Edward the Confessor


Note: The numbering of monarchs was re-initialised from William the Conqueror onwards, so Edward the Confessor was not Edward I.


House / Group: Saxon
Born / died: 1004-1066
Reign: 1042-1066



Son of Ethelred II and Emma of Normandy (who later also married Canute).
Edward moved to Normandy with his family to avoid the  Danish invasion. Following a failed attempt to return and claim the throne, he was later invited to return to England as co-ruler with his half-brother Hardicanute (son of Emma and Canute). On Hardicanute's death, Edward took the throne.
Edward married Edith of Wessex but regarded it as a spiritual marriage and  refused to consummate it for religious reasons. 
Edward  was buried at Westminster Abbey. After his death, when he was sanctified, there were two types of saints, martyrs and confessors. Martyrs were people who died in the service of God and confessors, those who died natural deaths. Since Edward died a natural death, he was titled Edward the Confessor.