Exile

This chapter recounts Edward the Confessor's exile that was mostly spent in in Normandy for almost twenty-five years. It reviews the responses to proper exile that barely changed between the ninth century and Edward's day. It explains how an exile was expected to feel hardship and affliction and the bitterness of loss. The chapter looks at how Edward contemplated his state of deprivation and dwelled on the comforts he had lost. It also highlights Edward's acceptance that joy yields to sorrow as surely as night follows day. It describes Edward's belief that he would transcend earthly cares in wisdom in order to seek mercy and comfort from God and involve much searching for the soul.