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Gytha of Wessex Haraldsdottir Grand Princess consort of Kievan Rus


Preferred Parents:
Father: Harold Godwinson of England II, b. ABT 1022 in Wessex, England   d. 14 OCT 1066 in Senlac Hill, Battle, Sussex, England
Mother: Edith Swanneck, b. ABT 1025 in Wessex   d. 1086 in Carlisle, Cumberland, Scotland

Family 1: Vladimir Monomakh Great Prince of Kiev II,    b. 26 MAY 1053 in Kievan Rus', Rurikid Dynasty    d. 19 MAY 1125 in Kievan Rus', Rurikid Dynasty
  1. Mstislav Vladimirovich Grand Prince of Kiev I, b. 1 JUN 1076 in Turaw, Mozyrʹ, Minsk, Russisches Kaiserreich     d. 15 APR 1132 in Kiev, Kyyivsʹkyy Povit, Kiev, Russisches Kaiserreich
Sources:
  1. Title: Wikipedia - Gytha in 'Vladimir II Monomakh'
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_II_Monomakh#Marriages_and_children;
    Note: Vladimir II Monomakh (Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Мономахъ, Volodiměrŭ Monomakh; Russian: Владимир Мономах; Ukrainian: Володимир Мономах, romanized: Volodymyr Monomakh; Christian name: Vasiliy, Vasyl, or Basileios) (26 May 1053 – 19 May 1125) reigned as Grand Prince of Kyivan Rus' from 1113 to 1125. He is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is celebrated on May 6.[1] Marriages and children Vladimir married three times. Some sources cite his first wife as Gytha of Wessex, daughter of Harold of England who had fallen at Hastings in 1066 and of Edith Swannesha. Problems exist in that none of the sources citing this are contemporary, and none of the Russian sources cite the name of his first wife as the daughter of Harold Godwinson. The "Testament of Vladimir Monomakh" records her date of death as 7 May 1107. However does not mention her name, only identifying her as the mother of Yuri.. They had at least six children, possibly more: Mstislav I of Kyiv (1 June 1076 – 14 April 1132) Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Kursk (c. 1077 – 6 September 1096) Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Pereyaslav (c. 1080 – 16 March 1114) Yaropolk II of Kyiv (1082 – 18 February 1139) Viacheslav I of Kyiv (1083 – 2 February 1154) Yuri (George), later known as Yuri Dolgoruki (d. 15 May 1157). The mother of Yuri is unclear, most historians agree it was more likely Gytha, based upon Yuri's acceptable marriage age in 1108. The following daughter has been attributed to either the first or the second wife: Marina Vladimirovna (d. 1146). Married Leon Diogenes, a pretender to the throne of the Byzantine Empire who claimed to be a son of Romanos IV and who rose to the rank of khan of the Cumans in Ossetia.
  2. Title: Документы: Родословная книга князей и дворян Российских и выезжих
    Author: Документы: Родословная книга князей и дворян Российских и выезжих.
    Note: [PFT:AQ] [S:Titl] Документы: Родословная книга князей и дворян Российских и выезжих [/PFT]
  3. Title: Blog Post, not secure - Gytha of Wessex - An Anglo-Saxon Russian Princess
    Publication: Name: https://thewildpeak.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/gytha-of-wessex-an-anglo-saxon-russian-princess/;
  4. Title: fabpedigree: of Gytha (Princess) of Wessex
    Publication: Name: https://www.fabpedigree.com/s025/f197579.htm;
    Note: The PEDIGREE of Gytha (Princess) of WESSEX aka Gyda HARALDSDATTER; (illegitimate daughter of King Harold who fled after Battle of Hastings, first to Denmark, then Russia) Born: abt. 1053 Died: 1107 HM George I's 16-Great Grandmother. HRE Ferdinand I's 13-Great Grandmother. U.S. President [MONROE]'s 24-Great Grandmother. PM Churchill's 24-Great Grandmother. HM Margrethe II's 22-Great Grandmother. Gen. Pierpont Hamilton's 25-Great Grandmother. Wm. von Bismarck's 21-Great Grandmother. `Red Baron' Richthofen's 21-Great Grandmother. Poss. Agnes Harris's 20-Great Aunt. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 22-Great Grandmother. Husband/Partner: Vladimir (Valdemar) II (Grand Prince) of KIEV Children: Mystislaw (I) Harold (Grand Prince) of KIEV ; Grand Prince Jaropolk II ; Grand Prince Wjatschelaw Possible Child: Yuri (Yury Yurij; I) DOLGURUKII of MOSCOW Alternative Mothers of Possible Child: Sofja of POLOWEZKI ; prob. not Gyda `the Old' INGESDOTTIR ________ ________ ________ ________ _______ _______ _______ _______ ______ _____ _____ / -- Aethelwerd I (Earldorman) of WESSEX + ==&=> [ 255 ,G,&] / -- Aethelmar Cild (Theign) of SUSSEX (? - 1016?) | \ | or: poss. Osulf AETHELMARSEN (Aethelmar's son) / \ -- Aethelflaed / -- Wulfnoth Cild (Theign) of SUSSEX (983? - 1015?) / \ -- Aethelthrith / -- Godwin (Godwine) of WESSEX (1001? - 1053) | \ / -- Harald III (II) GORMSSON + ====> [ 255 ,g,t,&] | | / -- poss. Sveyn I HARALDSSON (King) of DENMARK & Norway | | | \ -- Gyrid (Queen) OLAFSDOTTIR + ====> [ 255 ,,p,&] | | | | OR: Tove MISTIVOISDOTTIR von WENDEN + ==&=> [ 255 ,c,pt,&] | | / | OR: Gunhild MIEZKODOTTER av VENDEN + ====> [ 255 ,g,&] | \ -- Thyra SVENDSDATTER av DANMARK (? - 1018) | \ | or: (Miss) of WESSEX / \ -- Frilla / -- Harold II GODWINESON (King) of ENGLAND | \ / -- Olaf (Ring ?) (the MIGHTY) BJORNSSON + ====> [ 255 ,,p,&] | | / -- poss. Styrbiorn OLAFSSON (disinherited King) of SWEDEN | | | \ | OR: Ulfius (Styrliorn Ulf) of DENMARK + ====> [ 255 ,,pt,&] | | / \ -- Ingelburg THRANDSDOTTER of SULA + ====> [ 1] | | / -- Thorkill (Thorkils) `Sprakalaeg' (Jarl) STYBIORNSSON | | | \ / -- Harald III (II) GORMSSON + ====> [ 255 ,g,t,&] | | | \ -- poss. Thyra HARALDSDOTTIR (947? - 1000) | | | \ -- Gyrid (Queen) OLAFSDOTTIR + ====> [ 255 ,,p,&] | | | | OR: Tove MISTIVOISDOTTIR von WENDEN + ==&=> [ 255 ,c,pt,&] | | / | OR: Gunhild MIEZKODOTTER av VENDEN + ====> [ 255 ,g,&] | \ -- Gytha THORKILSDOTTIR av SKANE (997? - ?) | \ -- Sigrid SPRAKLING / | OR: poss. Thyra HARALDSDOTTIR + ====> [ 255 ,g,T,&] - Gytha (Princess) of WESSEX \ \ -- Ealdgyth (Edith) `Swan-neck' (? - 1086+) | OR: prob. not Ealdgyth (Edith) of MERCIA + ==&=> [ 255 ,G,&] Her (poss.) Grandchildren: Rostislav I Mikhail of KIEV (& Smolensk) ; Euphrosyne Mstislawna (Princess) of KIEV ; Isiaslav (Izyaslav) II (Grand Prince) of KIEV ; Mariya Agafiya MSTISLAVNA of KIEV ; Ingeborga (RURIKIDE) of NOVGOROD ; (Miss) of KIEV ; Vsevolod (Wsewolod) Gavrill of NOVGOROD ; Eupraxia MSTISLAVNA of KIEV ; Malfrida MSTISLAVNA of KIEV ; Vsevolod III `Big Nest' YURIEVICH ; Iwan (Prince) of KURSKI ; Olga Evfrosiniya Yurievna SUZDAL ; Rostislav Yurevich (Duke) of PEREYASLAVL ; Andrei BOGOLIUBSKII (Prince) of MOSCOW
  5. Title: Wikipedia - Gytha of Wessex
    Author: Sources Necrologium Sanctis Pantalaeonis Coloniensis, in Rheinische Urbare: Sammlung von Urbaren und anderen Quellen zur rheinischen Wirtschaftsgeschichte (Bonn, 1902), vol. 1. Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum: The History of the Danes, 2 vols. (Oxford, 2015). E. Mason, The House of Godwine: The History of a Dynasty (London, 2004). T. Zajac, 'Marriage Impediments in Canon Law and Practice: Consanguinity Regulations and the Case of Orthodox-Catholic Intermarriage in Kyivan Rus, ca. 1000 – 1250,' in Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Congress of Medieval Canon Law, Toronto, 5-11 August 2012, ed. Joseph Goering, Stephan Dusil, and Andreas Thier (Vatican City, 2016), pp. 711-29. T. Zajac, ‘The social-political roles of the princess in Kyivan Rus’, ca. 945-1240,’ in E. Woodacre, ed., A Global Companion to Queenship (Leeds, 2018), pp. 125-146.
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gytha_of_Wessex;
    Note: Gytha of Wessex (born c. 1053/1061 - died 1098 or 1107;[1] Old English: Gȳð) was one of several daughters of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, and his consort, Edyth Swannesha. Through marriage to Vladimir II Monomakh Gytha became a grand princess of Kievan Rus'.[2] Life According to the thirteenth-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, after the death of their father Harold Godwinson (d. 1066), Gytha and two of her brothers (probably Magnus, son of Harold Godwinson and one of Godwin and Edmund) escaped to the court of their first cousin once-removed, King Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark.[3] The two brothers were treated by Sweyn with hospitality, Magnus entering into high-level service with Bolesław II the Generous while their sister was married to Waldemar, King of Ruthenia, i.e. Vladimir II Monomakh, one of the most famous rulers of Kievan Rus.[4] This took place in 1069/1070 when Bolesław restored Grand Prince Iziaslav I of Kiev and Gertruda (Bolesław's aunt) to power after they had been deposed. Gytha's role in Vladimir’s rule isn't documented. Vladimir explained in a book of 'Instructions' (Pouchenie) for his sons, written in the twelfth-century: “Love your wives, but grant them no power over you.”[5] In his book, Vladimir also mentioned Yuri mother's recent death. Gytha was the mother of Mstislav the Great, the last ruler of united Kievan Rus. In the Norse sagas, Mstislav is called Harald, after his grandfather. During her lifetime Gytha, as Vladimir's spouse, was Princess of Smolensk, however she died before her husband became Grand Prince of Kiev (in 1113), so she never was Grand Princess of Kiev. Children With Vladimir, Gytha had several children, including:[6] Mstislav the Great (1076–1132) Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Kursk († 6 September 1096) Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Pereyaslav († 16 March 1114) Yaropolk II of Kiev († 18 February 1139) Viacheslav I of Kiev († 2 February 1154) Death date There is a problem with establishing Gytha's date of death. It's placed between 1098 and 1107. The patericon of St. Pantaleon Cloister in Cologne says that "Gytha the Queen" (Gida regina) died as a nun on 10 March.[7] The year is presumed to be 1098. According to the "Testament of Vladimir Monomakh" Yuri Dolgorukiy's mother died on May 7, 1107. If Gytha died in 1098 then Yuri could have been a son of his father's second wife Yefimia (whom Vladimir Monomakh in this case supposedly married c.1099). However, it means there are no mentions in Vladimir Monomakh's works of Gytha's death, despite her being his first wife. Yuri's birth then falls to c. 1099/1100. However, the Primary Chronicle records the first marriage of Yuri - on 12 January 1108. It means that Yuri was born before c.1099/1100 (as he couldn't have been 6-9 years old at the time of marriage). Then it means, that Gytha could have been Yuri's mother and died in 1107.[8] Legacy According to Russian politician and historian Vladimir Medinsky, Gytha was a significant influence on Monomakh's public relations: "Knyaz's English wife wasn't wasted". As a source, Medinsky quotes M. P. Akekseev's comparative analysis between Monomakh writings' and Alfred the Great's, and other anonymous then contemporary Anglo-Saxon texts.[9] Through her son Mstislav the Great she was an ancestor of both Philippa of Hainault and King Edward III of England, hence of all subsequent English and British monarchs. Through her son Mstislav the Great she was also an ancestor of Alexander Nevsky[10] and all subsequent major Rurik rulers in Russian history, including Ivan I Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan III the Great and first Tsar of Russia Ivan IV the Terrible. Family trees Godwin family tree Cnut the Great's family tree References Mason, House of Godwine, p. 201. Zajac, 'Marriage,' p. 722. Mason, House of Godwine, p. 199. Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, vol. 2, 798– 801; Mason, House of Godwine, p. 200. Zajac, ‘The social-political roles of the princess,’ p. 125, citing The Povĕst’ Vremennykh Lĕt: An Interlinear Collation and Paradosis, ed., D. Ostrowski , 3 vols. (Cambridge, MA , 2003), vol. 3, 1917. Mason, House of Godwine, p. 200. Necrologium Sanctis Pantalaeonis Coloniensis, p. 18 (VI ides of March). Emma Mason, Robert Brink Shoemaker "The House of Godwine: The History of a Dynasty", p.201 Medinsky, Vladimir (2011). Особенности национального пиара [Peculiarities of the national PR] (in Russian). OLMA Media Group. p. 164. ISBN 9785373040495. Russian: Не зря женой князя была англичанка, romanized: Ne zrya zhenoy knyazia byla anglichianka His mother Feodosia was great-great-granddaughter of Mstislav the Great.
    Page: Identifies Gytha as the daughter of Harold Godwinson and his 1st wife; as the wife of Vladimir II Monomakh as the mother of: Mstislav the Great (1076–1132) Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Kursk († 6 September 1096) Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Pereyaslav († 16 March 1114) Yaropolk II of Kiev († 18 February 1139) Viacheslav I of Kiev († 2 February 1154) and possibly Yuri I Vladimirovich ; identifies her birth as between 1053 and 1061 and her death either as 10 March 1098 or May 7, 1107
  6. Title: Gytha of Wessex and the Fall of the House of Godwin- no source cited???
    Note: Primarily about Gytha Countess of Wessex and WIFE of Godwin but also included information about her granddaughter and namesake: "Gytha’s granddaughter, Gytha, the daughter of King Harold by Edith Swanneck, was married to Vladimir II Monomakh, prince of Smolensk and (later) Kiev, sometime after her arrival on the Continent. She was the mother of Mstislav the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev, who was born in 1076; he was the last ruler of a united Kievan Rus. Gytha died in 1107; it was through her and her son Mstislav that the Godwinson blood eventually made it back into the English royal family, with Mstislav’s direct descendant Philippa of Hainault, wife and queen of Edward III."
  7. Title: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
    Author: [2094] Christiansen, E. (1980) Saxo Grammaticus, Danorum Regum Heroumque Historia, Books X-XVI (B. A. R. International Series 84), XI, VI, p. 58. [2095] Morkinskinna, 66, p. 328. [2096] For example, in Baumgarten, N. de 'Généalogies et mariages occidentaux des Rurikides Russes du X au XIII siècles’, Orientalia Christiana Vol. IX - 1, No. 35, May 1927 (reprint, Pont. Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, Rome) (“Baumgarten (1927)”), Table V, after p. 27. [2097] Baumgarten (1927), p. 24. [2098] Nazarenko, A. V. (2001) Древняя Русь на международньх путях [Dryobnya Rus’ ne Meyzhdunarodyech Lutyach/International Relations of Ancient Rus’] (Moscow). (not yet consulted, information provided by Jim Cyphers in a private email to the author dated 3 Dec 2010)
    Publication: Name: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20AngloSaxon%20&%20Danish%20Kings.htm#GythaMVladimirKiev;
    Note: [GYTHA [Eadgyth] ([1050/55]-10 Mar [1098/99]). Gytha's estimated birth date range, based on the birth dates of her children and the estimated date of her husband's second marriage, suggests that she must have been King Harold’s daughter by his mistress Eadgyth Swanneshals, although this supposition is not based on any primary source data. The name "Gytha" suggests that in England she was originally called Eadgyth. Gytha’s existence, and her Russian marriage, are confirmed only by sources written in the late 12th/early 13th centuries, between 100 and 150 years after the estimated date of the marriage, although it is of course possible that these sources were based on earlier records which have since disappeared. None of the other earlier sources which name the sons of King Harold II, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester, mention any daughters. According to Saxo Grammaticus, after her father's death she and her two brothers "immediately emigrated to Denmark" where Svend II Estrithsen King of Denmark "received them in a spirit of family duty" and arranged her marriage to "Waldemarus King of the Russians"[2094]. Whether such a move can have been made "immediately" is open to doubt, considering the rebellions of her supposed brothers in England which are dated to 1068 and 1069 (see above). Gytha is named as King Harold's daughter in Fagrskinna, which also gives her marriage to "Valldimar Konongr sun Iarozlæifs konongs i Holmgarde" (which appears to skip a generation in the generally accepted family reconstruction of the Rurikid dynasty). More details are provided by Morkinskinna, which records that the mother of “Haraldr Valdimarsson”, father of Malmfrid who married Sigurd King of Norway, was “Edith the daughter of Harold Godwinson” and that her husband was “the son of King Yaroslav and Ingigerdr, the daughter of Óláfr the Swede” (also skipping a generation)[2095]. Morkinskinna appears to be the only source which attributes the additional name "Harald", indicative of his English ancestry, to her son Mstislav. The husband of Gytha has generally been identified as Grand Prince Vladimir Vsevolodich "Monomach"[2096], but Morkinskinna is the only source which provides enough detail to suggest that this identification is correct. Baumgarten, particularly thorough in his source citations, cites no Russian source which corroborates the marriage[2097]. The lateness of the sources in which Gytha and her marriage are recorded suggests that the information should be treated with some caution. In addition, it is surprising that no name from Gytha's supposed family (with the exception of "Harald" attributed to her son Mstislav in Morkinskinna) was used among the known descendants of Grand Prince Vladimir. While it is true that the Rurikid dynasty rarely imported foreign names for the male descendants, it was not unusual for females to bear names which are recognisable from the families of foreign princesses who married into the family, the obvious example being the Scandinavian name Ingeborg used by Vladimir's son Mstislav for his daughter by Christina of Sweden. The difficult question is to decide the likelihood of such a marriage in light of conditions at the time and contemporary attitudes: some arguments can be mustered for suggesting that a daughter of King Harold II may not have been considered a good marriage prospect. Gytha’s supposed mother was obscure and she herself was illegitimate, although it is recognised that Gytha was related to the Danish royal family through her paternal grandmother and that illegitimacy presented few barriers at the time in Scandinavian royal families. Her father’s death may have glorified him as a hero, or alternatively his defeat may have been viewed as ignominious, depending on the point of view. Her family lived in exile and were without influential connections, apart it seems from the king of Denmark, and her brothers fell into complete obscurity. If a Russian marriage was arranged for her, it is likely that her husband would have been one of the lesser princes of the dynasty: from this perspective, it is true that Vladimir Vsevolodich was at the time relatively obscure, as the son of the youngest surviving brother of the current Grand Prince without immediate prospects of succession. As noted above, the Scandinavian sources consistently propose a name similar to Vladimir for Gytha’s husband, although this should not be viewed as conclusive because difficult Russian names were frequently transcribed into contemporary western sources with more creativity than accuracy. The inevitable, if disappointing, conclusion is that doubts about Gytha’s existence and her Russian marriage cannot be dismissed entirely. Nazarenko reports that, according to a pateric formerly held by the cloister of St Pantaleon, Köln, Gytha died as a nun in Palestine 10 Mar [1098/99][2098]. The year is inconsistent with the estimated date of Vladimir’s supposed second marriage (see below), unless he repudiated his first wife. This reported source has not yet been seen: hopefully, the actual text may help resolve lingering doubts concerning Gytha and her origin. m ([1070]) as his first wife, VLADIMIR Vsevolodich of Pereiaslavl and Suzdal, son of VSEVOLOD Iaroslavich Prince of Pereiaslavl and Suzdal [later VSEVOLOD I Grand Prince of Kiev] & his first wife Maria [Irina] of Byzantium (1053-19 May 1125). He succeeded 1077 as Prince of Smolensk, 1078 as Prince of Chernigov, and 1113 as VLADIMIR "Monomach" Grand Prince of Kiev.]
  8. Title: Книги: Славянская Энциклопедия. Киевская Русь-Московия
    Author: Богуславский В.В. , Книги: Славянская Энциклопедия. Киевская Русь-Московия.
    Note: [PFT:AQ] [S:Titl] Книги: Славянская Энциклопедия. Киевская Русь-Московия [S:Auth] Богуславский В.В. [/PFT]
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