrayed with a fish, along with her abbess's staff, crown and a book. This appears to be a recent attribute, from Folkestone's fishing port connection.

Documentary sources

In 2017 a collaboration began between Kent historians and archaeologists from Canterbury Christ Church University and Folkestone Museum. Church legislation was required for the removal and examination of the human remains that had been uncovered in 1885. Osteologists tested teeth and bones and determined that they had come from one person, probably a woman, aged between 17 and 21, with no signs of malnutrition, all consistent with the history of Eanswith. They sent samples to scientists at Queen's University Belfast who radiocarbon dated them to the seventh century. The project, named Finding Eanswyth, received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Church Dedications

As well as the former Priory church at Folkestone, Eanswith has the following church dedications:-