Lost bones of ‘Queen Emma’ who ruled England 1,000 years ago found hidden in Winchester Cathedral – where ‘she walked on hot iron to disprove affair with Bishop’
Queen Emma was forced to walk over burning metal by her own son
LOST bones belonging to an 11th-century English queen are believed to have been found in a chest in Winchester Cathedral.
Researchers investigating the landmark think Queen Emma's remains may have been mixed up with at least 22 other bodies when the cathedral was ransacked during the English Civil War in 1642.
Queen Emma is known for marrying two Kings of England, firstly Ethelred and then Cnut.
It has long been thought that Emma's remains were in Winchester Cathedral alongside King Cnut's but several ancient chests in the cathedral contained so many different bones that researchers weren't sure who they belonged to.
University of Bristol biological anthropologists recently used radiocarbon dating technology to analyse these remains and found that they belonged to at least 23 individuals, including two mysterious young boys thought to be of royal birth.
Inscriptions on the chests were found to bear no relation to the contents inside so it is likely that local people hastily put the remains back when they cleaned up the cathedral after the civil war.
Who was Queen Emma?
Here's what you need to know about the lesser known queen...
- Queen Emma was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and lived in the early medieval period from 985 to 1052
- She was married to two English kings, firstly King Ethelred The Unready and then to his successor King Cnut, who was also King of Denmark and Norway
- She personally owned lots of land in Wessex and the east of England, making her one of the richest people in the country
- Emma's connection to both the French and English royal families was key to William the Conquer believing that the English throne was his and him coming over to take it in 1066
- An ancient legend states that Emma was accussed by her jealous son Edward the Confessor of adultery with the Bishop of Winchester and to prove her innocence she had to walk over burning iron and fire inside the cathedral
- She was apparently not harmed by this incident
- Although there are not many depictions of her, Emma is said to be the first of the medieval queens to have contemporary portraits made
The discovery of the teenage boys in the chests was completely unexpected and their identity is not yet known.
More than 1,300 bones were reassembled and analysed during the study, which started in 2012.
This led researchers to believe that the mature female remains they found must belong to Queen Emma.
Emma is said to have been one of the most powerful queens in British history and she gave birth to two kings: Edward the Confessor and King Harthacnut.
She married the famous King Cnut when her first husband died.
Cnut, also known as Cnut the Great, is famed for trying to show his advisers that kings are not all powerful by asking them to carry him to the beach and then watch him fail as he commanded the tide to stay out.
Emma has her own legend as her son Edward apparently forced her to walk over red hot iron to prove she wasn't having an affair with the Bishop of Winchester.
More DNA analysis is going to be carried out to see if the royal identity can be confirmed.
Replica versions of Emma's bones are going on display as part of the Kings and Scribes: The Birth of a Nation exhibition at Winchester Cathedral, which opens later this month.
A number of historical rulers have been found in the UK in recent years.
King Richard III was famously discovered beneath a supermarket car park in Leicester and, just last week, treasures from an Anglo-Saxon royal burial site, dubbed the UK's Tutankhamun, went on display at the Museum of London Archaeology, having been found near a pub in 2003.
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Did you know Queen Emma existed? Let us know in the comments...
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