Editing Westminster Abbey (section)

===Edward the Confessor's abbey===
Between 1042 and 1052, [[Edward the Confessor]] began rebuilding Saint Peter's Abbey to provide himself with a royal burial church. It was built in the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] style and was the first church in England built on a [[cruciform]] floorplan.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2013|p=6}} The master [[Stonemasonry|stonemason]] for the project was Leofsi Duddason,{{sfn|Corrigan|2018|p=148}} with Godwin and Wendelburh Gretsyd (meaning "fat purse") as patrons, and Teinfrith as "churchwright", probably meaning someone who worked on the carpentry and roofing.{{sfn|Corrigan|2018|p=159}} Endowments from Edward supported a community that increased from a dozen monks during [[Dunstan]]'s time, to as many as 80.{{sfn|Harvey|1993|p=2}} The building was completed around 1060 and was [[Consecration|consecrated]] on 28{{Nbsp}}December 1065, about a week before Edward's death on 5{{Nbsp}}January 1066.{{sfn|Fernie|2009|pp=139–143}} A week later, he was buried in the church; nine years later, his wife [[Edith of Wessex|Edith]] was buried alongside him.{{sfn|Stafford|2009|p=137}} His successor, [[Harold Godwinson]], was probably crowned here, although the first documented coronation is that of [[William the Conqueror]] later that year.{{sfn|Carr|1999|p=2}}

The only extant depiction of Edward's abbey is in the [[Bayeux Tapestry]]. The foundations still survive under the present church, and above ground, some of the lower parts of the monastic dormitory survive in the [[undercroft]], including a door said to come from the previous [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] abbey. It was a little smaller than the current church, with a central tower.{{sfn|Trowles|2008|pp=7–8}}

In 1103, thirty-seven years after his death, Edward's tomb was re-opened by Abbot [[Gilbert Crispin]] and [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], who discovered that his body was still in perfect condition. This was considered proof of his saintliness, and he was canonised in 1161. Two years later he was moved to a new shrine, during which time his ring was removed and placed in the abbey's collection.{{sfn|Wilkinson|Knighton|2010|p=11}}

The abbey became more closely associated with royalty from the second half of the 12th century, as kings increasingly used the nearby [[Palace of Westminster]] as the seat of their governments.{{sfn|Harvey|1993|p=6}} In 1222, the abbey was officially granted exemption from the [[Bishop of London]]'s jurisdiction, making it answerable only to the head of the Church itself. By this time, the abbey owned a large swath of land around it, from modern-day [[Oxford Street]] to the Thames, plus entire parishes in the [[City of London]], such as [[St Alban, Wood Street]] and [[St Magnus the Martyr]], as well as several wharfs.{{sfn|Binski|Clark|p=51|2019}}

Outside London, the abbey owned estates across southeast England, including in [[Middlesex]], [[Hertfordshire]], [[Essex]], [[Oxfordshire]] and [[Gloucestershire]].{{sfn|Clark|Binski|p=92|2019}} The abbot was also the [[lord of the manor]] in Westminster, as a town of two to three thousand people grew around the abbey.{{sfn|Harvey|1993|p=5}} As a consumer and employer on a grand scale, the abbey helped fuel the town's economy, and relations with the town remained unusually cordial, but no enfranchising charter was issued during the [[Middle Ages]].{{sfn|Harvey|1993|pp=5–6}}

{{Multiple image
| image1            = BayeuxTapestryScene26.jpg
| caption1          = Westminster Abbey at the time of [[Edward the Confessor]]'s funeral, as depicted in the [[Bayeux Tapestry]], 11th century
| align             = center
| image2            = Chamber of the Pyx.jpg
| caption2          = The Chamber of the [[Trial of the Pyx|Pyx]], one of the few remaining 11th-century sections of the church
| alt1              = A medieval tapestry of a group of people carrying Edward the Confessor's coffin towards Westminster Abbey.
| alt2              = The Chamber of the Pyx, a stone room with a vaulted ceiling and an altar.
| total_width       = 600
}}