| Notes |
- From LifeSketch
Eadmond of Wessex "Ironside" m (Malmesbury, Wiltshire [Jun/Aug] 1015) as her second husband, ÆLDGYTH, widow of SIGEFERTH, daughter of --- . The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that "prince Edmund…abducted [Siferth's widow] against the king's will and made her his wife" but does not name her[1888]. Simeon of Durham records that Edmund married "Algitha widow of Sigeferth" in 1015[1889]. According to Ronay, she was the daughter of Olof "Skotkonung" King of Sweden and his concubine Edla of Vindland, but the author cites no primary source to support this suggestion[1890]. If the assertion is correct, it is surprising that Ældgyth is not mentioned with the Swedish king's other children in the Saga of Olaf Haraldson[1891]. In addition, there would be no explanation for Ældgyth's first marriage to an obscure Northumbrian nobleman, especially as King Olof's two known daughters made high-profile marriages with the Grand Prince of Kiev and the king of Norway. Simeon of Durham records that, after Ældgyth's first husband was murdered on the orders of Eadric "Streona/the Acquisitor" Ealdorman of Mercia, Ældgyth was arrested and brought to Malmesbury on the orders of King Æthelred II who had confiscated her husband's properties in the north of England[1892]. She was abducted and married, against the king's wishes, by her second husband who proceeded to take possession of her first husband's properties. No mention has been found of Queen Ældgyth after the death of her second husband.
King Edmund "Ironside" & his wife had two children:
Ealdgyth
Ældgyth of England Morcarsdottir
Algitha widow of Sigeferth
Queen consort of England
Tenure 23 April 1016 – 30 November 1016
Born c. 992
Died After 1016
Spouse(s) Sigeferth
Edmund, King of England
Issue Edward the Exile
Edmund Ætheling
Ealdgyth (floruit 1015–1016)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ealdgyth (circa 992 – after 1016), modern English Edith
may have been the name of the wife of Sigeferth son of
Earngrim, thegn of the Seven Burghs, and later of King
Edmund Ironside. She was probably the mother of Edmund's
sons Edward the Exile and Edmund Ætheling.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Sigeferth and his
brother Morcar, described as "foremost thegns of the Seven
Burghs" were killed at an assembly of the English nobility at
Oxford. Ealdorman Eadric Streona is said to have killed
them "dishonourably" after having invited them to his rooms.
The Seven Burghs, otherwise unknown, are presumed to
have been the Five Burghs and Torksey and York. Following
the killings, King Æthelred the Unready had the property of
Sigeferth and Morcar seized and ordered that Sigeferth's widow, whose name the Chronicle does not record,
should be detained at Malmesbury Abbey. The chronicle of John of Worcester calls her Ealdgyth.[1]
In the late summer of 1015, at some time between 15 August and 8 September, Edmund Ironside raised a revolt
against his father King Æthelred. Either then, or perhaps even earlier, he removed Sigeferth's widow from
Malmesbury, against his father's wishes, and married her. Sigeferth and Morcar's friends and allies supported
Edmund after this.[2] While two charters issued by Edmund which mention his wife survive from about this
time, neither of them contain her name in the surviving texts.[3]
It is generally, but not universally, supposed that Ealdgyth, if that was her name, was the mother of Edmund
Ironside's sons.[4] These were Edmund, who died young in exile, and Edward the Exile, who returned to
England late in the reign of his uncle King Edward the Confessor and died soon afterwards. Whether she went
into exile with her children following Edmund's death in 1016 is unknown.
One reason advanced for supposing that John of Worcester may have been mistaken in naming this woman
Ealdgyth is that Sigeferth's brother Morcar had also been married to a woman named Ealdgyth.[5] This
Ealdgyth was the daughter of Ælfthryth, and niece of Ælfhelm, Ealdorman of York and Wulfric Spot. While
Ealdgyth is a common female name in the period, this coincidence has raised the suspicion that the Worcester
chronicler has confused Sigeferth's widow with his sister-in-law.[6]
Notes
1. Stafford, Unification and Conquest, pp. 67–68; Swanton, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, pp. 145–146, Ms. E, s.a. 1015, & p.
146, note 3; Williams, Æthelred, pp. 132–134 & p. 132, note 6.
2. Swanton, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, p. 146, Ms. E, s.a. 1015; Higham,D eath of Anglo-Saxon England, p. 62; Williams,
Æthelred, p. 134.
3. These are charters S 947 (http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=947 a)nd S 948 (http://www.a
nglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=948; )Williams, Æthelred, p. 134 & note 13.
4. For dissent from the common view, see Howard, Ian (2003), Swein Forkbeard's Invasions and the Danish Conquest of
England, 991–1017, Woodbridge: Boydell, p. 69, ISBN 0-85115-928-1.
5. "Ealdgyth 1" (http://pase.ac.uk/jsp/DisplayPerson.jsp?personKey=15095. )Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
6. Williams, Æthelred, p. 132, note 6. Insley
References
Higham, Nick (1997), The Death of Anglo-Saxon England, Stroud: Sutton, ISBN 0-7509-2469-1
Insley, Charles (2000), "Politics, Conflict and Kinship in Early Eleventh-Century Mercia ("PDF), Midland History, XXV
Stafford, Pauline (1989), Unification and Conquest: A Political and Social History of England in thee Tnth and Eleventh
Centuries, London: Edward Arnold, ISBN 0-7131-6532-4
Stenton, Frank (1971), Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press,I SBN 0-19-280139-2
Swanton, Michael (1996), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, New York: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-92129-5
Williams, Ann (2003), Æthelred the Unready: the ill-counselled king, London: Hambledon & London,I SBN 1-85285-
382-4
External links
Anonymous 893 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England; see also Anonymous 1006, Ealdgyth 1
Preceded by
Sigrid the Haughty
Queen Consort of England
1016
Succeeded by
Emma of
Normandy
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ealdgyth_(floruit_1015–1016)&oldid=785668489"
Categories: English royal consorts Anglo-Saxon royal consorts Viking Age women
11th-century English people 11th-century women House of Wessex
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986 - 1024 (38 years)
