Editing Eanflæd (section)

==Birth, baptism, exile==

Eanflæd's mother had grown up as a Christian, but her father was an [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|Anglo-Saxon pagan]] and he remained uncommitted to the new religion when she was born on the evening before [[Easter]] in 626 at a royal residence by the [[River Derwent, Yorkshire|River Derwent]]. [[Bede]] recounts that earlier on the day that Eanflæd was born, an assassin sent by [[Cwichelm of Wessex]] made an attempt on Edwin's life. Afterward, Edwin, prompted by Æthelburg's bishop, [[Paulinus of York|Paulinus]], agreed to Eanflæd's baptism and promised to become a Christian if he was granted a victory over Cwichhelm. Eanflæd was baptised, Bede says, on the feast of [[Pentecost]] (8 June 626) with eleven others of the royal household.<ref>Thacker; Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book II, Chapter 9. Thacker notes that according to a [[Wales|Welsh]] tradition recorded in the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'', chapter 64:<blockquote>Eanfeld, his daughter, received baptism, on the twelfth day after Pentecost, with all her followers, both men and women. ... If any one wishes to know who baptized them, it was Rhun son of Urien.</blockquote> Higham,  ''Northumbria'', p. 81, suggests [[Sancton]] as the location of the royal residence in question.</ref>

Edwin campaigned successfully against Cwichelm and adopted the new faith in 627.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book II, Chapter 13.</ref> His reign ended in 633 with his defeat and death at the [[battle of Hatfield Chase]]. Fleeing the unsettled times which followed Edwin's death, Æthelburg, together with Bishop Paulinus, returned to Kent, where Eanflæd grew up under the protection of her uncle, King [[Eadbald of Kent]].<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book II, Chapter 20. Bede states that Æthelburg did not trust her brother, or Edwin's sainted successor [[Oswald of Northumbria|Oswald]], with the lives of Edwin's male descendants whom she sent to the court of King [[Dagobert I]] in [[Francia]].</ref>