Abbess Christina ROMSEY

   Other names for Christina were ROMSEY Abbess, ENGLAND Princess, "Atheling" and Nun.

   Ancestral File Number: GS4H-G1.

   General Notes:

!"Atheling", Princess of ENGLAND, Nun or Abbess of ROMSEY.

BOOKS
Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute, 1990: "Christina Daughter of Edward The Exile and Agatha Nun at Romsey."

The Political History of England, Vol II, George Burton Adams Longmans Green and Co, 1905, Ch I, p32:
"The present expedition went no further north, but its influence extended further. Ethelwin, the Bishop of Durham, came in and made his submission. He bore inquires also from Malcolm, the king of Scots, who had been listening to the appeals for aid from the enemies of William, and preparing himself to advance to their assistance. The Bishop of Durham was sent back to let him know whatassurances would be acceptable to William, and he undoubtedly also informed him of the actual state of affairs south of his borders, of the progress which the invader had made, and of the hopelessness of resistance. The Normans at any rate believed that as a result of the bishop's mission Malcolm was gald to send down an embassy of his own which tendered to William an oath of obedience. It is not likely that William attached much weight to any profession of the Scottish king's. Already, probably as soon as the failure of this northern undertaking was apparent, some of the most prominent of the English, who seem to have taken part in it, had abandoned England and gone to the Scottish court. It is very possible that Edgar and his two sisters, Margaret and Christina, sought the protection of Malcolm at this time..."
p120: "The question most easily settled was that of Henry's marriage. Accord- ing to the historians of his reign, affection led Henry to a marriage which was certainly most directly in line with the policy which he was carrying out. Soon after his coronation, he proposed to marry Edith, daughter of Malcolm, king of Scotland, and of Margaret, sister of the atheling Edgar. She had spent almost the whole of her life in English monasteries, a good part of it at Romsey, where her aunt Christina was abbess. Immediately the question was raised, whether she had not herself taken the veil, which she was known to have worn, and therefore whether the marriage was possible. This was the question now referred to Anselm, and he made a most careful examination of the case, and decision was finally pronounced in a council of the English Church. The testimony of the young woman herselfwas admitted and was conclusive against any binding vow. She had been forced by her aunt to wear the veil against her will as a means of protection in those turbulent times, but she had always rejected it with indignation when she had been able to do so, nor had it been her father's intention that she should be a nun. Independent testimony confirmed her assertion..."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.13 GS4H-G1.