She was a beautiful young girl who wanted to devote herself to the Church and took a vow to remain a virgin. When the "" Tondberht of the South Gyrwas. asked for her hand in marriage her parents said yes, but Aethelthryth refused. Though she was married she resolved to keep her solomn vow. Upon his death in 655, she retired to the Isle of Ely, which she had received from her husband as a gift.