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Death of Edith

"The holy man [Edward] disguished his sickness more than his strength warranted, and for three days he was able to produce a serene countenance. He sat at table clad in a festal robe, but had no stomach for the delicacies which were served. He showed a cheerful face to the bystanders, altough an unbearable weakness oppressed him. But after the banquet he sought the privacy of his inner bedchamber, and bore with patience a distress which grew severer day by day. The close ranks of his vassals surrounded him, and the queen herself was there, in her mourning foretelling future grief....sitting on the floor warming his feet in her lap."

Vita Ædwardi Regis

In this scene from the Bayeux Tapestry, Edith sits at the feet of Edward.

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