ABSTRACT
On 15 July 1273, St Edith's Day, the wife of Nicholas, baron of Stafford, gave birth to a son in their home at Madeley in Staffordshire. 1 Her joyful husband wrote at once to ask Roger de Pywelisdon, who lived at a distance, to come to Madeley to be the boy's godfather and lift him from the font. Next day he sent his servants to announce the birth to another friend, Hugh de Wrottesle of Wootton. The news reached Stafford town, and the prior of St Thomas's subsequently recalled that many rejoiced to hear it. Later the happy father rode in person to others of his knightly neighbours to tell them of his good fortune. The baby was taken to Madeley church to be baptized within a few days of its birth, in case it should die before it was christened, and it was given the name of Edmund. In accordance with the medieval rite of baptism, salt was put into its mouth, its ears and nostrils were wetted with saliva, oil was smeared on its breast and back, and it was totally immersed in the font three times: once on the right side, once on the left and once face downwards. We do not know who lifted the baby from the font, but 2it was not Roger de Pywelisdon, for although he made all haste to reach the church, the christening was over before he arrived. Edmund's father died when he was 14, and the boy became a ward of the Crown. When he was 21 and eligible to take over control of his father's lands, he had to prove his age before the escheator of Staffordshire. He called the surviving witnesses to testify to the date that he was born, and they did so. It is from their testimony that we learn of the time and circumstances in which the birth took place.
