Thanks for an interesting (and necessarily short, given how little information we have) article about St Eanswythe. I love your newsletters, and I look forward to reading them.
Three questions regarding Eanswythe:
I'm not sure she was the first Abbess. I had thought that at that time, there was only one word for a person who ran a monastery, which would be Abbott. Similarly, while the foundation she founded seems to have been all-female, I think they were called monasteries (or whatever the old English word was); ie there was very limited gender discrimination. This system still exists in various Eastern Orthodox churches. Is this your understanding?
The last I heard (before lockdown, so things might well have moved on), the bones found in St Mary and Eanswythe were dated as you say in your article, but they could not definitely be identified as female. Given the legend, it would seem very likely that they ARE female but I didn't think it had been proven.
Eanswythe and many other female medieval English saints seem to associated with geese. There must be a connection. I'd love to know what the reason is. If you know, perhaps this could be the subject of one of your future newsletters.
Thanks for an interesting (and necessarily short, given how little information we have) article about St Eanswythe. I love your newsletters, and I look forward to reading them.
Three questions regarding Eanswythe:
I'm not sure she was the first Abbess. I had thought that at that time, there was only one word for a person who ran a monastery, which would be Abbott. Similarly, while the foundation she founded seems to have been all-female, I think they were called monasteries (or whatever the old English word was); ie there was very limited gender discrimination. This system still exists in various Eastern Orthodox churches. Is this your understanding?
The last I heard (before lockdown, so things might well have moved on), the bones found in St Mary and Eanswythe were dated as you say in your article, but they could not definitely be identified as female. Given the legend, it would seem very likely that they ARE female but I didn't think it had been proven.
Eanswythe and many other female medieval English saints seem to associated with geese. There must be a connection. I'd love to know what the reason is. If you know, perhaps this could be the subject of one of your future newsletters.