Westminster
Abbey has been the site of a monastery since the 8th century
but it was the Anglo-Saxon monarch Edward
the Confessor who rebuilt it into the Abbey that is the
basis of the structure today.
On
Edward's death in 1066 he became the first of a long line of
monarchs
to be buried there, a tradition that continued into the 19th
century when it was superceded by St George's Chapel at Windsor
Castle. The spouse of the ruling monarch, or royal consort,
was often buried in the Abbey alongside them.
Another
tradition which has continued up until the present day, began
with William
the Conqueror, who on Christmas Day 1066 became the first
monarch to be crowned at the Abbey.
Many famous
people have also been buried in the Abbey. In 1400 the poet
Geoffrey
Chaucer
was buried there since when that part of the Abbey is known
as Poet's Corner. The
following is a list of the royal consorts who are buried in
the Abbey.