1,000 Years After Dark Age Queen Died, Archaeologists Make An Astounding Discovery
Archaeologists in Magdeburg, Germany, were about to open a stone tomb that has laid undisturbed for 500 years at the city’s cathedral. With any luck, they hoped that this monument would contain the remains of Edith of England, who had been the queen of Germany more than 1,000 years ago. But while there’s was a strong likelihood that this ancient grave would be empty, what the researchers find when they open the lead coffin left them completely astonished.
Queen Edith
We’ll find out what the archaeologists discovered in that ancient tomb in magnificent Magdeburg Cathedral shortly. But, first, let’s learn something about the Englishwoman who began her rule of Germany in 936. For starters, Edith is a modernizing of her name; in Old English, the moniker was the tongue-twisting Eadgyth.
Big Family
Edith was actually one of eight children that Edward and Ælfflæd had together. Notable among her siblings were Eadgifu, who went on to wed King of West Francia Charles the Simple, and Eadhild, who eventually married Duke of the Franks Hugh the Great. Edith’s parents sadly divorced when she was aged just nine or ten, however. And after that, she joined her mother, who is said to have been sent to a monastery – perhaps in the cities of Salisbury or Winchester.
Long Lineage
In all, then, the princess came from considerable pedigree. Indeed, her royal lineage was said to be the oldest in Europe, stretching back to one Cerdic of Wessex. Cerdic is said to have been among those who led the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England; Britain’s current monarch, Elizabeth II, can also apparently trace her line back to that same ancient ruler.
Expanding Kingdom
And Edith’s maternal grandfather, Alfred the Great, had ruled the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex from about 871 to 886. Alfred’s territory had once stretched across the south and west of England before the nation was unified – a process that the monarch had actually started himself by expanding the influence of the Wessex kingdom across the country.
