Saint Edward the Confessor
I’m finally able to work on the book again and happy to share a few tidbits on saints in our line through Lady Elizabeth Brooke.
They come to us through Henry I’s wife, Queen Matilda of Scotland. (I may have mentioned this connection before.)
Henry I married Edith (later “Matilda”) Aetheling, a Scottish princess on November 11, 1100 in Westminster Abbey. She was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland, a.k.a. Queen Margaret of Scotland, Margaret of Wessex.
Sister M. Juliana of Maryknoll, author of the book “Margaret” (Neuman Press) states that Saint Margaret “… had eight children and she brought in priests for her people, had churches built, and started schools and hospitals she brought up nine orphans with her own children and somehow she found time every morning to serve breakfast to twenty-four very poor people!”
Wikipedia states “Margaret attended to charitable works, and personally served orphans and the poor every day before she ate. She rose at midnight to attend church services every night. She was known for her work for religious reform. She was considered to be an exemplar of the ‘just ruler’, and also influenced her husband and children to be just and holy rulers.”
Years later another ancestor embraced a “family” saint.
In the 1230s Henry III attached himself to the Cult of Edward the Confessor; in 1245 he began rebuilding Westminster Abbey for his patron saint. Why? According to the book Four Gothic Kings – “The Plantagenets could claim descent from Edward’s family (through Henry I’s queen, Matilda, the niece of Edgar Aetheling); and Henry seems to have conceived a deep personal attachment to the only saint the family could call their own.”
To learn about Edward I, a.k.a. Edward the Confessor, please see my post on William the Bastard.
Who knows, there may be more saints in the branches of our tree. We shall see.
Sir Thomas Wyatt the Poet 
For the spiritually inclined … it’s interesting to note that Henry I and Matilda married 11/11/1100.
Why?
“11:11” is a spiritual phenomenon. It happens to some of us … we rarely look up at the clock, but when we do it’s 11:11 at night or in the morning. Or 11:11 might “wake us up” at night.
We think we’re alone in “the number” until we mention it to another friend who is spiritually connected. My closest friends are “11:11s”, totally in tune with it.
I found this cool youtube video …
A friend joked that we should marry this year on 11/11/11. (I would rather eat live grasshoppers, but I WILL do something special on that auspicious date:-)
My own explanation is that the numbers are a gentle reminder from the universe to “be awake” to spirit and spirits.
The fact that Henry and Matilda were married on 11/11/1100 … it just reinforces that Matilda’s genes may have granted us a “spiritual powerhouse” – a little extra magic.
Whenever I am reading a book and look at the page number, it is either page 100 or page 123. 🙂
🙂
Some people call it coincidence; and then again, some of us don’t BELIEVE in coincidences!
Then what do you believe in?
I believe that there are two types of people – those who fear death and those who don’t. The ones who don’t fear death have been here before and they will be back again. They are the old souls.
I believe that when our loved ones “pass” they are still “with us”, accessible through prayers and dreams. That true love never dies and we meet again in different roles.
I believe in inherited memory.
I’m not sure how involved our distant ancestors are in our lives, but when I learned that Saint Margaret died in or at Edinburgh Castle, the hair stood up on the back of my neck; that’s where I had my first spiritual epiphany. I was 15 years old.
Sometimes it takes years to understand why certain historical figures and places intrigue us; but when we put the pieces together, that’s MAGIC.
I was christened Catholic, raised Jehovah’s Witness, became an atheist for about 5 months – then started studying eastern philosophy to detox from the JW thing.
Buddhism works best for me … with a hint of druid and Native American. Buddhism for the compassion and emphasis on peace, Druid and Native American for the oneness with and respect for the natural and supernatural world.
I absolutely believe in a higher power and spirits (or angels). I’ve been in this place spiritually for about fifteen years.
I believe in Christ but not Christianity; too much of it is exclusionary, divisive and hateful. (Researching this book, I can see not much has changed over the centuries.)
I’m one of those uber irritating save the polar bears, stop the oil drilling, save the planet and all wildlife vegetarian types. My dogs are NOT vegetarians – but I buy them cruelty free poultry and meat when I can afford it. Oh yeah, I make their food because if the big corporations don’t care about poisoning us with the high fructose corn syrup and the rest, why WOULDN’T they put diseased and dying animals in packaged pet foods.
(Oops, little rant.)
And now, because of Saint Edward and Saint Margaret of Scotland, I’m developing an affinity for some of the Catholic saints.
Great site! I have just discovered it – and as a descendant of Rev. Haute Wyatt on my mothers side I am quite excited about your project.
I have done research on this line as well and have found some interesting connections – including Richard Pace who was in Jamestown prior to 1616 (some say as early as 1611) which makes him an “Ancient Planter.” This means our family may have just passed the 400 year mark in the country.
There are also connections to Isaac Allerton, a 1620 Mayflower passenger and signer of the Compact. This is quite a distinguished line, even in America.
One note – Edward the Confessor was not Edward I – aka Longshanks (of the much maligned ‘Braveheart’ fame.)
Yesterday was the Feast of St. Margaret, by the way.
I look forward to reading more of your research in the future.
Hi Shawn, thanks for writing.
What connection did you find to Richard Pace?
Also did I confuse Edward the Confessor with Edward I somewhere in this blog? I usually blog after hours of researching and I’m a little zonked at that point. I need to fix that pronto.
DANG, I missed the Feast of Saint Margaret. That won’t happen twice. Thanks so much!
Micki