The Saints: St. Edward

c. 1005-1006 / Feast - Oct. 13

This king of England spent his young adult life in Normandy, and returned to England in 1041 to take the throne. He was said to have been generous to the poor, supportive of the clergy and an apt ruler, avoiding conflicts common to earlier monarchs.

He founded a monastery and built a grand Roman-style church in Westminster, but died without attending the dedication. Henry III destroyed most of the church in the 13th century to build Westminster Abbey, where Edward’s relics remain.