6 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

New Study reveals how England’s ‘White Queen’ worshipped a disembowelled saint at the Chapel of St Erasmus

A new study reveals the story of how England’s “White Queen”, Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, once worshipped at the chapel of St. Erasmus.

Erasmus of Formia, also known as Saint Elmo, was a bishop who lived in the 3rd century CE and fell afoul of Western Roman Emperor Maximian. He was reportedly variously tortured, imprisoned, burned alive (which, according to the legends, he survived), imprisoned, and ultimately killed by having his entrails wound slowly around a windlass.

In addition to being one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers—saintly figures revered specifically as intercessors in Christian tradition—he is also known as the patron saint of sailors, children’s health, and abdominal pain.

And new research suggests, a sacred space dedicated to the royal cult of Saint Erasmus of Formia.

The Chapel of St Erasmus was built at a section of Westminster Abbey in the late 1470s under order of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV and Queen consort, also known as the ‘White Queen’.

Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV and Queen consort, is now also known as the 'White Queen'. She was the grandmother of Henry VIII
Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV and Queen consort, is now also known as the ‘White Queen’. She was the grandmother of Henry VIII

Little was known about the chapel until recently; all that was left of it after it was destroyed in 1502 was an intricate stone frame. The chapel, which was at the east end of the Abbey church, can now be reconstructed thanks to a thorough study.

The chapel likely contained gruesome images of the saint’s death, as well as one of his teeth, among other relics that were stored there.

According to Abbey archivist Matthew Payne, and John Goodall, a member of the Westminster Abbey Fabric Advisory Commission, it may have been a site of worship used by England’s ‘White Queen’ Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV.

According to Goodall and study co-author Westminster Abbey archivist Matthew Payne, the Chapel of St Erasmus was a place of devotion to the ‘cult’ of the disembowelled saint, but also a royal burial site.

Commenting on the prominence of the chapel, Matthew Payne, said: “The White Queen wished to worship there and it appears, also, to be buried there as the grant declares prayers should be sung ‘around the tomb of our consort (Elizabeth Woodville).

The spectacular reredos frame. (Payne & Goodall, J. Br. Archeol. Assoc., 2022)
The spectacular reredos frame. (Payne & Goodall, J. Br. Archeol. Assoc., 2022)

“The construction, purpose and fate of the St Erasmus chapel therefore deserves more recognition.”

Although its precise location is unknown, the chapel was almost certainly built on space formerly allotted to a garden and near stalls where English merchant William Caxton sold his wares, according to the authors.

Henry VII ultimately gave the order to demolish the chapel so that his and his wife’s chantry and burial place could be built. The authors speculate that a statue of St. Erasmus in the Lady Chapel, which took its place, maybe a nod to the now-forgotten chapel.

Despite her connections to Westminster, the White Queen was buried with her husband, King Edward IV, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, after her death in 1492.

The presented evidence, the researchers say, suggests that further investigation into this lost piece of English history is warranted.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00681288.2022.2101237

Cover Photo: A reconstruction of the chapel. (Stephen Conlin/Payne & Goodall, J. Br. Archeol. Assoc., 2022)

Related Articles

Washi papers discovered inside a 675-year-old Buddhist statue in Japan

3 February 2024

3 February 2024

The carved head of an ancient Buddhist statue hidden in the Myooin temple in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan, has revealed pages...

Earliest Multiplication Formulas Discovered in a 2,300-Year-Old Chinese Tomb

27 December 2023

27 December 2023

Archaeologists excavating a tomb in the Qinjiazui archaeological site of Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, China, have found the earliest multiplication...

Ancient Mesopotamians bred horse-like hybrids

17 January 2022

17 January 2022

New research finds that Mesopotamians were utilizing hybrids of domesticated donkeys and wild asses to drive their war wagons 4,300...

The 5,000-Year-Old Beaded Burials that Reveal Women’s Power in Copper Age Iberia: Over 270,000 Beads

6 February 2025

6 February 2025

Archaeologists investigating the Montelirio tholos burial site in southwestern Spain, dating back approximately 5,000 years, have uncovered that the women...

Excavations show the Temple of Poseidon at Samikon is more Monumental than Previously Assumed -New Discoveries

3 November 2024

3 November 2024

New excavations by archaeologists from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Greek Ministry of Culture in Kleidi-Samikon in the...

Archaeologists Uncover Elegant Rare Blue Frescoes of an Ancient Sanctuary in Pompeii

10 June 2024

10 June 2024

Archaeologists digging away at ash covering the ancient city of Pompeii have uncovered a room with walls frescoed in an...

Ancient Latin texts written on papyrus reveal new information about the Roman world

11 January 2023

11 January 2023

Researchers funded by the European Union have deciphered ancient Latin texts written on papyrus. This work could reveal a lot...

46 Eagles in vivid color revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

15 May 2022

15 May 2022

A joint German/Egyptian archaeological mission at the Temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile, 35 miles south...

A 3800-year-old cylinder seal was discovered at Turkey’s Tepebag Mound excavations

8 July 2022

8 July 2022

In the 2022 excavations of Tepebag Mound, located around Taşköprü, the center of Adana province in Turkey’s Mediterranean Region, a...

Archaeologists discovered 7,000-years-old Neolithic Settlement in the Czech Republic

31 July 2024

31 July 2024

Archaeologists have discovered a Neolithic settlement of about 7,000 years old near Kutná Hora, east of Prague in the Czech...

A Mysterious 1,800-year-old Roman Statue Unearthed During Car Park Construction Work in UK

13 March 2024

13 March 2024

A 1,800-year-old Roman marble statue of a woman’s head was discovered during construction in the parking lot of Burghley House...

Synchrotron Technique Reveals Mysterious Portrait Underneath Renaissance Painting

16 April 2023

16 April 2023

Conservators and curators from the Art Gallery of New South Wales used the Australian Synchrotron’s advanced imaging technique to learn...

Oil drilling uncovers a 2,000-year-old cemetery with giant Urn-like tombs in Southwest Iran

16 July 2022

16 July 2022

An ancient cemetery with urn-like tombs was discovered in Ahvaz, the capital city of Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran. The...

New Moai statue discovered on Easter Island

1 March 2023

1 March 2023

A new Moai statue has been discovered on Rapa Nui, a Chilean territory known as Easter Island. The sacred monument,...

A 1,300-year-old necklace is the ‘richest of its type ever uncovered in Britain’

6 December 2022

6 December 2022

Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) archaeologists have found a “once-in-a-lifetime” 1,300-year-old gold and gemstone necklace dating back to 630-670 AD...