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Polesworth Abbey

Polesworth, GB

Polesworth Abbey

Polesworth Abbey was a Benedictine nunnery in Polesworth, North Warwickshire, England. The early history of Polesworth and the identity of Saint Editha are uncertain. An early tradition concerning saints' resting places associates a saint named Eadgyth with a place called Polleswyrth, near the River

Anker. The tradition has been translated as: “Then rests Saint Edith in the place which is called Polesworth, near the River Anker.” Modern scholarship has associated Saint Editha of Polesworth with the early Christian history of Mercia, possibly as early as the seventh century. Nigel Tringham has suggested that she may have been a seventh-century Mercian princess, although the precise identity of the saint remains uncertain. John Blair included Editha in his survey of Anglo-Saxon saints and discussed the early evidence for her cult at Polesworth. Medieval traditions associated with Polesworth describe a group of holy women, including Eadgyth and Osgyth, living religious lives in the area. These traditions were incorporated into the twelfth-century hagiographical Life and Miracles of Saint Modwenna, written by Geoffrey, Abbot of Burton. The work brings together traditions from different...

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