The Resting Place of Emma of Normandy

The bones of Queen Emma of Normandy, the only woman to have been crowned Queen of England twice, lie in Winchester Cathedral. Emma resided in Winchester for much of her life, and the cathedral seems an apt location for her final resting place. I visited the cathedral to experience the majestic building for myself.

Emma of Normandy

My recently published book, Trailblazing Medieval Women, contains a chapter on Emma of Normandy, the eleventh-century English Queen.

The wife of Aethelred the Unready, who, as a widow, was sought after as a bride by the newly crowned Viking king, Cnut, Emma weilded considered politcal influence in her decades-long political career. While conducting research for my book, I found myself in Winchester, walking along some of the same streets and paths Emma herself may have once walked.

Winchester Cathedral

I wasn’t quite prepared for just how big and impressive Winchester Cathedral would be. In the centre of town, the cathedral dominates the landscape. Measuring 170m long, Winchester Cathedral is the longest cathedral in the world and one of the largest in Europe.

Staff at the cathedral have done a remarkable job in bringing history to life in these marvellous surroundings.

The Remains of Emma of Normandy

The cathedral Emma would have experienced, known now as Old Minster, was constructed in the seventh century and continued to serve the diocese until the cathedral we see today replaced it in the late eleventh century. She was laid to rest in Old Minster alongside her husband, Cnut. Their remains were brought into the new cathedral once construction was completed in 1093 and placed inside one of six mortuary chests above the nave.

These chests have adorned the cathedral since the late eleventh century, some containing Anglo-Saxon monarchs and royals, others containing the remains of bishops. These mortuary chests were disturbed, the bones within them scattered on the floor during the English Civil War by Parliamentary soldiers. The soldiers proceeded to use the bones to smash the stained-glass windows of the cathedral. After the restoration of the monarchy, the bones from the various mortuary chests were collected and returned to the chests, but there is some confusion about which bones ended up in the various chests. As one contemporary source noted, ‘kings were mixed with bishops and bishops with kings’.

Modern scientists have discovered that the six mortuary chests contain the skeletal remains of at least 23 individuals. Recent DNA analysis has confirmed that the bones of one individual within one of the chests do belong to a mature female, likely to be Emma of Normandy. A replica of Emma’s bones can be viewed in the cathedral.

DNA analysis conducted on additional remains has not been identified as belonging to any particular individual, as yet. Mysteriously, the remains of two adolescent boys remain unidentified. The facial reconstruction of one of these boys enables visitors to look into the eyes of a medieval boy.

If you’d like to learn more about Emma and her life, you can read all about her in my new book, Trailblazing Medieval Women. Available now.

Sources

Medieval Archives