Elfwina of Mercia (?)1

F, #4981

Father*Æthelred of Mercia1 d. 912
Mother*Æthelflæda of Wessex1 d. 15 Jun 919
Elfwina of Mercia (?)||p167.htm#i4981|Æthelred of Mercia|d. 912|p167.htm#i4985|Æthelflæda of Wessex|d. 15 Jun 919|p167.htm#i4986|Hugh t. G. (?)|d. a 853|p217.htm#i6486||||Alfred of England "The Great"|b. 849\nd. 26 Oct 899|p56.htm#i1651|Ealhswith Of Mercia Alswitha|b. c 852\nd. 904|p56.htm#i1652|

Marriage* Principal=Edulf (?)1 

Family

Edulf (?)
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Aethelstan (?)1

M, #4982, b. circa 894, d. 27 October 939

Father*Edward of England "the Elder"1 b. 875, d. 17 Jul 924
Mother*Ecwina (Egwina) (?)1
Aethelstan (?)|b. c 894\nd. 27 Oct 939|p167.htm#i4982|Edward of England "the Elder"|b. 875\nd. 17 Jul 924|p55.htm#i1648|Ecwina (Egwina) (?)||p167.htm#i4987|Alfred of England "The Great"|b. 849\nd. 26 Oct 899|p56.htm#i1651|Ealhswith Of Mercia Alswitha|b. c 852\nd. 904|p56.htm#i1652|||||||

Birth*circa 894 1 
Death*27 October 939 Gloucester, England1 
Burial* Malmesbury1 
Hume* 925.THE STAIN in this prince's birth was not, in those times, deemed so considerable as to exclude him from the throne; and Athelstan, being of an age, as well as of a capacity, fitted for government, obtained the preference to Edward's younger children, who, though legitimate, were of too tender years to rule a nation so much exposed both to foreign invasion and to domestic convulsions. Some discontents, however, prevailed on his accession; and Alfred, a nobleman of considerable power, was thence encouraged to enter into a conspiracy against him. This incident is related by historians with circumstances, which the reader, according to the degree of credit he is disposed to give them, may impute either to the invention of monks, who forged them, or to their artifice, who found means of making them real. Alfred, it is said, being seized upon strong suspicions, but without any certain proof, firmly denied the conspiracy imputed to him; and in order to justify himself, he offered to swear to his innocence before the pope, whose person, it was supposed, contained such superior sanctity, that no one could presume to give a false oath in his presence, and yet hope to escape the immediate vengeance of heaven. The king accepted of the condition, and Alfred was conducted to Rome; where, either conscious of his innocence, or neglecting the superstition, to which he appealed, he ventured to make the oath required of him, before John, who then filled the papal chair. But no sooner had he pronounced the fatal words, than he fell into convulsions, of which, three days after, he expired. The king, as if the guilt of the conspirator were now fully ascertained, confiscated his estate, and made a present of it to the monastery of Malmesbury;r secure that no doubts would ever thenceforth be entertained concerning the justice of his proceedings.
The dominion of Athelstan was no sooner established over his English subjects, than he endeavoured to give security to the government, by providing against the insurrections of the Danes, which had created so much disturbance to his predecessors. He marched into Northumberland; and finding, that the inhabitants bore with impatience the English yoke, he thought it prudent to confer on Sithric, a Danish nobleman, the title of King, and to attach him to his interest, by giving him his sister, Editha, in marriage. But this policy proved by accident the source of dangerous consequences. Sithric died in a twelvemonth after; and his two sons by a former marriage, Anlaf and Godfrid, founding pretensions on their father's elevation, assumed the sovereignty, without waiting for Athelstan's consent. They were soon expelled by the power of that monarch; and the former took shelter in Ireland, as the latter did in Scotland, where he received, during some time, protection from Constantine, who then enjoyed the crown of that kingdom. The Scottish prince, however, continually solicited, and even menaced, by Athelstan, at last promised to deliver up his guest; but secretly detesting this treachery, he gave Godfrid warning to make his escape;s and that fugitive, after subsisting by pyracy for some years, freed the king, by his death, from any farther anxiety. Athelstan, resenting Constantine's behaviour, entered Scotland with an army; and ravaging the country with impunity,t he reduced the Scots to such distress, that their king was content to preserve his crown, by making submissions to the enemy. The English historians assert,u that Constantine did homage to Athelstan for his kingdom; and they add, that the latter prince, being urged by his courtiers to push the present favourable opportunity, and entirely subdue Scotland, replied, that it was more glorious to confer than conquer kingdoms.w But those annals, so uncertain and imperfect in themselves, lose all credit, when national prepossessions and animosities have place: And on that account, the Scotch historians, who, without having any more knowledge of the matter, strenuously deny the fact, seem more worthy of belief.
Constantine, whether he owed the retaining of his crown to the moderation of Athelstan, who was unwilling to employ all his advantages against him, or to the policy of that prince, who esteemed the humiliation of an enemy a greater acquisition than the subjection of a discontented and mutinous people, thought the behaviour of the English monarch more an object of resentment than of gratitude. He entered into a confederacy with Anlaf, who had collected a great body of Danish pyrates, whom he found hovering in the Irish seas; and with some Welsh princes, who were terrified at the growing power of Athelstan: and all these allies made by concert an irruption with a great army into England. Athelstan, collecting his forces, met the enemy near Brunsbury in Northumberland, and defeated them in a general engagement. This victory was chiefly ascribed to the valour of Turketul, the English chancellor: For in those turbulent ages, no one was so much occupied in civil employments, as wholly to lay aside the military character.x
There is a circumstance, not unworthy of notice, which historians relate with regard to the transactions of this war. Anlaf, on the approach of the English army, thought, that he could not venture too much to ensure a fortunate event; and employing the artifice formerly practised by Alfred against the Danes, he entered the enemy's camp in the habit of a minstrel. The stratagem was for the present attended with like success. He gave such satisfaction to the soldiers, who flocked about him, that they introduced him to the king's tent; and Anlaf, having played before that prince and his nobles during their repast, was dismissed with a handsome reward. His prudence kept him from refusing the present; but his pride determined him, on his departure, to bury it, while he fancied that he was unespied by all the world. But a soldier in Athelstan's camp, who had formerly served under Anlaf, had been struck with some suspicion on the first appearance of the minstrel; and was engaged by curiosity to observe all his motions. He regarded this last action as a full proof of Anlaf's disguise; and he immediately carried the intelligence to Athelstan, who blamed him for not sooner giving him information, that he might have seized his enemy. But the soldier told him that, as he had formerly sworn fealty to Anlaf, he could never have pardoned himself the treachery of betraying and ruining his ancient master; and that Athelstan himself, after such an instance of his criminal conduct, would have had equal reason to distrust his allegiance. Athelstan, having praised the generosity of the soldier's principles, reflected on the incident, which he foresaw might be attended with important consequences. He removed his station in the camp; and as a bishop arrived that evening with a reinforcement of troops, (for the ecclesiastics were then no less warlike than the civil magistrates) he occupied with his train that very place which had been left vacant by the king's removal. The precaution of Athelstan was found prudent: For no sooner had darkness fallen, than Anlaf broke into the camp, and hastening directly to the place where he had left the king's tent, put the bishop to death, before he had time to prepare for his defence.y
There fell several Danish and Welsh princes in the action of Brunsbury;z and Constantine and Anlaf made their escape with difficulty, leaving the greater part of their army on the field of battle. After this success, Athelstan enjoyed his crown in tranquility; and he is regarded as one of the ablest and most active of those ancient princes. He passed a remarkable law, which was calculated for the encouragement of commerce, and which it required some liberality of mind, in that age, to have devised: That a merchant, who made three long sea-voyages on his own account, should be admitted to the rank of a thane or gentleman. This prince died at Glocester in the year 941,a after a reign of sixteen years; and was succeeded by Edmund, his legitimate brother.
2 

Last Edited15 Sep 2004

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S337] David Hume, History of England.

Baldric the Teuton (?)1

M, #4983

Father*Wigelius (?)1
Baldric the Teuton (?)||p167.htm#i4983|Wigelius (?)||p167.htm#i4990||||Charles (?)||p167.htm#i4991||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Anonyma de Benefacta1 

Family

Anonyma de Benefacta
Children

Last Edited14 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Ordgar (?)1

M, #4984, d. 870

Father*Aelfgar I (?)1
Ordgar (?)|d. 870|p167.htm#i4984|Aelfgar I (?)||p217.htm#i6484||||Leofric I. (?)||p217.htm#i6485||||||||||

Marriage* 1 
Death*870 1 

Family
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Æthelred of Mercia1

M, #4985, d. 912

Father*Hugh the Great (?)1 d. a 853
Æthelred of Mercia|d. 912|p167.htm#i4985|Hugh the Great (?)|d. a 853|p217.htm#i6486||||Leofric I. (?)||p217.htm#i6487||||||||||

Marriage*before 890 Principal=Æthelflæda of Wessex1 
Death*912 1 
DNB* Æthelred (d. 911), ruler of the Mercians, took over the government of that portion of Mercia left to the English after the vikings had dismembered the kingdom in 877 and King Ceolwulf II had disappeared from the scene two years later. Nothing certain is known of how Æthelred attained leadership of the Mercians, nor of his family background. He first appears in 883, by which time he had recognized the overlordship of the West Saxon king, Alfred: he made a grant to Berkeley Abbey in that year with Alfred's assent. Although the chronicler Æthelweard (d. 998), who used sources independent of the extant versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, calls Æthelred ‘king’, the title accorded to him by the latter texts is ‘ealdorman’. He certainly seems to have remained in some form of submission to the West Saxon kings for the rest of his life. His allegiance predates the occupation of London in 886 by Alfred, to whom ‘all the English people that were not under subjection to the Danes’ submitted (ASC, s.a. 886). Alfred's immediate concession to Æthelred of control over London, which had been in Mercian hands earlier in the century, perhaps reflects the king's need to maintain unity among those English peoples who remained outside viking territory. Even more important for cementing the bond between the West Saxon and Mercian rulers was Æthelred's marriage to Alfred's daughter and eldest child, Æthelflæd, which had happened by the time Asser was writing his life of the king in 893, and perhaps took place as early as 888. Æthelred was probably older than his wife, perhaps considerably so.

The year 892 brought new viking invaders to England, and Æthelred took part in a concerted effort to oppose them. After the initial defeat of one viking leader, Hæsten, he stood godfather to one of Hæsten's two sons, while Alfred sponsored the other. In 893 Æthelred took reinforcements from London to join Alfred's eldest son, Edward (870s?-924), in pinning down one force at Thorney in Buckinghamshire. Finding themselves insufficiently strong to assault the army directly, Æthelred and Edward allowed it to leave English territory. Later in the year, a reinforced viking army set out on a raid up the Thames valley, and then up the Severn. Æthelred followed it, with a force that included the ealdormen of Wiltshire and Somerset, contingents drawn from every fortified settlement in English Mercia and Wessex east of the Parret, and a detachment sent by the Welsh princes. The raiding army was besieged on the Severn at Buttington near Welshpool, but eventually cut its way out and limped back to its base at Shoebury, Essex. The presence of Welshmen in Æthelred's force indicates the seriousness of the threat posed by the viking army. The relationship between the Welsh princes and the Mercian ruler was usually more hostile: Asser records that individual Welsh princes submitted to Alfred in order to obtain protection against Æthelred.

Æthelred's role in the ensuing campaign is nowhere made explicit, though it is highly likely that he co-ordinated the Mercian response to further raids. Late in 893 part of the viking force in Essex, joined by men from East Anglia and Northumbria, established itself at Chester but was starved out and moved to Wales, which it devastated for nearly a year; on its return east it avoided Wessex and Mercia altogether. In 895 an English army was obliged to shadow a viking party across the midlands to the Severn, where the vikings over-wintered. The dispersal of this force marked the end of serious viking assaults during Alfred's reign.

The construction of the defensive system of fortified sites (burhs) which Alfred began was chiefly continued by Edward and Æthelflæd after Æthelred's death. Nevertheless, Æthelred and Æthelflæd were approached by Werferth, bishop of Worcester, to fortify that town for the defence of the people and the security of the cathedral. Of even more importance to the Mercian rulers, perhaps, was Gloucester, where there is evidence for a royal palace and mint and where the street pattern is strikingly similar to that of some of Alfred's burhs in Wessex. Æthelflæd founded a new minster there, to which relics of the Northumbrian royal saint Oswald were translated in 909, and where, according to Æthelweard, both she and her husband were buried.

At some time in the decade after Alfred's death in 899 Æthelred seems to have fallen ill. Leadership of the Mercians is then accorded to Edward the Elder or to Æthelflæd: the West Saxon version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle credits Edward with sending the Mercian army against the vikings in 909 and 910, and the so-called ‘Mercian Register’ (embedded in texts B, C, and D of the chronicle) records that Æthelflæd built a fortified settlement at ‘Bremesburh’ in 910. Æthelred died in 911—the precise date is unknown. Æthelflæd was subsequently able to assume rulership of the Mercians herself. The title by which she was known, Myrcna hlœfdige, ‘Lady of the Mercians’, was an adaptation of Æthelred's habitual title of Myrcna hlaford, ‘Lord of the Mercians’. Her brother Edward, however, ‘succeeded to London and Oxford and to all the lands which belonged to them’ (ASC, s.a. 911).

Marios Costambeys
Sources

F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edn (1971) · ASC, s.a. 886, 893, 911 · AS chart., S 217–23, 346, 371, 1280 · The chronicle of Æthelweard, ed. and trans. A. Campbell (1962) · S. Keynes, ‘King Alfred and the Mercians’, Kings, currency and alliances: history and coinage of southern England in the ninth century, ed. M. A. S. Blackburn and D. N. Dumville (1998), 1–46 · C. M. Heighway, ‘Anglo-Saxon Gloucester to AD 1000’, Studies in late Anglo-Saxon settlement, ed. M. L. Faull (1984), 35–54 · J. N. Radner, ed., Fragmentary annals of Ireland (1978)
© Oxford University Press 2004–5
All rights reserved: see legal notice      Oxford University Press


Marios Costambeys, ‘Æthelred (d. 911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/52311, accessed 24 Sept 2005]

Æthelred (d. 911): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/523112 

Family

Æthelflæda of Wessex d. 15 Jun 919
Child

Last Edited24 Sep 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S376] Unknown editor, unknown short title.

Æthelflæda of Wessex1

F, #4986, d. 15 June 919

 

Father*Alfred of England "The Great"1 b. 849, d. 26 Oct 899
Mother*Ealhswith Of Mercia Alswitha1 b. c 852, d. 904
Æthelflæda of Wessex|d. 15 Jun 919|p167.htm#i4986|Alfred of England "The Great"|b. 849\nd. 26 Oct 899|p56.htm#i1651|Ealhswith Of Mercia Alswitha|b. c 852\nd. 904|p56.htm#i1652|Æthelwulf of Wessex|b. bt 794 - 800\nd. 13 Jan 858|p56.htm#i1654|Osburh (?)|b. c 810\nd. a 876|p56.htm#i1655|Æthelred O. Mercia||p56.htm#i1653|Edburga o. M. (?)||p173.htm#i5162|

Marriage*before 890 Principal=Æthelred of Mercia1 
Death*15 June 919 1 
DNB* Æthelflæd [Ethelfleda] (d. 918), ruler of the Mercians, was the daughter and first-born child of Alfred (d. 899), king of the West Saxons and later of the Anglo-Saxons, and his wife, Ealhswith (d. 902), daughter of Æthelred, ealdorman of the ‘Gaini’, and Eadburh who, according to Alfred's biographer Asser, was a member of the Mercian royal house. Æthelflæd was born probably in the early 870s. By the time Asser had begun writing his life of Alfred in 893, and perhaps as early as 887, she had married the Mercian ealdorman and ruler Æthelred, who was certainly older, perhaps much older, than her. In the two or three years after the disappearance from the scene of Ceolwulf II in 879, Æthelred had come to rule over the English half of the Mercian kingdom that had been dismembered by the vikings, submitting to Alfred's overlordship. His marriage to Æthelflæd cemented a close bond, which renewed viking attacks in the 890s only strengthened. After Æthelred fell ill at some time in the decade 899–909 the sources accord leadership of the Mercians to Edward the Elder or to his sister Æthelflæd. The West Saxon version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records Edward sending a Mercian army against the vikings in 909 and 910. In the latter year Æthelflæd is credited with the building of a fortification at ‘Bremesburh’ (the location of which is now unknown), by the so-called Mercian register (embedded in texts B, C, and D of the chronicle). It may be this chronicle that is referred to by an early twelfth-century Durham catalogue as ‘Elfledes Boc’ (perhaps ‘Æthelflæd's book’). She also seems to have had a particular association with Gloucester. The royal hall just outside the town at Kingsholm was used for a great council in 896, the mint was striking coins in the name of Alfred at the end of the ninth century, and the street pattern is strikingly similar to that of some of Alfred's burhs in Wessex. Æthelflæd was responsible for the foundation of a new minster at Gloucester, originally dedicated to St Peter (and not to be confused with the old minster of St Peter, on the site of the modern cathedral). The church was a variation on an insular theme: a rectangular structure with a western apse, an unusual feature in England that must have owed something to Carolingian architecture.

On Æthelred's death in 911, Æthelflæd was accepted as ruler by the Mercians: thereafter, the Mercian register describes her as Myrcna hlœfdige, ‘Lady of the Mercians’, the precise equivalent of Æthelred's habitual title of Myrcna hlaford, ‘Lord of the Mercians’. Æthelflæd's direct replacement of her husband seems to have encouraged her brother Edward to attempt to establish his family's control of Mercia. He had already sent his son Æthelstan to be brought up by his sister and her husband. On the latter's death he assumed direct jurisdiction over London and Oxford, two towns which Alfred had earlier put under Æthelred's control and which were vital to the make-up of the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons.

As the Mercian register makes clear, Æthelflæd shared in her brother's effort to reconquer the Danelaw. The first attack came in 909, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Edward sent a combined army of West Saxons and Mercians into the territory of the northern Danish army. It must have been this force that brought back to English Mercia the relics of the seventh-century Northumbrian royal saint Oswald from their resting-place at Bardney in Lincolnshire. Æthelflæd had them translated to her new minster at Gloucester, which afterwards took that saint's name. The essential precursor to systematic reconquest was the extension into Mercia of the system of fortified sites—burhs—which Alfred had begun to construct in Wessex. These served the dual purpose of consolidating the defence of English territory and providing bases for attacks on viking-occupied areas. Sometimes two were built in one location, to dominate both banks of a river. While Æthelred was still alive, in addition to ‘Bremesburh’, Worcester (between 887 and 899) and Chester (907) had been fortified. Thereafter, brother and sister seem to have co-ordinated their construction programme. In 1912, at Bridgnorth and perhaps at the unlocated ‘Scergeat’, Æthelflæd had burhs built to prevent crossings of the Severn, which viking armies had accomplished twice in living memory. Edward constructed two at Hertford to defend the southern part of Mercia which he controlled and, having moved into Essex, one at Witham. In 913 Æthelflæd responded to viking raids into Edward's territory by fortifying Tamworth and Stafford. The gap between Tamworth and Hertford was plugged in 914, when Edward had two burhs built at Buckingham, and Æthelflæd one at Warwick, while she also strengthened her northern defences with a burh at Eddisbury and, in 915, those of the Wirral with one at Runcorn. The burh at Chirbury, and perhaps that at the unlocated ‘Weardburh’, shored up the frontier with Wales in the same year, and Edward fortified Bedford, having received the submission of its viking army. In 916 he protected Essex from seaborne attack with a burh at Maldon. Æthelflæd must also have rebuilt the defences of Gloucester and Hereford during this period.

This activity provided the bases for the successes of 917. In that year, after Edward had ordered the occupation and fortification of Towcester, three separate viking forces attacked English territory, but were rolled back. Before the end of the year, all the Scandinavian armies of East Anglia had submitted to Edward and offered him their allegiance. In the meantime Æthelflæd sent an army that attacked and captured Derby and the area of which it was the centre, the first of the viking ‘Five Boroughs’ of the north-east midlands to fall. She lost ‘four of her thegns, who were dear to her’ there (ASC, s.a. 912, recte 917). In the following year, a co-ordinated campaign to capture the remaining four viking strongholds took Edward to Stamford, while Æthelflæd entered Leicester without opposition. She died, however, at Tamworth on 12 June 918, not sharing with her brother the completion of the reconquest of the southern Danelaw.

In the period of these campaigns, Æthelflæd also had other concerns that she seems to have tackled independently from Edward. There may be a kernel of truth behind the report of the Irish ‘fragmentary annals’—a late source, heavily embroidered with legendary accretions—that she led a combined army against the viking Ragnall (d. 920/21) at the second battle of Corbridge in 918: she may at least have sent a Mercian force to bolster that of Ragnall's northern opponents. She may even, as the ‘fragmentary annals’ go on to suggest, have made an agreement with the Picts and the Scots for co-ordinated action against recently arrived Norse aggressors in Northumbria. Her prominence in the north is indicated by the Mercian register, which states that in 918 the men of York offered her their submission and allegiance. She can therefore be seen as laying the foundations for Edward's (temporary) pacification of the north in 920. Relations with the Welsh are harder to fathom, the only recorded event being an expedition in 916 which captured the wife of the king of Brycheiniog as punishment for the murder of the Mercian abbot Ecgberht and his companions.

Æthelflæd was buried alongside her husband in the east porticus of her minster at Gloucester. Following her death, Edward initially allowed her daughter Ælfwynn, who must have been nearly thirty but was still unmarried, to hold a nominal rulership over the Mercians. After six months, however, she was ‘deprived of all authority in Mercia’ and carried off to Wessex (ASC, s.a. 919, texts B, C, D). At about the same time, the West Saxon version of the chronicle reports that all the people of Mercia, Danes and English, submitted to Edward. This act may have been premeditated: Edward's dispatch of his eldest son, Æthelstan, to be brought up among the Mercian aristocracy suggests as much. The bringing together of two (or, with the Danes, three) peoples under one rule did not amount to the creation of a single state, at least initially, but it does seem to have provoked some resentment among the Mercians, which lay behind a rebellion at Chester in 924. It is not known whether Æthelflæd herself approved of her brother's moves towards single rulership. In this context it is notable that her career emerges largely from the Mercian register, while the West Saxon version of the chronicle (text A), written within a few years, minimizes her significance. The latter text does not, however, obscure Æthelflæd's achievement, by dint of her high birth, her marriage, the political situation, and, it seems sure, her own ability, of a distinctively prominent role for a woman of her era. It made an impression on later generations. Writing c.1130, Henry of Huntingdon declared her ‘to have been so powerful that in praise and exaltation of her wonderful gifts, some call her not only lady, or queen, but even king’ and follows this with a poem describing her as ‘worthy of a man's name’ and ‘more illustrious than Caesar’ (Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, 309). Behind this twelfth-century rhetorical gloss lies recognition of the vital role that Æthelflæd played in the creation of the English kingdom.

Marios Costambeys
Sources

F. T. Wainwright, ‘Æthelflæd, lady of the Mercians’, Scandinavian England (1975), 305–24 · F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edn (1971) · ASC, s.a. 910, 912–18 [texts B, C, D] · ASC, s.a. 918 [texts A, E] · AS chart., S 221, 223–5, 367, 1280 · S. Keynes, ‘King Alfred and the Mercians’, Kings, currency and alliances: history and coinage of southern England in the ninth century, ed. M. A. S. Blackburn and D. N. Dumville (1998), 1–46 · J. N. Radner, ed., The fragmentary annals of Ireland (1978) · Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. D. E. Greenway, OMT (1996) · C. M. Heighway, ‘Anglo-Saxon Gloucester to AD 1000’, Studies in late Anglo-Saxon settlement, ed. M. L. Faull (1984), 105–26 · P. R. Szarmach, ‘Æðelflæd of Mercia, mise en page’, Words and works: studies in medieval English language and literature in honour of Fred C. Robinson, ed. P. S. Baker and N. Howe (1998), 105–26
© Oxford University Press 2004–5
All rights reserved: see legal notice      Oxford University Press


Marios Costambeys, ‘Æthelflæd (d. 918)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8907, accessed 24 Sept 2005]

Æthelflæd (d. 918): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/89072 
Biography* Æthelflæda governed jointly with her husband until his death. She then governed in her own name, and jointly with her brother Edward, King of Wessex, dominated the Vikings. She led her army herself in the conquest of Derby and Leicester. Her daughter succeeded her, but Edward took over Mercia and governed the joint kingdoms himself.3 

Family

Æthelred of Mercia d. 912
Child

Last Edited24 Sep 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S376] Unknown editor, unknown short title.
  3. [S365] Guide to Women Leaders, online http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/women_state_leaders.htm

Ecwina (Egwina) (?)1

F, #4987

Mistress* Principal=Edward of England "the Elder"1,2 

Family

Edward of England "the Elder" b. 875, d. 17 Jul 924
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 1-15.

Gillacomghall O'Toole1

M, #4988, d. 1041

Father*Doncuan (?)1 d. 1018
Gillacomghall O'Toole|d. 1041|p167.htm#i4988|Doncuan (?)|d. 1018|p167.htm#i4989||||King Dunlaing of Leinster|d. 1014|p175.htm#i5233||||||||||

Marriage* 1 
Death*1041 1 

Family
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Doncuan (?)1

M, #4989, d. 1018

Father*King Dunlaing of Leinster1 d. 1014
Doncuan (?)|d. 1018|p167.htm#i4989|King Dunlaing of Leinster|d. 1014|p175.htm#i5233||||Tuathal (?)|d. 956|p219.htm#i6546||||||||||

Marriage* 1 
Death*1018 1 

Family
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Wigelius (?)1

M, #4990

Father*Charles (?)1
Wigelius (?)||p167.htm#i4990|Charles (?)||p167.htm#i4991||||Duke Charles of Lorraine|b. 953\nd. 994|p87.htm#i2591|Bonna (?)||p163.htm#i4872|||||||

Family
Child

Last Edited29 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Charles (?)1

M, #4991

Father*Duke Charles of Lorraine1 b. 953, d. 994
Mother*Bonna (?)1
Charles (?)||p167.htm#i4991|Duke Charles of Lorraine|b. 953\nd. 994|p87.htm#i2591|Bonna (?)||p163.htm#i4872|King Louis I. of France d'Outre-Mer|b. c 919\nd. 10 Sep 954|p88.htm#i2611|Gerberga of Saxony|b. 914\nd. 5 May 984|p88.htm#i2612|Godefroy t. O. (?)|b. bt 930 - 935\nd. a 3 Sep 1005|p163.htm#i4881|Matilda of Saxony|d. 25 May 1008|p163.htm#i4882|

Family
Child

Last Edited29 Jun 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Hugh V de Lusignan "the Pious"1

M, #4992, d. 8 October 1060

Father*Hugh IV de Lusignan1,2 d. bt 1025 - 1032
Mother*Aldearde de Thouars (?)1,2 d. a 1030
Hugh V de Lusignan "the Pious"|d. 8 Oct 1060|p167.htm#i4992|Hugh IV de Lusignan|d. bt 1025 - 1032|p167.htm#i4993|Aldearde de Thouars (?)|d. a 1030|p167.htm#i4994|Hugh I. d. Lusignan|d. a 967|p167.htm#i4997|Arsendis (?)||p167.htm#i4998|Raoul I. de Thouars|d. bt 1014 - 1015|p167.htm#i4999|Aremburg (?)|d. a 1015|p167.htm#i5000|

Marriage* Principal=Almodis de la Marche1,2 
Death*8 October 1060 (in battle)1,2 

Family

Almodis de la Marche b. c 990, d. 17 Nov 1075
Child

Last Edited23 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 275-21.

Hugh IV de Lusignan1

M, #4993, d. between 1025 and 1032

Father*Hugh III de Lusignan1 d. a 967
Mother*Arsendis (?)1
Hugh IV de Lusignan|d. bt 1025 - 1032|p167.htm#i4993|Hugh III de Lusignan|d. a 967|p167.htm#i4997|Arsendis (?)||p167.htm#i4998|Hugh I. d. Lusignan||p167.htm#i5004||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Aldearde de Thouars (?)1 
Death*between 1025 and 1032 2 
Deathafter 1080 1 

Family

Aldearde de Thouars (?) d. a 1030
Child

Last Edited23 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 275-21.

Aldearde de Thouars (?)1

F, #4994, d. after 1030

Father*Raoul I de Thouars1 d. bt 1014 - 1015
Mother*Aremburg (?)1 d. a 1015
Aldearde de Thouars (?)|d. a 1030|p167.htm#i4994|Raoul I de Thouars|d. bt 1014 - 1015|p167.htm#i4999|Aremburg (?)|d. a 1015|p167.htm#i5000|Herbert I. de Thouars|d. 13 May 988|p167.htm#i5005|Hildegarde d'Aulnay (?)|d. 1020|p167.htm#i5006|||||||

Marriage* Principal=Hugh IV de Lusignan1 
Death*after 1030 1 

Family

Hugh IV de Lusignan d. bt 1025 - 1032
Child

Last Edited23 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 275-21.

Count Bernard I of la Marche and Perigord1

M, #4995, b. circa 986, d. before 16 July 1047

Father*Adalbert I de la Marche1,2,3 d. 997
Mother*Aisceline de Limoges1,2 d. bt 1007 - 1011
Count Bernard I of la Marche and Perigord|b. c 986\nd. b 16 Jul 1047|p167.htm#i4995|Adalbert I de la Marche|d. 997|p167.htm#i5001|Aisceline de Limoges|d. bt 1007 - 1011|p167.htm#i5002|Boso I "The Old" de la Marche|d. c 975|p167.htm#i5007|Emma o. P. (?)||p167.htm#i5008|Gerard (?)|d. bt 1007 - 1011|p167.htm#i5009|Rothilda d. B. (?)|d. a 1019|p167.htm#i5010|

Birth*circa 986 of LaMarche, Normandy, France1 
Marriage* Principal=Amelia of Aulnay (?)1,2 
Death*before 16 July 1047 1,2 

Family

Amelia of Aulnay (?) d. 1072
Children

Last Edited20 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-8.
  3. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 186-3.
  4. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-9.

Amelia of Aulnay (?)1

F, #4996, d. 1072

Father*Cadelon IV (?)1
Mother*Arsendis (Ersendis) (?)1 d. a 989
Amelia of Aulnay (?)|d. 1072|p167.htm#i4996|Cadelon IV (?)||p167.htm#i5003|Arsendis (Ersendis) (?)|d. a 989|p343.htm#i10276|Cadelon I. d' Aulnay|d. 967|p168.htm#i5011|Senegunda d. R. (?)|d. b 992|p168.htm#i5012|||||||

Marriage* Principal=Count Bernard I of la Marche and Perigord1,2 
Death*1072 1,2 

Family

Count Bernard I of la Marche and Perigord b. c 986, d. b 16 Jul 1047
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-8.
  3. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-9.

Hugh III de Lusignan1

M, #4997, d. after 967

Father*Hugh II de Lusignan1
Hugh III de Lusignan|d. a 967|p167.htm#i4997|Hugh II de Lusignan||p167.htm#i5004||||Hugh I. Lusignan||p168.htm#i5013||||||||||

Marriage* Principal=Arsendis (?)1 
Death*after 967 1 

Family

Arsendis (?)
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Arsendis (?)1

F, #4998

Marriage* Principal=Hugh III de Lusignan1 

Family

Hugh III de Lusignan d. a 967
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Raoul I de Thouars1

M, #4999, d. between 1014 and 1015

Father*Herbert I de Thouars1 d. 13 May 988
Mother*Hildegarde d'Aulnay (?)1 d. 1020
Raoul I de Thouars|d. bt 1014 - 1015|p167.htm#i4999|Herbert I de Thouars|d. 13 May 988|p167.htm#i5005|Hildegarde d'Aulnay (?)|d. 1020|p167.htm#i5006|Aimery I. de Thouars|d. 955|p221.htm#i6608|Alienor (?)|d. a 955|p221.htm#i6609|Cadelon I. d' Aulnay|d. 967|p168.htm#i5011|Senegunda d. R. (?)|d. b 992|p168.htm#i5012|

Marriage*1005 Principal=Aremburg (?)1 
Death*between 1014 and 1015 1 

Family

Aremburg (?) d. a 1015
Child

Last Edited23 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Aremburg (?)1

F, #5000, d. after 1015

Marriage*1005 Principal=Raoul I de Thouars1 
Death*after 1015 1 

Family

Raoul I de Thouars d. bt 1014 - 1015
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Adalbert I de la Marche1

M, #5001, d. 997

Father*Boso I "The Old" de la Marche1,2,3 d. c 975
Mother*Emma of Perigord (?)1,2,3
Adalbert I de la Marche|d. 997|p167.htm#i5001|Boso I "The Old" de la Marche|d. c 975|p167.htm#i5007|Emma of Perigord (?)||p167.htm#i5008|Sulpice d. Charroux||p206.htm#i6165||||Count William of Agen|d. 920|p371.htm#i11115|Ragilinde o. F. (?)|d. a 908|p206.htm#i6167|

Marriage*circa 975 Principal=Aisceline de Limoges1,2 
Death*997 Gencay1,2,4 
Burial* Carroux, Limousin, France1 

Family

Aisceline de Limoges d. bt 1007 - 1011
Child

Last Edited28 Aug 2006

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-7.
  3. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 186-2.
  4. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 186-3.
  5. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-8.

Aisceline de Limoges1

F, #5002, d. between 1007 and 1011

Father*Gerard (?)2 d. bt 1007 - 1011
Mother*Rothilda de Braose (?)2 d. a 1019
Aisceline de Limoges|d. bt 1007 - 1011|p167.htm#i5002|Gerard (?)|d. bt 1007 - 1011|p167.htm#i5009|Rothilda de Braose (?)|d. a 1019|p167.htm#i5010|Hildegar I. (?)|d. a 26 Mar 937|p206.htm#i6170||||Ademar (?)|d. 936|p206.htm#i6171|Melisendis (?)||p324.htm#i9704|

Marriage*circa 975 Principal=Adalbert I de la Marche2,1 
Death*between 1007 and 1011 2,1 
Name Variation Almode de Limoges2 

Family

Adalbert I de la Marche d. 997
Child

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-7.
  2. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  3. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-8.

Cadelon IV (?)1

M, #5003

Father*Cadelon III d' Aulnay1 d. 967
Mother*Senegunda de Remy (?)1 d. b 992
Cadelon IV (?)||p167.htm#i5003|Cadelon III d' Aulnay|d. 967|p168.htm#i5011|Senegunda de Remy (?)|d. b 992|p168.htm#i5012|Chalons (Cadelon) II (?)|d. ABT 949/950|p206.htm#i6179|Gisela o. M. (?)|d. c 926|p206.htm#i6180|Remi (?)||p207.htm#i6181|Odulgarda (?)||p207.htm#i6182|

Marriage* Principal=Arsendis (Ersendis) (?)1 

Family

Arsendis (Ersendis) (?) d. a 989
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Hugh II de Lusignan1

M, #5004

Father*Hugh I Lusignan1
Hugh II de Lusignan||p167.htm#i5004|Hugh I Lusignan||p168.htm#i5013||||||||||||||||

Marriage* 1 

Family
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Herbert I de Thouars1

M, #5005, d. 13 May 988

Father*Aimery II de Thouars1,2 d. 955
Mother*Alienor (?)1 d. a 955
Herbert I de Thouars|d. 13 May 988|p167.htm#i5005|Aimery II de Thouars|d. 955|p221.htm#i6608|Alienor (?)|d. a 955|p221.htm#i6609|Aimery I. de Thouars|d. b 936|p221.htm#i6610|Arembourg (?)|d. a 936|p221.htm#i6611|||||||

Marriage*before 969 Principal=Hildegarde d'Aulnay (?)1,2 
Deathbefore January 987 2 
Death*13 May 988 1 
Name Variation Arbert2 

Family

Hildegarde d'Aulnay (?) d. 1020
Children

Last Edited23 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 271-20.

Hildegarde d'Aulnay (?)1

F, #5006, d. 1020

Father*Cadelon III d' Aulnay1 d. 967
Mother*Senegunda de Remy (?)1 d. b 992
Hildegarde d'Aulnay (?)|d. 1020|p167.htm#i5006|Cadelon III d' Aulnay|d. 967|p168.htm#i5011|Senegunda de Remy (?)|d. b 992|p168.htm#i5012|Chalons (Cadelon) II (?)|d. ABT 949/950|p206.htm#i6179|Gisela o. M. (?)|d. c 926|p206.htm#i6180|Remi (?)||p207.htm#i6181|Odulgarda (?)||p207.htm#i6182|

Marriage*before 969 Principal=Herbert I de Thouars1,2 
Death*1020 1 
Name Variation Aldearde (?)2 

Family

Herbert I de Thouars d. 13 May 988
Children

Last Edited23 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 271-20.

Boso I "The Old" de la Marche1

M, #5007, d. circa 975

Father*Sulpice de Charroux1
Boso I "The Old" de la Marche|d. c 975|p167.htm#i5007|Sulpice de Charroux||p206.htm#i6165||||Geoffrey (?)|d. a 890|p206.htm#i6166||||||||||

Marriage*944 Principal=Emma of Perigord (?)1,2 
Death*circa 975 3 

Family

Emma of Perigord (?)
Child

Last Edited20 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-6.
  3. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 186-2.
  4. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-7.

Emma of Perigord (?)1

F, #5008

Father*Count William of Agen1,2 d. 920
Mother*Ragilinde of France (?)1,2 d. a 908
Emma of Perigord (?)||p167.htm#i5008|Count William of Agen|d. 920|p371.htm#i11115|Ragilinde of France (?)|d. a 908|p206.htm#i6167|Count Vulgrin of Angoulême|b. c 815\nd. 3 May 886|p371.htm#i11114|Rosalinde o. A. (?)|d. bt 896 - 901|p206.htm#i6168|Rutpert I. of Wormsgau|d. 15 Sep 866|p93.htm#i2783|Aelis of Tours|b. c 819\nd. c 866|p93.htm#i2784|

Marriage*944 Principal=Boso I "The Old" de la Marche1,3 

Family

Boso I "The Old" de la Marche d. c 975
Child

Last Edited20 Jan 2005

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
  2. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-5.
  3. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-6.
  4. [S232] Don Charles Stone, Ancient and Medieval Descents, 72-7.
  5. [S338] Frederick Lewis Weis, Ancestral Roots, 8th ed., 186-2.

Gerard (?)1

M, #5009, d. between 1007 and 1011

Father*Hildegar II (?)1 d. a 26 Mar 937
Gerard (?)|d. bt 1007 - 1011|p167.htm#i5009|Hildegar II (?)|d. a 26 Mar 937|p206.htm#i6170||||Hildegar (Eldegaire) (?)|b. c 864\nd. c 914|p206.htm#i6172|Tietberga d. B. (?)||p206.htm#i6173|||||||

Marriage*circa 950 Principal=Rothilda de Braose (?)1 
Death*between 1007 and 1011 1 

Family

Rothilda de Braose (?) d. a 1019
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.

Rothilda de Braose (?)1

F, #5010, d. after 1019

Father*Ademar (?)1 d. 936
Mother*Melisendis (?)1
Rothilda de Braose (?)|d. a 1019|p167.htm#i5010|Ademar (?)|d. 936|p206.htm#i6171|Melisendis (?)||p324.htm#i9704|||||||||||||

Marriage*circa 950 Principal=Gerard (?)1 
Death*after 1019 1 

Family

Gerard (?) d. bt 1007 - 1011
Children

Last Edited24 Oct 2003

Citations

  1. [S218] Marlyn Lewis, Ancestry of Elizabeth of York.
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