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Elfrida


Preferred Parents:
Father: Ordgar Ealdorman of Devon,   

Family 1: Æthelwald Of Kent,    b. ABT 945 in Wessex    d. 962 in England
Family 2: Edgar I of England,    b. 7 AUG 943 in Hampshire, England    d. 8 JUL 975 in Winchester, Hampshire, England
  1. Aethelred the Unready II, b. ABT 966     d. 23 APR 1016 in London, Middlesex, England
  2. Æthelred the Unready, b. 19 MAR 968 in Wessex     d. 23 APR 1016 in London, Middlesex, England
Sources:
  1. Title: Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=9289&h=25099286&indiv=try;
  2. Title: Millennium File
    Publication: Name: https://search.ancestry.com/collections/7249/records/104412304;
  3. Title: Legacy NFS Source: Elfrida Aelfthryth Devon England -
    Author: Ancestry Family Trees, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members., Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Page number: Ancestry Family Trees
    Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.
    Page: Migrated from user-supplied source citation: urn:familysearch:source:3248104007
  4. Title: Elfrida of Devon, Find A Grave Index
    Author: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10811083/elfrida_of_devon
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=60526&h=3931&indiv=try;
    Note: Elfrida of Devon BIRTH unknown Lydford, West Devon Borough, Devon, England DEATH 17 Nov 1000 Wherwell, Test Valley Borough, Hampshire, England BURIAL Wherwell Abbey Ruins Wherwell, Test Valley Borough, Hampshire, England MEMORIAL ID 10811083 Queen consort of King Edgar the Peaceful. Also known as Aethelfrida or Aelfrith, she was the daughter of Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon and Lady Wulfrith. Elfrida married Edgar as his second queen in 965. It is said Elfrida had Edward stabbed to death at Corfe Castle in 978, so her son Aethelred could take the throne. She founded Wherwell Abbey in atonement for Edward's murder, and spent the rest of her life as the Abbess. She died there at the age of about 55.
  5. Title: Totally Timelines
    Author: Totally Timelines
    Publication: Name: https://www.totallytimelines.com/aethelflaed-the-fair-d-c964/;
    Note: Short biographical information for Aethelflaed the Fair
  6. Title: UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
    Publication: Name: https://search.ancestry.com/collections/60526/records/3931;
  7. Title: Millennium File
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7249&h=101814874&indiv=try;
  8. Title: England’s First Queen, the Original Wicked Stepmother? by Sharon Bennett Connolly
    Publication: Name: https://historytheinterestingbits.com/2016/09/10/englands-first-queen-the-original-wicked-stepmother/;
    Note: After writing an article about Edward the Martyr the other week, I thought it only fair to take a look at the other side of the story and write about Ælfthryth, England’s first ever crowned queen and Edward’s stepmother – and possible murderer. Author Annie Whitehead researched Ælfthryth for her book Alvar the Kingmaker and rather likes her. So she can’t be all bad – can she? Ælfthryth was probably born around 945; the daughter of Ealdorman Ordgar of Devon and an unknown woman who is said to have been descended from the royal family. As you can imagine, after the passage of more than 1,000 years, nothing is known of her childhood; although she had a least one sibling, a brother, Ordulf, who was founder of Tavistock Abbey. She was married around the age of 11 to Æthelwold, the son of Æthelstan Half-King (I have to do a post about him! What a name!) and ealdorman of East Anglia. Æthelwold died in 962, probably in a hunting accident, although there were rumours of murder on the orders of his wife’s supposed lover, King Edgar. Edgar and Æthelwold would have known each other very well. After being orphaned as a baby, Edgar was raised in Æthelstan’s household alongside his own sons; of whom Æthelwold was one of the youngest. Some stories have Edgar wielding the dagger himself, while others don’t even mention murder. Whether the suspicion arose at the time of the event, or following Ælfthryth’s marriage to Edgar 2 years later, is also unclear. Edgar’s marital history was already chequered. Ælfthryth could be Edgar’s second or third wife; she was certainly the third relationship by which children were born. Edgar’s first wife, Æthelfled “the Fair”, was the mother of his eldest son, Edward (the Martyr). Following Æthelfled’s death, Edgar had a relationship with Wulfryth from which a daughter, Edith, was born around 963/964. The sources are uncertain as to whether or not Edgar and Wulfryth married, and some even suggest that she was a nun Edgar had seduced; although this may be confusion due to the fact that Wulfryth entered a convent shortly after Edith was born. Edith joined her mother in the abbey at Wilton, where Wulfryth eventually became abbess; in time both mother and daughter would be venerated locally as saints. Ælfthryth and Edgar were married in 964 and were soon the parents of 2 sons; Edmund and Æthelred. Despite having an older half-brother, Edward, it is Edmund who appears as Edgar’s acknowledged heir; his name being above that of Edward’s in a charter of 966, witnessed by both boys, which founded the New Minster at Winchester. Poor Ælfthryth must have been distraught when, in 971 and still only a child of about 7, young Edmund died. The grandson of Edward the Elder, and great-grandson of Alfred the Great, Edgar had been king since 959; however on 11 May 973 he had a coronation, at Bath Abbey. Whether this was his first coronation, or a second ceremony seems to be still debated by historians. Edgar was about 30 and the venerated Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury officiated. It is the first known coronation of a queen of England, Ælfthryth. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography there is a near contemporary account of the coronation, which depicts Ælfthryth feasting with many abbots and abbesses, wearing a silken gown sewn with pearls and precious stones. The coronation was an important display for Edgar and Ælfthryth, as a way to emphasise the legitimacy of their union, especially given Edgar’s marital history, and the claims of their children as Edgar’s heirs. Ælfthryth’s new position as a consecrated queen would give her surviving son, Æthelred, seniority over Edgar’s oldest son, Edward, whose mother was never queen. However, when it came down to it, Æthelred’s tender age was held against him, when Ælfthryth’s security was destroyed just 3 years later. King Edgar died unexpectedly at the young age of 32. With their eldest son dead and the youngest only 7 years old, the crown went to Edgar’s eldest son, the 12/13-year-old Edward. Edward faced opposition when Ælfthryth pressed Æthelred’s claim, supported by several leading figures, including Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester and her first husband’s brother, Æthelwine, ealdorman of East Anglia. However, with the backing of the revered, future saint, Archbishop Dunstan it was Edward who was crowned. Following his coronation Edward honoured his father’s promises to his wife, confirming the gift of jurisdiction over the whole of Dorset as Ælfthryth’s dower. As a consequence, Ælfthryth and her son, Æthelred, settled at Corfe, in the Purbeck Hills; it was a large estate surrounding a defensive mound, which would later become the Norman stronghold of Corfe Castle. And it was at Corfe on 18th March 978 that Ælfthryth’s reputation was irrevocably damaged, following a visit from 16-year-old King Edward. Whether Edward had been out hunting, or was in the area to specifically visit his stepmother and half-brother seems to be uncertain. However, he did send a message that he would be calling on them and Ælfthryth’s retainers were awaiting the young king at the gate, when he arrived with a small retinue. Still sitting in the saddle he was handed a drink; and stabbed. It must have been a horrific sight, as the king’s horse panicked and bolted, racing off with Edward’s foot stuck in the stirrup and the dying king being dragged along behind. Although Edward’s brother, Æthelred, only around 10 years old but now king of England, was above suspicion due to his age, Ælfthryth had no such protection. Some traditions go so far as to accuse Ælfthryth of wielding the dagger herself. However, while most believe she was complicit in the murder, it is by no means certain and it is entirely possible that court malcontents, who had migrated to Æthelred’s corner, were responsible for the murder. Ælfthryth rode out the ensuing furore and with her son as the new king, Ælfthryth was exonerated of any complicity; amid the necessity of stabilising the country, establishing the new reign and rescuing England’s reputation. Æthelred was crowned at Kingston, Surrey, on 4th May 979, a year after his brother’s death and just a few months after the reburial of Edward’s remains, with great ceremony, at Shaftesbury. A council was established to assist the young king in ruling the country, probably involving Queen Ælfthryth, who may have acted as regent during Æthelred’s minority; it also included the aging Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, and Ælfhere, ealdorman of Mercia. As Dowager Queen Ælfthryth’s dower lands in Rutland and east Suffolk helped to extend West Saxon rule over East Anglia as a whole. Even when Æthelred was old enough to rule alone, Ælfthryth did not retire entirely. Following her son’s marriage to Ælfgifu of York, it was Ælfthryth who seems to have had the responsibility of raising their first-born son and ætheling, Æthelstan. Æthelstan died aged about 20 in 1014, 2 years before his father, and spoke warmly of his grandmother in his will. Æthelred and Ælfgifu had over 10 children together, including Æthelred’s eventual successor in 1016, Edmund II Ironside, before Ælfgifu died; Æthelred then married Emma of Normandy, mother of England’s future kings, Harthacnut by her 2nd husband, King Cnut, and Edward the Confessor by Æthelred. As queen Ælfthryth had substantial influence over the nunneries of England; she ousted the abbess of Barking, a cousin of Edgar’s second wife, Wulfthryth. She endowed convents at Amesbury and Wherwell; her granddaughter would eventually become abbess of the latter. And it was to Wherwell that the queen did eventually retire from the limelight, sometime before the year 1000, dying there on 17 November in either 999, 1000 or 1001. Over a thousand years later Ælfthryth’s actions and reputation are still being debated by historians. While it is not inconceivable that she played a part in Edward the Martyr’s death, we also have to be aware that women of power and influence were much vilified in Medieval times; a strong, independent woman would be blamed for many crimes, simply because she dared to know her own mind…. While I am not entirely convinced of her innocence, neither am I certain of her guilt. Ælfthryth’s career and influence, however, stretched far beyond that one action. As the first crowned queen of England, her prestige and honour is incomparable with those who had gone before her. And it is telling, perhaps, that her daughter-in-law, Ælfgifu of York, was never crowned, nor was accorded the title while her Ælfthryth still lived. The next crowned Queen of England was Æthelred’s second wife, Emma of Normandy, who married the king after his mother’s death.
  9. Title: ÆLFTHRYTH, daughter of Ealdorman ORDGAR of Devon - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
    Publication: Name: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20AngloSaxon%20nobility.htm#AethelflaedMEdgar;
    Note: 1. ORDGAR (-971, bur Exeter). The root "Ord-" in his name suggests a family relationship with Ordmær: maybe they were brothers. Ealdorman of Devon. "Ordgar dux" subscribed charters of King Edgar dated between 964 and 970[30], one charter dated 966 specifying that he was "Ordgarus dux Domnoniæ"[31]. Simeon of Durham records the death in 971 of "Ordgar duke of Devonshire the father-in-law of King Eadgar" and his burial at Exeter[32]. His death in 971 is recorded by Roger of Hoveden[33]. m ---. The name of Ordgar's wife is not known. Ordgar & his wife had two children: a) ORDULF (-after 1004). A document which narrates the foundation of Tavistock Monastery names “Ordulphus…filius…Ordgari”[34]. "Ordulf comes" subscribed a charter of King Æthelred II dated 1004[35]. b) ÆLFTHRYTH (Lydford Castle, Devon ([945]-Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire [999/1002], bur Wherwell Abbey). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the marriage in 965 of King Edgar and Ælfthryth, stating that she was the daughter of ealdorman Ordgar[36]. Simeon of Durham records the marriage of King Eadgar and "the daughter of Ordgar duke of Devonshire after the death of her husband Elfwold…duke of the East Angles" in 964[37]. Roger of Hoveden names her, her father and her first husband, when recording her second marriage[38]. Geoffrey Gaimar records a lengthy account of King Edgar having sent "Edelwoth" to woo "Estrueth la fille Orgar" on his behalf, and Æthelwold having married her without the king´s knowledge[39]. King Edgar granted land in Buckinghamshire to "Ælfgifu que mihi afinitate mundialis cruoris coniuncta" in 966[40]. "Ælfthryth regina" subscribed charters of King Edgar dated between 964 and 974[41]. William of Malmesbury recounts that King Edgar killed Ælfthryth's first husband to enable him to marry her[42]. She was crowned with her husband in 973, apparently the first recorded instance of the coronation of a queen in England. It was alleged that she was involved in the plot to kill her stepson so her own son could succeed as king[43]. "Ælfthryth regina" subscribed charters of King Æthelred II between 979 and 983[44], and "Ælfthryth regis mater" between 981 and 999[45]. She became a nun at Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire in [985]. Her son King Æthelred II granted privileges to Wherwell Abbey in 1002 for the benefit of her soul[46]. m firstly [as his second wife,] ÆTHELWOLD Ealdorman of the East Angles, son of --- (-before 964). The Vita Oswaldi names Æthelwald as husband of Ælfthryth[47]. m secondly ([965]) as his second wife, EDGAR "the Peaceable" King of England, son of EDMUND King of Wessex & his first wife Ælfgifu --- (943-Winchester 8 Jul 975, bur Glastonbury Abbey).
    Page: Identifies ÆLFTHRYTH as born in 945 at Lydford Castle, Devon, the daughter of Ealdorman ORDGAR of Devon and a wife whose name is not known; was sister of ORDULF. Married twice 1st to ÆTHELWOLD Ealdorman of the East Angles who died before 964; married 2nd as his 2nd wife, King Edgar of England; She died at Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire in 999/1002 and was buried there.
  10. Title: Edward the Martyr From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - son of Æthelflæd
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Martyr;
    Note: Edward was the son of a liaison between Edgar and a nun, presenting him as the son of Æthelflæd, daughter of Ordmær, "ealdorman of the East Anglians", whom Edgar had married in the years when he ruled Mercia (between 957 and Eadwig's death in 959).[4] Additional accounts are offered by Goscelin in his life of Edgar's daughter Saint Edith of Wilton and in the histories of John of Worcester and William of Malmesbury.[5] Together these various accounts suggest that Edward's mother was probably a noblewoman named Æthelflæd, surnamed Candida or Eneda—"the White" or "White Duck".[6]
  11. Title: Ælfthryth (wife of Edgar) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Author: Wikipedia
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ælfthryth,_wife_of_Edgar;
    Note: Ælfthryth (c. 945 – 1000 or 1001, also Alfrida, Elfrida or Elfthryth) was an English queen, the second or third wife of King Edgar of England. Ælfthryth was the first king's wife known to have been crowned and anointed as Queen of the Kingdom of England. Mother of King Æthelred the Unready, she was a powerful political figure. She was possibly linked to the murder of her stepson King Edward the Martyr and appeared as a stereotypical bad queen and evil stepmother in many medieval histories. Ælfthryth was the daughter of Ealdorman Ordgar. Her mother was a member of the royal family of Wessex. The family's power lay in the west of Wessex. Ordgar was buried in Exeter and his son Ordwulf founded, or refounded, Tavistock Abbey.[2] Ælfthryth was first married to Æthelwald, son of Æthelstan Half-King as recorded by Byrhtferth of Ramsey in his Life of Saint Oswald of Worcester.[3] Later accounts, such as that preserved by William of Malmesbury, add vivid detail of unknown reliability. According to William, the beauty of 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.[4] The historical record does not record the year of Æthelwald's death, let alone its manner. No children of Æthelwald and Ælfthryth are known. Queen consort Edgar had two children before he married Ælfthryth, both of uncertain legitimacy. Edward was probably the son of Æthelflæd, and Eadgifu, later known as Saint Edith of Wilton, was the daughter of Wulfthryth.[5] Sound political reasons encouraged the match between Edgar, whose power base was centred in Mercia, and Ælfthryth, whose family were powerful in Wessex. In addition to this, and her link with the family of Æthelstan Half-King, Ælfthryth also appears to have been connected to the family of Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia.[6] Edgar married Ælfthryth in either 964 or 965. In 966 Ælfthryth gave birth to a son who was named Edmund. In King Edgar's charter (S 745) regranting privileges to New Minster, Winchester that same year, the infant Edmund is called "clito legitimus" (legitimate ætheling), and appears before Edward in the list of witnesses. Edmund died young, {{circa| 970, but in 968 Ælfthryth had given birth to a second son who was called Æthelred.[7] King Edgar organised a second coronation on 11 May 973 at Bath, perhaps to bolster his claim to be ruler of all of Britain. Here Ælfthryth was also crowned and anointed, granting her a status higher than any recent queen.[8] The only model of a queen's coronation was that of Judith of Flanders, but this had taken place outside England. In the new rite, the emphasis lay on her role as protector of religion and the nunneries in the realm. She took a close interest in the well-being of several abbeys, and as overseer of Barking Abbey she deposed and later reinstated the abbess.[9] Ælfthryth played a large role as forespeca, or advocate, in at least seven legal cases. As such, she formed a key part of the Anglo-Saxon legal system as a mediator between the individual and the crown, which was increasingly viewing its role in the courts as a symbol of its authority as protector of its subjects. Ælfthryth's actions as forespeca were largely for the benefit of female litigants, and her role as a mediator shows the possibilities for women to have legal and political power in late Anglo-Saxon England.[10] Queen dowager Edgar died in 975 leaving two young sons, Edward and Æthelred. Edward was almost an adult, and his successful claim for the throne was supported by many key figures including Archbishops Dunstan and Oswald and the brother of Ælfthryth's first husband, Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia. Supporting the unsuccessful claim of Æthelred were Ælfthryth herself (now the Queen dowager) Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester, and Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia.[11] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Edward was killed at Corfe Castle on 18 March 978, while visiting Ælfthryth. He was apparently killed by servants of the queen, leaving the way clear for her son Æthelred to be installed as king. As the king developed into a cult figure and martyr, a body of literature grew up around his murder, at first implying Ælfthryth's guilt and later accusing her outright. The 12th century monastic chronicle the Liber Eliensis went so far as to accuse her of being a witch, claiming that she had murdered not only the king, but also Abbot Brihtnoth of Ely.[12] Later life Ælfthryth disappears from the list of charter witnesses from around 983 to 993, when she reappears in a lower position. She remained an important figure, being responsible for the care of Æthelred's children by his first wife, Ælfgifu. Æthelred's eldest son, Æthelstan Ætheling, prayed for the soul of the grandmother "who brought me up" in his will in 1014.[13] Although her reputation was damaged by the murder of her stepson, Ælfthryth was a religious woman, taking an especial interest in monastic reform when Queen. In about 986 she founded Wherwell Abbey in Hampshire as a Benedictine nunnery, and late in life she retired there.[14] In about 979, Ælfthryth had founded Amesbury Abbey. The date is given by the Chronicle of Melrose appropriate.[15] Antonia Gransden comments: "In their patronage of the monks both Cnut and Edward the Confessor were supported by their queens, Emma and Edith, who were worthy successors of Edgar's queen, Ælfthryth, as patronesses of the religious."[16] She died at Wherwell on 17 November 999, 1000 or 1001.[14] Notes Stafford, op. cit., p. 91 Stafford, Unification, pp. 52–53. PASE; Stafford, Unification, pp. 52–53. Malmesbury, pp. 139–140 (Book 2, § 139. Cyril Hart, Edward the Martyr, Oxford Online DNB, 2004 Higham, pp. 6–7; Stafford, Unification, pp. 52–53. Higham, pp. 6–7; Miller, "Edgar"; Stafford, "Ælfthryth". Miller, "Edgar"; Stafford, "Ælfthryth". Honeycutt, Lois (2003). Matilda of Scotland: a Study in Medieval Queenship. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. pp. 36–37. Rabin, Andrew. "Female Advocacy and Royal Protection in Tenth-Century England: The Legal Career of Queen Ælfthryth." Speculum 84 (2009): 261–288. Higham, pp. 7–14; Stafford, Unification, pp. 57–59. *Davies, Anthony (1989). "Witches in Anglo-Saxon England: Five Case Histories". Superstition and Popular Medicine in Anglo-Saxon England (Ed: D.G. Scragg). Manchester: Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies: 48. Higham, pp. 7–14; Stafford, "Ælfthryth"; Stafford, Unification, pp. 57–59, Lavelle, pp. 86–90 Stafford, "Ælfthryth" “Houses of Benedictine nuns: Abbey, later priory, of Amesbury”, in Ralph Pugh, Elizabeth Crittall, eds., Wiltshire Victoria County History, Vol. 3 (University of London, 1956) pp. 242–259 Gransden, Legends, p. 58 References Gransden, Antonia (1992). Legends, Traditions and History in Medieval England. London: The Hambledon Press. ISBN 1-85285-016-7. Higham, Nick, The Death of Anglo-Saxon England. Stroud: Sutton, 1997. ISBN 0-7509-2469-1 Miller, Sean, "Edgar" in Michael Lapidge (ed.), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0 Lavelle, Ryan, Aethelred II: King of the English. Stroud: The History Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7524-4678-3 Stafford, Pauline, "Ælfthryth" in Michael Lapidge (ed.), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0 Stafford, Pauline, Unification and Conquest: A Political and Social History of England in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries. London: Edward Arnold, 1989. ISBN 0-7131-6532-4 William of Malmesbury (1854). Joseph Stevenson (ed.). Malmesbury's History of the Kings. The Church Historians of England, volume 3, part 1. Seeleys. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
    Page: Identifies Ælfthryth, the daughter of Ealdorman Ordgar, as born about 945. Married 1st Æthelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia, and 2nd Edgar, King of England as his 2nd or 3rd wife; With Edgar was the mother of: Edmund and Æthelred (who later was known as King Æthelred the Unready) Married Edgar in 964/965; Crowned and anointed as Queen on 11 May 973 at Bath; Widowed in 975; Lived at Castle Corfe at the time of the death of King Edward the Martyr on 18 March 978; After her son became king and married, she cared for his children, Retired to Wherwell Abbey in Hampshire 'late in life' and died there on 17 November in either the year 999, 1000 or 1001. Was respected by following generations.
  12. Title: The historical works of Simeon of Durham, tr., with preface and notes, by J. Stevenson by Simeon
    Publication: Name: https://archive.org/details/historicalworks00simegoog/page/n100/mode/1up;
    Note: A.D. 964. Eadgar, the pacific king of the Angles, took in marriage, the daughter of Ordgar, duke of Devonshire, after the death of her husband Elfwold, the illustrious duke of the East Angles, of whom he begot two sons, Eadmund and Egelred.^ Also before this he had by Egelfled the Fair, daughter of duke Ordmer, Eadward, afterwards king and martyr, and by the holy Wlthirtha, Eagitha, a virgin devoted to God. In the same year the same king located monks in the new monastery [of Winchester], and in Middleton; and ^pointed over the former Ethelgar, over the latter, Cymeward, as abbots. A.D. 971. Eadmund the Atheling, son of king Eadgar, died, and was honourably interred in the monastery of Romsey. Not long after, Ordgar, duke of Devonshire, the father-in-law of king Eadgar, died, and was buried in Exeter. A.D. 972. Eadgar, the pacific king of the Angles^ directed the church of fiie New Monastery, begun by Eadmund his father and completed by himself, to be consecrated with pomp. On the death of Oskytill, archbishop of York, hi« relative St. Oswald, bishop of Worcester, was elected in his place to the archiepiscopate. A.D. 973.] SIMEON OF DURHAM'S HISTORY OF« THE KINGS. 507 [Chester-le-street], departed this life. Elfsius succeeded him in' the episcopate. • A.D. 969. Eadgar, the pacific king of the Angles, ordered St. Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, and the blessed Oswald, bishop of Worcester, and St. Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester, that, driving out the secular clergy, they should place monks in the greater monasteries throughout Mercia. Upon which St. Oswald, acting according to his desire, expelled from the monastery the clerics of the church of Worcester who refused to receive the monastic habit ; but those who agreed to do so he in that year made monks, as he himself affirms, and set over them in the place of dean, Winsinus, a man of much religion. A. D. 970. The sacred and venerable remains of bishop Swithun, one hundred and ten years after their burial, were taken up" from his tomb in the thirteenth indiction, on Friday, being the ides of July [15th July], by the venerable bishop St. Ethelwold, and Elfstan, abbot of Glastonbury, and Ethelgar, abbot of the New Monastery, and were most honourably deposited in the church of the apostles Peter and Paul.* A.D. 971. Eadmund the Atheling, son of king Eadgar, died, and was honourably interred in the monastery of Romsey. Not long after, Ordgar, duke of Devonshire, the father-in-law of king Eadgar, died, and was buried in Exeter. A.D. 972. Eadgar, the pacific king of the Angles^ directed the church of fiie New Monastery, begun by Eadmund his father and completed by himself, to be consecrated with pomp. On the death of Oskytill, archbishop of York, hi« relative St. Oswald, bishop of Worcester, was elected in his place to the archiepiscopate. A.D. 973. Eadgar, the Pacific, in the thirtieth year of his age, in the fifth' indiction, on Whitsunday, the fifth of the ides of May [11th May], was blessed by the holy prelates, Dunstan and Oswald, and the other bishops of all England, in the city of Acamann [Bath] and was consecrated with great honour and glory, and anointed as king. A short time after that, he with a large fleet sailed round the i\orth of Britain, and landed at the City of Legions [Chester]. There met him there, as he had commanded, eight sub-kings — to wit, Kynath, king of the Scots ; Malcolm, king of the Cumbrians ; Maccus, king of many isles ; and five others, Dufnald, Siferth, Huval, Jacob, and Nichil — and swore that they would be faithful assistants to him both by sea and land. On a certain day he went with them on board a boat ; and they taking the oars, he took the helm, and skilfully steefed it up the course of the river Dee ; and a multitude of dukes and nobles also accompanying him in boats, he sailed from the palace to the monastery of St. John the Baptist, where, having offered his prayers, he returned to the palace with the same pomp. As he entered it, he is reported to have said to his nobles, that from henceforth each of his successors might boast that he was indeed king of the Angles, since so many Page 508 kings being in subjection to him, he could attain the dignity of so great honours. St. Oswald received the pall from Stephen, the hundred and thirty-fourth pope. A.D. 974. In this year a great earthquake took place over all England. A.D. 975. The emperor of the Anglian world, the flower and glory of preceding kings, the pacific king Eadgar, no less memorable to the Angles than Romulus to the Romans, Cyrus to the Persians, Alexander to the Macedonians, Arsaces to the Parthians, or Charlemagne to the Franks, having accomplished all things in royal style, departed this life in the thirty-second year of his age, in the nineteenth of his reign over Mercia and Northumhria — sixteen years of which he had reigned over all Anglia — in the third indiction, on Thursday the eighth of the ides of July [8th July]; leaving his son Eadward heir of his kingdom and his qualities. His body was carried to Glastonbury, and buried after the royal fashion. In his lifetime he had collected three thousand six hundred stout ships ; of which, after Easter, he stationed one thousand two hundred on the east, one thousand two hundred on the west, and one thousand two hundred on the north coast of the island ; and was wont to sail with the eastern fleet to the western, and leaving it, with the western to the northern, and leaving it, with the northern again to the eastern — thus every year circumnavigating the whole island. He acted thus boldly for defence against foreigners, and for practice in warlike arts to himself (and his people. In winter also, and in spring, it was his practice to make a circuit within the kingdom, everywhere throughout all the provinces of the Angles, and diligently inquire how the statutes of the laws and of his decrees were observed by the nobles, lest the poor should suflPer damage by the oppression of the powerful ; desirous in the one case (A strength, in the other of justice, consulting in both the welfare of the state and kingdom. Hence the fear of him spread amongst his enemies everywhere, and amongst his subjects love. At his death the condition of the whole kingdom was disturbed, and after a period of happiness (since in his time peace had been established), tribulation began to come in on every side. For Elfere, prince of the Mercians, and very many nobles of the kingdom, blinded by large bribes, expelled the abbots, with their monks, from the monasteries in which the pacific king Eadgar had placed them, and introduced clerics with their wives. But this outrage was opposed by the reverent men, Ethelwin, beloved of God, duke of tiie East Angles, and his brother Elfwold, and earl Brihtnoth, a religious man; who, assembled in synod, declared that they would never sufier the monks to be driven away, who preserved all the religion in the kingdom. Then, assembling an army, they defended with great energy all the monasteries of the East Angles. While this was taking place, there arose among the nobles of the kingdom great dissension about the choice of a king. The choice of some fell on the king's son Eadward ; of 509 Others, on his brother Egeb-ed. On account of which the arch- bishops Donstan and Oswald, with their sufiragans, and many abbots and dukes, met together and elected Eadward, as his father had decreed, and consecrated him when elected, and anointed him king. A comet was seen in the autumnal season. A. p. 976. A great famine assailed England. A. D. 977. A very great synod was held at the vill called Girding/ in East Anglia. After that, while another was held at the royal vill of Calne, the elders of all England who were there assembled, with the exception of St. Dunstan, fell from a certain chamber; some of whom were killed, others barely escaped at the peril of their lives. A.D. 978. Eadward, king of the Angles, by the command of his stepmother, queen Elfthrid, was wickedly killed by her people at the place called Corvesgate, and was buried at Wareham with no royal ceremony. His brother, the excellent Atheling Egelred, courteous in manner, fair of countenance, and graceful in appearance, was consecrated to the dignity of the kingdom in Kingston, by archbishops Dunstan and Oswald, and ten bishops, in the sixth indietion, on Sunday, the eighteenth of the kalends of May [14th April], after the Easter festival. A cloud was seen over the whole of England at midnight, at one time bloody, then fiery; after that, changing to different rays and various colours, it disappeared about dawn.
  13. Title: Ælfthryth: England’s first queen - History Extra
    Publication: Name: https://www.historyextra.com/period/anglo-saxon/aelfthryth-englands-first-queen/;
    Note: If asked to name a medieval queen of England, most would probably fasten upon Eleanor of Aquitaine, the influential wife of Henry II, made famous by Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter. A few Plantagenet and Tudor enthusiasts might think of Elizabeth Woodville, the capable consort of Edward IV and grandmother to Henry VIII. One or two of the more adventurous might even fix upon Emma of Normandy, the indomitable wife of King Cnut in the early 11th century. Many would struggle to think of any at all. But very few indeed would name Ælfthryth, the third wife of King Edgar (reigned 959–75) and mother of Æthelred ‘the Unready’ (r978–1013 and 1014–16). This is understandable. Beyond her outlandish name (sometimes modernised as Elfrida), Ælfthryth faces a number of difficulties. For a start, our sources for her life are much scarcer than they are for her more famous successors. To this may be added the lower public profile of Anglo-Saxon history. All too often we think of the Middle Ages as starting in 1066. Before this lurks the mysterious ‘Dark Ages’: a period filled with fascinating, semi-mythical figures such as Arthur and Merlin, but little in the way of real historical evidence. Still, it is a pity that she is not better known, for if any medieval English queen deserves to be a household name, it is Ælfthryth. And for all the importance of an Eleanor or an Elizabeth, it is Ælfthryth who has the honour of being the ‘first queen of England’. Ælfthryth’s reign came at a decisive time in English history. The second half of the ninth century had seen the Vikings subdue the north and east of England. Only the kingdom of Wessex, south of the Thames, survived – and this only thanks to the dogged efforts of Alfred the Great (r871–99). Under Alfred’s successors, the English went on the offensive, and by his grandson Æthelstan’s time (r924–39) most of what is now England had been brought under their control. Later kings had to fight hard to maintain these gains, but in the end they succeeded. Ælfthryth herself was born in the early to mid-940s to a prominent family in the South West. Upon coming of age, she was married to Æthelwold, the ealdorman of East Anglia (a royal officer, the equivalent of the later ‘earl’). Æthelwold’s family was one of the most powerful in England (his father had borne the nickname ‘half-king’, on account of his quasi-regal standing) and in this capacity he was responsible for almost a quarter of the realm. However, Æthelwold soon died under circumstances that are unclear. But rather than a setback, this proved the making of the young Ælfthryth. In 964 Ælfthryth, still only in her late teens or early twenties, went on to marry King Edgar, who had himself succeeded to the throne five years earlier. Like Ælfthryth, Edgar had been married before. In fact, he had two prior spouses, one of whom was still alive. Not surprisingly, there were questions as to whether this was a true marriage ‘till death do us part’: an indissoluble union in the language of the church. Such concerns were soon put to rest, however. On the occasion of the marriage itself, Edgar granted land to his new wife – a particular honour accorded to neither of his previous consorts. In fact, this seems to have been a different kind of union from the outset. Unlike her predecessors, Ælfthryth regularly appeared in government records. And, far from being there for purely decorative purposes, she seems to have influenced and guided royal policy. Before this, royal wives had been minor players. They appear only rarely in the documentary record, and when they do, they invariably bear the title ‘king’s wife’ or ‘king’s consort’ rather than ‘queen’. Such terms emphasise the dependency of these women on their husband; queen was not yet an office in its own right. But this too was now to change. From the start, Ælfthryth is styled ‘queen’. The reason for this change lies in another break with tradition: Ælfthryth was also the first consort of England to be crowned and consecrated. The tradition of royal consecration had developed on the continent in the early Middle Ages. At its heart lay the ritual anointing of the monarch with holy oil and investment with symbols of office (above all, the crown – hence the modern term ‘coronation’). The ceremony enacted and symbolised the transition from heir apparent to king, and was thought to endow the monarch with divine favour. It made him king ‘by the grace of God’. Royal consecration had become common in England in the ninth century, but it was reserved for ruling monarchs, invariably men. That Ælfthryth should be formally anointed like her husband marks an important point of departure. It indicates that, in both practical and symbolic terms, queenship was starting to become an office. Ælfthryth’s influence would not be owed entirely to her husband, but also to ‘divine grace’. The partnership between Ælfthryth and Edgar is visible throughout the remaining years of his reign. In the year of their marriage, they began to reform the bishopric of Winchester. This was a process that involved removing the existing clergy, who were accused of lax standards, and replacing them with monks. In future years, the two worked closely to foster similar reforms elsewhere. And when, in 973, Edgar decided to undergo a spectacular second coronation at Bath, Ælfthryth was right there by his side. In early July 975, at the height of his powers, Edgar died at the age of no more than 32. This had not been foreseen, and a succession struggle soon erupted. This pitted Ælfthryth and Edgar’s son, Æthelred, against Edgar’s eldest son, Edward (Æthelred’s half-brother). Most surprising is that there was a dispute at all. Though succession rules had yet to be formalised, it was generally anticipated that the eldest son would succeed (at least in the absence of a royal brother). That some were willing to back the much younger son Æthelred, who may only have been six at the time, requires some explanation. It’s likely that the imposing figure of Ælfthryth lay behind their decision. As queen, she had enjoyed great power and influence and was understandably hesitant to let go of this. Edward’s succession posed a real threat to her. If Edward proved long-lived, there was every chance that Æthelred might be cut out of the succession. Yet Ælfthryth was not just power-hungry. As a consecrated queen, she may have felt that she was more legitimate than Edgar’s previous wives: his only true consort. And if this were so, then Æthelred was his only true offspring. It was this that seems to have been the real point of contention: was Edward a throne-worthy heir, or an illegitimate bastard? Some were clearly convinced of the latter, but in the end age trumped legitimacy and Edward was consecrated king in his father’s stead. Edward’s succession was a major blow to Ælfthryth, and such wounds were not easily healed. Barely had Edward taken control of the realm, when he was killed at Corfe in Dorset by supporters of Æthelred and Ælfthryth. He had been travelling to visit the two at the time, and it is hardly surprising that suspicion has often fallen upon them. However, contemporary sources, of which there is little shortage, do not implicate them. We are probably dealing with a situation rather like that of Henry II and Thomas Becket two centuries later: one of zealous supporters seeking to do their masters a favour, and going beyond their orders. Whatever the precise circumstances, this act landed Æthelred on the throne that his mother had worked so hard to secure for him. However, he was still a child (no older than 12,and perhaps only eight or nine) so there could be no question of him ruling on his own. Instead, an informal regency was established with Ælfthryth and her supporters at its head. For the next six years, it was they who would rule with quiet efficiency. Only when the queen regent’s chief allies, Ælfhere of Mercia and Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester, died in quick succession in 983 and 984, did Æthelred finally take control of affairs. Initially, he distanced himself from the politics of his regents, and for the next eight or nine years Ælfthryth disappears from the record entirely. She was clearly removed from court, and her policies with her. These years saw something of a youthful rebellion from the teenage Æthelred, who took the opportunity to promote new favourites and attack religious houses associated with his earlier regents. Yet it was also at this juncture that the Vikings began to plague his coasts. In 991 they defeated a major English force at Maldon in Essex. Æthelred suddenly suffered a crisis of confidence. As was common in the Middle Ages, the king interpreted this as a sign of divine displeasure, and set about mending his errant ways – starting with restoring his mother to favour. He welcomed Ælfthryth back at court and reversed previous policies. Æthelred also charged his mother with the important task of raising his children (her own grandchildren, the heirs to the throne). Reconciliation seems to have been complete. When Ælfthryth died on 17 November 1001, the king was deeply moved. She was buried at Wherwell, the nunnery she had founded in Hampshire. Soon after Æthelred issued an extraordinary document in favour of this centre. Like most royal enactments, the resulting text opens with a meditation on God’s will. Yet unlike other documents of the era, this quotes the biblical dictum: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” then cites the fifth commandment: “Honour thy father and thy mother”. Ælfthryth’s legacy lived on in the queens who followed her. Æthelred’s second wife, Emma of Normandy, cut quite the figure in future years, as did Edith, the wife of Edward the Confessor (and the sister of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England). The office of queen had been born, and had a long and bright history before it. Levi Roach is a lecturer in history at the University of Exeter.
  14. Title: Ælfthryth Wife of Eadgar, king of England - The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England
    Note: Ælfthryth Wife of Eadgar, king of England. Ælfthryth was married to king Eadgar in 965 ["Her on þissum geare Eadgar cyning genam Ælf[ðr]yðe him to cwene, heo wæs Ordgares dohtor ealdormannes." ASC(D)]. Although contemporary sources tell us little about her, later sources attributed the murder of Eadweard the Martyr to her. [See DNB 1: 167-8] Date of birth: Unknown. Place of birth: Unknown. Date of death: 17 November 999×1002. Place of death: Unknown. An eleventh century calendar gives her date of death as 17 November ["[17 Nov.] Obitusque Ælfþryð matris Æþelredi regis." Lib. Vit. Hyde, 272]. She was still living in 999, when she witnessed one of Æthelred's charters ["Ego Ælfðryð mater eiusdem regis fautrix extiti." Codex Dipl. Sax. 3: 314 (#703)], but was deceased in 1002 when Æthelred made a donation for her soul ["... ego Æðelred ... pro remedio animae patris mei Eadgari et matris meae Ælfðryð ..." Codex Dip;. Sax. 3: 323 (#707)]. Father: Ordgar, d. 971, ealdorman of Devon. Mother: NN, d. bef. 981, bur. at Tavistock. Spouses: Both of Ælfthryth's marriages are mentioned by the Vita Sancti Oswaldi, which however confuses her with Eadgar's first wife ["Athelwoldus vero satis digniter principatum Orientalis regni acquisivit a rege, tenuitque magna virtute; qui accipiens filiam Ormeri ducis Occidentalium Anglorum, perduxit secum ad suum regnum, quæ vocitata erat Ælfritha; quam post mortem ejus rex Eadgar præpotentissimus accepit, ex qua duos habuit filios, quorum unus Eadwerd est dictus, alter vero Æthelredus." Vita Sancti Oswaldi, Hist. Ch. York, 1: 428-9]. The two marriages are also given by John of Worcester ["Rex Anglorum pacificus Eadgarus Ordgari ducis Domnaniæ filiam, Ælfthrytham nomine, post mortem viri sui Æthelwoldi, gloriosi ducis Orientalium Anglorum, in matrimonium accepit; ex qua duos filios, Eadmundum et Æthelredum, suscepit." John Worc. s.a. 964 (1: 140)]. (1) Æthelweald/Æthelwold, fl. d. prob. 962, ealdorman of East Anglia, 956-962. Æthelweald succeeded as ealdorman of East Anglia on the retirement of his father Æthelstan "Half King" in 956 [Hart (1973), 128]. He was still living in 962, when he witnessed several charters as ealdorman ("dux") [Cart. Sax. 3: 312 (#1082), 316 (#1085), 322 (#1092), 327 (#1095)]. He probably died in the same year, for in 962 his brother Æthelwine begins to sign as dux in his place [ibid., 3: 314 (#1083), 324 (#1093)]. See the paper by Hart on Athelstan 'Half King' and his family [Hart (1973)]. (2) Eadgar, d. 8 July 975, king of England, 959-975. Children: See the page of Eadgar for more details. MALE Eadmund, b. ca. 966, d. 971, bur. Romsey. MALE Æthelred II "the Unready", b. ca. 968, d. 23 April 1016, king of England, 978×9-1013, 1014-6; m. (1) Ælfgifu (?); m. (2) 1002, Emma, d. 6×7 March 1052, daughter of Richard I of Normandy. Commentary Possible child by Æthelweald: MALE Leofric, fl. 14 June 987; perhaps m. Leoflæd, founders of St. Neots Priory, 979×84. ["... sub testimonio Æthelsii, filii Athelstani Aldermani, et Leofrici filii Æthelwyni* Aldermanni, ..." * version A; alternate readings: Æthelwoldi, B; Athelwardi, B in p.iv., Hist Rameseiensis, c. 33, Chron. Rams., 61; Hart argues that when the two versions disagree, B is usually the superior, Hart (1973), 131 & n. 2]. For Hart's theory that this Leofric was the same as the Leofric who married Leoflæd and founded St. Neots Priory [Liber Eliensis ii, 29-30 (pp. 103-4)], see Hart's paper on Athelstan 'Half King' [Hart (1973), 130 & n. 5]. If the testimony of the not always reliable Geoffrey Gaimar can be believed, Ælfthryth did have a child by Æthelweald [Gaimar 3728-35]. Conjectured additional child by Æthelweald: MALE Æthelnoth. The Leofric who founded St. Neots had a brother named Æthelnoth ["Ægelnoþus, frater Leofrici" Liber Eliensis ii, 30 (p. 104)]. He would belong as a son of Ælfthryth only if Hart's above identification is correct, and if Hart if right in preferring version B to version A in the statement of Leofric's parentage. Bibliography ASC = Charles Plummer, Two of the Saxon Chronicles parallel, based on the earlier edition by John Earle, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1892-9). ASC(A) indicates the "A" manuscript of the chronicle, and similarly for the other manuscripts. Chron. Rams. = W. Dunn Macray, ed., Chronicon Abbatiæ Rameseiensis (Rolls Series 83, London, 1886). Codex Dipl. Sax. = John M. Kemble, ed., Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, 6 vols. (London, 1839-48). DNB = Dictionary of National Biography. Gaimar = Thomas Duffus Hardy & Charles Trice Martin, ed. & trans., Lestorie des Engles solum la translacion Maistre Geffrei Gaimar, 2 vols. (London 1888-9). Hart (1973) = Cyril Hart, "Athelstan 'Half King' and his family", Anglo-Saxon England 2 (1973): 115-144. Hist. Ch. York = James Raine, ed., The Historians of the Church of York, and its Archbishops, 3 vols. (Rolls Series 71, London, 1879-86). John Worc. = Benjamin Thorpe, ed., Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis, 2 vols., (London, 1848-9). (The work formerly attributed to Florence of Worcester is now generally attributed to John of Worcester.) Lib. Vit. Hyde = Walter de Gray Birch, Liber Vitae: Register and Martyrology of New Minister and Hyde Abbey Winchester (London, 1892). Liber Eliensis = E. O. Blake, Liber Eliensis (Camden 3rd. ser. 92, London, 1962). Compiled by Stewart Baldwin First uploaded 20 June 2010. Minor revision uploaded 27 June 2010 (added reference from Geoffrey Gaimar, pointed out by Todd Farmerie).
    Page: Identifies Ælfthryth as the wife of Eadgar, king of England, married in 965. Daughter of Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon and a woman whos name is not known but who died before 981 and was buried at Tavistock. Married 2x, 1st husband was Æthelweald/Æthelwold, ealdorman of East Anglia, and who died 962; 2nd marriage was to King Edgar in 965. 2 children of 2nd marriage, sons: Eadmund, born about 966 (and died 971) and King Æthelred II "the Unready", born about 968. Died on 17 November after 999 but before 1002.
  15. Title: Wherwell Abbey From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wherwell_Abbey#Foundation;
    Note: Wherwell Abbey was an abbey of Benedictine nuns in Wherwell, Hampshire, England. Foundation The nunnery was founded about 986 by Ælfthryth, the widow of King Edgar. She retired there to live a life of penance for her part in the murders of her first husband Æthelwald and of her step-son King Edward. She died at the monastery on 17 November 1002 and was buried there.[1][2] It would seem that immediately after the foundress's death, King Æthelred confirmed by charter all his mother's gifts to the abbey, where the abbess was then Heanfied. The grant included exemption from temporal service, and the gift of land and houses at Edelingdene, Winchester and Bullington. An unnamed granddaughter of Ælfthryth (and daughter of King Æthelred the Unready) was abbess in the eleventh century.[3] According to the Annals of Winchester and Florence of Worcester, King Edward the Confessor's mother, Emma, and his wife Edith were both confined for a period at Wherwell, but it seems likely that this assertion is confused and that Emma was never sent to Wherwell.[4] The Domesday Book records the abbey's property as comprising the vills of Wherwell, Tufton Goodworth, Little Anne, Middleton, Bullington, and houses in Winchester, all in Hampshire. The annual revenue then amounted to £14. 10s.[5] Later history During the Anarchy in 1141, the Empress Matilda's forces fortified the abbey, but they were defeated by King Stephen's troops. Matilda's men fled into the abbey, which was then burned by Stephen's troops commanded by William of Ypres. Traces of the earthworks built by the Empress Matilda's forces are visible today.[6] In about 1173 Matilda de Bailleul (aka Maud[1]) arrived from Flanders.[7] She made good on the damage done by William of Ypres. She organised a funding system for the abbey establishing four prebends. Thomas Becket had been murdered in 1170 and after he died the abbey had a silver goblet and a gilded chalice that were noted because they had been used by revered Thomas a Becket. As the abbey had no relics it is speculated that these drinking vessels were used to attract funding.[7] Matilda is said to have installed lighting as well as ornaments in the abbey. On 21 May 1194 the pope Celestine III wrote to de Bailleul and the nuns at the Abbey, acknowledging the reversal in the abbey's fortunes.[8] By then the abbess had had a psalter in her possession which is believed to have been made by two scribes and an artist associated with St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire. She added details to the psalter of her relatives obituaries and prayers.[9] Matilda died in 1212 and by that time the number of nuns had grown from not many to forty.[7] Matilda was succeeded by her niece Euphemia de Walliers.[10] Matilda's psalter was passed down to her spiritual successors who also added annotations. The psalter is now in the possession of St John's College, Cambridge.[9] Euphemia was Matilda's niece and she also came from Flanders.[7] She would serve as Abbess until 26 April 1257.[10] Euphemia seems to have been a veritable whirlwind. Events include many undated charters relating to small gifts or grants was made. Like Matilda (Maud?), she seems to have been well loved by the nuns, as the surviving cartulary records. Euphemia built a new farmery, dorter and areas for other functions, such as latrines with running water, all away from the main buildings, and nearby a chapel of the Blessed Virgin, with a large enclosed garden. By the river bank, she constructed other practical buildings, but left access to the river for the nuns. She cleared sordid older buildings that were a fire risk and built a new hall for the manor court, and further away a new and efficient mill She rebuilt from the ground up the dilapidated manor house at Middleton, and took similar measures at Tufton. She was attentive to charitable works and in providing hospitality.[1] She embellished the Norman church that had replaced the original Saxon church after the Conquest with crosses, reliquaries, precious stones, vestments, and books. When the decaying bell tower collapsed on to the dorter in the early hours, narrowly missing the nuns, she built a tall and handsome replacement that matched the remaining buildings and in her old age she had dismantled and rebuilt with 12-foot deep foundations the sanctuary of the church.[1] Abbess Euphemia also oversaw a significant expansion in the size of the community with the number of nuns being housed reaching 80.[11] The Black Death later cut this number to single figures.[12] In 1291 the temporalities of the Wherwell Abbey were valued at a very considerable £201 18s. 5½d., in addition to which the abbess received pensions of £1 10s. from the church of Wallop and £1 6s. 8d. from the church of Berton. That same year, on 12 August, Pope Nicholas IV granted a relaxation of one year and forty days to penitents practising imposed penance who visited the Abbey church of Wherwell, on the four feasts of the Blessed Virgin, and on that of the Holy Cross and its octave.[1] In larger monastic houses of both men and women, the sacristan held a highly responsible post and at Wherwell was the beneficiary of specific income from dedicated rents. During the time of another abbess Maud (1333-1340) an inventory of the valuables in the sacristan’s custody was compiled. It detailed two precious chalices donated by Abbess Maud herself and Abbess Ellen de Percy and nine other chalices, several for use on a specific altar, two with depictions of St Thomas Becket on the foot, a number of silver and silver gilt ciboria and pyxes to hold the sacred hosts, one in the form of a tower. There were also crosses, basins, cruets for wine and water, candlesticks, censers, incense boats with their spoons, and two crowns (perhaps for crowning a statue of the Virgin), all in silver or silver gilts. This indicates not idle riches, but a certain level of income plus an attention to the dignity of the liturgical services as already seen a century earlier under Abbess Euphemia. Other burials Benjamin Lethieullier Cecily Shirley West, wife of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr Dissolution After having been in substance harassed for some years, the abbey was left with no option but to surrender at the Dissolution of the monasteries to the crown on 21 November 1539. The abbess received an annual pension of £40, the prioress one of £6, and twenty-three nuns received pensions of from £5 to £2 13s. 4d. Post-dissolution It was originally intended that the site and estates be granted to John Kingsmill, brother of the abbess, but in fact they were granted to Thomas West, 9th Baron De La Warr, after he successfully petitioned Cromwell for it.[1] The manor house of Wherwell Priory was built on the site. Present day The abbey has disappeared, but in 1997 a geophysical survey by archaeologists from Southampton University located the foundations under the lawn of the eighteenth-century Wherwell Priory.[12] Notes Houses of Benedictine nuns: Abbey of Wherwell, in H. Arthur Doubleday & William Page (edd.), A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 2, London, 1903, pp. 132-137. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol2/pp132-137 [accessed 5 September 2017]. Pauline Stafford, Ælfthryth, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004 Frank Barlow, Edward the Confessor, Yale University Press, 1997, p. 28n Edward A. Freeman, The history of the Norman Conquest of England: Its Causes and Results, Clarendon Press, Oxford, vol. II, 1868, note H. H. Arthur Doubleday & William Page (edd.), A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 1, London, 1903, p. 475. h2g2, Hampshire Earthwork Castles "Bailleul, Matilda de (d. 1212), abbess of Wherwell". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/105478. ISBN 9780198614111. Retrieved 27 March 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) Bugyis, Katie Ann-Marie (14 September 2020). "Made for a Templar, Fit for an Abbess: The Psalter, Cambridge, St. John's College, MS C.18 (68)". Speculum. 95 (4): 1010–1050. doi:10.1086/710346. ISSN 0038-7134. S2CID 224976336. "Seminar: "Made for a Templar, Fit for an Abbess: The Psalter, Cambridge, St John's College, MS C.18 (68)" – Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies". Retrieved 28 March 2021. "Walliers, Euphemia de [Euphemia of Wherwell] (d. 1257), abbess of Wherwell". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54451. Retrieved 28 March 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) Manning, Andrew; Rawlings, Mick (2003). "Archaeological investigations at Wherwell Priory 1996-1999". Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society. 58: 186–208. Times Higher Education, 3 October 1997
    Page: Identifies Ælfthryth as the widow of King Edgar, who founded Wherwell Abbey as a Benedictine nunnery about 986 in Wherwell, Hampshire, England. States she retired there to live, died at the monastery on 17 November 1002, and was buried there.
  16. Title: Hidden historical heroines (#05: Queen Ælfthryth)
    Publication: Name: https://erinlawless.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/hidden-historical-heroines-05-queen-aelfthryth/#:~:text=%C3%86lfthryth%20was%2C%20in%20truth%2C%20more%20the%20original%20wicked,as%20she%20is%20by%20history%20teachers%20and%20novelists%21;
    Note: Ælfthryth of Devon (c. 945 – c.1001) was a Saxon Queen: wife, stepmother and mother to a succession of kings. She was in fact the first king’s wife known to have been crowned and anointed as Queen of the Kingdom of England. To say Ælfthryth was a ‘heroine’ is stretching the usual definition of the word! Ælfthryth was, in truth, more the original wicked stepmother. Nevertheless, she was a queen-regent of England, whose actions shaped the country (and the monarchy) we have today, and she should not be as ignored as she is by history teachers and novelists! Ælfthryth was royal on both sides of her family; her father was the Ealdorman of what is now Devon and her mother was of the royal family of Wessex. She was rumoured to be surpassingly lovely and Edgar, the King (known as ‘the Peaceable’) needed alliances in that part of his kingdom. He sent a trusted companion to scope her out as a potential bride. So lovely indeed was the young Ælfthryth that this companion married her himself, reporting back to Edgar that the girl was a hag. His suspicions probably aroused, Edgar said he would meet with this girl himself and look upon her unfortunate face. Alarmed, the duplicitous companion ordered Ælfthryth to make herself look as ugly as possible for the king’s visit. Showing the personality that would eventually have her known as a quarrelsome termagant, Ælfthryth did just the opposite. Edgar fell madly in love with her and his erstwhile friend soon found himself killed in a hunting ‘accident’. The two were married. By all accounts, Ælfthryth was an effective queen and managed her vast estates and dower lands well. People petitioned her on a regular basis, suggesting she had the ear of the king and was allowed, at least in some capacity, to offer opinions and advice to him. She was extremely active in the matter of religious reform, supporting and renovating abbeys and other religious buildings. Edgar had a bevy of children by his first two wives and Ælfthryth soon added two more sons to the total – the first was to die young, the second to become the derided Æthelred ‘the Unready’. When Edgar died in 975, his son Edward (by his first wife), was almost a man grown; Æthelred could have been no older than nine or ten. By some accounts Edward was not a likeable man and this may be the reason that the clergy and noblemen divided in loyalty between he and his half-brother Æthelred. Even after Edward was formally crowned King, the tension continued. Æthelred’s supporters claimed that Edgar’s first marriages had not been Christian ones, the wives never known as queens, and therefore all offspring from said marriages – Edward included – should be considered illegitimate. In 978, King Edward came to Corfe Castle to visit his stepmother and half-brother. As he came through the gate, he was rushed by a clutch of men who pulled him from his horse and stabbed him to death in the castle courtyard. The world was shocked. The previously unpopular Edward immediately and forever more became known as ‘Edward the Martyr’. Although it seems unlikely for such a deeply religious woman, Ælfthryth was credited with masterminding the regicide so that her son could become king and she his regent – which is exactly what transpired. Ælfthryth was apparently so wicked that when Æthelred expressed consternation at the cold-hearted assassination of his brother and king, she beat him black and blue with a candlestick. Ælfthryth ruled on behalf of her young son until about 985, by all accounts with an iron fist. There was a deep seated resentment towards both her and Æthelred however, that would swell up after her death. She was charged with the raising and education of Æthelred ‘s sons by his first wife, the eldest – Æthelstan – was to remember her fondly in his will. She retired to a nunnery in Hampshire that she had founded and died some time between 999 and 1001. It’s no exaggeration that – if Ælfthryth was instrumental in the death of Edward the Martyr – she changed the course of the English monarchy. It could be argued that without the tensions that derived from this action – and subsequent heightened unpopularity of Æthelred – there might never have been a Danish, followed by a Norman, invasion. Regardless of her personal unpopularity and the scandals and sins she may or may not have been guilty of, she was a technically admirable ruler as regent for her son and without a doubt surpassed the limitations of her sex and time. More people should know her name – which was probably pronounced “Alf-frith”, by the way..!
  17. Title: Millennium File
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=7249&h=104412304&indiv=try;
  18. Title: Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-Current
    Publication: Name: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=9289&h=14151997&indiv=try;
  19. Title: North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000
    Author: Book Title: The royal lineage of the Hamlins : being the branch of the Hamlin family descended through Mary Dun
    Publication: Name: https://search.ancestry.com/collections/61157/records/725828;
  20. Title: Geni: Ælfthryth
    Author: Geni
    Publication: Name: https://www.geni.com/people/Ælfthryth/6000000002957518468;
    Note: Biographical information for Ælfthryth
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