Æthelthryth, or Æðelþryð, (c. 636-June 23, 679) is the proper name for the popular Anglo-Saxon saint often known, particularly in a religious context, as Etheldreda or by the pet form of Audrey (or variations). She was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland queen and Abbess of Ely in the English county of Cambridgeshire.
Æthelthryth was probably born at Exning, near Newmarket in Suffolk. She was one of four daughters of King Annas of East Anglia (kd...
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Æthelthryth, or Æðelþryð, (c. 636-June 23, 679) is the proper name for the popular Anglo-Saxon saint often known, particularly in a religious context, as Etheldreda or by the pet form of Audrey (or variations). She was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland queen and Abbess of Ely in the English county of Cambridgeshire.
Æthelthryth was probably born at Exning, near Newmarket in Suffolk. She was one of four daughters of King Annas of East Anglia (kd. 654), all of whom eventually retired from the world and founded abbeys.
Æthelthryth made an early first marriage (c. 652) to Tondberct, chief or prince of the South Gyrvians, or "fenmen" (gyr, Old English "fen") (d. 655). However, she managed to persuade her husband to respect her vow of perpetual virginity that she had made prior to their marriage. Upon his death in 655, Æthelthryth retired to the Isle of Ely, given to her as her "morning gift" by Tondberct.
Æthelthryth subsequently remarried in 660, this time to Ecgfrith, King of...
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