Ælfflæd (wife of Edward the Elder)
| Ælfflæd | |
|---|---|
| Tenure | c. 899 – c. 919 |
| Spouse | Edward the Elder |
| Issue |
|
| Father | Æthelhelm |
Ælfflæd (fl. early 10th century) was the second wife of the English king Edward the Elder.
Biography
Ælfflæd was the daughter of an
Ælfgifu, who were third cousins once removed. Other historians point out that in a grant from King Alfred
to Ealdorman Æthelhelm there is no reference to kinship between them. If indeed Æthelhelm had been the son of Alfred's brother, then he would have been identified as the king's nephew in the charter.
Edward's first marriage to King
St Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral was opened, and among the objects found were a stole and maniple which had inscriptions showing that they had been commissioned by Ælfflæd for bishop Frithestan of Winchester. However, they had been donated by Æthelstan to Cuthbert's tomb, probably in 934.[5]
Ælfflæd had two sons,
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.[6] In around 967 Hrotsvitha, a nun of Gandersheim, wrote a eulogy of the deeds of Otto I in which she contrasted the nobility of Eadgyth's mother with the inferior descent of Ecgwynn, although she did not imply that Edward had not married Ecgwynn.[7]
Edmund I, the future king who was a son of Edward's third wife, Eadgifu, was born in 920 or 921, so Ælfflæd's marriage must have ended in the late 910s. According to William of Malmesbury, Edward put aside Ælfflæd in order to marry Eadgifu, a claim which Sean Miller viewed sceptically,[8] but it is accepted by other historians.[9] She adopted a religious life, but outside a regular monastic house as she retained possession of her estates, and was buried at Wilton Abbey with her daughters, Eadflæd and Æthelhild.[10]
Children
Her children were:[11]
- Ælfweard (perhaps briefly king of Wessex in 924)
- Edwin(d. 933)
- Eadgifu, wife of Charles the Simple, king of West Francia
- Eadhild, wife of Hugh the Great, duke of the Franks
- Emperor Otto I
- Ælfgifu, wife of Louis, brother of Rudolf of Burgundy?
- Eadflæd, nun at Wilton
- Æthelhild, vowess (religious woman) at Wilton
References
- ^ Stafford, pp. 324–325
- ^ Kelley, pp. 63–93
- ^ Yorke, pp. 33–34; Foot, 2011, p. 37 n. 25
- ^ Foot, 2011, pp. 11, 37 n. 26; Miller, 2011
- ^ Foot, 2011, pp. 121–123
- ^ Foot, 2011 pp. xv, 38, 41, 44
- ^ Foot, 2011, p. 30
- ^ Miller, Edward the Elder
- ^ Williams, Ælfflæd; Sharp, p. 82; Foot, 2010, p. 243
- ^ Foot, 2000, p. 141 and n. 151
- ^ Foot, 2011 p. xv
Sources
- Foot, Sarah (2010). "Dynastic Strategies: The West Saxon Royal Family in Europe". In Rollason, David; Leyser, Conrad; Williams, Hannah (eds.). England and the Continent in the Tenth Century:Studies in Honour of Wilhelm Levison (1876-1947). Brepols. ISBN 9782503532080.
- ISBN 978-0-7546-0043-5.
- ISBN 978-0-300-12535-1.
- Kelley, David H. (1989). "The House of Aethelred". In Brook, L.L. (ed.). Studies in Genealogy and Family History. Tribute to Charles Evans on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy.
- Miller, Sean (2004). "Edward [called Edward the Elder] (870s?–924), king of the Anglo-Saxons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. required)
- ISBN 0-631-16679-3.
- ISBN 1-85264-047-2.
- ISBN 0-415-21497-1.