#ælfthryth

[wonder-worker]

There is little doubt that Ælfthryth was a remarkably powerful woman in her own right and, to a certain degree, unprecedented as such. However, that very agency may have laid behind the extraordinary reputational damage to which she was later subjected. [...] Unquestionably, Ælfthryth has been the most stigmatised woman of pre-Norman history in English historiography up until the modern era. [...] As Paul Hayward argues, Ælfthryth's characterisation in the hagiographies and histories of the twelfth century that so vilify her ‘appears to be a misogynist reading arising out of a monastic propensity for attributing evil deeds to uncooperative and usurping queens’. [...] She exemplifies how vulnerable and malleable the legacies of individual queens and the office of queenship were as they were transmitted across time and place.

There is, similarly, a sexual aspect to Ælfthryth’s reputational damage. It is possible that this was her share of any censure directed towards her marriage to Edgar or that her own legacy developed to mirror that of her husband. More likely, though, is that the monastic writers of twelfth-century England recognised that female sexuality was vulnerable, especially for a woman who had twice married prominent public figures. This represented a simple and effective avenue to attacking the reputation of a queen who had opposed St Dunstan, tenth-century England’s most prominent religious figure.

— Matthew Firth, Early English Queens, 850-1000: Potestas Reginae

[bforbetterthanyou]

Queen consorts of England and Britain | [7/50] | Ælfthryth

Ælfthryth was Queen consort of England from 964 or 965 until 975 as either the first, second, or third wife of Edgar. Edgar had two relationships before Ælfthryth that both resulted in children but it’s not known if those relationships were actual marriages or not. Ælfthryth was born around 945 as the daughter of an ealdorman named Ordgar; her mother was a member of the royal family of Wessex. She was first married to Æthelwald Ealdorman of East Anglia. The story goes that Edgar, having heard of Ælfthryth’s great beauty, sent Æthelwald to see if the stories were true. If they were, Æthelwald was supposed to offer marriage to Ælfthryth on Edgar’s behalf. When Æthelwald met Ælfthryth and it turned out she was as beautiful as all the stories said, he married her himself. When Edgar found out about this, he told Æthelwald he wanted to meet Ælfthryth. In anticipation of this meeting, Æthelwald told Ælfthryth to make herself as unattractive as possible but she did the opposite. When Edgar met Ælfthryth, he became angry with Æthelwald for his betrayal and deceit. Edgar led Æthelwald out into the woods under the guise of a hunting trip and murdered him. It’s not known if this story is actually true or just a piece of fiction. But nonetheless, after Æthelwald’s death (whether it was actually by Edgar’s hand or not), Edgar took Ælfthryth as his wife. The two were married in either 964 or 965. Ælfthryth gave birth to two sons: Edmund, who died during childhood and Æthelred, who would become King of England, known as Æthelred the Unready. On 11 May 973, Edgar decided to have a second coronation for himself and crowned Ælfthryth as well, making her the first Queen consort of England to have a coronation. During her time as consort, she acted as the overseer of Berking Abbey, at one point deposing and then reinstating the abess. She also acted as a mediator in at least seven legal cases, setting a precedent for women’s involvement in politics and the legal system in Anglo-Saxon England. In 975, Edgar died making Ælfthryth the Queen dowager. Edgar left two sons: Edward and Ælfthryth’s son, Æthelred. Even though Edward’s legitimacy was dubious, he was older and had the support of the nobility so he succeeded Edgar in 975—Edward would later become known as Edward the Martyr. Ælfthryth was not happy about this as she wanted her son to be king, but she didn’t want to make too much trouble so she tried to keep a low profile. Edward was killed on 18 March 978 while visiting Ælfthryth at Corfe Castle. According to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, when Edward arrived at the castle, Ælfthryth offered him a drink to refresh from his journey and while he was drinking, one of Ælfthryth’s servants came up from behind and stabbed Edward in the back. Ælfthryth’s reputation was damaged due to her suspected involvement in Edward’s murder, however, she still remained a prominent figure during her son’s reign. She also took charge of raising her grandchildren. In her later years, she founded both Amesbury Abbey and Wherwell Abbey. She died at Wherwell on 17 November in either 1000 or 1001.

[birdsthatsingaftermidnight]

Monarch #5

Who: Edgar (Old English: Ēadgār ) Also Known As: Edgar the Peaceful, Edgar the Peaceable Where: England Succeeded: His brother, Eadwig Reigned: 1st October 959 – 8th July 975 Born: 943 or 944, Wessex Died: 8th July 975 (aged 30/31) in Winchester, England Buried: Glastonbury Cathedral Consorts/Children: First married Æthelflæd the White, daughter of Ordmaer, Ealdorman of East Anglia, sometime between 957 and 959.  They had one child, Edward, who became king of England.  

Following Æthelflæd's death, Edgar carried off (abducted) Wulfthryth of Wilton, who was a nun at the abbey there.   After having a child - Eadgyth - Wulfthryth and her daughter returned to Wilton Abbey.  Whilst Edgar and Wulfthryth lived as husband and wife, they may not have actually been married.  

After Wulfthryth returned to Wilton, Edgar married Ælfthryth, daughter of Ealdorman Ordgar of Devon. They had two children, Edmund Atheling (c.966-c.970) and  Æthelred, who became king of England.

Edgar Facts! Edgar was the younger son of Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, and succeeded his brother as a teenager. 

He recalled Archbishop Dunstan, who had been exiled, and made him his most trusted advisor.

The basis for the current coronation ceremony in the UK is based on the organisation and forms that Dunstan used at Edgar’s coronation. 

By the end of Edgar’s reign, England was seen as a truly unified country. 

Edgar’s reign was “far more than the reigns of either Alfred or Æthelstan, was probably the most pivotal phase in the development of the institutional structures that were fundamental to royal rule in the eleventh-century kingdom"[1].  His laws were the foundation for later Saxon and Scandinavian rule - Cnut states in a letter that “it is my will that all the nation, ecclesiastical and lay, shall steadfastly observe Edgar's laws”.[2]

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward. 

Unfortunately, little is known of Æthelflæd the White, but we have information about Edgar’s other wives. 

Wulfthryth (also known as Wilfrida) of Wilton Facts! An English noblewoman (whose parentage is nevertheless unmentioned) apparently living a saintly and blameless life before Edgar decided she should live with him.  Dunstan made him do penance for the crime (not being allowed to wear a crown for seven years and giving Wulfthryth several estates (which she gave to the Abbey).  She was noted as being carried off, but never as a captive.  The crime for which the king did penance was violation of the sanctity of her oaths as a nun, rather than any sort of affront he may have done Wulfthryth.  Of course, no account details how the lady herself may or may not have felt about the situation.  Edgar acknowledged their daughter, Edith, as his which means that the relationship may very well have been considered a marriage, since the church’s blessing of a marriage at the time wasn’t strictly necessary.  She returned to Wilton after a year or so and eventually became Abbess.

It is certain that Wulfthryth had influence over Edgar after she returned to Wilton.  With his support she was able to stop bailiffs arresting a thief who had taken sanctuary in her Abbey and had two of Wilton’s priests released from prison on the orders of the reeve of Wilton.  

Wulfthryth was canonised as a saint following her death (c.1000) and her feast day is September 13th.  

Her and Edgar’s daughter, Eadgyth (also known has Edith, Editha and Ediva), born c.963, went to Wilton Abbey when her mother returned there, and was also canonised after her death in 984 (her feast day is September 16th).  She is said to have always been dressed magnificently, and was rebuked by the Bishop of Winchester over it.  She said she answered to the judgement of God, who was the only one who could see through outward appearance, and was the only one who was infallible, adding "For pride may exist under the garb of wretchedness; and a mind may be as pure under these vestments as under your tattered furs"[3].  The Bishop of Winchester really had no great influence over her appearance or opinion anyway, as Dunstan supported her and made her Abbess of three abbeys when she was only thirteen (deputies were appointed for her).  It is said that a week after she died, Edith appeared in glory to her mother and told her that the Devil had tried to accuse her, but that she had broken his head. Which is definitely one way to deal with Satan. 

Ælfthryth Facts! Also known as Alfrida, Elfrida, or Elfthryth, she married Edgar after Wulfthryth returned to Wilton.  

She was the first wife of an English king known to have been crowned and anointed. 

The chronicler, William of Malmesbury, stated that the beauty of Ealdorman Ordgar's daughter, Ælfthryth, was reported to King Edgar. Edgar, looking for a Queen, sent Æthelwald to see Ælfthryth, ordering him "to offer her marriage [to Edgar] if her beauty were really equal to report." When she turned out to be just as beautiful as was said, Æthelwald married her himself and reported back to Edgar that she was quite unsuitable. Edgar was eventually told of this, and decided to repay Æthelwald's betrayal in like manner. He said that he would visit the poor woman, which alarmed Æthelwald. He asked Ælfthryth to make herself as unattractive as possible for the king's visit, but she did the opposite. Edgar, quite besotted with her, killed Æthelwald during a hunt.  

It’s a vivid account, but there is no supporting evidence to add veracity to the story.  It may be a tale told about Ælfthryth in support of the image of her as a scheming and evil stepmother and wicked queen.  By the 12th century the Liber Eliensis was calling her a witch who murdered not only her stepson, Edward the Martyr, but also the Abbot of Ely.  

We may never know the truth of either or actions or her motives;  Ælfthryth’s reputation might have been treated more kindly by history if her son, succeeding Edward the Martyr, had been more capable.  

[1] Molyneaux, George (2015). The Formation of the English Kingdom in the Tenth Century. [2]  Trow, Cnut [3] Jameson, op. cit., p. 96

[alienas]

Daughters of the Isles ↳ Ælfthryth, Countess consort of Flanders — daughter of Alfred the Great and his wife, Ealhswith.

[wonder-worker]

"Ælfthryth appears to have taken her role as an intermediary at court seriously throughout her time as queen consort, using her expanded and expanding institutional powers. Andrew Rabin has identified that the queen took a particular interest in legal proceedings involving women. As he states, a queen was ‘an individual uniquely capable of mediating between different constituencies and subject positions’. Taking a broad view of this statement, it reflects that the developing office of the queen carried an expectation of its holder to serve as an interface between the male, secular, royal court, and those who could neither access nor navigate it. Rabin points to six disputes in which Ælfthryth involved herself, all on behalf of female litigants. Most often, the queen was motivated to join these disputes by familial or political links to the litigants, and all ended in negotiated settlement rather than legal judgement. This bypassed any limitations on women’s direct involvement in legal proceedings and thus also allowed Ælfthryth to draw on the support of other high-status women. Most importantly, however, these settlements demonstrate the queen’s understanding of the male power structures within which she was operating and also that she was possessed of the necessary political skills to navigate them. They also demonstrate that she was effective as an intermediary. In Rabin’s view, Ælfthryth’s legal interventions allowed her to pursue an agenda that expanded women’s legal agency, extended the powers of the queen, and acted in the interests of her partisans.

Ælfthryth’s role as a royal intermediary at the court was not limited to the secular sphere. Regularis Concordia, the foundational document of the tenth-century reforms, issued around 970 under Bishop Æthelwold’s direction, also gave the queen responsibility for the protection of the realm’s nunneries. Catherine Karkov argues that queenship is here envisaged in Marian terms, the first time such a model had been used for a consort of the West Saxon dynasty. The only evidence that Ælfthryth used this newfound authority in a proactive sense occurs in the next phase of her queenship. Nonetheless, throughout her life, Ælfthryth proved herself to be a generous and effective patron to various ecclesiastical institutions. Notable among these are Ely and Peterborough, religious houses that were in proximity to Ælfthryth’s dower lands at Rutland as well as being among those houses refounded by Bishop Æthelwold. Therefore, on the one hand she was participating in local politics by ensuring that she maintained positive relationships with her influential regional neighbours, while on the other she was ensuring her patronage and advocacy privileged those houses most dear to her key clerical ally. Ælfthryth also had a close relationship with Wherwell and Amesbury Abbeys which, according to William of Malmesbury, she founded (G.Pont. ii.78.7, ii.87.1), though that too is a story that properly belongs to the next stage of her life.

The instances of Ælfthryth’s patronage recorded in the histories of Ely and Peterborough Abbeys constituted her persuading the king to act in the houses’ interests. Ælfthryth seems to have garnered a reputation as an effective advocate at the court with influence over royal decision making. Æthelwold certainly benefitted from her advocacy as evidenced by S806, a charter which, though not authentic in form, appears to have some authenticity in its content. Here, in 968, in exchange for certain estates, Edgar granted Æthelwold as Bishop of Winchester a renewal of the privileges of Taunton, Somerset. The charter records that Æthelwold gifted Ælfthryth 50 mancuses of gold wiþ richtes ærendes fultume (for her help in this just transaction). This was not the only instance in which a diploma provided Ælfthryth with wealth, though it is the clearest example of payment for mediation. Most other examples are to be found in wills. The will of Brihtric and Ælfswith, for example, leaves the queen an arm ring worth 30 mancuses and a stallion to forespræce þæt se cwyde standan moste (for her advocacy that this will might stand). While the queen being referred to is almost certainly Ælfthryth, she is not named in the document, nor is it entirely clear when during the period 975 × 983 it was authored, and thus at whose court her advocacy was sought. No matter when it was written, however, Brihtric and Ælfswith clearly understood her to have influence at court and, when S1511 is considered alongside S806, a pattern of payment for intercession comes into focus.

Bequests to the queen also offer further evidence of her factional alliances. Ælfthryth’s alignment with the kin-groups that had been brought to prominence by Eadwig, for example, is indicated by her presence (albeit unnamed) as a beneficiary of the will of Ælfgifu, the repudiated and widowed consort of Eadwig (S1484). Drawn up in the period 966 × 975, Ælfthryth is the recipient of not insignificant gifts: a necklace worth 130 mancuses, an arm ring worth 30 mancuses, and a drinking cup. Of more obvious relevance is the will of Ealdorman Ælfheah, likely drawn up shortly before his death c.972, in which Ælfthryth, ðæs cyninges wifæ (the king’s wife), is given an estate at Shirburn, Oxon (S1485). This fits well with the hypothesised alliance between her family and his. Further emphasising the partisan support being supplied to the queen by the kin-group of Ælfhere, Ælfheah also left wealth to the elder and younger æthelings who are explicitly identified as the children of Edgar and Ælfthryth. In other words, he acknowledges Edmund and Æthelred as Edgar’s heirs and excludes their older half-brother Edward from the succession. However, it was also around 972 that Ælfthryth and Edgar’s eldest son, Edmund, died of unknown causes. The death of Edgar’s designated heir must have thrust both Edward and Æthelred to greater prominence, while at the same time making Ælfthryth’s own position more precarious."

— Matthew Firth, Early English Queens, 850-1000: Potestas Reginae

[wonder-worker]

Ælfthryth appears as a witness in a significant number of her husband [Edgar's] charters. Moreover, Ælfthryth is the first royal woman in England to regularly subscribe charters as regina. And, of course, Ælfthryth is the first recorded native-born English woman to be crowned as a queen consort to a king of the West Saxon dynasty. Arguably, however, all these legitimating activities placed her in better stead to exercise power as queen mother than as queen consort. For all the unprecedented recognition she receives as queen during her tenure as royal consort, it is in the early years of Æthelred's reign, as the mother of a minor ruler, that Ælfthryth truly reached the apex of her agency as queen.

— Matthew Firth, Early English Queens, 850-1000: Potestas Reginae

While the transmission and adaption of Ælfthryth's reputation over time is a fascinating subject in its own right, it is unfortunate that the biography of the first-known crowned queen consort of England has been overshadowed by a single moment of scandal. The woman who comes into focus from contemporary sources was a remarkably adept player of the politics of the kingdom. While her agency remained delimited by her relationship to the king, she can also take great credit for testing the boundaries of what it meant to be a queen in late Anglo-Saxon England. Like the men who surrounded her, she understood the importance of making and maintaining political alliances. She recognised the importance of patronising the Church and forging relationships with ecclesiastical lords. She realised the opportunity that acting as an advocate at court for women and for clerics would afford her. Most of all, when Ælfthryth saw an opportunity for personal political advancement, she took it. As such, whether intended or not, Ælfthryth set new precedents and prerogatives for her successors and so materially moved the role of the queen towards one of political office.

[wonder-worker]

Ælfthryth must have been very much aware of her vulnerability in the case that Edgar died. She had arrived at a court where there was already a male heir to the throne and from which two consorts had already been expelled. In ensuring that her legitimacy and that of her son was publicly declared, Ælfthryth may well have been planning for a future without Edgar. After all, none of the West Saxon kings were especially long-lived.

Observing the patterns of Ælfthryth's charter witnessing, it is notable that no authentic charter gives her the title regina until 968. Whatever moves were being made to distinguish her from other queen consorts, in her early years in the role this was limited to public acknowledgement of her as the king’s wife. Ælfthryth witnessed only one other legitimate charter in 966 in which she appears as fifth witness with the title coniunx regis (wife of the king) (S739). Edmund does not appear, perhaps this charter was issued before his birth, but Edward subscribes as second witness where he is designated as clito, his father’s heir. Ælfthryth, named as Edgar’s ambilis coniunx (beloved wife), is also given another estate by Edgar this year, this time in Dorset near her family’s powerbase. Ælfthryth appears in no charters in 967.

Not only does Ælfthryth begin to attest charters as regina from 968, but she also starts to appear more regularly in administrative documents, if not in a more prominent position. She witnessed ten authentic charters from this year through to Edgar’s death in 975 and appears in the corpus of several others. The question is, what changed in 968? There are likely several factors at play. In the first instance, Ælfthryth had given birth to a second son, Æthelred, around this time. The birth of another heir prompted Edgar to further augment his wife’s status. However, the idea to designate Ælfthryth as regina was unlikely to have been his alone. By this stage, Ælfthryth's key allies held prominent positions at court. Æthelwold appears first among the bishops of the realm in charter witness lists, while Ælfhere and Ælfheah are usually at or near the head of the list of witnessing secular lords. This trio may have advocated for Ælfthryth to be styled as regina in the hope that she in turn would be better positioned to advocate for their interests at the court. Finally, it is important to recall that any such political manoeuvres were taking place against the backdrop of the tenth-century Church reforms of which Edgar was an enthusiastic supporter. Sacral kingship was one of the key ideas being promoted by the reformers and, as evidenced by the Regularis Concordia issued only two years later, Æthelwold, in particular, envisaged that a queen would stand at the king’s side and share in his duties to the Church. It may then represent the year in which Æthelwold’s theory was put into practice, though it is probably a combination of these factors that saw Ælfthryth formally adopt the title of queen in that year.

— Matthew Firth, Early English Queens, 850-1000: Potestas Reginae

[bforbetterthanyou]

🔥 Queen Elfrida ( Aelfthryth), spouse of King Edgar

I think she did it. I want her to have done it.

#normalize medieval queens murdering their rivals