Died August 31, c. 640; this is probably a memorial of the translation
of her relics; feast day at Saint Augustine, Canterbury, and Durham is
celebrated on August 31.
From her infancy Saint Eanswythe, the daughter of King Eadbald of Kent
and granddaughter of King Saint Ethelbert, found delight in prayer.
Rejecting the world and its foolish vanities, she refused all offers of
marriage, which she felt would interrupt her devotions and
contemplation. King Eadbald finally consented to allowing her to found a
monastery on the coast near
Folkestone, Kent, where she served as its abbess and died at an early
age. It seems likely that she was trained in France and that hers was
the first convent in England.
The monastery was destroyed by the Danes, but restored by King
Athelstan, then refounded in 1095 for the Black Benedictines. Part of it
was swallowed up by the sea, and so the community was moved to
Folkestone. Her relics were
translated to the church built by Eadbald in honour of Saint Peter, but
later known as Saints Mary and Eanswythe. In 1885, a Saxon coffer was
found in the north wall containing the bones of a young woman, which
were assumed to be those of Saint Eanswythe
(
Benedictines,
Farmer,
Husenbeth).
In art, Saint Eanswythe is portrayed as a crowned abbess with a book and
two fish. She is venerated at Folkestone
(
Roeder)
, where her image is
incorporated on the town's seals
(
Farmer).
Icon of our holy Mother St. Eanswitha, Royal Abbess of Folkestone
Larger size
Service for our Holy Mother Eanswythe, Abbess of Folkestone
