What did Edward ‘confess’?
He's the Anglo-Saxon king that founded Westminster Abbey and was the country's last royal saint, but why is he known as Edward the Confessor?
Published: May 1, 2019 at 12:00 PM
This king of England is arguably best known for dying – as he did so in 1066 and precipitated a seriously bloody contest for the throne. It was also after his death that he picked up the sobriquet ‘Confessor’.
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The name was nothing to do with owning up to a mistake or admitting to a crime, but was a celebration of his deep piety. (It also helped him stand apart from another king, Edward the Martyr.)
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In 1161, the now-venerated Edward was canonised by Pope Alexander III – and a ‘confessor’ was a title given to a saint who had not been martyred. Simple as that.
This article was taken from issue 68 of BBC History Revealed magazine
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