Author: Alison Weir
Category: Nonfiction
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Issue of marriage:
1 Edmund
He was born in c.965, and died in 970/72. He was buried in Romsey Abbey, Hampshire.
2 Ethelred II ( see here).
King Edgar also had the following illegitimate issue:
By St Wulfrida (c.945–1000), Abbess of Wilton,
1 St Edith (962?–984), Abbess of Barking and Nunnaminster.
KING EDGAR
He died on 8 July, 975, at Winchester, and was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset.
He was succeeded by his son Edward.
King Edward the Martyr
* * *
FATHER: King Edgar ( see here).
MOTHER: Ethelfleda ( see here, under Edgar).
SIBLINGS: Edward did not have any full brothers or sisters.
KING EDWARD
Known as ‘the Martyr’, he was born in c.962/3. He succeeded his father as King of England on 8 July, 975, and was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames that same year (the date is unspecified). He was murdered on 18 March, 978 (not 979, as is sometimes stated), at Corfe Castle, Dorset, probably on the orders of his stepmother, Elfrida of Devon. He was buried in Wareham Abbey, Dorset; later on, his remains were moved to Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset.
He was succeeded by his half-brother Ethelred.
Ethelred II
* * *
FATHER: King Edgar ( see here).
MOTHER: Elfrida of Devon ( see here, under Edgar).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under Edgar).
ETHELRED II
Known as ‘the Unraed’ or ‘the Redeless’ (both of which mean ‘without counsel’), he was born in c.966/9. He succeeded his half-brother Edward as King of England on 18 March, 978, and was crowned on 4 April, 978 (or 4 May, 979), at Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. He abdicated in favour of King Sweyn in the autumn of 1013, and fled to Normandy, but was restored to the throne after Sweyn’s death on 3 February, 1014.
Ethelred II married firstly, in c.980/85 (although no record exists as to where):
Elgiva
Alternatively known as Elfleda, she was the daughter either of Ealdorman Ethelbert, or of Thored, Ealdorman of York, by his wife Hilda. She was born in c.963, and died in February, 1002, at Winchester.
Issue of marriage:
1 Athelstan
He was born in c.986, and was killed in battle, fighting the Danes, in c.1012/15. One writer, Thietmar of Merseberg, states that Athelstan was alive late in 1016, but he is an unreliable source, and it is thought that Athelstan was almost certainly dead by the end of 1015.
2 Edmund II ( see here).
3 Edgar
He died in 1012/15 (or, less probably, in c.1008).
4 Edred
He died in 1012/15.
5 Edric (?)
He has perhaps been confused with his brother Edred, and may not have existed. No dates are recorded.
6 Edward (?)
He is said to have died by c.1004. The evidence for his existence is very slender; charters said to have been attested by him have been proved spurious.
7 Edwy
He was murdered in 1017 on the orders of King Canute, and was buried in Tavistock Abbey, Devon.
8 Egbert
He died in c.1005.
9 Edith
She married Edric Streona, Ealdorman of Mercia (who was executed in 1017), in c.1007/9, and had issue:
1 Son; name not known (born before 1009).
Edith perhaps married secondly Thurcytel Thorgils Havi, a Danish Earl in England (who was killed in 1039), and perhaps had issue:
2 Harold, who married Gunhilda of Wendland, a granddaughter of King Sweyn. Harold died in 1042.
10 Elgiva
She married Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria (who was killed in 1016 or 1018), and had issue:
1 Edith ( see here, under Malcolm II, King of Scotland). She married Maldred of Scotland, Lord of Allerdale, and had issue.
11 Wulfhilda
She married Ulfcytel Snylling, Ealdorman of East Anglia (who was killed in 1016).
12 Daughter
Her name is not known. She married one Athelstan (who was killed in 1010).
13 Daughter
Her name is not known. She became Abbess of Wherwell, and died after 1051.
Ethelred II married secondly, on 5 April, 1002, at Winchester Cathedral:
Emma
She was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, by his wife Gunnora, and she was born in c.985/7 in Normandy. In 1017, after the death of Ethelred II, she married secondly King Canute, and had issue ( see here, under King Canute). She died on 14 March, 1052, probably at Winchester, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Her bones now lie in one of the mortuary chests there.
Issue of marriage:
1 King Edward the Confessor ( see here).
2 Alfred
Born before 1012, he was styled ‘Atheling’. He was brutally murdered on 5 February, 1037 (or, less probably, 1036), at Ely, Cambridgeshire, probably on the orders of Earl Godwine ( see here, under Harold II). He was buried in Ely Cathedral.
3 Goda
Alternatively known as Godgifu, she was born between 1004 and 1014. She married firstly Drogo (or Dreux), Count of Mantes and the Vexin (d.1035), and had issue:
1 Ralph, Earl of Hereford (d.1057), who married Gytha, perhaps the daughter of Osgood Clapa, and had issue.
2 Walter III, Count of Mantes and the Vexin (d. after 1063), who married Biota, daughter of Herbert, Count of Maine.
3 Fulk, Bishop of Amiens (1030–1058).
Goda married secondly Eustace II, Count of Boulogne (d.1093), in c.1036. It is possible that there was a child of this union, probably a daughter who married and had issue. The only evidence pointing to this is the fact that Eustace of Boulogne had a grandson who was given as hostage to William I in 1067.
Goda was dead by 1049.
ETHELRED II
He died on 23 April, 1016, in London, and was buried in Old St Paul’s Cathedral, London. His tomb was lost in the Great Fire of 1666.
He was succeeded by his son Edmund.
King Sweyn
* * *
FATHER: Harold Bluetooth, King of Denmark.
MOTHER: Gunhilda, first wife of Harold, or Cyrid, his second wife, or Aesa, his concubine.
SIBLINGS:
Thyra
She married Thorgils Sprakalegg, and had issue:
1 Gytha, mother of Harold II ( see here).
KING SWEYN
Known as ‘Forkbeard’, he was born in c.960 in Denmark. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 1 November, 986. He is said by some sources to have been deposed in 987 and restored in 1000. He usurped the throne of England in the autumn of 1013, having defeated and deposed Ethelred II; he claimed the throne by right of conquest, but had no dynastic claim to it. He was never crowned.
Sweyn married firstly, in c.990 (although no record exists as to where):
Gunhilda
She was probably the daughter of Mjeczislas I, Duke of Poland, by Dubrawka, daughter of Boleslaw I, Duke of Bohemia, or, less probably, the daughter of Boleslaw, King of Wendland. Sweyn later divorced her, probably before 1000. She died in c.1015. One source gives the date of her death as 992, but this must be wrong.
Issue of marriage:
1 Harold
He was born in c.994 in Denmark. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 3 February, 1014, and died in 1018/19.
2 King Canute ( see here).
The following were possibly the children of Gunhilda, although they may have been the issue of Sweyn by his second wife ( below):
3 Gytha
She married Erik Hakonson, a Danish Earl in England, and Earl of Hlathir in Norway in 1013, and had issue:
1 Haakon, Earl of Worcester (d.1029/30), who married Gunhilda, daughter of Wytgeorn, King of Wendland ( below).
4 Santslaue
Alternatively called Svantoslava, she was born and died in Denmark. No dates are recorded.
5 Thyra
&nb
sp; She is said to have been born in c.993 in Denmark – probably the eldest child of Sweyn and Gunhilda, although this is open to doubt. She married Godwine, later Earl of Wessex ( see here, under Harold II), and had issue, but no details of them are recorded. She died in 1018.
6 Daughter
Her name is not known. She married Wytgeorn, King of Wendland, and had issue:
1 Gunhilda; she married firstly Haakon, Earl of Worcester (d.1029/30) ( above), and secondly, Harold (d.1042), son of Edith, the daughter of Ethelred II.
Sweyn married secondly, probably before 1000 (although no record exists as to where):
Sigrid
Alternatively known as Sigrith or Syritha, and called ‘the Haughty’, she was the daughter of Skogul Toste of Sweden, and was born in Sweden. She married firstly Eric VI, King of Sweden (d.995), and had issue:
1 Olaf Svenski, King of Sweden (d.1022), who married a lady called Astrid, and had issue.
One source gives the date of Sigrid’s death as 995, but this is impossible. It is likely that she died before 1013, as she has never been referred to as Queen of England.
Issue of marriage:
1 Astrid
Alternatively called Estrith, or Margaret. She married either Richard II, Duke of Normandy (d.1027), or Robert II, Duke of Normandy ( see here, under William I), between 1017 and 1027. If her husband was Robert, then he repudiated her shortly after the marriage took place. She married secondly Ulf Thorgilson, a Danish Earl in England (d.1035; he was the brother of Gytha, mother of Harold II), and had issue:
1 Sweyn Estrithson, King of Denmark (d.1074/6), who married a lady called Gunhilda. He left illegitimate issue only.
2 Beorn, Earl of Danish Mercia. He was murdered in 1049.
3 Osbeorn (d.1086?).
Sigrid may also have been the mother of Sweyn’s four other daughters ( above).
KING SWEYN
He died on 3 February, 1014, at Gainsborough, Lincs., and was buried in England (location unknown). His remains were later moved to Roeskild Cathedral, Denmark.
He was succeeded by Ethelred II ( preceding chapter), who was in turn succeeded by Edmund, the son of Ethelred.
Edmund II
* * *
FATHER: Ethelred II ( see here).
MOTHER: Elgiva ( see here, under Ethelred II).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under Ethelred II).
EDMUND II
Known as ‘Ironside’, he was born between c.988 and 993. He succeeded his father as King of England on 23 April, 1016, and was crowned during the same month at Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Edmund II married, in late summer (August?), 1015, at Malmesbury, Wiltshire:
Edith
Her origins are unknown. She married firstly Sigeferth (son of Earngrim), a Thane in East Anglia (he was murdered in 1015). The date of her death is not known.
Issue of marriage (who may have been twins):
1 Edward
He was born in 1016: he was aged 41 at his death. He was styled ‘Atheling’, but spent the greater part of his youth in exile in Hungary. He died in 1057, in London, where he was buried in Old St Paul’s Cathedral.
Edward married (no record exists of the date), in Hungary:
Agatha
She was probably the daughter of Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, and brother of Henry III, Emperor of Germany. With less probability, she was the daughter of Stephen, King of Hungary, by Gisela, daughter of Conrad II, Emperor of Germany, and sister of the Emperor Henry III. She is described as ‘a kinswoman’ of the Emperor Henry III. Upon reaching old age, she became a nun at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, probably after the death of her daughter, Queen Margaret of Scotland, in 1093.
Issue of marriage:
(i) Edgar
He was born in c.1053 (certainly by 1058) in Hungary, and was styled ‘Atheling’. In October, 1066, the Witan in London elected him King of England upon hearing of the death of Harold II at Hastings. He was not crowned, and by December, 1066, he had submitted to William I and abandoned all claims to the throne. He died after 1125, perhaps in 1130 (?).
(ii) Margaret
( see here, under Malcolm III, King of Scotland).
(iii) Christina
Born in Hungary, she became a nun, firstly – according to some authorities – at Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire, and then, in c.1086, at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire. She is sometimes called Abbess of Romsey, but only on very slender evidence. She died before 1102 (?).
2 Edmund
He was born either in 1016, or in 1017. He was taken to Hungary by his family in childhood, where he later died. Some sources state that he died young, but he must have lived at least into his teens.
Edmund married (no record exists of the date) in Hungary:
Hedwig
She was either the daughter of Stephen I, King of Hungary, by Gisela, daughter of Conrad II, Emperor of Germany, or the daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria.
After Edmund’s death, she married secondly Eppo, Count of Nellenburg.
EDMUND II
He died on 30 November, 1016, in Oxford or in London, and was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset.
He was succeeded by Canute, son of King Sweyn, who claimed the throne by right of conquest.
King Canute
* * *
FATHER: King Sweyn ( see here).
MOTHER: Gunhilda of Poland ( see here, under King Sweyn).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under King Sweyn).
KING CANUTE
Alternatively called Cnut or Knud, and known as ‘the Great’, he was born in c.995 in Denmark. He succeeded Edmund II as King of England on 30 November, 1016, claiming the throne by right of conquest, and is said to have been crowned on 6 January (?), 1017, at Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London, although there is no contemporary evidence for this. He succeeded his brother Harold as King of Denmark in 1018/19, and became King of Norway by right of conquest in 1028.
Canute married, on 2 July, 1017 (although no record exists as to where):
Emma
She was the widow of Ethelred II ( see here, under Ethelred II).
Issue of marriage:
1 King Harthacanute ( see here).
2 Gunhilda
Alternatively called Ethelfrida, she adopted the name Kunigunde upon her marriage. Born in c.1020, she married Henry III, Emperor of Germany (d.1056), on 10 June, 1036, at Nimeguen, Germany, and had issue:
1 Beatrice (b.1037), Abbess of Quedlinburg.
Gunhilda died on 16 or 18 July, 1038, on the Adriatic coast.
3 Daughter
Her name is not known; neither are her dates. She died aged about 8, and was buried in Bosham Church, Sussex.
Canute also had the following illegitimate issue:
By Elgiva (996?–1044?), daughter of Alfhelm, Ealdorman of Northampton, by his wife Wulfrun; some sources state that Elgiva was Canute’s ‘handfast’ wife, according to Danish custom; others state that she was his repudiated wife; at all events, their union was uncanonical. They had issue:
1 Sweyn, King of Norway (1015?–1036/7).
2 Harold I ( see here).
There were contemporary doubts in certain court circles that Canute was the father of Elgiva’s two sons.
KING CANUTE
He died on 12 November, 1035, at Shaftesbury, Dorset, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. His bones now lie in one of the mortuary chests there.
He was succeeded by his son Harthacanute.
King Harthacanute
* * *
FATHER: King Canute ( see here).
MOTHER: Emma of Normandy ( see here, under King Canute).
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under King Canute).
KING HARTHACANUTE
Alternatively called Hardicanute, he was born in c.1018, and was designated titular King of Denmark in 1028. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 12 November, 1035, and as King of England on the same day, in his absence from that country. He remained in Denmark, and his authority in England was usurped by his
half-brother Harold I in 1037. He was restored to the English throne on 17 March, 1040, upon the death of Harold I. He is said to have been crowned in June, 1040, at Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, but no contemporary evidence exists to show that he was consecrated at all.
KING HARTHACANUTE
He died unmarried (and childless), on 8 June, 1042, at Lambeth in London, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.
He was succeeded by his half-brother Edward, the son of Ethelred II.
Harold I
* * *
FATHER: King Canute (?) ( see here).
MOTHER: Elgiva of Northampton, Canute’s concubine or handfast wife.
SIBLINGS: ( see here, under King Canute).
HAROLD I
He was born in c.1016/17, perhaps at Northampton. He was probably illegitimate, but contemporary doubts as to his paternity were probably mere political propaganda. In 1037, when King Harthacanute was still in Denmark, Harold usurped the throne of England and was recognised as King, being crowned that same year at Oxford.