Also known as Eanswythe or Eanswith, she was the first female monastic in all of England, establishing a convent at Folkestone England in the 7th century. She was the daughter of Kind Eadbald of Kent and, like most daughters of kings, she was sought as a marriage partner. In fact, a pagan prince came to Kent to ask her father for her hand, but she, of course, refused. These saintly ladies wanted nothing to do with marriage, most of them.
Eanswida remained at her abbey her entire life, but her monastery was abandoned before the 10th century, as it had begun to be disintegrated by the action of the ocean waves. An attempt was made to rebuild it in 1095, but that also proved to be no match for the sea.
Folkestone Priory, a new foundation in this area, was established in 1137, and I believe it is still there. In fact, I seem to remember a Facebook acquaintance mentioning it, as she lived in that town, a lovely quaint English town. Of course, the priory went the way of the rest of the Catholic establishments in England and is now part of the Church of England, Folkestone Parish Church.
Recent osteoarcheology has found the bones of this young saint, who died in her early 20's, and studies are ongoing, which is rather exciting. I am including a link to an article in THE GUARDIAN about how her bones were found:
GUARDIAN ARTICLE OF THE DISCOVERY OF HER BONES
I am related to her, marginally, as I am to most of the obscure English saints that are descended from nobility. There was so much intermarriage, you know, that I am a cousin to myself 100 times over, as are many Americans whose ancestors arrived in this country from England in the 17th century.
Today is also a Marian Feast Day celebrating the Most Holy Name of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and there is a lot of information online about it.
Silver Rose
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