John I, King of England

John I, King of England

Male 1166 - 1216  (49 years)

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  1. 1.  John I, King of EnglandJohn I, King of England was born on 24 Dec 1166 in Beaumont Palace, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England (son of Henry II, King of England and Eleanore de Aquitaine, Queen of England); died on 19 Oct 1216 in Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, England; was buried on 19 Oct 1216 in Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, Warwickshire, England.

    Notes:

    John (24 December 1166 - 19 October 1216), also known as John Lackland (Norman French: Johan sanz Terre),[1] was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death in 1216.

    Following the battle of Bouvines, John lost the duchy of Normandy to King Philip II of France, which resulted in the collapse of most of the Angevin Empire and contributed to the subsequent growth in power of the Capetian dynasty during the 13th century.

    The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of the Magna Carta, a document sometimes considered to be an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

    more on King John ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England

    More images of King John ...

    https://www.google.com/search?q=john+lackland+coat+of+arms&rlz=1C1KMZB_enUS591US591&espv=2&biw=1440&bih=810&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNnKWp6aPPAhULXB4KHb1qCnQQsAQIKw&dpr=1#imgrc=F8SAOkDV1jsAEM%3A

    end of comment

    Baronial Order of Magna Charta:

    The Baronial Order of Magna Charta ("BOMC") is a scholarly, charitable, and lineage society founded in 1898. The BOMC was originally named the Baronial Order of Runnemede, but the name was subsequently changed to better reflect the organization's purposes relating to the Magna Charta and the promulgation of "freedom of man under the rule of law." view its membership list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baronial_Order_of_Magna_Charta

    These 25 barons were Sureties for the concessions made by John, King of England, d. 18 Oct 1216.

    1. William d'Albini, Lord of Belvoir Castle, d. 1236.
    ((26th, 27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars; http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I704&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=0&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I37347

    2. Roger Bigod, (43132) Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk, d. 1220.
    (26th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Perry Green "Pop" Byars: http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I3&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I43132

    3. Hugh Bigod, (43271) heir to the earldoms of Norfolk and Suffolk, d. 1225.
    (25th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Perry Green "Pop" Byars: http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3&secondpersonID=&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I43271

    4. Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, (46127) d. 1220.
    (26th, 27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars; http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I704&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=0&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I37347

    5. Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford, (46129) d. 1217.
    (25th, 26th & 27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars: http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3&secondpersonID=&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I46129

    6. Gilbert de Clare, heir to the earldom of Hertford, (45550) d. 1230.
    (24th, 26th & 27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars; http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I704&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=0&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I37347
    25th & 27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Perry Green "Pop" Byars; http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3&secondpersonID=&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I46162


    John FitzRobert, Lord of Warkworth Castle, Northumberland, d. 1240.

    7. Robert FitzWalter, Lord of Dunmow Castle, Essex, d. 1234.
    28th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Perry Green "Pop" Byars http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3&secondpersonID=&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I46162


    William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, d. 1241, no great-grandchildren.
    William Hardell, Mayor of the City of London, d. after 1216, no known issue.
    William de Huntingfield, Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, d. 1220.
    John de Lacie, Lord of Pontefract Castle, d. 1240.
    William de Lanvallei, Lord of Standway Castle, Essex, d. 1217.
    William Malet, Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, d. about 1217.
    Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex and Gloucester, d. 1216, d.s.p..

    William Marshall jr, heir to the earldom of Pembroke, d. 1231, (43947) d.s.p..
    A cousin to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars & Perry Green "Pop" Byars: http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3&secondpersonID=&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I43947

    Roger de Montbegon, Lord of Hornby Castle, Lancashire, d. 1226, d.s.p..
    Richard de Montfichet, Baron, d. after 1258, d.s.p..

    8.. William de Mowbray, Lord of Axholme Castle, Lincolnshire, (46138) d. 1223
    (24th & 26th great grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars: http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I3&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I46138

    Richard de Percy, Baron, Yorkshire, d. 1244, d.s.p..

    9.Saire de Quincey, Earl of Winchester, (46162) d. 1219.
    (25th & 27th great grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars; http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I704&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=0&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I37347
    27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Perry Green "Pop" Byars: http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3&secondpersonID=&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I46162

    10. Robert de Roos, Lord of Hamlake Castle, Yorkshire, (46148)d. 1226.
    (25th, 26th & 27th great grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars: http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I3&maxrels=12&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I46148

    Geoffrey de Saye, Baron, d. 1230.

    11. Robert de Vere, heir to the earldom of Oxford, d. 1221.
    (25th, 27th great grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell "Ma" Byars; http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I704&maxrels=6&disallowspouses=0&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I37347
    27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Perry Green "Pop" Byars; http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I3&maxrels=12&disallowspouses=1&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I46155

    Eustace de Vesci, Lord of Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, d. 1216 d.s.p..

    end of report

    Birth:
    Beaumont Palace, built outside the north gate of Oxford, was intended by Henry I about 1130 to serve as a royal palace conveniently close to the royal hunting-lodge at Woodstock (now part of the park of Blenheim Palace). Its former presence is recorded in Beaumont Street, Oxford. Set into a pillar on the north side of the street, near Walton Street, is a stone with the inscription: "Near to this site stood the King's Houses later known as Beaumont Palace. King Richard I was born here in 1157 and King John in 1167". The "King's House" was the range of the palace that contained the king's lodgings.

    Henry passed Easter 1133 in the nova aula, his "new hall" at Beaumont in great pomp, celebrating the birth of his grandson, the future Henry II.[1] Edward I was the last king to sojourn in Beaumont officially as a palace, and in 1275 he granted it to an Italian lawyer, Francesco Accorsi, who had undertaken diplomatic missions for him.[2] When Edward II was put to flight at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, he is said to have invoked the Virgin Mary and vowed to found a monastery for the Carmelites (the White Friars) if he might escape safely. In fulfilment of his vow he remanded Beaumont Palace to the Carmelites in 1318.

    In 1318, the Palace was the scene for the beginnings of the John Deydras affair, in which a royal pretender, arguing that he was the rightful king of England, claimed the Palace for his own. John Deydras was ultimately executed for sedition.[3]


    When the White Friars were disbanded at the Reformation, most of the structure was dismantled and the building stone reused in Christ Church and St John's College.[4] An engraving of 1785[5] shows the remains of Beaumont Palace, the last of which were destroyed in the laying out of Beaumont Street in 1829.[6]

    Drawings, Sketches & Source ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Palace

    Died:
    Newark Castle, in Newark, in the English county of Nottinghamshire was founded in the mid 12th century by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln. Originally a timber castle, it was rebuilt in stone towards the end of the century. Dismantled in the 17th century after the English Civil War, the castle was restored in the 19th century, first by Anthony Salvin in the 1840s and then by the corporation of Newark who bought the site in 1889. The Gilstrap Heritage Centre is a free-admission museum in the castle grounds about the history of the town of Newark.

    Images & Source ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark_Castle,_Nottinghamshire

    Buried:
    Worcester Cathedral, before the English Reformation known as Worcester Priory, is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester. Built between 1084 and 1504, Worcester Cathedral represents every style of English architecture from Norman to Perpendicular Gothic.

    It is famous for its Norman crypt and unique chapter house, its unusual Transitional Gothic bays, its fine woodwork and its "exquisite" central tower,[1] which is of particularly fine proportions.

    Images, History & Source ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester_Cathedral

    John married Isabelle of Angouleme, Queen of England on 26 Aug 1200 in Cathedral of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France. Isabelle was born in 1188 in Angouleme, France; died on 31 May 1246 in Fontevrault L'abbe, Maine-Ete-Loire, France; was buried on 31 May 1246 in Fontevrault L'abbe, Maine-Ete-Loire, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Notes:

    Married:
    Bordeaux Cathedral (Cathâedrale Saint-Andrâe de Bordeaux) is a Roman Catholic cathedral, seat of the Archbishop of Bordeaux-Bazas, located in Bordeaux.

    The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Urban II in 1096. Of the original Romanesque edifice, only a wall in the nave remains. The Royal Gate is from the early 13th century, while the rest of the construction is mostly from the 14th-15th centuries. The building is a national monument of France.

    In this church in 1137 the 13-year-old Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future Louis VII, a few months before she became Queen.


    Images, History & Source ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_Cathedral

    Children:
    1. Henry III, King of England was born on 1 Oct 1207 in Winchester Castle, Hampshire, United Kingdom; was christened in 1207 in Bermondsey, London, Middlesex, England; died on 16 Nov 1272 in Westminster Palace, Westminster, London, Middlesex, England; was buried on 20 Nov 1272 in Westminster Abbey, 20 Deans Yd, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom.
    2. Sir Richard, Knight, 1st Earl of Cornwall was born on 5 Jan 1209 in Winchester Castle, Castle Ave, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8PJ, United Kingdom; was christened in 1214 in Winchester Castle, Castle Ave, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8PJ, United Kingdom; died on 2 Apr 1272 in Berkhamsted Castle, Hertfordshire, England; was buried on 13 Apr 1272 in Hailes Abbey, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire - GL54 5PB, England.
    3. Isabella was born in 1214 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; died on 1 Dec 1241 in Foggia, Italy.
    4. Lady Eleanor of England was born in 1215 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; died on 13 Apr 1275 in Montargis Abbey, France; was buried in Montargis Abbey, France.

    Family/Spouse: Adela de Warenne. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. Sir Richard FitzRoy, Knight was born in ~ 1190 in Winchester, Hampshire, England; died in 0Jun 1246 in Badlesmere, Kent, England; was buried in St. Mary Churchyard, Chilham, Kent, England.

    John married Clemence Butler in 1188 in England. Clemence (daughter of Philip Butler and Sybil de Braose) was born in 1175; died in 1231. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. Joan Plantagenet, Lady of Wales was born in ~ 1191 in (France); died on 2 Feb 1237.

Generation: 2

  1. 2.  Henry II, King of EnglandHenry II, King of England was born on 5 Mar 1133 in Le Mans, France; was christened on 25 Mar 1133 in Le Mans, France (son of Sir Geoffrey "Le Bon" Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and Matilda of England, Queen of England); died on 6 Jul 1189 in Chinon Castle, France; was buried on 7 Jul 1189 in Fontevraud Abbey, France.

    Notes:

    Henry founded the Plantagenet Dynasty...

    Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (French: Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress or Henry Plantagenet, ruled as Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Nantes, King of England and Lord of Ireland; at various times, he also controlled Wales, Scotland and Brittany. Henry was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. He became actively involved by the age of 14 in his mother's efforts to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois, and was made Duke of Normandy at 17. He inherited Anjou in 1151 and shortly afterwards married Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII of France had recently been annulled. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to England in 1153, and Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later.

    Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather Henry I. During the early years of his reign the younger Henry restored the royal administration in England, re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Becket's murder in 1170. Henry soon came into conflict with Louis VII and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire, often at Louis' expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse; despite numerous peace conferences and treaties, no lasting agreement was reached. By 1172, he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of France, an area that would later come to be called the Angevin Empire.

    Henry and Eleanor had eight children. As they grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them "new men" appointed for their loyalty and administrative skills. Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. The Norman invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, but Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry would make John king, and a final rebellion broke out in 1189. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and suffering from a bleeding ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon castle in Anjou, where he died.

    Henry's empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his youngest son John. Many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule, however, had long-term consequences. Henry's legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems. Historical interpretations of Henry's reign have changed considerably over time. In the 18th century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely English monarchy and, ultimately, a unified Britain. During the Victorian expansion of the British Empire, historians were keenly interested in the formation of Henry's own empire, but they also expressed concern over his private life and treatment of Becket. Late-20th-century historians have combined British and French historical accounts of Henry, challenging earlier Anglo-centric interpretations of his reign.

    Who could forget Peter O'Toole's magnificient protrayal of Henry II in the 1968 movie production of "The Lion in Winter" and Katherine Hepburn's Eleanor of Aquitaine? ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_in_Winter_(1968_film)

    end of biography

    Source: 'The World Book Encyclopedia', 1968, p H178. 'Royalty for Commoners', Roderick W. Stuart, 1993, p 37-38. Reigned 1154-1189.

    He ruled an empire that stretched from the Tweed to the Pyrenees. In spite of frequent hostitilties with the French King his own family and rebellious Barons (culminating in the great revolt of 1173-74) and his quarrel with Thomas Becket, Henry maintained control over his possessions until shortly before his death. His judicial and administrative reforms which increased Royal control and influence at the expense of the Barons were of great constitutional importance. Introduced trial by Jury. Duke of Normandy. Henry II 'Curt Mantel,' Duke of Normandy, Count of Maine and Anjou, King Of England became king in 1154.

    At the height of his power, Henry ruled England and almost all western France. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most famous woman of the age, brought the duchy of Aquitaine under his control. Henry also claimed to rule Scotland, Wales, and eastern Ireland. Henry II carried on his grandfather's policy of limiting the power of the nobles. He also tried to make the Roman Catholic Church in England submit to his authority. This policy brought him into conflict with Thomas a Becket, Achbishop of Canterbury. Four of the king's knights murdered Becket while he was at vespers in his cathedral. Henry made Anglo-Saxon common law, rather than the revised Roman law, the supreme law of the land. He introduced trial by jury and circuit courts. In his later years, Henry's sons often rebelled against him. Two of them, Richard the Lion-Hearted and John, became the next two kings of England.

    REF: "Falls the Shadow" Sharon Kay Penman: William the Conqueror requested a large number of Jews to move to England after his conquest. They spoke Norman & did well under his reign. They continued to thrive under William's grandson Henry II.

    REF: British Monarchy Official Website: Henry II (reigned 1154-89)

    ruled over an empire which stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. Married to Eleanor, the heiress of Aquitaine, the king spent only 13 years of his reign in England; the other 21 years were spent on the continent in his territories in what is now France. By 1158, Henry had restored to the crown some of the lands and royal power lost by Stephen. For example, locally chosen sheriffs were changed into royally appointed agents charged with enforcing the law and collecting taxes in the counties. Personally interested in government and law, Henry strengthened royal justice, making use of juries and re-introduced the sending of justices (judges) on regular tours of the country to try cases for the Crown. His legal reforms have led him to be seen as the founder of English Common Law. Henry's disagreements with his Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, over Church/State relations ended in Becket's murder in 1170. Family disputes almost wrecked the king's achievements and he died in 1189 at war with his sons.

    Reigned 25 Oct 1154-1189. Invested As Duke Of Nomandy By His Parents In 1150.

    Ruled An Empire That Stretched From The Tweed To The Pyrenees.

    Numerous Quarrels With French King, & His Own Family.

    Quarreled With Thomas Becket.

    Beat Rebellious Barons (Culminating In The Great Revolt Of 1173-74).

    Retained Control Of His Possessions Until Shortly Before His Death.

    Important Judicial & Admin. Reforms Incr. Power Of King At The Expense Of Barons

    Introduced Trial By Jury.

    Count Of Anjou & Aquitaine.

    Died:
    Images and commentary for Chinon Castle ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chinon

    Buried:
    Click on this link to view images of Fontevraud Abbey ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontevraud_Abbey

    Henry married Eleanore de Aquitaine, Queen of England on 18 May 1152 in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France. Eleanore was born in 1123 in Chateau de Belin, Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France; died on 31 Mar 1204 in Poitiers, France; was buried on 1 Apr 1204 in Fontevraud Abbey, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 3.  Eleanore de Aquitaine, Queen of EnglandEleanore de Aquitaine, Queen of England was born in 1123 in Chateau de Belin, Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France; died on 31 Mar 1204 in Poitiers, France; was buried on 1 Apr 1204 in Fontevraud Abbey, France.

    Notes:

    Eleanor of Aquitaine (French: Aliâenor, âElâeonore, Latin: Alienora; 1122 – 1 April 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages and a member of the Ramnulfid dynasty of rulers in southwestern France. She inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine from her father, William X, in 1137, and later became queen consort of France (1137–1152) and of England (1154–1189). She was the patron of literary figures such as Wace, Benoăit de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn. She was a leader of the Second Crusade and of armies several times in her life.

    As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor was the most eligible bride in Europe. Three months after she became duchess, she married King Louis VII of France, son of her guardian, King Louis VI. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. Soon after, Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage,[1] but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III.[2] However, after the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment given that their union had not produced a son after fifteen years of marriage.[3] The marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to Louis, while Eleanor's lands were restored to her.

    As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to Henry, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Henry was her third cousin (cousin of the third degree), and eleven years younger. The couple married on 18 May 1152 (Whit Sunday), eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanor's first marriage, in a cathedral in Poitiers, France. Over the next thirteen years, she bore Henry eight children: five sons, three of whom would become kings; and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting her son Henry's revolt against her husband. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when Henry died and their son ascended the English throne as Richard I.

    Now queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade, where on his return he was captured and held prisoner. Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. By the time of her death, she had outlived all her children except for John and Eleanor.

    Film, radio and television

    Eleanor has featured in a number of screen versions of the Ivanhoe and Robin Hood stories. She has been played by Martita Hunt in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), Jill Esmond in the British TV adventure series The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955–1960), Phyllis Neilson-Terry in the British TV adventure series Ivanhoe (1958), Yvonne Mitchell in the BBC TV drama series The Legend of Robin Hood (1975), Siăan Phillips in the TV series Ivanhoe (1997), and Tusse Silberg in the TV series The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997). She was portrayed by Lynda Bellingham in the BBC series Robin Hood. Most recently, she was portrayed by Eileen Atkins in Robin Hood (2010).

    In the 1964 film, "Becket" (1964), Eleanor is briefly played by Pamela Brown to Peter O'Toole's first performance as a young Henry II.

    In the 1968 film, The Lion in Winter, Eleanor is played by Katharine Hepburn, while Henry is again portrayed by O'Toole. The film is about the difficult relationship between them and the struggle of their three sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John for their father's favour and the succession. A 2003 TV film, The Lion in Winter (2003 film), starred Glenn Close as Eleanor and Patrick Stewart as Henry.

    She was portrayed by Mary Clare in the silent film, Becket (1923), by Prudence Hyman in Richard the Lionheart (1962), and twice by Jane Lapotaire; in the BBC TV drama series, The Devil's Crown (1978), and again in Mike Walker's BBC Radio 4 series, Plantagenet (2010). In the 2010 film, Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe, Eleanor is played by Eileen Atkins. In the 2014 film, Richard the Lionheart: Rebellion, Eleanor is played by Debbie Rochon.

    More on Queen Eleanor ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine

    Click this link to view an image collage of Mirabell Castle ... http://bit.ly/1p8kovL

    Click on this link to view images of Fontevraud Abbey ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontevraud_Abbey

    Henry II held his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine , prisoner at Old Sarum. In the 1190s, the plain between Old Sarum and Wilton was one of five specially designated by Richard I for the holding of English tournaments

    Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury in England. Located on a hill about 2 miles (3 km) north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road , the settlement appears in some of the earliest records in the country.

    Buried:
    The abbey was originally the site of the graves of King Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their son King Richard I of England, their daughter Joan, their grandson Raymond VII of Toulouse, and Isabella of Angoulăeme, wife of Henry and Eleanor's son King John. However, there is no remaining corporal presence of Henry, Eleanor, Richard, or the others on the site. Their remains were possibly destroyed during the French Revolution.

    Click on this link to view images of Fontevraud Abbey ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontevraud_Abbey

    Notes:

    Married:
    thier marriage turned sour after Henry's affair with Rosamund Clifford...

    Children:
    1. Richard of England, I, King of England was born on 8 Sep 1157 in Beaumont Palace, Oxford, England; died on 6 Apr 1199 in Limousin, France; was buried in Fontevraud Abbey, France.
    2. Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile was born on 13 Oct 1162 in Domfront Castle, Normandy, France; died on 31 Oct 1214 in Burgos, Spain; was buried in Burgos, Spain.
    3. 1. John I, King of England was born on 24 Dec 1166 in Beaumont Palace, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; died on 19 Oct 1216 in Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, England; was buried on 19 Oct 1216 in Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, Warwickshire, England.


Generation: 3

  1. 4.  Sir Geoffrey "Le Bon" Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Duke of NormandySir Geoffrey "Le Bon" Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy was born on 24 Sep 1113 in Anjou, France; died on 7 Sep 1151 in Chateau-Du-Loir, Eure-Et-Loire, France; was buried in Saint Julian Church, Le Mans, France.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Occupation: Duke of Normandy

    Notes:

    More on Geoffrey's biography and history with photos ... http://bit.ly/1i49b9d

    Geoffrey married Matilda of England, Queen of England on 3 Apr 1127 in Le Massachusetts, Sarthe, France. Matilda (daughter of Henry I, King of England and Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England) was born on 7 Feb 1102 in London, Middlesex, England; was christened on 7 Apr 1141; died on 10 Sep 1167 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France; was buried on 10 Sep 1169 in Bec Abbey, Le Bec-Hellouin, Eure, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 5.  Matilda of England, Queen of EnglandMatilda of England, Queen of England was born on 7 Feb 1102 in London, Middlesex, England; was christened on 7 Apr 1141 (daughter of Henry I, King of England and Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England); died on 10 Sep 1167 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France; was buried on 10 Sep 1169 in Bec Abbey, Le Bec-Hellouin, Eure, France.

    Notes:

    Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude,[nb 1] was the claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned in St. Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry had no children, and when Henry died in 1125, the crown was claimed by Lothair II, one of his political enemies.

    Meanwhile, Matilda's younger brother, William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving England facing a potential succession crisis. On Henry V's death, Matilda was recalled to Normandy by her father, who arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders. Henry I had no further legitimate children and nominated Matilda as his heir, making his court swear an oath of loyalty to her and her successors, but the decision was not popular in the Anglo-Norman court. Henry died in 1135 but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons and were unable to pursue their claims. The throne was instead taken by Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the English Church. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime, but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom.

    In 1139 Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force, supported by her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, and her uncle, King David I of Scotland, while Geoffrey focused on conquering Normandy. Matilda's forces captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, but the Empress's attempt to be crowned at Westminster collapsed in the face of bitter opposition from the London crowds. As a result of this retreat, Matilda was never formally declared Queen of England, and was instead titled the Lady of the English. Robert was captured following the Rout of Winchester in 1141, and Matilda agreed to exchange him for Stephen. Matilda became trapped in Oxford Castle by Stephen's forces that winter, and was forced to escape across the frozen River Isis at night to avoid capture. The war degenerated into a stalemate, with Matilda controlling much of the south-west of England, and Stephen the south-east and the Midlands. Large parts of the rest of the country were in the hands of local, independent barons.

    Matilda returned to Normandy, now in the hands of her husband, in 1148, leaving her eldest son to continue the campaign in England; he eventually succeeded to the throne as Henry II in 1154. She settled her court near Rouen and for the rest of her life concerned herself with the administration of Normandy, acting on Henry's behalf when necessary. Particularly in the early years of her son's reign, she provided political advice and attempted to mediate during the Becket controversy. She worked extensively with the Church, founding Cistercian monasteries, and was known for her piety. She was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167.

    Notes:

    Married:
    The marriage was meant to seal a peace between England/Normandy and Anjou. She was eleven years older than Geoffrey, and very proud of her status as an Empress (as opposed to being a mere Countess). Their marriage was a stormy one with frequent long separations, but she bore him three sons and survived him.

    Children:
    1. 2. Henry II, King of England was born on 5 Mar 1133 in Le Mans, France; was christened on 25 Mar 1133 in Le Mans, France; died on 6 Jul 1189 in Chinon Castle, France; was buried on 7 Jul 1189 in Fontevraud Abbey, France.


Generation: 4

  1. 10.  Henry I, King of EnglandHenry I, King of England was born in 1068-1070 in Selby, Yorkshire, England; was christened on 5 Aug 1100 in Selby, Yorkshire, England (son of William the Conqueror, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England); died on 1 Dec 1135 in Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Normandy, France; was buried on 4 Jan 1136 in Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire, England.

    Notes:

    more...

    History & issue of Henry I, King of England ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_I_of_England

    Family and children

    Legitimate

    House of Normandy
    Bayeux Tapestry WillelmDux.jpg
    William the Conqueror invades England
    William I[show]
    William II[show]
    Henry I[show]
    Stephen[show]
    Monarchy of the United Kingdom
    v t e
    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry I of England.

    Henry and his first wife, Matilda, had at least two legitimate children:

    Matilda, born in 1102, died 1167.[89]
    William Adelin, born in 1103, died 1120.[89]
    Possibly Richard, who, if he existed, died young.[100]
    Henry and his second wife, Adeliza, had no children.

    Illegitimate

    Henry had a number of illegitimate children by various mistresses.[nb 32]

    Sons

    Robert of Gloucester, born in the 1090s.[332]
    Richard, born to Ansfride, brought up by Robert Bloet, the Bishop of Lincoln.[333]
    Reginald de Dunstanville, Earl of Cornwall, born in the 1110s or early 1120s, possibly to Sibyl Corbet.[334]
    Robert the King's son, born to Ede, daughter of Forne.[335]
    Gilbert, possibly born to an unnamed sister or daughter of Walter of Gand.[336]
    William de Tracy, possibly born in the 1090s.[336]
    Henry the King's son, possibly born to Nest ferch Rhys.[335][nb 33]
    Fulk the King's son, possibly born to Ansfride.[335]
    William, the brother of Sybilla de Normandy, probably the brother of Reginald de Dunstanville.[337]

    Daughters

    Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche.[338]
    Matilda FitzRoy, Duchess of Brittany.[338]
    Juliana, wife of Eustace of Breteuil, possibly born to Ansfrida.[339]
    Mabel, wife of William Gouet.[340]
    Constance, Vicountess of Beaumont-sur-Sarthe.[341]
    Aline, wife of Matthew de Montmorency.[342]
    Isabel, daughter of Isabel de Beaumont, Countess of Pembroke.[342]
    Sybilla de Normandy, Queen of Scotland, probably born before 1100.[342][nb 34]
    Matilda Fitzroy, Abbess of Montvilliers.[342]
    Gundrada de Dunstanville.[342]
    Possibly Rohese, wife of Henry de la Pomerai.[342][nb 35]
    Emma, wife of Guy of Laval.[343]
    Adeliza, the King's daughter.[343]
    The wife of Fergus of Galloway.[343]
    Possibly Sibyl of Falaise.[343][nb 36]

    Born: ABT Sep 1068, Selby, Yorkshire, England
    Acceded: 6 Aug 1100, Westminster Abbey, London, England
    Died: 1 Dec 1135, St Denis-le-Fermont, near Gisors
    Buried: Reading Abbey, Berkshire, England

    Notes: Reigned 1100-1135. Duke of Normandy 1106-1135.

    His reign is notable for important legal and administrative reforms, and for the final resolution of the investiture controversy. Abroad, he waged several campaigns in order to consolidate and expand his continental possessions. Was so hated by his brothers that they vowed to disinherit him. In 1106 he captured Robert and held him til he died. He proved to be a hard but just ruler. One of his lovers, Nest, Princess of Deheubarth, was known as the most beautiful woman in Wales; she had many lovers.

    He apparently died from over eating Lampreys. During a Christmas court at Windsor Castle in 1126 that Henry I, who had no legitimate male heir, tried to force his barons to accept his daughter Matilda as his successor.

    The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles reported that "...there he caused archbishops and bishops and abbots and earls all the thegns that were there to swear to give England and Normandy after his death into the hand of his daughter". Swear they did, but they were not happy about it. None of those present were interested in being among the first to owe allegiance to a woman. The stage was set for the 19-year-long bloody struggle for the throne that rent England apart after Henry's death. Ironically, the final resolution to that civil war, the peace treaty between King Stephen and Matilda's son Henry of Anjou, was ratified on Christmas Day at Westminster in 1153.

    *

    Birth:
    History, maps & photos of Selby, England ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selby

    Buried:
    Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors".

    For more history & images of Reading Abbey, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Abbey

    Henry married Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England on 11 Nov 1100 in Westminster Abbey, 20 Deans Yd, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom. Matilda (daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland, King of Scots and Margaret of Wessex, Queen of Scotland) was born in 1080 in Dumfermline, Scotland; died on 1 May 1118 in Westminster Palace, Westminster, London, Middlesex, England; was buried in Westminster Abbey, 20 Deans Yd, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 11.  Matilda of Scotland, Queen of EnglandMatilda of Scotland, Queen of England was born in 1080 in Dumfermline, Scotland (daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland, King of Scots and Margaret of Wessex, Queen of Scotland); died on 1 May 1118 in Westminster Palace, Westminster, London, Middlesex, England; was buried in Westminster Abbey, 20 Deans Yd, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Residence: Normandy, France

    Notes:

    Matilda of Scotland (c. 1080 – 1 May 1118), originally christened Edith,[1] was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry I.

    Matilda was the daughter of the English princess Saint Margaret and the Scottish king Malcolm III. At the age of about six Matilda was sent with her sister to be educated in a convent in southern England, where her aunt Cristina was abbess. It is not clear if she spent much time in Scotland thereafter. In 1093, when she was about 13, she was engaged to an English nobleman when her father and brother Edward were killed in a minor raid into England, and her mother died soon after; her fiance then abandoned the proposed marriage. In Scotland a messy succession conflict followed between Matilda's uncle Donald III, her half-brother Duncan II and brother Edgar until 1097. Matilda's whereabouts during this no doubt difficult period are uncertain.

    But after the suspicious death of William II of England in 1100 and accession of his brother Henry I, Matilda's prospects improved. Henry moved quickly to propose to her. It is said that he already knew and admired her, and she may indeed have spent time at the English court. Edgar was now secure on the Scottish throne, offering the prospect of better relations between the two countries, and Matilda also had the considerable advantage of Anglo-Saxon royal blood, which the Norman dynasty largely lacked.[2] There was a difficulty about the marriage; a special church council was called to be satisfied that Matilda had not taken vows as a nun, which her emphatic testimony managed to convince them of.

    Matilda and Henry married in late 1100. They had two children who reached adulthood and two more who died young. Matilda led a literary and musical court, but was also pious. She embarked on building projects for the church, and took a role in government when her husband was away; many surviving charters are signed by her. Matilda lived to see her daughter Matilda become Holy Roman Empress but died two years before the drowning of her son William. Henry remarried, but had no further legitimate children, which caused a succession crisis known as The Anarchy. Matilda is buried in Westminster Abbey and was fondly remembered by her subjects as "Matilda the Good Queen" and "Matilda of Blessed Memory". There was an attempt to have her canonized, which was not pursued.

    Early life

    Matilda was born around 1080 in Dunfermline, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret. She was christened (baptised) Edith, and Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, stood as godfather at the ceremony. The English queen Matilda of Flanders was also present at the baptismal font and served as her godmother. Baby Matilda pulled at Queen Matilda's headdress, which was seen as an omen that the younger Matilda would be queen one day.[3]

    The Life of St Margaret, Queen of Scotland was later written for Matilda possibly by Turgot of Durham. It refers to Matilda's childhood and her relationship with her mother. In it, Margaret is described as a strict but loving mother. She did not spare the rod when it came to raising her children in virtue, which the author presupposed was the reason for the good behaviour Matilda and her siblings displayed, and Margaret also stressed the importance of piety.[4]

    When she was about six years old, Matilda of Scotland (or Edith as she was then probably still called) and her sister Mary were sent to Romsey Abbey, near Southampton in southern England, where their aunt Cristina was abbess. During her stay at Romsey and, some time before 1093, at Wilton Abbey, both institutions known for learning,[5] the Scottish princess was much sought-after as a bride; refusing proposals from William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and Alan Rufus, Lord of Richmond. Hâeriman of Tournai claimed that William Rufus considered marrying her. Her education went beyond the standard feminine pursuits. This was not surprising as her mother was a great lover of books. Her daughters learned English, French, and some Latin, and were sufficiently literate to read St. Augustine and the Bible.[6]

    In 1093, her parents betrothed her to Alan Rufus, Lord of Richmond, one of her numerous suitors. However, before the marriage took place, her father entered into a dispute with William Rufus. In response, he marauded the English king's lands where he was surprised by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria and killed along with his son, Edward. Upon hearing of her husband and son's death, Margaret, already ill, died on 16 November. Edith was now an orphan. She was abandoned by her betrothed who ran off with a daughter of Harold Godwinson, Gunhild of Wessex. However, he died before they could be married.[7]

    She had left the monastery by 1093, when Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to the Bishop of Salisbury ordering that the daughter of the King of Scotland be returned to the monastery that she had left. She did not return to Wilton and until 1100, is largely unaccounted for in chronicles.[8]

    Marriage

    After William II's death in the New Forest in August 1100, his brother, Henry, immediately seized the royal treasury and crown. His next task was to marry and Henry's choice was Matilda. Because Matilda had spent most of her life in a convent, there was some controversy over whether she was a nun and thus canonically ineligible for marriage. Henry sought permission for the marriage from Archbishop Anselm, who returned to England in September 1100 after a long exile. Professing himself unwilling to decide so weighty a matter on his own, Anselm called a council of bishops in order to determine the canonical legality of the proposed marriage. Matilda testified that she had never taken holy vows, insisting that her parents had sent her and her sister to England for educational purposes, and her aunt Cristina had veiled her to protect her "from the lust of the Normans." Matilda claimed she had pulled the veil off and stamped on it, and her aunt beat and scolded her for this act. The council concluded that Matilda was not a nun, never had been and her parents had not intended that she become one, giving their permission for the marriage.

    Matilda and Henry seem to have known one another for some time before their marriage — William of Malmesbury states that Henry had "long been attached" to her, and Orderic Vitalis says that Henry had "long adored" her character. It is possible that Matilda had spent some time at William Rufus's court and that the pair had met there. It is also possible Henry was introduced to his bride by his teacher Bishop Osmund. Whatever the case, it is clear that the two at least knew each other prior to their wedding. Additionally, the chronicler William of Malmesbury suggests that the new king loved his bride.[9]

    Matilda's mother was the sister of Edgar the Ątheling, proclaimed but uncrowned King of England after Harold, and, through her mother, Matilda was descended from Edmund Ironside and thus from the royal family of Wessex, which in the 10th century had become the royal family of a united England. This was extremely important because although Henry had been born in England, he needed a bride with ties to the ancient Wessex line to increase his popularity with the English and to reconcile the Normans and Anglo-Saxons.[10] In their children, the two factions would be united, further unifying the new regime. Another benefit was that England and Scotland became politically closer; three of Matilda's brothers became kings of Scotland in succession and were unusually friendly towards England during this period of unbroken peace between the two nations: Alexander married one of Henry I's illegitimate daughters and David lived at Henry's court for some time before his accession.[11]

    Matilda had a small dower but it did incorporate some lordship rights. Most of her dower estates were granted from lands previously held by Edith of Wessex. Additionally, Henry made numerous grants on his wife including substantial property in London. Generosity aside, this was a political move in order to win over the unruly Londoners who were vehement supporters of the Wessex kings.[12]

    Queen

    The seal of Matilda
    After Matilda and Henry were married on 11 November 1100 at Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, she was crowned as "Matilda," a hallowed Norman name. By courtiers, however, she and her husband were soon nicknamed 'Godric and Godiva'.[13] These two names were typical English names from before The Conquest and mocked their more rustic style, especially when compared to the flamboyance of William II.

    She gave birth to a daughter, Matilda, born in February 1102, and a son, William, called "Adelin", in November 1103. As queen, she resided primarily at Westminster, but accompanied her husband on his travels around England, and, circa 1106–1107, probably visited Normandy with him. Matilda was the designated head of Henry's curia and acted as regent during his frequent absences.[14]

    During the English investiture controversy (1103-07), she acted as intercessor between her husband and archbishop Anselm. She wrote several letters during Anselm's absence, first asking him for advice and to return, but later increasingly to mediate.[15]

    Works

    Matilda had great interest in architecture and instigated the building of many Norman-style buildings, including Waltham Abbey and Holy Trinity Aldgate.[16] She also had the first arched bridge in England built, at Stratford-le-Bow, as well as a bathhouse with piped-in water and public lavatories at Queenhithe.[17]

    Her court was filled with musicians and poets; she commissioned a monk, possibly Thurgot, to write a biography of her mother, Saint Margaret. She was an active queen and, like her mother, was renowned for her devotion to religion and the poor. William of Malmesbury describes her as attending church barefoot at Lent, and washing the feet and kissing the hands of the sick. Matilda exhibited a particular interest in leprosy, founding at least two leper hospitals, including the institution that later became the parish church of St Giles-in-the-Fields.[18] She also administered extensive dower properties and was known as a patron of the arts, especially music.

    Death

    After Matilda died on 1 May 1118 at Westminster Palace, she was buried at Westminster Abbey. The death of her son, William Adelin, in the tragic disaster of the White Ship (November 1120) and Henry's failure to produce a legitimate son from his second marriage led to the succession crisis of The Anarchy.

    Legacy

    After her death, she was remembered by her subjects as "Matilda the Good Queen" and "Matilda of Blessed Memory", and for a time sainthood was sought for her, though she was never canonized. Matilda is also thought to be the identity of the "Fair Lady" mentioned at the end of each verse in the nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down. The post-Norman conquest English monarchs to the present day are related to the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex monarchs via Matilda of Scotland as she was the great-granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside, see House of Wessex family tree.

    Issue

    Matilda and Henry had issue

    Euphemia (July/August 1101), died young
    Matilda of England (c. February 1102 – 10 September 1167), Holy Roman Empress, Countess consort of Anjou, called Lady of the English
    William Adelin, (5 August 1103 – 25 November 1120), sometimes called Duke of Normandy, who married Matilda (d.1154), daughter of Fulk V, Count of Anjou.
    Elizabeth (August/September 1104), died young

    Appearance and character

    "It causes pleasure to see the queen whom no woman equals in beauty of body or face, hiding her body, nevertheless, in a veil of loose clothing. Here alone, with new modesty, wishes to conceal it, but what gleams with its own light cannot be hidden and the sun, penetrating his clouds, hurls his rays." She also had "fluent, honeyed speech." From a poem of Marbodius of Rennes.

    Children:
    1. 5. Matilda of England, Queen of England was born on 7 Feb 1102 in London, Middlesex, England; was christened on 7 Apr 1141; died on 10 Sep 1167 in Notre Dame, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France; was buried on 10 Sep 1169 in Bec Abbey, Le Bec-Hellouin, Eure, France.


Generation: 5

  1. 20.  William the Conqueror, King of England, Duke of NormandyWilliam the Conqueror, King of England, Duke of Normandy was born on 14 Oct 1024 in Chateau de Falaise, Falaise, Normandy, France; was christened in 1066 in Dives-sur-Mer, Normandie, France (son of Duke Robert de Normandie, II and Harriette de Falaise, Countess of Montaigne); died on 9 Sep 1087 in Rouen, Normandy, France; was buried in Saint-Etienne de Caen, France.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Residence: Hastings, England
    • Military: Victor over the English in the Battle of Hastings, 1066
    • Burial: 10 Sep 1087, St. Stephen Abbey, Caen, Calvados, France

    Notes:

    William I the Conqueror of England and Normandy, Duke of Normandy, King of England, was born 9 September 1027 in Falaise, France to Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) and Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050) and died 1087 in Rouen, France of unspecified causes. He married Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083) 1051 JL . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]

    William I, King of England, Duke of Normandy was a mediµval monarch. He ruled as the Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 and as King of England from 1066 to 1087. As Duke of Normandy, William was known as William II, and, as King of England, as William I. He is commonly refered to as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquâerant) or William the Bastard (Guillaume le Băatard).

    The name "William the Bastard", a name used by his enemies arose from the fact that his mother was a Tanner's daughter who agreed to be his father Robert II's mistress. She demanded that their relationship not be secret, and had a position in court. After the affair was over, she married a Viscount. William retained the favour of his father and when Robert II left for the Holy Land, he forced his lords to pledge fealty to William. Robert II never returned from the Holy land and the oath was quickly forgotten, and intrigue surrounded the boy Duke. William's guardian Gilbert of Brionne was murdered, as was his tutor, as was his uncle Osbern- killed while protecting William from kidnappers found in his bedroom. William was sent away from home for his protection, and it was common practice for William's uncle Walter to awaken him in the night to move him to a new location.

    By age fifteen, William was knighted, and by twenty he went to war against his cousin Guy of Normandy to defend his title of Duke of Normandy. With the help of King Henri I of France, he subdued his enemies who were forced to swear allegiance to William.

    William asked for the hand of Matilda, daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders, but Matilda would have none of it. Purportedly, she was in love with the English ambassador to Flanders, a Saxon named Brihtric, who declined her advances. As for William, she told his emissary that she was far too high-born (being descended from King Alfred the Great of England) to consider marrying a bastard. When that was repeated to him, William, all of 5'10", rode from Normandy to Bruges, found Matilda on her way to church, dragged her off her horse (some said by her long braids), threw her down in the street in front of her flabbergasted attendants, and then rode off. Another version states that William rode to Matilda's father's house in Lille, threw her to the ground in her room (again, by the braids), and hit her (or violently shook her) before leaving.

    William convinced Matilda to relent, but the pope opposed the marriage because they were distant cousins. For a period of time all of Normandy was excommunicated along with their duke because William disregarded the pope's advice and married Matilda. In return for the construction of two abbeys, the excommunication of Normandy was lifted.

    In 1051, William visited his cousin Edward the Confessor, king of England. Edward was childless, and William's account is that the king made him his heir. According to supporters of William, Edward sent his brother in law Harold Godwinson to see William in 1063. Other accounts say that Harold was shipwrecked. All accounts agree that William refused to let Harold depart until he swore on holy relics that he would uphold William's claim to the throne of England, and agreed to marry his daughter (then an infant) Agatha. After winning his release, Harold reneged on both promises.

    In support of his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts| in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.

    His reign brought Norman culture to England, which had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. In addition to political changes, his reign also saw changes to English law, a programme of building and fortification, changes in the English language and the introduction of continental European feudalism into England.

    For additional details beyond William's family history, see more here.

    Residence at Falaise
    In Falaise France, is a series of statues that pays tribute to the six Norman Dukes from Rollo to William Conqueror. The castle here was the principal residence of the Norman Knights.

    Chăateau Guillaume-le-Conquâerant Place Guillaume le Conquâerant / 14700 Falaise / Tel: 02 31 41 61 44

    History of Norman Dukes
    Homepage - Falaise Castle of William the Conqueror - In French.


    Children

    Offspring of William I of England and Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Robert III, Duke of Normandy (c1051-1134) 1051 (Normandy) 10 February 1134 (Cardiff Castle+ Glamorganshire+ Wales) Sybilla of Conversano (-1103)

    Richard of Normandy (c1054) 1054 Normandy 1081 New Forest, Hampshire
    Adeliza of Normandy (c1055) 1055 Normandy 1065
    Cecilia of Normandy (c1055) 1055 Normandy, France 30 July 1126 Caen, Calvados, France
    William II of England (c1056-1100) 1056 Normandy, France 2 August 1100 New Forest, England, United Kingdom
    Adela of Normandy (c1062) 1062 Normandy, France 8 March 1138 Marcigny, Saăone-et-Loire, France Stephen II, Count of Blois (c1045-1102)

    Agatha of Normandy (c1064) 1064 1079
    Constance of Normandy (c1066-1090) 1066 1090 Alain Fergent de Bretagne (c1060-1119)

    Henry I of England (1068-1135) 13 June 1068 Selby, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom 1 December 1135 St. Denis-le-Fermont near Gisors, Picardy, Lyons-la-Forăet, Eure, France Ansfrid (1070-?)
    Matilda of Scotland (c1080-1118)
    Sybil Corbet (1077-?)
    Edith
    Gieva de Tracy
    Nest ferch Rhys (c1073-aft1136)
    Isabel de Beaumont
    Adeliza of Leuven (1103-1151)



    Common ancestors of William I of England (1027-1087) and Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083)

    Fulk II, Count of Anjou (?-958)
    Gerberge of Maine (?-?)
    Noteworthy descendants include

    Henry II of England (1133-1189)
    William I of England (1027-1087)

    Footnotes (including sources)
    ‡ General
    wikipedia:en:William the Conqueror
    Burke's Guide to the Royal Family, London, 1973 , Reference: 193, 310

    end of biography

    Click here to view William the Conqueror's biography... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I_of_England

    Click here to read about the historic Norman Conquest by William ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Conquest

    Click here to view his 9-generation pedigree ... http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/ahnentafel.php?personID=I3527&tree=00&parentset=0&generations=9


    William the Conqueror is the 26th & 27th great grandfather of the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985)

    end of comment

    Click this link to view lots of pictures of William I & a video from the, "Bayeux Tapestry"; http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/William_I_of_England_(1027-1087)/pictures

    How Did the Normans Change England?

    The Normans were more than just the people who conquered England.

    They were dynamic and passionate people who changed English history forever.

    Apr 10, 2023 • By Greg Beyer, BA History and Linguistics, Diploma in Journalism ... https://www.thecollector.com/how-did-the-normans-change-england/

    Residence:
    Victor over the English in the Battle of 1066

    Military:
    a seminal moment in English history...

    Died:
    at the Priory of St. Gervase...

    Buried:
    The Abbey of Saint-âEtienne, also known as Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey"), is a former Benedictine monastery in the French city of Caen, Normandy, dedicated to Saint Stephen. It was founded in 1063[1] by William the Conqueror and is one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Normandy.

    Photos, history & source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_Saint-%C3%89tienne,_Caen

    William married Matilda of Flanders, Queen of England in 1053 in Normandie, France. Matilda was born about 1031 in Flanders, Belgium; died on 2 Nov 1083 in Caen, Calvados, Normandie, France; was buried in Abbaye aux Dames, Caen, Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 21.  Matilda of Flanders, Queen of EnglandMatilda of Flanders, Queen of England was born about 1031 in Flanders, Belgium; died on 2 Nov 1083 in Caen, Calvados, Normandie, France; was buried in Abbaye aux Dames, Caen, Normandie, France.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • _HEIG: 5' 0"

    Notes:

    Matilda of Flanders (French: Mathilde; Dutch: Machteld) (c. 1031 – 2 November 1083) was Queen of England and Duchess of Normandy by marriage to William the Conqueror, and sometime Regent of these realms during his absence. She was the mother of ten children who survived to adulthood, including two kings, William II and Henry I.

    As a niece and granddaughter of kings of France, Matilda was of grander birth than William, who was illegitimate, and, according to some suspiciously romantic tales, she initially refused his proposal on this account. Her descent from the Anglo-Saxon royal House of Wessex was also to become a useful card. Like many royal marriages of the period, it breached the rules of consanguinity, then at their most restrictive (to seven generations or degrees of relatedness); Matilda and William were third-cousins, once removed. She was about 20 when they married in 1051/2; William was four years older,24, and had been Duke of Normandy since he was about eight (in 1035).

    The marriage appears to have been successful, and William is not recorded to have had any bastards. Matilda was about 35, and had already produced most of her children, when William embarked on the Norman conquest of England, sailing in his flagship Mora, which Matilda had given him. She governed the Duchy of Normandy in his absence, joining him in England only after more than a year, and subsequently returning to Normandy, where she spent most of the remainder of her life, while William was mostly in his new kingdom. She was about 52 when she died in Normandy in 1083.

    Apart from governing Normandy and supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, Matilda took a close interest in the education of her children, who were unusually well educated for contemporary royalty. The boys were tutored by the Italian Lanfranc, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, while the girls learned Latin in Sainte-Trinitâe Abbey in Caen, founded by William and Matilda as part of the papal dispensation allowing their marriage.

    Marriage

    Matilda, or Maud, was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and Adela, herself daughter of King Robert II of France.[1]

    According to legend, when the Norman duke William the Bastard (later called the Conqueror) sent his representative to ask for Matilda's hand in marriage, she told the representative that she was far too high-born to consider marrying a bastard.[a] After hearing this response, William rode from Normandy to Bruges, found Matilda on her way to church, dragged her off her horse by her long braids, threw her down in the street in front of her flabbergasted attendants and rode off.

    Another version of the story states that William rode to Matilda's father's house in Lille, threw her to the ground in her room (again, by her braids) and hit her (or violently battered her) before leaving. Naturally, Baldwin took offence at this; but, before they could draw swords, Matilda settled the matter[2] by refusing to marry anyone but William;[3] even a papal ban by Pope Leo IX at the Council of Reims on the grounds of consanguinity did not dissuade her. William and Matilda were married after a delay in c.?1051–2.[4] A papal dispensation was finally awarded in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II.[5] Lanfranc, at the time prior of Bec Abbey, negotiated the arrangement in Rome and it came only after William and Matilda agreed to found two churches as penance.[6]

    Rumored romances

    There were rumours that Matilda had been in love variously with the English ambassador to Flanders and with the great Saxon thegn Brictric, son of Algar, who (according to the account by the Continuator of Wace and others[7]) in his youth declined her advances. Whatever the truth of the matter, years later when she was acting as regent for her husband William in England, she is said to have used her authority to confiscate Brictric's lands and throw him into prison, where he died.[8]

    Duchess of Normandy

    When William was preparing to invade England, Matilda outfitted a ship, the Mora, out of her own funds and gave it to him.[9] Additionally, William gave Normandy to his wife during his absence. Matilda successfully guided the duchy through this period in the name of her fourteen-year-old son; no major uprisings or unrest occurred.[10]

    Even after William conquered England and became its king, it took her more than a year to visit the kingdom.[11] Despite having been crowned queen, she spent most of her time in Normandy, governing the duchy, supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, and sponsoring ecclesiastic houses there. Only one of her children was born in England; Henry was born in Yorkshire when Matilda accompanied her husband in the Harrying of the North.[12]

    Queen

    Statue of Matilda of Flanders, one of the twenty Reines de France et Femmes illustres in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, by Carle Elshoecht (1850)

    Tomb of Matilda of Flanders at Abbaye aux Dames, Caen

    Tomb of William of Normandy at Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Caen
    Matilda was crowned queen on 11 May 1068 in Westminster during the feast of Pentecost, in a ceremony presided over by the archbishop of York. Three new phrases were incorporated to cement the importance of English consorts, stating that the Queen was divinely placed by God, shares in royal power, and blesses her people by her power and virtue.[13][14]

    For many years it was thought that she had some involvement in the creation of the Bayeux Tapestry (commonly called La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde in French), but historians no longer believe that; it seems to have been commissioned by William's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and made by English artists in Kent.[15]

    Matilda bore William nine or ten children. He was believed to have been faithful to her and never produced a child outside their marriage. Despite her royal duties, Matilda was deeply invested in her children's well-being. All were known for being remarkably educated. Her daughters were educated and taught to read Latin at Sainte-Trinitâe in Caen founded by Matilda and William in response to the recognition of their marriage.[16] For her sons, she secured Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury of whom she was an ardent supporter. Both she and William approved of the Archbishop's desire to revitalise the Church.[17]

    She stood as godmother for Matilda of Scotland, who would become Queen of England after marrying Matilda's son Henry I. During the christening, the baby pulled Queen Matilda's headdress down on top of herself, which was seen as an omen that the younger Matilda would be queen some day as well.[18]

    Matilda fell ill during the summer of 1083 and died in November 1083. Her husband was present for her final confession.[19] William died four years later in 1087.

    Contrary to the common belief that she was buried at St. Stephen's, also called l'Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen, Normandy, where William was eventually buried, she is entombed in Caen at l'Abbaye aux Dames, which is the community of Sainte-Trinitâe. Of particular interest is the 11th-century slab, a sleek black stone decorated with her epitaph, marking her grave at the rear of the church. In contrast, the grave marker for William's tomb was replaced as recently as the beginning of the 19th century.

    Height

    Over time Matilda's tomb was desecrated and her original coffin destroyed. Her remains were placed in a sealed box and reburied under the original black slab.[20] In 1959 Matilda's incomplete skeleton was examined and her femur and tibia were measured to determine her height using anthropometric methods. Her height was 5 feet (1.52m), a normal height for the time.[21] However, as a result of this examination she was misreported as being 4 feet 2 inches (1.27m)[22] leading to the myth that she was extremely small.

    Family and children

    Matilda and William had four sons and at least five daughters.[23] The birth order of the boys is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters.[23]

    Robert, born between 1051 and 1054, died 10 February 1134.[24] Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano.[25]
    Richard, born c. 1054, died around 1075.[24]
    William Rufus, born between 1056 and 1060, died 2 August 1100.[24] King of England, killed in the New Forest.
    Henry, born late 1068, died 1 December 1135.[24] King of England, married Edith of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. His second wife was Adeliza of Louvain.[26]
    Agatha, betrothed to Harold II of England, Alfonso VI of Castile, and possibly Herbert I, Count of Maine, but died unmarried.[b][27]
    Adeliza (or Adelida,[28] Adelaide[26]), died before 1113, reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England, probably a nun of St Lâeger at Prâeaux.[28]
    Cecilia (or Cecily), born c. 1056, died 1127. Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.[27]
    Matilda,[28] "daughter of the King", born around 1061, died perhaps about 1086,[26] or else much later (according to Trevor Foulds's suggestion that she was identical to Matilda d'Aincourt[29]).
    Constance, died 1090, married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany.[27]
    Adela, died 1137, married Stephen, Count of Blois.[27] Mother of King Stephen of England.
    There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William.[30]

    William was furious when he discovered she sent large sums of money to their exiled son Robert.[31] She effected a truce between them at Easter 1080.

    Buried:
    (or Sainte Trinitâe) for women which was founded by Matilda around four years later (1063)...

    Notes:

    Married:
    The problem has been and maybe still is that William the Conqueror and Matilda (dau. of Baldwin V of Flanders & Adelaide of France) had relatively great difficulty is obtaining a papal dispensation for their marriage. It was not immediately obvious that there was any impediment that needed a dispensation. This problem of what the relationship between Matilda and William was that required a dispensation generated a vigorous debate earlier this century. Weis or Weis's source (as you report it) goes for a theory that makes Matilda and William cousins of sorts.

    Children:
    1. Adela of Normandy was born in ~ 1067 in Normandy, France; died on 8 Mar 1137 in Marcigny-sur-Loire, France.
    2. 10. Henry I, King of England was born in 1068-1070 in Selby, Yorkshire, England; was christened on 5 Aug 1100 in Selby, Yorkshire, England; died on 1 Dec 1135 in Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Normandy, France; was buried on 4 Jan 1136 in Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire, England.

  3. 22.  Malcolm III of Scotland, King of ScotsMalcolm III of Scotland, King of Scots was born in 0Mar 1031 in Scotland (son of Duncan I of Scotland, King of Alba and Suthen, Queen of Scotland); died on 13 Nov 1093 in Alnwick, Northumberland, England.

    Notes:

    Malcolm III (Gaelic: Mâael Coluim mac Donnchada; c. 26 March 1031 – 13 November 1093) was King of Scots from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" ("ceann máor", Gaelic for "Great Chief": "ceann" denotes "leader", "head" (of state) and "máor" denotes "pre-eminent", "great", and "big").[1][2] Malcolm's long reign of 35 years preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age.

    Malcolm's kingdom did not extend over the full territory of modern Scotland: the north and west of Scotland remained under Scandinavian, Norse-Gael, and Gaelic rule, and the territories under the rule of the Kings of Scots did not extend much beyond the limits established by Malcolm II until the 12th century. Malcolm III fought a series of wars against the Kingdom of England, which may have had as its objective the conquest of the English earldom of Northumbria. These wars did not result in any significant advances southward. Malcolm's primary achievement was to continue a lineage that ruled Scotland for many years,[3] although his role as founder of a dynasty has more to do with the propaganda of his youngest son David I and his descendants than with history.[4]

    Malcolm's second wife, St. Margaret of Scotland, is Scotland's only royal saint. Malcolm himself had no reputation for piety; with the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey in Fife he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms.

    King of Alba (Scots)
    Reign 1058–1093
    Coronation 25 April 1058?, Scone, Perth and Kinross
    Predecessor Lulach
    Successor Donald III
    Born c. 26 March 1031
    Scotland
    Died 13 November 1093
    Alnwick, Northumberland, England
    Burial Tynemouth Castle and Priory, then in Dunfermline Abbey
    Spouse Ingibiorg Finnsdottir
    St. Margaret of Scotland
    Issue Duncan II, King of Scots
    Edward, Prince of Scotland
    Edmund
    Ethelred
    Edgar, King of Scots
    Alexander I, King of Scots
    David I, King of Scots
    Matilda, Queen of England
    Mary, Countess of Boulogne
    House Dunkeld
    Father Duncan I, King of Scots
    Mother Suthen


    Background
    Main article: Scotland in the High Middle Ages
    Malcolm's father Duncan I became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II, Duncan's maternal grandfather and Malcolm's great-grandfather. According to John of Fordun, whose account is the original source of part at least of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Malcolm's mother was a niece of Siward, Earl of Northumbria,[5][6] but an earlier king-list gives her the Gaelic name Suthen.[7] Other sources claim that either a daughter or niece would have been too young to fit the timeline, thus the likely relative would have been Siward's own sister Sybil, which may have translated into Gaelic as Suthen.

    Duncan's reign was not successful and he was killed in battle with the men of Moray, led by Macbeth, on 15 August 1040. Duncan was young at the time of his death,[8] and Malcolm and his brother Donalbane were children.[9] Malcolm's family attempted to overthrow Macbeth in 1045, but Malcolm's grandfather Crâinâan of Dunkeld was killed in the attempt.[10]

    Soon after the death of Duncan his two young sons were sent away for greater safety—exactly where is the subject of debate. According to one version, Malcolm (then aged about nine) was sent to England,[11] and his younger brother Donalbane was sent to the Isles.[12][13] Based on Fordun's account, it was assumed that Malcolm passed most of Macbeth's seventeen-year reign in the Kingdom of England at the court of Edward the Confessor.[14][15] Today's British Royal family can trace their family history back to Malcolm III via his daughter Matilda.

    According to an alternative version, Malcolm's mother took both sons into exile at the court of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney, an enemy of Macbeth's family, and perhaps Duncan's kinsman by marriage.[16]

    An English invasion in 1054, with Siward, Earl of Northumbria in command, had as its goal the installation of one "Mâael Coluim, son of the king of the Cumbrians". This Mâael Coluim has traditionally been identified with the later Malcolm III.[17] This interpretation derives from the Chronicle attributed to the 14th-century chronicler of Scotland, John of Fordun, as well as from earlier sources such as William of Malmesbury.[18] The latter reported that Macbeth was killed in the battle by Siward, but it is known that Macbeth outlived Siward by two years.[19] A. A. M. Duncan argued in 2002 that, using the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry as their source, later writers innocently misidentified "Mâael Coluim" with the later Scottish king of the same name.[20] Duncan's argument has been supported by several subsequent historians specialising in the era, such as Richard Oram, Dauvit Broun and Alex Woolf.[21] It has also been suggested that Mâael Coluim may have been a son of Owain Foel, British king of Strathclyde[22] perhaps by a daughter of Malcolm II, King of Scotland.[23]

    In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolm's hand, on 15 August 1057 at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire.[24][25] Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone, probably on 8 September 1057. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, "by treachery",[26] near Huntly on 23 April 1058. After this, Malcolm became king, perhaps being inaugurated on 25 April 1058, although only John of Fordun reports this.[27]

    Malcolm and Ingibiorg

    Late medieval depiction of Malcolm with MacDuff, from an MS (Corpus Christi MS 171) of Walter Bower's Scotichronicon
    If Orderic Vitalis is to be relied upon, one of Malcolm's earliest actions as king was to travel to the court of Edward the Confessor in 1059 to arrange a marriage with Edward's kinswoman Margaret, who had arrived in England two years before from Hungary.[28] If a marriage agreement was made in 1059, it was not kept, and this may explain the Scots invasion of Northumbria in 1061 when Lindisfarne was plundered.[29] Equally, Malcolm's raids in Northumbria may have been related to the disputed "Kingdom of the Cumbrians", reestablished by Earl Siward in 1054, which was under Malcolm's control by 1070.[30]

    The Orkneyinga saga reports that Malcolm married the widow of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Ingibiorg, a daughter of Finn Arnesson.[31] Although Ingibiorg is generally assumed to have died shortly before 1070, it is possible that she died much earlier, around 1058.[32] The Orkneyinga Saga records that Malcolm and Ingibiorg had a son, Duncan II (Donnchad mac Maâil Coluim), who was later king.[33] Some Medieval commentators, following William of Malmesbury, claimed that Duncan was illegitimate, but this claim is propaganda reflecting the need of Malcolm's descendants by Margaret to undermine the claims of Duncan's descendants, the Meic Uilleim.[34] Malcolm's son Domnall, whose death is reported in 1085, is not mentioned by the author of the Orkneyinga Saga. He is assumed to have been born to Ingibiorg.[35]

    Malcolm's marriage to Ingibiorg secured him peace in the north and west. The Heimskringla tells that her father Finn had been an adviser to Harald Hardraade and, after falling out with Harald, was then made an Earl by Sweyn Estridsson, King of Denmark, which may have been another recommendation for the match.[36] Malcolm enjoyed a peaceful relationship with the Earldom of Orkney, ruled jointly by his stepsons, Paul and Erlend Thorfinnsson. The Orkneyinga Saga reports strife with Norway but this is probably misplaced as it associates this with Magnus Barefoot, who became king of Norway only in 1093, the year of Malcolm's death.[37]

    Malcolm and Margaret

    Malcolm and Margaret as depicted in a 16th-century armorial. Anachronistically, Malcolm's surcoat is embroidered with the royal arms of Scotland, which probably did not come into use until the time of William the Lion. Margaret's kirtle displays the supposed arms of her great-uncle Edward the Confessor, which were in fact invented in the 13th century, though they were based on a design which appeared on coins from his reign
    Although he had given sanctuary to Tostig Godwinson when the Northumbrians drove him out, Malcolm was not directly involved in the ill-fated invasion of England by Harald Hardraade and Tostig in 1066, which ended in defeat and death at the battle of Stamford Bridge.[38] In 1068, he granted asylum to a group of English exiles fleeing from William of Normandy, among them Agatha, widow of Edward the Confessor's nephew Edward the Exile, and her children: Edgar Ątheling and his sisters Margaret and Cristina. They were accompanied by Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria. The exiles were disappointed, however, if they had expected immediate assistance from the Scots.[39]

    In 1069 the exiles returned to England, to join a spreading revolt in the north. Even though Gospatric and Siward's son Waltheof submitted by the end of the year, the arrival of a Danish army under Sweyn Estridsson seemed to ensure that William's position remained weak. Malcolm decided on war, and took his army south into Cumbria and across the Pennines, wasting Teesdale and Cleveland then marching north, loaded with loot, to Wearmouth. There Malcolm met Edgar and his family, who were invited to return with him, but did not. As Sweyn had by now been bought off with a large Danegeld, Malcolm took his army home. In reprisal, William sent Gospatric to raid Scotland through Cumbria. In return, the Scots fleet raided the Northumbrian coast where Gospatric's possessions were concentrated.[40] Late in the year, perhaps shipwrecked on their way to a European exile, Edgar and his family again arrived in Scotland, this time to remain. By the end of 1070, Malcolm had married Edgar's sister Margaret of Wessex, the future Saint Margaret of Scotland.[41]

    The naming of their children represented a break with the traditional Scots regal names such as Malcolm, Cinâaed and Áed. The point of naming Margaret's sons—Edward after her father Edward the Exile, Edmund for her grandfather Edmund Ironside, Ethelred for her great-grandfather Ethelred the Unready and Edgar for her great-great-grandfather Edgar and her brother, briefly the elected king, Edgar Ątheling—was unlikely to be missed in England, where William of Normandy's grasp on power was far from secure.[42] Whether the adoption of the classical Alexander for the future Alexander I of Scotland (either for Pope Alexander II or for Alexander the Great) and the biblical David for the future David I of Scotland represented a recognition that William of Normandy would not be easily removed, or was due to the repetition of Anglo-Saxon royal name—another Edmund had preceded Edgar—is not known.[43] Margaret also gave Malcolm two daughters, Edith, who married Henry I of England, and Mary, who married Eustace III of Boulogne.

    In 1072, with the Harrying of the North completed and his position again secure, William of Normandy came north with an army and a fleet. Malcolm met William at Abernethy and, in the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle "became his man" and handed over his eldest son Duncan as a hostage and arranged peace between William and Edgar.[44] Accepting the overlordship of the king of the English was no novelty, as previous kings had done so without result. The same was true of Malcolm; his agreement with the English king was followed by further raids into Northumbria, which led to further trouble in the earldom and the killing of Bishop William Walcher at Gateshead. In 1080, William sent his son Robert Curthose north with an army while his brother Odo punished the Northumbrians. Malcolm again made peace, and this time kept it for over a decade.[45]

    Malcolm faced little recorded internal opposition, with the exception of Lulach's son Mâael Snechtai. In an unusual entry, for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains little on Scotland, it says that in 1078:

    Malcholom [Mâael Coluim] seized the mother of Mµlslµhtan [Mâael Snechtai] ... and all his treasures, and his cattle; and he himself escaped with difficulty.[46]

    Whatever provoked this strife, Mâael Snechtai survived until 1085.[47]

    Malcolm and William Rufus

    William Rufus, "the Red", king of the English (1087–1100)
    When William Rufus became king of England after his father's death, Malcolm did not intervene in the rebellions by supporters of Robert Curthose which followed. In 1091, William Rufus confiscated Edgar Ątheling's lands in England, and Edgar fled north to Scotland. In May, Malcolm marched south, not to raid and take slaves and plunder, but to besiege Newcastle, built by Robert Curthose in 1080. This appears to have been an attempt to advance the frontier south from the River Tweed to the River Tees. The threat was enough to bring the English king back from Normandy, where he had been fighting Robert Curthose. In September, learning of William Rufus's approaching army, Malcolm withdrew north and the English followed. Unlike in 1072, Malcolm was prepared to fight, but a peace was arranged by Edgar Ątheling and Robert Curthose whereby Malcolm again acknowledged the overlordship of the English king.[48]

    In 1092, the peace began to break down. Based on the idea that the Scots controlled much of modern Cumbria, it had been supposed that William Rufus's new castle at Carlisle and his settlement of English peasants in the surrounds was the cause. It is unlikely that Malcolm controlled Cumbria, and the dispute instead concerned the estates granted to Malcolm by William Rufus's father in 1072 for his maintenance when visiting England. Malcolm sent messengers to discuss the question and William Rufus agreed to a meeting. Malcolm travelled south to Gloucester, stopping at Wilton Abbey to visit his daughter Edith and sister-in-law Cristina. Malcolm arrived there on 24 August 1093 to find that William Rufus refused to negotiate, insisting that the dispute be judged by the English barons. This Malcolm refused to accept, and returned immediately to Scotland.[49]

    It does not appear that William Rufus intended to provoke a war,[50] but, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports, war came:

    For this reason therefore they parted with great dissatisfaction, and the King Malcolm returned to Scotland. And soon after he came home, he gathered his army, and came harrowing into England with more hostility than behoved him ....[51]

    Malcolm was accompanied by Edward, his eldest son by Margaret and probable heir-designate (or tâanaiste), and by Edgar.[52] Even by the standards of the time, the ravaging of Northumbria by the Scots was seen as harsh.[53]

    Death

    Memorial cross said to mark the spot where King Malcolm III of Scotland was killed while besieging Alnwick Castle in 1093.
    While marching north again, Malcolm was ambushed by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, whose lands he had devastated, near Alnwick on 13 November 1093. There he was killed by Arkil Morel, steward of Bamburgh Castle. The conflict became known as the Battle of Alnwick.[54] Edward was mortally wounded in the same fight. Margaret, it is said, died soon after receiving the news of their deaths from Edgar.[55] The Annals of Ulster say:

    Mael Coluim son of Donnchad, over-king of Scotland, and Edward his son, were killed by the French [i.e. Normans] in Inber Alda in England. His queen, Margaret, moreover, died of sorrow for him within nine days.[56]

    Malcolm's body was taken to Tynemouth Priory for burial. The king's body was sent north for reburial, in the reign of his son Alexander, at Dunfermline Abbey, or possibly Iona.[57]

    On 19 June 1250, following the canonisation of Malcolm's wife Margaret by Pope Innocent IV, Margaret's remains were disinterred and placed in a reliquary. Tradition has it that as the reliquary was carried to the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey, past Malcolm's grave, it became too heavy to move. As a result, Malcolm's remains were also disinterred, and buried next to Margaret beside the altar.[58]

    Issue

    Malcolm and Ingibiorg had three sons:

    Duncan II of Scotland, succeeded his father as King of Scotland
    Donald, died ca.1094
    Malcolm, died ca.1085
    Malcolm and Margaret had eight children, six sons and two daughters:

    Edward, killed 1093
    Edmund of Scotland
    Ethelred, abbot of Dunkeld
    King Edgar of Scotland
    King Alexander I of Scotland
    King David I of Scotland
    Edith of Scotland, also called Matilda, married King Henry I of England
    Mary of Scotland, married Eustace III of Boulogne

    end of biography

    Malcolm married Margaret of Wessex, Queen of Scotland in ~1069 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Margaret (daughter of Edward the Exile and Agatha) was born in ~1045 in Wessex, England; died on 16 Nov 1093 in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland; was buried in Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 23.  Margaret of Wessex, Queen of ScotlandMargaret of Wessex, Queen of Scotland was born in ~1045 in Wessex, England (daughter of Edward the Exile and Agatha); died on 16 Nov 1093 in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland; was buried in Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.

    Notes:

    Saint Margaret "Queen of Scotland" Ceannmore formerly Wessex aka Canmore, Mac Donnachadh, Dunkeld
    Born 1045 in Wessex, England
    ANCESTORS ancestors
    Daughter of Edward (Wessex) of Wessex and Agatha (Unknown) Wessex
    Sister of Cristina (of England) Wessex, Edgar (Wessex) Atheling and Aethlreda (Wessex) Ątheling
    Wife of Malcolm (Dunkeld) of Scotland — married about 1069 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
    DESCENDANTS descendants
    Mother of Heth MacCrinan (Dunkeld) Earl of Fife, Edward (Dunkeld) of Scotland, Edmund Dunkeld, Aethelred (Dunkeld) Canmore, Edgar (Dunkeld) King of Scotland, Alexander mac Maâil Coluim (Dunkeld) of Scotland, Eadgith (Dunkeld) of Scotland, Mary (Dunkeld) Scotland and David (Dunkeld) of Scotland
    Died 16 Nov 1093 in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Mid-Lothian, Scotland

    Profile managers: Terry Wright Find Relationship private message [send private message], Scotland Project WikiTree Find Relationship private message [send private message], Wendy Hampton Find Relationship private message [send private message], and Nichole Gump private message [send private message]
    Wessex-26 created 2 Jan 2011 | Last modified 13 May 2019
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    Contents
    [hide]
    1 Biography
    1.1 Early Life
    1.2 Family
    1.3 Death
    1.4 Canonisation
    2 Sources
    Biography
    Saint Margaret of Scotland also known as Margaret of Wessex

    b. abt. 1045; Margaret may have been born in Hungary,[1] "Aldred Bishop of Worcester, ambassador of King Edward 'the Confessor', proposed to the emperor to send envoys to Hungary to bring back Edward and have him conducted to England."[2]
    d. 16 November 1093
    Early Life
    Margaret's parents were Edward "the Exile" (1016 – Aug 1057) son of Edmund Ironside, and his wife, Agatha, who was related to Gisela, wife of St. Stephen of Hungary,[3] Agatha's origins are disputed.[4]

    Her father returned to England in 1057 and died two days later. After the conquest of England by the Normans, she was returning with her mother Agatha to return to the Continent when a storm drove their ship to Scotland, where the king, Malcolm III received them.[3]

    Family
    Margaret married at Dunfermline Abbey, in 1070, Malcolm III "Caennmor/Bighead" King of Scotland as his second wife.[2] Issue:

    Edward, killed at Alnwick defending father;
    Ethelred, Earl of Fife, and Abbot of Dunkeld before its erection into a bishopric, and still under Columbite rule, who gave lands of Ardmore to the Culdees of Loch Leven. Buried at St Andrews;
    Edmund, who once shared throne with uncle, Donald-bain; became a monk after Donald's deposition in the Cluniae Priory of Montague in Somersetshire, and died there in the odour of sanctity. —Sir James Balfour;
    Edgar, who told his mother about his father's and brother's death at Dunfermline (Turgot, confessor and biographer);
    Alexander I, surnamed Fierce, had the earldom of Innergoury - given by uncle (Donald-bain) at his baptism;
    David I, the Saint;
    Matilda m. Henry I, King of England;
    Mary m. Eustace, Count de Bulloigne, (bros. Godfrey, King of Jerusalem). issue: "Matilda" m. Stephen, King of England; from Mary also descended the Dukes de Bulloigne, including the celebrated Turenne, General of Louis XIV;[5]
    Death
    Already ill when her son, Edmund, told her that her husband and eldest son died on 13 November 1093, Margaret died in Edinburgh Castle three days after them on 16 Nov 1093, some say of a broken heart.[2]

    (Royal Ancestry) (Malcolm's) widow, Margaret, died at Edinburgh Castle 16 Nov. 1093, and was buried before the high altar in the church of the Holy Trinity at Dunfermline, Fife.

    (Wikipedia) In 1250 her body and that of her husband were exhumed and placed in a new shrine in the Abbey. In 1560 Mary Queen of Scots had Margaret's head removed to Edinburgh Castle as a relic to assist her in childbirth. In 1597 the head ended up with the Jesuits at the Scots' College, Douai, France, but was lost during the French Revolution. Philip II of Spain had the other remains of Margaret and her husband Malcolm transferred to the Escorial in Madrid (royal mausoleum), but they cannot now be found. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Margaret_of_Scotland)

    Canonisation
    Maragaret was canonised in the year 1250, by Pope Innocent IV. In 1969, her veneration day was changed to the date of her death--16 Nov. 1093. She was already ill when her son, Edmund, told her of her husband and eldest son's death. Margaret died in Edinburgh Castle nine days later, some say of a broken heart.[2]

    (Royal Ancestry) She was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1250.

    Sources
    Royal Ancestry 2013 Vol. IV p. 576-578
    ? If she was bornin Hungary, there should be a source that she was born at Castle Reka, Mecseknaddasd, Hungary in 1054
    ? 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Charles Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), KINGS of WESSEX 802-944, KINGS of ENGLAND 944-1066, Medieval Lands, 2006-15, accessed 20 July 2015.
    ? 3.0 3.1 Huddleston, Gilbert. "St. Margaret of Scotland." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 20 July 2015 .
    ? Wikipedia: Edward the Exile, accessed 20 July 2015.
    ? Douglas, D. (1899). Scottish kings: A revised chronology of Scottish history, 1005-1625. Edinburgh. archive.org.
    See also:

    Post, W.E. (1999). Saints, Signs and Symbols, (2nd, ed. pp.47). Essex: Hart-Talbot Printers, Ltd.
    Wikipedia contributors, "Saint Margaret of Scotland," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saint_Margaret_of_Scotland&oldid=788950538 (accessed August 1, 2017).

    end of this biography

    Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045 - 16 November 1093), also known as Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess and a Scottish queen. Margaret was sometimes called "The Pearl of Scotland".[1] Born in exile in the Kingdom of Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ątheling, the shortly reigned and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Margaret and her family returned to the Kingdom of England in 1057, but fled to the Kingdom of Scotland following the Norman conquest of England in 1066. By the end of 1070, Margaret had married King Malcolm III of Scotland, becoming Queen of Scots. She was a very pious Roman Catholic, and among many charitable works she established a ferry across the Firth of Forth in Scotland for pilgrims travelling to St Andrews in Fife, which gave the towns of South Queensferry and North Queensferry their names. Margaret was the mother of three kings of Scotland, or four, if Edmund of Scotland, who ruled with his uncle, Donald III, is counted, and of a queen consort of England. According to the Vita S. Margaritae (Scotorum) Reginae (Life of St. Margaret, Queen (of the Scots)), attributed to Turgot of Durham, she died at Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1093, merely days after receiving the news of her husband's death in battle. In 1250 Pope Innocent IV canonized her, and her remains were reinterred in a shrine in Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland. Her relics were dispersed after the Scottish Reformation and subsequently lost. Mary, Queen of Scots at one time owned her head, which was subsequently preserved by Jesuits in the Scottish College, Douai, France, from where it was subsequently lost during the French Revolution.

    Queen consort of Scotland
    Tenure 1070-93
    Born c.?1045
    Kingdom of Hungary
    Died 16 November 1093
    Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Kingdom of Scotland
    Burial Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Kingdom of Scotland
    Spouse Malcolm III, King of Scotland
    Issue
    more... Edmund, Bishop of Dunkeld
    Ethelred
    Edgar, King of Scotland
    Alexander I, King of Scotland
    David I, King of Scotland
    Matilda, Queen of England
    Mary, Countess of Boulogne
    House Wessex
    Father Edward the Exile
    Mother Agatha

    Early life

    Margaret from a medieval family tree.
    Margaret was the daughter of the English prince Edward the Exile, and granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, King of England.[1] After the Danish conquest of England in 1016, King Canute the Great had the infant Edward exiled to the continent. He was taken first to the court of the Swedish king, Olof Skčotkonung, and then to Kiev. As an adult, he travelled to Hungary, where in 1046 he supported the successful bid of King Andrew I for the Hungarian crown. King Andrew I was then also known as "Andrew the Catholic" for his extreme aversion to pagans and great loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church. The provenance of Margaret's mother, Agatha, is disputed, but Margaret was born in Hungary c. 1045. Her brother Edgar the Ątheling and sister Cristina were also born in Hungary around this time. Margaret grew up in a very religious environment in the Hungarian court.

    Return to England

    Still a child, she came to England with the rest of her family when her father, Edward the Exile, was recalled in 1057 as a possible successor to her great-uncle, the childless King Edward the Confessor. Whether from natural or sinister causes, her father died immediately after landing, and Margaret continued to reside at the English court where her brother, Edgar Ątheling, was considered a possible successor to the English throne.[1] When Edward the Confessor died in January 1066, Harold Godwinson was selected as king, possibly because Edgar was considered too young. After Harold's defeat at the Battle of Hastings later that year, Edgar was proclaimed King of England, but when the Normans advanced on London, the Witenagemot presented Edgar to William the Conqueror, who took him to Normandy before returning him to England in 1068, when Edgar, Margaret, Cristina, and their mother Agatha fled north to Northumbria, England.

    Journey to Scotland

    According to tradition, the widowed Agatha decided to leave Northumbria, England with her children and return to the continent. However, a storm drove their ship north to the Kingdom of Scotland in 1068, where they sought the protection of King Malcolm III. The locus where it is believed that they landed is known today as St Margaret's Hope, near the village of North Queensferry, Fife, Scotland. Margaret's arrival in Scotland, after the failed revolt of the Northumbrian earls, has been heavily romanticized, though Symeon of Durham implied that her first meeting of Malcolm III may not have been until 1070, after William the Conqueror's Harrying of the North.

    King Malcolm III was a widower with two sons, Donald and Duncan. He would have been attracted to marrying one of the few remaining members of the Anglo-Saxon royal family. The marriage of Malcolm and Margaret occurred in 1070. Subsequently, Malcolm executed several invasions of Northumberland to support the claim of his new brother-in-law Edgar and to increase his own power. These, however, had little effect save the devastation of the County.[2]

    Progeny

    Margaret and Malcolm had eight children, six sons and two daughters:

    Edward (c. 1071 — 13 November 1093), killed along with his father Malcolm III in the Battle of Alnwick
    Edmund of Scotland (c.1071 – post 1097)
    Ethelred of Scotland, Abbot of Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland
    Edgar of Scotland (c.1074 — 11 January 1107), King of Scotland, regnat 1097-1107
    Alexander I of Scotland (c.1078 — 23 April 1124), King of Scotland, regnat 1107-24
    Edith of Scotland (c. 1080 – 1 May 1118), also named "Matilda", married King Henry I of England, Queen Consort of England
    Mary of Scotland (1082-1116), married Eustace III of Boulogne
    David I of Scotland (c.1083 – 24 May 1153), King of Scotland, regnat 1124-53

    Piety

    Malcolm greeting Margaret at her arrival in Scotland; detail of a mural by Victorian artist William Hole
    Margaret's biographer Turgot of Durham, Bishop of St. Andrew's, credits her with having a civilizing influence on her husband Malcolm by reading him narratives from the Bible. She instigated religious reform, striving to conform the worship and practices of the Church in Scotland to those of Rome. This she did on the inspiration and with the guidance of Lanfranc, a future Archbishop of Canterbury.[3] She also worked to conform the practices of the Scottish Church to those of the continental Church, which she experienced in her childhood. Due to these achievements, she was considered an exemplar of the "just ruler", and moreover influenced her husband and children, especially her youngest son, the future King David I of Scotland, to be just and holy rulers.

    "The chroniclers all agree in depicting Queen Margaret as a strong, pure, noble character, who had very great influence over her husband, and through him over Scottish history, especially in its ecclesiastical aspects. Her religion, which was genuine and intense, was of the newest Roman style; and to her are attributed a number of reforms by which the Church [in] Scotland was considerably modified from the insular and primitive type which down to her time it had exhibited. Among those expressly mentioned are a change in the manner of observing Lent, which thenceforward began as elsewhere on Ash Wednesday and not as previously on the following Monday, and the abolition of the old practice of observing Saturday (Sabbath), not Sunday, as the day of rest from labour (see Skene's Celtic Scotland, book ii chap. 8)."[4] The later editions of the Encyclopµdia Britannica, however, as an example, the Eleventh Edition, remove Skene's opinion that Scottish Catholics formerly rested from work on Saturday, something for which there is no historical evidence. Skene's Celtic Scotland, vol. ii, chap. 8, pp. 348–350, quotes from a contemporary document regarding Margaret's life, but his source says nothing at all of Saturday Sabbath observance, but rather says St. Margaret exhorted the Scots to cease their tendency "to neglect the due observance of the Lord's day."

    She attended to charitable works, serving orphans and the poor every day before she ate and washing the feet of the poor in imitation of Christ. She rose at midnight every night to attend the liturgy. She successfully invited the Benedictine Order to establish a monastery in Dunfermline, Fife in 1072, and established ferries at Queensferry and North Berwick to assist pilgrims journeying from south of the Firth of Forth to St. Andrew's in Fife. She used a cave on the banks of the Tower Burn in Dunfermline as a place of devotion and prayer. St. Margaret's Cave, now covered beneath a municipal car park, is open to the public.[5] Among other deeds, Margaret also instigated the restoration of Iona Abbey in Scotland.[6] She is also known to have interceded for the release of fellow English exiles who had been forced into serfdom by the Norman conquest of England.[7]

    Margaret was as pious privately as she was publicly. She spent much of her time in prayer, devotional reading, and ecclesiastical embroidery. This apparently had considerable effect on the more uncouth Malcolm, who was illiterate: he so admired her piety that he had her books decorated in gold and silver. One of these, a pocket gospel book with portraits of the Evangelists, is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England.[8]

    Malcolm was apparently largely ignorant of the long-term effects of Margaret's endeavours, not being especially religious himself. He was content for her to pursue her reforms as she desired, which was a testament to the strength of and affection in their marriage.[6]

    Death

    Her husband Malcolm III, and their eldest son Edward, were killed in the Battle of Alnwick against the English on 13 November 1093. Her son Edgar was left with the task of informing his mother of their deaths. Margaret was not yet 50 years old, but a life of constant austerity and fasting had taken its toll.[3] Already ill, Margaret died on 16 November 1093, three days after the deaths of her husband and eldest son. She was buried before the high altar in Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland. In 1250, the year of her canonization, her body and that of her husband were exhumed and placed in a new shrine in the Abbey. In 1560 Mary Queen of Scots had Margaret's head removed to Edinburgh Castle as a relic to assist her in childbirth. In 1597 Margaret's head ended up with the Jesuits at the Scottish College, Douai, France, but was lost during the French Revolution. King Philip of Spain had the other remains of Margaret and Malcolm III transferred to the Escorial palace in Madrid, Spain, but their present location has not been discovered.[9]

    Veneration

    Site of the ruined Shrine of St. Margaret at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland

    St Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

    St Margaret's Church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
    Canonization and feast day[edit]
    Pope Innocent IV canonized St. Margaret in 1250 in recognition of her personal holiness, fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church, work for ecclesiastical reform, and charity. On 19 June 1250, after her canonisation, her remains were transferred to a chapel in the eastern apse of Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, Scotland.[10] In 1693 Pope Innocent XII moved her feast day to 10 June in recognition of the birthdate of the son of James VII of Scotland and II of England.[11] In the revision of the General Roman Calendar in 1969, 16 November became free and the Church transferred her feast day to 16 November, the date of her death, on which it always had been observed in Scotland.[12] However, some traditionalist Catholics continue to celebrate her feast day on 10 June.

    She is also venerated as a saint in the Anglican Church.

    Institutions bearing her name

    Several churches throughout the world are dedicated in honour of St Margaret. One of the oldest is St Margaret's Chapel in Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland, which her son King David I founded. The Chapel was long thought to have been the oratory of Margaret herself, but is now thought to have been established in the 12th century. The oldest edifice in Edinburgh, it was restored in the 19th century and refurbished in the 1990s. Numerous other institutions are named for her as well.

    end of this biography

    Notes:

    Married:
    She is part of the English royal family fleeing the Normans after 1066.

    Children:
    1. 11. Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England was born in 1080 in Dumfermline, Scotland; died on 1 May 1118 in Westminster Palace, Westminster, London, Middlesex, England; was buried in Westminster Abbey, 20 Deans Yd, London SW1P 3PA, United Kingdom.
    2. Mary of Scotland was born in 1082 in Dumfermline, Scotland; died in 1116.
    3. David I of Scotland, King of the Scots was born in ~1085 in Dumfermline, Scotland; died on 24 May 1154 in Carlisle, Scotland; was buried in Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.


Generation: 6

  1. 40.  Duke Robert de Normandie, II was born in ~1005 in Normandie, France (son of Richard de Normandie, II and Judith de Bretagne); died on 22 Jul 1035 in Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey.

    Notes:

    Robert I the Magnificent of Normandy, Duke of Normany, was born 1000 in Normandy, France to Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027) and Judith of Brittany (982-1017) and died 22 July 1035 in Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey of unspecified causes. Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]

    Robert, called "The Magnificent" (French, "le Magnifique") for his love of finery, and also called "The Devil" was the son of Duke Richard II of Normandy and Judith, daughter of Conan I, Duke of Brittany.

    When his father died, his elder brother Richard succeeded, whilst he became Count of Hiâemois. When Richard died a year later, there were great suspicions that Robert had Richard murdered, hence his other nickname, "Robert le diable" (the devil). He is sometimes identified with the legendary Robert the Devil. Robert aided King Henry I of France against Henry's rebellious brother and mother, and for his help he was given the territory of the Vexin. He also intervened in the affairs of Flanders, supported Edward the Confessor, who was then in exile at Robert's court, and sponsored monastic reform in Normandy.



    Children

    Offspring of Robert I of Normandy and Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    William I of England (1027-1087) 9 September 1027 Falaise, France 1087 Rouen, France Matilda of Flanders (c1031-1083)

    Robert married Harriette de Falaise, Countess of Montaigne. Harriette was born in 1003 in Falaise, Calvados, Normandie, France; died in ~1050 in Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 41.  Harriette de Falaise, Countess of MontaigneHarriette de Falaise, Countess of Montaigne was born in 1003 in Falaise, Calvados, Normandie, France; died in ~1050 in Mortagne-au-Perche, Normandie, France.

    Notes:

    Herleva[a] (c. 1003 – c. 1050) was a Norman woman of the 11th century, known for three sons: William I of England "the Conqueror", an illegitimate son fathered by Robert I, Duke of Normandy; and Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, who were both fathered by her husband Herluin de Conteville. All three became prominent in William's realm.

    Life

    The background of Herleva and the circumstances of William's birth are shrouded in mystery. The written evidence dates from a generation or two later, and is not entirely consistent, but of all the Norman chroniclers only the Tours chronicler asserts that William's parents were subsequently joined in marriage.[b] The most commonly accepted version says that she was the daughter of a tanner named Fulbert from the town of Falaise, in Normandy. The meaning of filia pelletarii burgensis[6] is somewhat uncertain, and Fulbert may instead have been a furrier, embalmer, apothecary, or a person who laid out corpses for burial.[7]

    Some argue that Herleva's father was not a tanner but rather a member of the burgher class.[8] The idea is supported by the appearance of her brothers in a later document as attestors for an under-age William. Also, the Count of Flanders later accepted Herleva as a proper guardian for his own daughter. Both of these would be nearly impossible if Herleva's father was a tanner, which would place his standing as little more than a peasant.

    Orderic Vitalis described Herleva's father Fulbert as the Duke's Chamberlain (cubicularii ducis).[9]
    Relationship with Robert the Magnificent

    According to one legend, it all started when Robert, the young Duke of Normandy, saw Herleva from the roof of his castle tower.[10] The walkway on the roof still looks down on the dyeing trenches cut into stone in the courtyard below, which can be seen to this day from the tower ramparts above. The traditional way of dyeing leather or garments was to trample barefoot on the garments which were awash in the liquid dye in these trenches. Herleva, legend goes, seeing the Duke on his ramparts above, raised her skirts perhaps a bit more than necessary in order to attract the Duke's eye.[10] The latter was immediately smitten and ordered her brought in (as was customary for any woman that caught the Duke's eye) through the back door. Herleva refused, saying she would only enter the Duke's castle on horseback through the front gate, and not as an ordinary commoner. The Duke, filled with lust, could only agree. In a few days, Herleva, dressed in the finest her father could provide, and sitting on a white horse, rode proudly through the front gate, her head held high.[10][11] This gave Herleva a semi-official status as the Duke's concubine.[12] She later gave birth to his son, William, in 1027 or 1028.[13]

    Some historians suggest Herleva was first the mistress of Gilbert of Brionne with whom she had a son, Richard. It was Gilbert who first saw Herleva and elevated her position and then Robert took her for his mistress.[14]
    Marriage to Herluin de Conteville

    Herleva later married Herluin de Conteville in 1031. Some accounts maintain that Robert always loved her, but the gap in their social status made marriage impossible, so, to give her a good life, he married her off to one of his favourite noblemen.[15]

    Another source suggests that Herleva did not marry Herluin until after Robert died, because there is no record of Robert entering another relationship, whereas Herluin married another woman, Fredesendis, by the time he founded the abbey of Grestain.[16]

    From her marriage to Herluin she had two sons: Odo, who later became Bishop of Bayeux, and Robert, who became Count of Mortain. Both became prominent during William's reign. They also had at least two daughters: Emma, who married Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches, and a daughter of unknown name who married William, lord of la Fertâe-Macâe.[17]
    Death

    According to Robert of Torigni, Herleva was buried at the abbey of Grestain, which was founded by Herluin and their son Robert around 1050. This would put Herleva in her forties around the time of her death. However, David C. Douglas suggests that Herleva probably died before Herluin founded the abbey because her name does not appear on the list of benefactors, whereas the name of Herluin's second wife, Fredesendis, does.[18]

    end of biography

    Children:
    1. 20. William the Conqueror, King of England, Duke of Normandy was born on 14 Oct 1024 in Chateau de Falaise, Falaise, Normandy, France; was christened in 1066 in Dives-sur-Mer, Normandie, France; died on 9 Sep 1087 in Rouen, Normandy, France; was buried in Saint-Etienne de Caen, France.
    2. Countess Adelaide of Normandy was born in ~1030 in Normandie, France; died before 1090 in (Normandie, France).

  3. 44.  Duncan I of Scotland, King of AlbaDuncan I of Scotland, King of Alba was born in ~1001 in (Dunkeld, Scotland) (son of Crinan of Dunkeld, Abbot of Dunkeld and Bethoc); died on 14 Aug 1040 in Elgin, Scotland.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Birth: 1007, (Dunkeld) Scotland

    Notes:

    Donnchad mac Crinain (Modern Gaelic: Donnchadh mac Cráionain;[2] anglicised as Duncan I, and nicknamed An t-Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick";[3] ca. 1001 – 14 August 1040)[1] was king of Scotland (Alba) from 1034 to 1040. He is the historical basis of the "King Duncan" in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

    Life

    He was a son of Crâinâan, hereditary lay abbot of Dunkeld, and Bethâoc, daughter of king Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda (Malcolm II).

    Unlike the "King Duncan" of Shakespeare's Macbeth, the historical Duncan appears to have been a young man. He followed his grandfather Malcolm as king after the latter's death on 25 November 1034, without apparent opposition. He may have been Malcolm's acknowledged successor or Táanaiste as the succession appears to have been uneventful.[4] Earlier histories, following John of Fordun, supposed that Duncan had been king of Strathclyde in his grandfather's lifetime, between 1018 and 1034, ruling the former Kingdom of Strathclyde as an appanage. Modern historians discount this idea.[5]

    An earlier source, a variant of the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba (CK-I), gives Duncan's wife the Gaelic name Suthen.[6] Whatever his wife's name may have been, Duncan had at least two sons. The eldest, Malcolm III (Mâael Coluim mac Donnchada) was king from 1058 to 1093, the second Donald III (Domnall Bâan, or "Donalbane") was king afterwards. Mâael Muire, Earl of Atholl is a possible third son of Duncan, although this is uncertain.[7]

    The early period of Duncan's reign was apparently uneventful, perhaps a consequence of his youth. Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlâaich) is recorded as having been his dux, today rendered as "duke" and meaning nothing more than the rank between prince and marquess, but then still having the Roman meaning of "war leader". In context — "dukes of Francia" had half a century before replaced the Carolingian kings of the Franks and in England the over-mighty Godwin of Wessex was called a dux — this suggests that Macbeth may have been the power behind the throne.[8]

    In 1039, Duncan led a large Scots army south to besiege Durham, but the expedition ended in disaster. Duncan survived, but the following year he led an army north into Moray, Macbeth's domain, apparently on a punitive expedition against Moray.[9] There he was killed in action, at Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny, near Elgin, by the men of Moray led by Macbeth, probably on 14 August 1040.[10] He is thought to have been buried at Elgin[11] before later relocation to the Isle of Iona.
    Depictions in fiction

    Duncan is depicted as an elderly King in the play Macbeth (1606) by William Shakespeare. He is killed in his sleep by the protagonist, Macbeth.

    In the historical novel Macbeth the King (1978) by Nigel Tranter, Duncan is portrayed as a schemer who is fearful of Macbeth as a possible rival for the throne. He tries to assassinate Macbeth by poisoning and then when this fails, attacks his home with an army. In self-defence Macbeth meets him in battle and kills him in personal combat.

    In the animated television series Gargoyles he is depicted as a weak and conniving king who assassinates those who he believes threaten his rule.[12] He even tries to assassinate Macbeth, forcing Demona to ally with the Moray nobleman, with Duncan's resulting death coming from attempting to strike an enchanted orb of energy that one of the Weird Sisters gave to Macbeth to take Duncan down.

    Died:
    during the Battle of Pitgaveny by Macbeth

    Duncan married Suthen, Queen of Scotland in ~1030 in (Northumbria, England). Suthen was born in ~1020 in Northumbria, England; died in 1050 in Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 45.  Suthen, Queen of Scotland was born in ~1020 in Northumbria, England; died in 1050 in Scotland.

    Notes:

    Biography
    This is the Final Profile ID for Suthen, wife of Duncan I of Scotland.
    Suthen/Sybil is being consolidated in this profile. Due to her unknown parentage, her LNAB has been determined as UNKNOWN.
    Take care when merging.

    There is confusion surrounding the origins of Sybill/Suthen. Conflicting theories claim she is either a: cousin, sister, or daughter of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. Therefore, her LNAB is "UNKNOWN".
    Siward had 2 known children: Waltheof of Bamburg and (unproven) Osbeorne (d.27 Jul 1054).
    "[SIBYLLA] . The Chronicle of John of Fordun states the mother of Malcolm and Donald Bane, Duncan's sons, was "the cousin of Earl Siward". This info is not in any earlier source and should be considered dubious" (Medieval Lands)
    Please see G2G discussion for more:
    http://www.wikitree.com/g2g/137645/what-is-the-lnab-for-suthen-sybil-of-scotland-

    Vitals
    Name: Suthen
    Alias: Sybill, Sybilla
    b. ____
    d. ____
    Disputed Origins
    The parents listed for this individual are speculative and may not be based on sound genealogical research. Sources to prove or disprove this ancestry are needed. Please contact the Profile Manager or leave information on the bulletin board.

    Sybill's relation to Siward, Earl of Northumbria, as well as Bjorn is unknown. She has been referred to as Siward's cousin, sister, and daughter.

    John of Fordun:
    Duncan's wife was the cousin of Earl Siward.[1]
    Foundation for Medieval Genealogy [2] states:
    information is dubious ... "In one earlier king list, King Malcolm III's mother is named "Suthen"".
    more recent sources suggest:[citation needed]
    Earl Siward and Sybilla are siblings.
    Sybilla was daughter of Bjorn Bearsson and sister of Sigurd "Digera" Bjornsson, Earl of Northumbria
    Marriage and Issue
    m. c.1030 Duncan of Scotland.[3] Issue:
    Malcolm III
    Donald III
    Maelmuire.[4]
    Sources
    ? Fordun, J. (1872) Chronicle of a Scottish Nation. Felix J.H. Skene, Trans. & William F. Skene, Ed. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. www.archive.org
    ? fmg.ac
    ? Ashley, M. (2008). A Brief History of British Kings and Queens, (pp.106-107). Philadelphia, PA: Running Press Book Publishers. Print.
    ? Alan Anderson's EARLY SOURCES OF SCOTTISH HISTORY, AD 500-1286; Weir, A. (n.d.) BRITAIN'S ROYAL FAMILIES (revised edition).
    http://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I4519&tree=CC

    end of this biography

    Children:
    1. 22. Malcolm III of Scotland, King of Scots was born in 0Mar 1031 in Scotland; died on 13 Nov 1093 in Alnwick, Northumberland, England.
    2. Donald Dunkeld, III, King of Scots was born in 1034 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland; died in 1097 in Rescobie, Angus, Scotland.

  5. 46.  Edward the ExileEdward the Exile was born in 1016 in (Wessex) England (son of Edmund II, King of the English and Ealdgyth); died on 19 Apr 1057 in London, Middlesex, England.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Residence: Hungary

    Notes:

    Edward the Exile (1016 – 19 April 1057), also called Edward Ątheling, was the son of King Edmund Ironside and of Ealdgyth. He spent most of his life in exile in the Kingdom of Hungary following the defeat of his father by Canute the Great; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great.

    Exile

    After the Danish conquest of England in 1016, Canute had Edward, said to be only a few months old, and his brother, Edmund, sent to the Swedish court of Olof Skčotkonung[1][2] (who was either Canute's half-brother or stepbrother), supposedly with instructions to have the children murdered. Instead, the two boys were secretly sent either to Kiev,[3] where Olof's daughter Ingigerd was the Queen, or to Poland, where Canute's uncle Boleslaw I Chrobry was duke.[4] Later Edward made his way to Hungary, probably in the retinue of Ingigerd's son-in-law, Andrâas in 1046.

    Return

    On hearing the news of his being alive, Edward the Confessor recalled him to England in 1056 and made him his heir. Edward offered the last chance of an undisputed succession within the Saxon royal house. News of Edward's existence came at a time when the old Anglo-Saxon monarchy, restored after a long period of Danish domination, was heading for catastrophe. The Confessor, personally devout but politically weak and without children, was unable to make an effective stand against the steady advance of the powerful and ambitious sons of Godwin, Earl of Wessex. From across the Channel William, Duke of Normandy, also had an eye on the succession. Edward the Exile appeared at just the right time. Approved by both king and by the Witan, the Council of the Realm, he offered a way out of the impasse, a counter both to the Godwinsons and to William, and one with a legitimacy that could not be readily challenged.

    In 1054 King Edward sent Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester, to the court of the German emperor to set in train negotiations with the king of Hungary for the return of Edward the Exile. Ealdred was not at first successful, and Earl Harold's journey to Flanders, and possibly on to Germany and Hungary, in 1056 was probably undertaken to further negotiations. The Exile finally arrived in England in 1057 with his wife and children, but died within a few days, on 19 April, without meeting the King. He was buried in Old St Paul's Cathedral.[5]

    Family

    Edward's wife was named Agatha, whose origins are disputed.[6] Their children were:

    Edgar Ątheling (c. 1051 - c. 1126) - Elected King of England after the Battle of Hastings but submitted to William the Conqueror.
    Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045 - 16 November 1093) - Married King Malcolm III of Scotland.
    Cristina (c. 1057 - c. 1093) - Abbess at Romsey Abbey.
    Edward's grandchild Edith of Scotland, also called Matilda, married King Henry I of England, continuing the Anglo-Saxon line into the post-Conquest English monarchy.

    Ancestors

    Edward the Exile was a direct descendant of a line of Wessex kings dating back, at least on the pages of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, to the arrival of Cerdic of Wessex in 495AD, and from Alfred the Great in the English monarchs family tree.[7] Of his more immediate ancestors, all four of Edward's male-line ancestors shown in the diagram below were Kings of England before Cnut the Great took the crown and sent Edward into exile.[8]

    Edward married Agatha. Agatha was born in >1030; died in <1070 in (England). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 47.  Agatha was born in >1030; died in <1070 in (England).

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Birth: Aft 1018
    • Alt Death: 13 Jul 1054, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland, England

    Notes:

    Biography of Agatha, Wife of Edward the Exile
    Parentage: Agatha's parents are unknown. Who they might me be remains one the great genealogical puzzles as tantalizing clues were left by near contemporaries. However, all of these clues are open to interpretation and debate, and are at times contradictory. One should not take any published as proof that her parentage has been discovered or worked out.
    Stewart Baldwin's The Henry Project discusses the various theories and their origins on his "Agatha" page. [1]
    Wikipedia also covers the various theories regarding her possible parrentage, all of them cited, with links to many primary genealogical sources in WHO ARE AGATHA'S PARENTS?.
    The controversy was most recently discussed in The Scottish Genealogist in 2002. [2].
    WHAT IS CERTAIN is that she was the wife of Edward, of Wessex, and the mother of Saint Margaret of Scotland

    One Biographical Theory
    Agatha of Augsburg, Princess of Hungary Some authorities say that she is the daughter of Ludolph, Margrave of West Friesland and Gertrude von Stade (RN=28199). She Paget says she is daughter of Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, brother of Emperor Henry II. Agatha of Augsburg, Princess of Hungary died after 1066.

    Another Biographical Theory
    Her parentage is disputed repeatedly; the most interesting theories are published in the New England Genealogical journals[3][4][5]

    Another Biographical Theory
    (Someone copied from Wikipedia article) Wikipedia: Agatha,_wife_of_Edward_the_Exile
    There is doubt about her parentage.
    Note on paternity of Agatha, wife of Edward The Exile (by Andrey Alexandrovich Frizyuk)
    " Two main versions of Agatha's parentage have been proposed so far:
    1. Szabolcs de Vajay in his paper "Agatha, Mother of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland" (Duquesne Review, vol. 7, no. 2 (Spring 1962), pp. 71-80) expounded the theory that Agatha was a daughter of Liudolf, Margrave of West-Friesland (he was half-brother of Emperor Henry III), by Gertrude of Egisheim. This is based on statements of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Florence of Worcester's "Chronicon ex chronicis" that Agatha was a blood relative of the "Emperor Henry".
    2. Rene Jette in his article "Is the Mystery of the Origins of Agatha, Wife of Edward the Exile, Finally Solved?" (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, no. 150 (October 1996): 417-432) pointed out some facts which were not explained by Szabolcs de Vajay's theory:
    A. William of Malmesbury in "De Gestis Regis Anglorum" and several later chronicles state that Agatha was a Hungarian Queen's sister. Edward was a loyal supporter of Andras who accompanied him from Kiev to Hungary in 1046 and lived for many years at his court. Thus it's highly probable that "a Hungarian Queen" in question was Andras' wife, Anastasia Yaroslavna.
    B. According to Szabolcs de Vajay, the marriage of Agatha and Edward took place in Kiev. This accords with statements of Geoffrey Gaimar and Roger of Howden that Edward took a Kievan wife "of noble parentage."
    C. There are several etymological arguments. Agatha, for instance, is a Greek name quite unknown in Western Europe of that time. On the other hand, the name Agatha/Agafia was fairly common in the Rurikid family: all daughters of Yaroslav received Greek names, and we know that Yaroslav's Byzantine stepmother had an aunt named Agatha.
    D. Also, the 11th-century fresco of St Sophia Cathedral in Kiev represents 5 living daughters/sisters of Yaroslav, all of marriageable age. One of them is Anastasia the Queen of Hungary, another Elisaveta the Queen of Norway, the third - Anna the Queen of France, the fourth - Dobronega the Queen of Poland, but who was the fifth?
    It's interesting that the last wife of Vladimir I was apparently the first cousin of Emperor Henry III. Her daughter Dobronega could have been described as "filia germani imperatoris Henrici". What if Agatha was Dobronega's full sister? It seems to me that such a solution would explain all the evidence that we have in the best way."
    See NEHGR 152. Forebears, XVI, #4, p 521 says daughter of Bruno, brother of HRE Henry II; Bruno d 1057, London.
    Sources
    ? Baldwin. "Agatha", in The Henry Project (2010, accessed 2017).
    ? Lauder-Frost, Gregory M.S., FSA Scot., "Agatha - The Ancestry Dispute" in The Scottish Genealogist, Edinburgh, Sept 2002, vol.xlix no.3, p.71-2.
    ? David Faris and Douglas Richard"The Origin of Agatha-The Debate Continues: The Parents of Agatha, Wife of Edward The Exile" in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 152, (April 1998).By
    ? Renâe Jettâe, "Is the Mystery of the Origins of Agatha, Wife of Edward the Exile, Finally Solved?", in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 150 (October 1996), pp. 417-432
    ? G. Andrews Moriarty, "Agatha, wife of the Atheling Eadward", in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 106 (1952), pp. 52-60
    Our main source for medieval genealogy in the EuroAristo Project is the FMG database which is MEDIEVAL LANDS :A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families by Charles Cawley,© Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, 2000-2013. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/index.htm http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CONTENTS.htm

    We are open to other sources as well but please cite them.
    Source list:
    Baldwin, Stewart. "Agatha: Wife of Eadweard the Exile", website The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England. (4 July 2010, http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/agath000.htm ; accessed April 2017).
    History of Scotland, George Buchanan--Scots Peerage Sir James Balfor--U.K. Extracted Probate Records---ancestry.com
    Spottiswood, John. The History of the Church of Scotland, beginning the year of our Lord 203, and continued to the end of the reign of King James VI. (R. Norton, for R. Royston, London, 1668) Page 29

    end of this biography

    Children:
    1. 23. Margaret of Wessex, Queen of Scotland was born in ~1045 in Wessex, England; died on 16 Nov 1093 in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland; was buried in Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.


Generation: 7

  1. 80.  Richard de Normandie, II was born on 23 Aug 963 in Normandie, France (son of Richard de Normandie, I and Gonor de Crepon, Duchess of Normandy); died on 28 Aug 1027 in Normandie, France.

    Notes:

    Richard II of Normandy, Duke of Normandy, was born 23 August 963 in Normandy, France to Richard I, Duke of Normandy (933-996) and Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy (c936-1031) and died 28 August 1027 in Normandy, France of unspecified causes. He married Judith of Brittany (982-1017) 996 JL . He married Papia of Envermeu . Ancestors are from France.
    Contents[show]



    Children

    Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany (982-1017)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) 997 1027 Adáele of France (1009-1079)

    Adelaide of Normandy (1002-1038) 1002 1038 Renaud I de Bourgogne (c990-1057)

    Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) 1000 Normandy, France 22 July 1035 Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
    Estrid of Normandy (1001)

    William of Normandy (c1008-aft1025) 1008 1025
    Eleanor of Normandy (c1012-aft1071) 1012 1071 Baldwin IV of Flanders (980-1036)

    Matilda of Normandy (c1014-aft1033) 1014 1033

    Offspring of Richard II of Normandy and Papia of Envermeu
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Mauger de Rouen (c1019-c1055) 1019 1055
    Guillaume de Talou (c1022-aft1054) 1022 1054 Beatrice de Ponthieu (c1035-c1082)

    Noteworthy descendants include

    Henry II of England (1133-1189)
    William I of England (1027-1087)
    Namesakes of Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027)

    Richard married Judith de Bretagne in ~1000. Judith (daughter of Conan of Rennes, I, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany and Ermengarde of Anjou) was born in 982 in Rennes, France; died in 1017 in Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 81.  Judith de Bretagne was born in 982 in Rennes, France (daughter of Conan of Rennes, I, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany and Ermengarde of Anjou); died in 1017 in Normandy, France.

    Notes:

    Judith of Brittany was born 982 to Conan I of Rennes (927-992) and Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) and died 1017 of unspecified causes. She married Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027) 996 JL . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]
    Judith is a 10th generation descendant of Charlemagne (747-814) through her mother. There are two disputed lines (through her father and her maternal grandfather) that place her in generations 9.



    Children

    Offspring of Judith of Brittany and Richard II, Duke of Normandy (963-1027)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Richard III of Normandy (997-1027) 997 1027 Adáele of France (1009-1079)

    Adelaide of Normandy (1002-1038) 1002 1038 Renaud I de Bourgogne (c990-1057)

    Robert II, Duke of Normandy (c1000-1035) 1000 Normandy, France 22 July 1035 Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey Herleva of Falaise (1003-1050)
    Estrid of Normandy (1001)

    William of Normandy (c1008-aft1025) 1008 1025
    Eleanor of Normandy (c1012-aft1071) 1012 1071 Baldwin IV of Flanders (980-1036)

    Matilda of Normandy (c1014-aft1033) 1014 1033

    Noteworthy descendants include

    Henry II of England (1133-1189)
    William I of England (1027-1087)

    Children:
    1. Richard Normandie was born in ~0997 in Normandie, France; died on 6 Aug 1027 in (Normandy, France).
    2. 40. Duke Robert de Normandie, II was born in ~1005 in Normandie, France; died on 22 Jul 1035 in Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey.

  3. 88.  Crinan of Dunkeld, Abbot of Dunkeld was born in ~976; died in 1045 in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Birth: ~980, Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland

    Notes:

    Crâinâan of Dunkeld (died 1045) was the hereditary abbot of the monastery of Dunkeld, and perhaps the Mormaer of Atholl. Crâinâan was progenitor of the House of Dunkeld, the dynasty which would rule Scotland until the later 13th century. He was the son-in-law of one king, and the father of another.

    Family

    This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

    Crâinâan was married to Bethâoc, daughter of Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda (Malcolm II) (King of Scots, who reigned from 1005 to 1034). As Mâael Coluim had no surviving son, the strongest hereditary claim to the Scottish throne descended through Bethâoc. Crâinâan and Bethâoc's eldest son, Donnchad (Duncan I), who reigned from 1034 to 1040.

    It is likely that Crâinâan had a second son Maldred, father of Gospatric of Northumbria.
    Abbot of Dunkeld

    The monastery of Saint Columba was founded on the north bank of the River Tay in the 6th century or early 7th century following the expedition of Columba into the land of the Picts. It may have continued to draw its hierarchy from the Cenâel Conaill of Donegal.[1] Iain Moncreiffe argued that Crinâan belonged to a Scottish sept of the Irish Cenâel Conaill royal dynasty.[2]

    While the title of Hereditary Abbot (coarb in Gaelic) was a feudal position that was often exercised in name only, Crinâan does seem to have acted as Abbot in charge of the monastery in his time. He was thus a man of high position in both clerical and secular society.

    The magnificent semi-ruined Dunkeld Cathedral, built in stages between 1260 and 1501, stands today on the grounds once occupied by the monastery. The Cathedral contains the only surviving remains of the previous monastic society: a course of red stone visible in the east choir wall that may have been re-used from an earlier building, and two stone ninth - or tenth-century cross-slabs in the Cathedral Museum.

    In 1045, Crâinâan of Dunkeld rose in rebellion against Macbeth in support of his 14-year-old grandson, Malcolm III's claim to the throne.[3] Malcolm was the elder son of Crinan's son, the late King Duncan, who predeceased his father. However, Crâinâan, by then an elderly man, was killed in a battle at Dunkeld.
    References

    Woolf, Alex. "The Problem with Crâinâan", From Pictland to Alba, Edinburgh University Press, 2007
    Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, The Highland Clans. Part II. 1982. p. 236

    Knox, James. The topography of the basin of the Tay, Andrew Shorteed, Edinburgh, 1831

    External Source

    Cawley, Charles, Medieval Lands Project on Crinan, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy,[self-published source][better source needed]
    Clans and Families of Ireland and Scotland

    end of biography

    Crinan married Bethoc in 1000 in (Perthshire, Scotland). Bethoc (daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland, High King of Scotland and Aefgifu) was born in 984 in Perthshire, Scotland; died on 15 Sep 1049 in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 89.  Bethoc was born in 984 in Perthshire, Scotland (daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland, High King of Scotland and Aefgifu); died on 15 Sep 1049 in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Death: 1045

    Notes:

    British Aristocracy
    Bethâoc MacAlpin was a member of aristocracy in the British Isles.
    Join: British Royals and Aristocrats Project
    Discuss: EUROARISTO
    Contents
    [hide]
    1 Biography
    1.1 Medieval Lands
    1.1.1 Issue
    1.2 Wikipedia, English
    2 Research Notes
    3 Sources
    Biography
    Bethâoc ingen Maâil Coluim meic Cinâaeda

    Parents: Malcolm II of Scotland and his wife.
    Spouse: Crâinâan of Dunkeld, Mormaer of Atholl
    Children:
    1. Duncan I, King of Scotland
    2. Maldred of Allerdale
    3. daughter(s)?
    Medieval Lands
    http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SCOTLAND.htm#_Toc253996182
    Bethâoc was the wife of Crâinâan: CRINAN "the Thane" (-killed in battle 1045). The primary source which confirms his parentage has not yet been identified. Abthane of Dule. Lay abbot of Dunkeld. Steward of the Western Isles. Mormaer of Atholl. He was killed fighting King Macbeth. The Annals of Ulster record that "Crâonâan abbot of Dâun Caillen" was killed in 1045 in "a battle between the Scots themselves"[204]. The Annals of Tigernach record that “Crâinan abbot of Dunkeld” was killed in 1045 in “a battle between the men of Scotland on one road”[205].

    m ([1000]) BETHOC, daughter of MALCOLM II King of Scotland & his wife ---. The "Genealogy of King William the Lyon" dated 1175 names "Betoch filii Malcolmi" as parent of "Malcolmi filii Dunecani"[206]. The Chronicle of the Scots and Picts dated 1177 names "Cran Abbatis de Dunkelden et Bethok filia Malcolm mac Kynnet" as parents of King Duncan[207]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun records that King Malcolm II had "an only daughter…Beatrice who married Crynyne Abthane of Dul and Steward of the Isles…in some annals, by a blunder of the writer…abbot of Dul"[208].

    Issue
    Crinan & Bethoc had two children:

    i) DUNCAN ([1001]-killed in battle either Bothganowan/Pitgaveny, near Elgin, or Burghead 14 Aug 1040, bur Isle of Iona). His parentage is confirmed by the Annals of Ulster which record the death of "Donnchad son of Crâinâan, king of Scotland" in 1040[209]. The Chronicle of John of Fordun names "Duncan" as son of "Crynyne Abthane of Dul and Steward of the Isles" and his wife[210]. He succeeded in 1018 as King of Strathclyde. He succeeded his maternal grandfather in 1034 as DUNCAN I King of Scotland.

    ii) MALDRED (-killed in battle [1045]). His parentage is confirmed by Simeon of Durham who records the marriage of "Maldred the son of Crinan"[211]. Lord of Allerdale. Regent of Strathclyde 1034/35.

    Wikipedia, English
    Bethâoc ingen Maâil Coluim meic Cinâaeda was the eldest daughter of King Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda, King of Scots, who had no known sons.

    The strongest hereditary claim of succession to the Scottish throne therefore passed through Bethâoc. Approximately 1000, Princess Bethâoc married Crâinâan, Abbot of Dunkeld. The first son of this marriage was Donnchad I, who ascended to the throne of Scotland in 1034. Early writers have asserted that Mâael Coluim also designated Donnchad as his successor under the rules of tanistry because there were other possible claimants to the throne.

    Her sister Olith was married to Jarl Sigurd the Stout of Orkney, and the other sister Donada to Findlâaech, the Mormaer of Moireabh.

    She is not to be confused with Bethâoc ingen Domnaill Bain meic Donnchada.

    She gained the title of Heiress of Scone. As a result of her marriage, Bethoc of Scotland was styled as Lady of Atholl.

    It is possible that Bethâoc had previously been married to Jarl Sigurd the Stout of Orkney, and to Findlâaech, the Mormaer of Moireabh. She is not to be confused with Bethâoc ingen Domnaill Bain meic Donnchada.

    Research Notes
    Citation needed for spare husband and surplus kids.

    The name of Bethâoc's mother is not known.

    Sources
    Nigel Tranter has a pretty good book on the subject as well, "Macbeth the King" and it is far more readable than Dorothy Dunnett's. Tranter thinks that Thorfinn and Macbeth are halfbrothers, possibly sons of Malcolm II of
    Scotland 's daughter Dovada. Duncan is their cousin son of Malcolm II's other daughter Bethoc.

    It is possible that Bethâoc had previously been married to Jarl Sigurd the Stout of Orkney, and to Findlâaech, the Mormaer of Moireabh.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethoc
    Bethoc av Skottland, eller Bethâoc ingen Maâil Coluim meic Cinâaeda, var den eldste datteren til kong Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda (Malcolm II av Skottland) som ikke hadde noen s˛nner.
    Det sterkeste arvelige krav til ęa etterf˛lge som skottenes konge gikk derfor via Bethâoc. Omtrent rundt ęar 1000 giftet prinsesse Bethâoc seg med Crâinâan av Dunkeld, lekmannsabbed og muligens mormaer. Den f˛rste s˛nnen av dette ekteskapet ble Donnchad mac Crâinâain (Duncan I av Skottland) som overtok den skotske tronen i 1034. Tidlige skribenter har ogsęa forfektet at Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda (Malcolm II av Skottland) selv hadde utsett Donnchad som sin etterf˛lger under reglene om tanisteri ettersom det var andre mulige krav til tronen. Det er mulig at Bethâoc tidligere hadde vµrt gift med jarl Sigurd Lodvesson (kalt den digre eller staute) av Orkn˛yene, og med Findlâaech, mormaer av Moireabh. Bethâoc męa ikke forveksles med Bethâoc ingen Domnaill Bain meic Donnchada, en datter av Donald III av Skottland.
    https://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/aa/alpin1.php
    Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvy: Kings and Kingship in Early Scotland, 1973
    Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 177-178.
    Richard Glanville-Brown, online , Richard Glanville-Brown (RR 2, Milton, Ontario, Canada), downloaded 17 August 2005.
    The Oxford History of the British Monarchy ,
    http://www.thepeerage.com/p10289.htm#i102883

    end of this biography

    Bethâoc ingen Maâil Coluim meic Cinâaeda was the elder daughter of Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda, King of Scots, and the mother of his successor, Duncan I.

    Biography

    Bethâoc was the eldest daughter of the Malcolm II of Scotland, who had no known surviving sons. She married Crâinâan, Abbot of Dunkeld. Their older son, Donnchad I, ascended to the throne of Scotland around 1034. Malcolm's youngest daughter married Sigurd Hlodvirsson, Earl of Orkney.[1] Early writers have asserted that Mâael Coluim also designated Donnchad as his successor under the rules of tanistry because there were other possible claimants to the throne.

    In this period, the Scottish throne still passed in Picto-Gaelic matrilineal fashion, from brother to brother, uncle to nephew, and cousin to cousin.

    Bethâoc
    Spouse Crâinâan, Abbot of Dunkeld
    Issue Duncan I, King of Alba
    Maldred of Allerdale
    House House of Alpin
    Father Malcolm II, King of Alba

    end of biography

    Children:
    1. 44. Duncan I of Scotland, King of Alba was born in ~1001 in (Dunkeld, Scotland); died on 14 Aug 1040 in Elgin, Scotland.
    2. Maldred, King of Cumbria

  5. 92.  Edmund II, King of the EnglishEdmund II, King of the English was born in 990 in (Wessex) England (son of Aethelred the Unready, King of the English and Aelfgifu of York, Queen Consort of England); died on 30 Nov 1016 in (London) England; was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England.

    Notes:

    Edmund Ironside (died 30 November 1016), also known as Edmund II, was King of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Ąthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ąlfgifu of York. Edmund's reign was marred by a war he had inherited from his father, his cognomen "Ironside" was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut the Great.[1]

    Edmund was not expected to be King of England; however, by 1014 two elder brothers had died, making him the oldest male heir. His father, Ąthelred, was usurped by Sweyn Forkbeard in that same year, but Sweyn died shortly thereafter, paving the way for Ąthelred and his family to return to the throne, which they did but not without opposition. In the process they forced Sweyn's son, Cnut, back to Denmark, where he assembled an invasion force to re-conquer England. It would not arrive for another year.

    After regaining the throne, the royal family set about strengthening its hold on the country with the assistance of Eadric Streona (Edmund's brother-in-law). People who had sided with the Danes in 1014 were punished, and some were killed. In one case, two brothers, Morcar and Sigeferth, were killed and their possessions, along with Sigferth's wife, were taken by Edmund. Edmund unofficially became the Earl of the East Midlands and took Ealdgyth for his wife.

    Cnut returned to England in August 1015. Over the next few months, Cnut pillaged most of England. Edmund joined Ąthelred to defend London, but he died on 23 April 1016, making Edmund King. It was not until the summer of 1016 that any serious fighting was done: Edmund fought five battles against the Danes, ending in his defeat on 18 October at the Battle of Assandun, after which they agreed to divide the kingdom, Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest of the country. Edmund died shortly afterwards on 30 November, leaving two sons, Edward and Edmund; however, Cnut became the king of all England, and exiled the remaining members of Edmund's family.

    King of the English
    Reign 23 April – 30 November 1016
    Predecessor Ąthelred the Unready
    Successor Cnut the Great
    Born 990
    Died 30 November 1016 (aged 26)
    Oxford or London, England
    Burial Glastonbury Abbey
    Spouse Ealdgyth
    Issue Edward the Exile
    Edmund
    House Wessex
    Father Ąthelred the Unready
    Mother Ąlfgifu of York
    Religion British Church

    Early life

    The exact date of Edmund's birth is unclear, but it could have been no later than 993 when he was a signatory to charters along with his two elder brothers. He was the third of the six sons of King Ąthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ąlfgifu, who was probably the daughter of Earl Thored of Northumbria. His elder brothers were Ąthelstan (died 1014) and Egbert (died c. 1005), and younger ones, Eadred, Eadwig and Edgar.[1] He had four sisters, Eadgyth (or Edith), Ąlfgifu, Wulfhilda, and the Abbess of Wherwell Abbey. His mother died around 1000,[2] after which his father remarried, this time to Emma of Normandy, who had two sons, Edward the Confessor and Alfred and a daughter Goda.

    Ąthelstan and Edmund were close, and they probably felt threatened by Emma's ambitions for her sons.[3] The Life of Edward the Confessor, written fifty years later, claimed that when Emma was pregnant with him, all Englishmen promised that if the child was a boy they would accept him as king.[1] However that claim may just be propaganda.

    Warrior prince

    When Sweyn Forkbeard seized the throne at the end of 1013 and Ąthelred fled to Normandy, the brothers do not appear to have followed him, but stayed in England. Ąthelstan died in June 1014 and left Edmund a sword which had belonged to king Offa of Mercia.[1] His will also reflected the close relationship between the brothers and the nobility of the east midlands.[4]

    Sweyn died in February 1014, and the Five Boroughs accepted his son Cnut, who married a kinswoman of Sigeferth and Morcar, as king. However, Ąthelred returned to England and launched a surprise attack which defeated the Vikings and forced Cnut to flee England. In 1015 Sigeferth and Morcar came to an assembly in Oxford, probably hoping for a royal pardon, but they were murdered by Eadric Streona. King Ąthelred then ordered that Sigeferth's widow, Ealdgyth, be seized and brought to Malmesbury Abbey, but Edmund seized and married her in defiance of his father, probably to consolidate his power base in the east midlands.[5] He then received the submission of the people of the Five Boroughs. At the same time, Cnut launched a new invasion of England. In late 1015 Edmund raised an army, possibly assisted by his wife's and mother's links with the midlands and the north, but the Mercians under Eadric Streona joined the West Saxons in submitting to Cnut. In early 1016 the army assembled by Edmund dispersed when Ąthelred did not appear to lead it, probably due to illness. Edmund then raised a new army and in conjunction with Earl Uhtred of Northumbria ravaged Eadric Streona's Mercian territories, but when Cnut occupied Northumbria Uhtred submitted to him, only to be killed by Cnut. Edmund went to London.[1]

    King of England

    Ąthelred died on 23 April 1016, and the citizens and councillors in London chose Edmund as king and probably crowned him. He then mounted a last-ditch effort to revive the defence of England. While the Danes laid siege to London, Edmund headed for Wessex, where the people submitted to him and he gathered an army. He fought inconclusive battles against the Danes and their English supporters at Penselwood in Somerset and Sherston in Wiltshire. He then raised the siege of London and defeated the Danes near Brentford. They renewed the siege while Edmund went to Wessex to raise further troops, returning to again relieve London, defeat the Danes at Otford, and pursue Cnut into Kent. Eadric Streona now went over to Edmund, but at the decisive Battle of Assandun on 18 October, Eadric and his men fled and Cnut decisively defeated Edmund. There may have been one further battle in the Forest of Dean, after which the two kings negotiated a peace dividing the country between them. Edmund received Wessex while Cnut took Mercia and probably Northumbria.[1]

    Death

    On 30 November 1016, Edmund died. The location of his death is uncertain though it is generally accepted that it occurred in London, rather than in Oxford where Henry of Huntingdon claimed it to be in his sordid version of events, which included Edmund’s murder by suffering multiple stab wounds whilst on a privy tending to a call of nature.[6] Geoffrey Gaimar states a similar occurrence with the weapon being a crossbow, but with a number of other medieval chroniclers including the Encomium Emmae Reginae not mentioning murder, it is thought Edmund’s cause of death may possibly have been caused by wounds received in battle or by some disease, but it is certainly a possibility that he was murdered.

    Edmund was buried near his grandfather Edgar at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset. However the abbey was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, and any remains of a monument or crypt would have been plundered and the location of his remains is unclear.

    Reputation

    In the view of M. K. Lawson, the intensity of Edmund's struggle against the Danes in 1016 is only matched by Alfred the Great's in 871, and contrasts with Ąthelred's failure. Edmund's success in raising one army after another suggests that there was little wrong with the organs of government under competent leadership. He was "probably a highly determined, skilled and indeed inspiring leader of men". Cnut visited his tomb on the anniversary of his death and laid a cloak decorated with peacocks on it to assist in his salvation, peacocks symbolising resurrection.[1]

    Descendants

    Edmund had two children by Ealdgyth, Edward the Exile and Edmund. According to John of Worcester, Cnut sent them to the king of Sweden where he probably hoped they would be murdered, but the Swedish king instead forwarded them, together with his daughter, on to Kiev. The two boys eventually ended up in Hungary where Edmund died but Edward prospered. Edward "the Exile" returned to England in 1057 only to die within a few days of his arrival.[7] His son Edgar the Ątheling was briefly proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but later submitted to William the Conqueror. Edgar would live a long and eventful life; fighting in rebellion against William the Conqueror from 1067-1075; fighting alongside the Conqueror's son Robert of Normandy in campaigns in Sicily (1085-1087); and accompanying Robert on the First Crusade (1099-1103). He was stlll alive in 1125.

    In 1070 Edward the Exile's daughter, Margaret, became Queen consort to Malcolm III of Scotland. Through her and her decedents, Edmund is the direct ancestor of every subsequent Scottish monarch, every English monarch from Henry II onward, and every monarch of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom, down to the present.

    Edmund married Ealdgyth. Ealdgyth was born about 992; died after 1016. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 93.  Ealdgyth was born about 992; died after 1016.
    Children:
    1. 46. Edward the Exile was born in 1016 in (Wessex) England; died on 19 Apr 1057 in London, Middlesex, England.


Generation: 8

  1. 160.  Richard de Normandie, IRichard de Normandie, I was born on 28 Aug 932 in Fecamp, Normandie, France (son of William of Normandy, I, Duke of Normandy and Sprota); died on 20 Nov 996 in Fecamp, France; was buried in Fecamp, France.

    Notes:

    Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: Richard Sans-Peur; Old Norse: Jarl Richart), was the Count of Rouen or Jarl of Rouen from 942 to 996.[1] Dudo of Saint-Quentin, whom Richard commissioned to write the "De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum" (Latin, "On the Customs and Deeds of the First Dukes of Normandy"), called him a Dux. However, this use of the word may have been in the context of Richard's renowned leadership in war, and not as a reference to a title of nobility.[2][3] Richard either introduced feudalism into Normandy or he greatly expanded it. By the end of his reign, most important Norman landholders held their lands in feudal tenure.[4]


    Birth
    Richard was born to William Longsword, princeps (chieftain or ruler)[5] of Normandy, and Sprota.[1] His mother was a Breton concubine captured in war and bound to William by a more danico marriage.[6] He was also the grandson of the famous Rollo. William was told of the birth of a son after the battle with Riouf and other Viking rebels, but his existence was kept secret until a few years later when William Longsword first met his son Richard. After kissing the boy and declaring him his heir, William sent Richard to be raised in Bayeux.[7] Richard was about ten years old when his father was killed on 17 December 942.[1] After William was killed, Sprota became the wife of Esperleng, a wealthy miller. Rodulf of Ivry was their son and Richard's half-brother.[8]

    Life
    With the death of Richard's father in 942, King Louis IV of France installed the boy, Richard, in his father's office. Under the influence of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders the King took him into Frankish territory[9]:32–4 and placing him in the custody of the count of Ponthieu before the King reneged and seized the lands of the Duchy of Normandy.[10] He then split up the Duchy, giving its lands in lower Normandy to Hugh the Great. Louis IV thereafter kept Richard in close confinement at Lăaon,[11] but the youth escaped from imprisonment[9]:36–7 with assistance of Osmond de Centville, Bernard de Senlis (who had been a companion of Rollo of Normandy), Ivo de Belláesme, and Bernard the Dane[12] (ancestor to the families of Harcourt and Beaumont).[a]

    In 946, at the age of 14, Richard allied himself with the Norman and Viking leaders in France and with men sent by King Harold of Denmark. A battle was fought after which Louis IV was captured. Hostages were taken and held until King Louis recognised Richard as Duke, returning Normandy to him.[9]:37–41 Richard agreed to "commend" himself to Hugh, the Count of Paris, Hugh resolved to form a permanent alliance with Richard and promised his daughter Emma, who was just a child, as a bride, the marriage would take place in 960.[9]:41–2

    Louis IV working with Arnulf I, Count of Flanders persuaded Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor to attack Richard and Hugh. The combined armies of Otto, Arnulf and Louis IV were driven from the gates of Rouen, fleeing to Amiens and being decisively defeated in 947.[9]:41–2[13] A period of peace ensued, Louis IV dying in 954, 13 year old Lothair becoming King. The middle aged Hugh appointed Richard as guardian of his 15-year-old son, Hugh Capet in 955.[9]:44

    In 962, Theobald I, Count of Blois, attempted a renewed invasion of Rouen, Richard's stronghold, but his troops were summarily routed by Normans under Richard's command, and forced to retreat before ever having crossed the Seine river.[14][15] Lothair, the king of the West Franks, was fearful that Richard's retaliation could destabilize a large part of West Francia so he stepped in to prevent any further war between the two.[16] In 987 Hugh Capet became King of the Franks.

    For the last 30 years until his death in 996 in Fâecamp, Richard concentrated on Normandy itself, and participated less in Frankish politics and its petty wars. In lieu of building up the Norman Empire by expansion, he stabilized the realm and reunited the Normans, forging the reclaimed Duchy of his father and grandfather into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[17]

    Richard was succeeded in November 996 by his 33-year-old son, Richard II, Duke of Normandy.

    Relationships with France, England and the Church
    Richard used marriage to build strong alliances. His marriage to Emma of Paris connected him directly to the House of Capet. His second wife, Gunnora, from a rival Viking group in the Cotentin, formed an alliance to that group, while her sisters formed the core group that were to provide loyal followers to him and his successors.[18]

    His daughters forged valuable marriage alliances with powerful neighboring counts as well as to the king of England.[18] Emma marrying firstly Ąthelred the Unready and after his death in 1016, the invader, Cnut the Great. Her children included three English kings, Edward the Confessor, Alfred Aetheling and with Cnut, Harthacnut so completing a major link between the Duke of Normandy and the Crown of England that would add validity to the claim by the future William the Conqueror to the throne of England.

    Richard also built on his relationship with the church, undertaking acts of piety,[19]:lv restoring their lands and ensuring the great monasteries flourished in Normandy. His further reign was marked by an extended period of peace and tranquility.[18][20]

    Marriages

    Richard & his children
    His first marriage in 960 was to Emma, daughter of Hugh "The Great" of France,[1][21] and Hedwig von Sachsen.[21] They were betrothed when both were very young. She died after 19 March 968, with no issue.[1]

    According to Robert of Torigni, not long after Emma's death, Duke Richard went out hunting and stopped at the house of a local forester. He became enamored with the forester's wife, Seinfreda, but she was a virtuous woman and suggested he court her unmarried sister, Gunnor, instead. Gunnor became his mistress and her family rose to prominence. Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, may have been involved in a controversial heresy trial. Gunnor was, like Richard, of Viking descent, being a Dane by blood. Richard finally married her to legitimize their children:[b]

    Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[1]
    Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux[1]
    Mauger, Count of Corbeil[1]
    Emma of Normandy, wife of two kings of England[1]
    Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[1]
    Hawise of Normandy m. Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[1]
    Papia of Normandy
    Orielda (963-1031) wife of Fulk Seigneur de Guernanville, Dean of Evreax [22][23]
    Illegitimate children

    Richard was known to have had several other mistresses and had children with many of them. Known children are:

    Geoffrey, Count of Eu[1][24]
    William, Count of Eu (ca. 972-26 January 1057/58),[24] m. Lasceline de Turqueville (d. 26 January 1057/58).
    Beatrice of Normandy, Abbess of Montvilliers d.1034 m. Ebles of Turenne[1] (d.1030 (divorced)
    Possible children
    Muriella, married Tancred de Hauteville[1][25][26]
    Fressenda or Fredesenda (ca. 995-ca. 1057), second wife of Tancred de Hauteville.[1][26][27]
    Guimara (Wimarc(a)) (b. circa 986), died Abbey of Montivilliers, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, wife of Ansfred (Ansfroi) II "le Dane" le Goz, vicomte of Exmes and Falaise, mother of Robert FitzWimarc[28]
    Death
    Richard died of natural causes in Fecamp, France, on 20 November 996.[29]

    Depictions in fiction
    The Little Duke, a Victorian juvenile novel by Charlotte Mary Yonge, is a fictionalized account of Richard's boyhood and early struggles.

    Count of Rouen
    Reign 17 December 942 – 20 November 996
    Predecessor William Longsword
    Successor Richard II
    Born 28 August 932
    Fâecamp Normandy, France
    Died 20 November 996 (aged 64)
    Fâecamp Normandy, France
    Spouse Emma of Paris
    Gunnor
    Issue Richard II of Normandy
    Robert II (Archbishop of Rouen)
    Mauger, Count of Corbeil
    Robert Danus
    Willam?
    Emma of Normandy
    Maud of Normandy
    Hawise of Normandy
    Geoffrey, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
    William, Count of Eu (illegitimate)
    Beatrice of Normandy (illegitimate)
    Robert (illegitimate)
    Papia (illegitimate)
    House House of Normandy
    Father William I Longsword
    Mother Sprota

    end of biography

    Richard married Gonor de Crepon, Duchess of Normandy. Gonor (daughter of Harold Gormsen, VII, King of Denmark and Gunhild von Denmark) was born in 936-941 in Rouen, France; died on 5 Jan 1031 in Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 161.  Gonor de Crepon, Duchess of NormandyGonor de Crepon, Duchess of Normandy was born in 936-941 in Rouen, France (daughter of Harold Gormsen, VII, King of Denmark and Gunhild von Denmark); died on 5 Jan 1031 in Normandie, France.

    Notes:

    Gunnora (or Gunnor) (circa 936 – 5 Jan 1031) was a Duchess of Normandy and the wife of Richard I of Normandy.

    Life

    The names of Gunnora's parents are unknown, but Robert of Torigni wrote that her father was a forester from the Pays de Caux and according to Dudo of Saint-Quentin she was of noble Danish origin.[2] Gunnora was probably born c.? 950.[3] Her family held sway in western Normandy and Gunnora herself was said to be very wealthy.[4] Her marriage to Richard I was of great political importance, both to her husband[b] and her progeny.[5] Her brother, Herfast de Crepon, was progenitor of a great Norman family.[4] Her sisters and nieces[c] married some of the most important nobles in Normandy.[6]

    Robert of Torigni recounts a story of how Richard met Gunnora.[7] She was living with her sister Seinfreda, the wife of a local forester, when Richard, hunting nearby, heard of the beauty of the forester's wife. He is said to have ordered Seinfreda to come to his bed, but the lady substituted her unmarried sister, Gunnora. Richard, it is said, was pleased that by this subterfuge he had been saved from committing adultery and together they had three sons and three daughters.[d][8] Unlike other territorial rulers, the Normans recognized marriage by cohabitation or more danico. But when Richard was prevented from nominating their son Robert to be Archbishop of Rouen, the two were married, "according to the Christian custom", making their children legitimate in the eyes of the church.[8]

    Gunnora attested ducal charters up into the 1020s, was skilled in languages and was said to have had an excellent memory.[9] She was one of the most important sources of information on Norman history for Dudo of St. Quentin.[10] As Richard's widow she is mentioned accompanying her sons on numerous occasions.[9] That her husband depended on her is shown in the couple's charters where she is variously regent of Normandy, a mediator and judge, and in the typical role of a medieval aristocratic mother, an arbitrator between her husband and their oldest son Richard II.[9]

    Gunnora was a founder and supporter of Coutances Cathedral and laid its first stone.[11] In one of her own charters after Richard's death she gave two alods to the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, namely Britavilla and Domjean, given to her by her husband in dower, which she gave for the soul of her husband, and the weal of her own soul and that of her sons "count Richard, archbishop Robert, and others..."[12] She also attested a charter, c.?1024–26, to that same abbey by her son, Richard II, shown as Gonnor matris comitis (mother of the count).[13] Gunnora, both as wife and countess,[e] was able to use her influence to see her kin favored, and several of the most prominent Anglo-Norman families on both sides of the English Channel are descended from her, her sisters and nieces.[9] Gunnora died c.?1031.[3]

    Family

    Richard and Gunnora were parents to several children:

    Richard II "the Good", Duke of Normandy[14]
    Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux, died 1037[14]
    Mauger, Count of Corbeil[14]
    Emma of Normandy (c.?985–1052), married first to Ąthelred, King of England and secondly Cnut the Great, King of England.[14]
    Hawise of Normandy, wife of Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany[14]
    Maud of Normandy, wife of Odo II of Blois, Count of Blois, Champagne and Chartres[14]

    end of biography

    Children:
    1. 80. Richard de Normandie, II was born on 23 Aug 963 in Normandie, France; died on 28 Aug 1027 in Normandie, France.
    2. Emma of Normandy, Queen consort of England was born in ~985 in Normandie, France; died on 6 Mar 1052 in Winchester, Hampshire, England; was buried in Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, England.
    3. Robert d'Evereux, Comte d'Evreux was born in Normandie, France; died on 16 Mar 1037 in Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, France.
    4. Hawise of Normandy, Duchess of Brittany

  3. 162.  Conan of Rennes, I, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany was born in 927 in (Rennes, France); died on 27 Jun 992.

    Notes:

    Conan I le Tort of Rennes, Count of Rennes, Duke of Brittany, was born 927 to Judicael Berengar (-bef979) and died 27 June 992 at the Battle of Conquereuil of unspecified causes. He married Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) .

    Conan may have married his second cousin once removed: Herbert I, Count of Vermandois (c848-907) may have been his great-grandfather and was his wife's great-great-grandfather.

    Conan married Ermengarde of Anjou. Ermengarde (daughter of Geoffrey of Anjou and Adele of Meaux) was born before 967 in (Anjou, France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 163.  Ermengarde of Anjou was born before 967 in (Anjou, France) (daughter of Geoffrey of Anjou and Adele of Meaux).
    Children:
    1. 81. Judith de Bretagne was born in 982 in Rennes, France; died in 1017 in Normandy, France.

  5. 178.  Malcolm II of Scotland, High King of ScotlandMalcolm II of Scotland, High King of Scotland was born in ~0954 in Scotland (son of Kenneth II of Scotland, King of Alba and a Princess of Leinster); died on 25 Nov 1034 in Glamis, Scotland; was buried in Isle of Iona, Scotland.

    Notes:

    Malcolm (Gaelic: Mâael Coluim; c. 954 - 25 November 1034)[1] was King of the Scots from 1005 until his death.[2] He was a son of King Kenneth II; the Prophecy of Berchâan says that his mother was a woman of Leinster and refers to him as Forranach, "the Destroyer".[3]

    To the Irish annals which recorded his death, Malcolm was ard râi Alban, High King of Scotland. In the same way that Brian Bâoruma, High King of Ireland, was not the only king in Ireland, Malcolm was one of several kings within the geographical boundaries of modern Scotland: his fellow kings included the king of Strathclyde, who ruled much of the south-west, various Norse-Gael kings on the western coast and the Hebrides and, nearest and most dangerous rivals, the kings or Mormaers of Moray. To the south, in the Kingdom of England, the Earls of Bernicia and Northumbria, whose predecessors as kings of Northumbria had once ruled most of southern Scotland, still controlled large parts of the southeast.[4]

    Early years

    Malcolm II was born to Kenneth II of Scotland. He was grandson of Malcolm I of Scotland. In 997, the killer of Constantine is credited as being Kenneth, son of Malcolm. Since there is no known and relevant Kenneth alive at that time (King Kenneth having died in 995), it is considered an error for either Kenneth III, who succeeded Constantine, or, possibly, Malcolm himself, the son of Kenneth II.[5] Whether Malcolm killed Constantine or not, there is no doubt that in 1005 he killed Constantine's successor Kenneth III in battle at Monzievaird in Strathearn.[6]

    John of Fordun writes that Malcolm defeated a Norwegian army "in almost the first days after his coronation", but this is not reported elsewhere. Fordun says that the Bishopric of Mortlach (later moved to Aberdeen) was founded in thanks for this victory over the Norwegians.[7]
    Children

    Malcolm demonstrated a rare ability to survive among early Scottish kings by reigning for twenty-nine years. He was a clever and ambitious man. Brehon tradition provided that the successor to Malcolm was to be selected by him from among the descendants of King Aedh, with the consent of Malcolm's ministers and of the church. Ostensibly in an attempt to end the devastating feuds in the north of Scotland, but obviously influenced by the Norman feudal model, Malcolm ignored tradition and determined to retain the succession within his own line. But since Malcolm had no son of his own, he undertook to negotiate a series of dynastic marriages of his three daughters to men who might otherwise be his rivals, while securing the loyalty of the principal chiefs, their relatives. First he married his daughter Bethoc to Crinan, Thane of The Isles, head of the house of Atholl and secular Abbot of Dunkeld; then his youngest daughter, Olith, to Sigurd, Earl of Orkney. His middle daughter, Donada, was married to Finlay, Earl of Moray, Thane of Ross and Cromarty and a descendant of Loarn of Dalriada. This was risky business under the rules of succession of the Gael, but he thereby secured his rear and, taking advantage of the renewal of Viking attacks on England, marched south to fight the English. He defeated the Angles at Carham in 1018 and installed his grandson, Duncan, son of the Abbot of Dunkeld and his choice as Tanist, in Carlisle as King of Cumbria that same year.[8]
    Bernicia

    The first reliable report of Malcolm II's reign is of an invasion of Bernicia in 1006, perhaps the customary crech râig (literally royal prey, a raid by a new king made to demonstrate prowess in war), which involved a siege of Durham. This appears to have resulted in a heavy defeat by the Northumbrians, led by Uhtred of Bamburgh, later Earl of Bernicia, which is reported by the Annals of Ulster.[9]

    A second war in Bernicia, probably in 1018, was more successful. The Battle of Carham, by the River Tweed, was a victory for the Scots led by Malcolm II and the men of Strathclyde led by their king, Owen the Bald. By this time Earl Uchtred may have been dead, and Eirâikr Hâakonarson was appointed Earl of Northumbria by his brother-in-law Cnut the Great, although his authority seems to have been limited to the south, the former kingdom of Deira, and he took no action against the Scots so far as is known.[10] The work De obsessione Dunelmi (The siege of Durham, associated with Symeon of Durham) claims that Uchtred's brother Eadwulf Cudel surrendered Lothian to Malcolm II, presumably in the aftermath of the defeat at Carham. This is likely to have been the lands between Dunbar and the Tweed as other parts of Lothian had been under Scots control before this time. It has been suggested that Cnut received tribute from the Scots for Lothian, but as he had likely received none from the Bernician Earls this is not very probable.[11]
    Cnut

    Cnut, reports the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, led an army into Scotland on his return from pilgrimage to Rome. The Chronicle dates this to 1031, but there are reasons to suppose that it should be dated to 1027.[12] Burgundian chronicler Rodulfus Glaber recounts the expedition soon afterwards, describing Malcolm as "powerful in resources and arms … very Christian in faith and deed."[13] Ralph claims that peace was made between Malcolm and Cnut through the intervention of Richard, Duke of Normandy, brother of Cnut's wife Emma. Richard died in about 1027 and Rodulfus wrote close in time to the events.[14]

    It has been suggested that the root of the quarrel between Cnut and Malcolm lies in Cnut's pilgrimage to Rome, and the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, where Cnut and Rudolph III, King of Burgundy had the place of honour. If Malcolm were present, and the repeated mentions of his piety in the annals make it quite possible that he made a pilgrimage to Rome, as did Mac Bethad mac Findlâaich ("Macbeth") in later times, then the coronation would have allowed Malcolm to publicly snub Cnut's claims to overlordship.[15]

    Cnut obtained rather less than previous English kings, a promise of peace and friendship rather than the promise of aid on land and sea that Edgar and others had obtained. The sources say that Malcolm was accompanied by one or two other kings, certainly Mac Bethad, and perhaps Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, King of Mann and the Isles, and of Galloway.[16] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle remarks of the submission "but he [Malcolm] adhered to that for only a little while".[17] Cnut was soon occupied in Norway against Olaf Haraldsson and appears to have had no further involvement with Scotland.
    Orkney and Moray

    Olith a daughter of Malcolm, married Sigurd Hlodvisson, Earl of Orkney.[18] Their son Thorfinn Sigurdsson was said to be five years old when Sigurd was killed on 23 April 1014 in the Battle of Clontarf. The Orkneyinga Saga says that Thorfinn was raised at Malcolm's court and was given the Mormaerdom of Caithness by his grandfather. Thorfinn says in the Heimskringla that he was the ally of the king of Scots, and counted on Malcolm's support to resist the "tyranny" of Norwegian King Olaf Haraldsson.[19] (Thorfinn's older step brother had died while a hostage to King Olaf.) The chronology of Thorfinn's life is problematic, and he may have had a share in the Earldom of Orkney while still a child, if he was indeed only five in 1014.[20] Whatever the exact chronology, before Malcolm's death a client of the king of Scots was in control of Caithness and Orkney, although, as with all such relationships, it is unlikely to have lasted beyond his death.

    If Malcolm exercised control over Moray, which is far from being generally accepted, then the annals record a number of events pointing to a struggle for power in the north. In 1020, Mac Bethad's father Findlâaech mac Ruaidrâi was killed by the sons of his brother Mâael Brigte.[21] It seems that Mâael Coluim mac Mâail Brigti took control of Moray, for his death is reported in 1029.[22]

    Despite the accounts of the Irish annals, English and Scandinavian writers appear to see Mac Bethad as the rightful king of Moray: this is clear from their descriptions of the meeting with Cnut in 1027, before the death of Malcolm mac Mâail Brigti. Malcolm was followed as king or earl by his brother Gillecomgan, husband of Gruoch, a granddaughter of King Kenneth III. It has been supposed that Mac Bethad was responsible for the killing of Gille Coemgâain in 1032, but if Mac Bethad had a cause for feud in the killing of his father in 1020, Malcolm too had reason to see Gille Coemgâain dead. Not only had Gillecomgan's ancestors killed many of Malcolm's kin, but Gillecomgan and his son Lulach might be rivals for the throne. Malcolm had no living sons, and the threat to his plans for the succession was obvious. As a result, the following year Gruoch's brother or nephew, who might have eventually become king, was killed by Malcolm.[23]
    Strathclyde and the succession

    It has traditionally been supposed that King Owen the Bald of Strathclyde died at the Battle of Carham and that the kingdom passed into the hands of the Scots afterwards. This rests on some very weak evidence. It is far from certain that Owen died at Carham, and it is reasonably certain that there were kings of Strathclyde as late as 1054, when Edward the Confessor sent Earl Siward to install "Malcolm son of the king of the Cumbrians". The confusion is old, probably inspired by William of Malmesbury and embellished by John of Fordun, but there is no firm evidence that the kingdom of Strathclyde was a part of the kingdom of the Scots, rather than a loosely subjected kingdom, before the time of Malcolm II of Scotland's great-grandson Malcolm Canmore.[24]

    By the 1030s Malcolm's sons, if he had any, were dead. The only evidence that he did have a son or sons is in Rodulfus Glaber's chronicle where Cnut is said to have stood as godfather to a son of Malcolm.[25] His grandson Thorfinn would have been unlikely to be accepted as king by the Scots, and he chose the sons of his other daughter, Bethâoc, who was married to Crâinâan, lay abbot of Dunkeld, and perhaps Mormaer of Atholl. It may be no more than coincidence, but in 1027 the Irish annals had reported the burning of Dunkeld, although no mention is made of the circumstances.[26] Malcolm's chosen heir, and the first tâanaise râig certainly known in Scotland, was Duncan.

    It is possible that a third daughter of Malcolm married Findlâaech mac Ruaidrâi and that Mac Bethad was thus his grandson, but this rests on relatively weak evidence.[27]
    Death and posterity
    19th-century engraving of "King Malcolm's grave stone" (Glamis no. 2) at Glamis

    Malcolm died in 1034, Marianus Scotus giving the date as 25 November 1034. The king lists say that he died at Glamis, variously describing him as a "most glorious" or "most victorious" king. The Annals of Tigernach report that "Malcolm mac Cinâaeda, king of Scotland, the honour of all the west of Europe, died." The Prophecy of Berchâan, perhaps the inspiration for John of Fordun and Andrew of Wyntoun's accounts where Malcolm is killed fighting bandits, says that he died by violence, fighting "the parricides", suggested to be the sons of Mâael Brigte of Moray.[28]

    Perhaps the most notable feature of Malcolm's death is the account of Marianus, matched by the silence of the Irish annals, which tells us that Duncan I became king and ruled for five years and nine months. Given that his death in 1040 is described as being "at an immature age" in the Annals of Tigernach, he must have been a young man in 1034. The absence of any opposition suggests that Malcolm had dealt thoroughly with any likely opposition in his own lifetime.[29]

    Tradition, dating from Fordun's time if not earlier, knew the Pictish stone now called "Glamis 2" as "King Malcolm's grave stone". The stone is a Class II stone, apparently formed by re-using a Bronze Age standing stone. Its dating is uncertain, with dates from the 8th century onwards having been proposed. While an earlier date is favoured, an association with accounts of Malcolm's has been proposed on the basis of the iconography of the carvings.[30]

    On the question of Malcolm's putative pilgrimage, pilgrimages to Rome, or other long-distance journeys, were far from unusual. Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Cnut and Mac Bethad have already been mentioned. Rognvald Kali Kolsson is known to have gone crusading in the Mediterranean in the 12th century. Nearer in time, Dyfnwal of Strathclyde died on pilgrimage to Rome in 975 as did Mâael Ruanaid uâa Mâaele Doraid, King of the Cenâel Conaill, in 1025.

    Not a great deal is known of Malcolm's activities beyond the wars and killings. The Book of Deer records that Malcolm "gave a king's dues in Biffie and in Pett Meic-Gobraig, and two davochs" to the monastery of Old Deer.[31] He was also probably not the founder of the Bishopric of Mortlach-Aberdeen. John of Fordun has a peculiar tale to tell, related to the supposed "Laws of Malcolm MacKenneth", saying that Malcolm gave away all of Scotland, except for the Moot Hill at Scone, which is unlikely to have any basis in fact.[32]

    end of biography

    Malcolm II (a.k.a. Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda) lived from 954 to 25 November 1034 and was King of Alba from 25 March 1005 to 25 November 1034. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.

    Until Malcolm's rule, the Crown of Alba had passed backwards and forwards between different strands of the House of Alpin under the law of tanistry, under which the extended family elected the successor from candidates across the family.

    Malcolm changed this by the simple expedient of wiping out all competition to his own line anywhere in the family (or so he thought at the time). He succeeded to the throne by killing his predecessor Kenneth III (and Kenneth's son Giric) at the Battle of Monzievaird on 25 March 1005. This took place just north of Crieff, close to the location of today's Glenturret Distillery. He later had Kenneth's grandson killed.

    Malcolm's reasons for killing the competiton was straightforward. He himself had three daughters, and while they had all married well, his grandsons could not compete the more direct claims to the Crown of Alba of those he eliminated.

    Malcolm II's rule started badly, with a loss in battle against the English near Durham in 1006. He put this right with an alliance with Strathclyde and a victory over the English at the Battle of Carham, on the River Tweed, in 1018. This greatly strengthened his grip on Lothian: in effect the east side of Scotland from the Forth to the Tweed. Scottish soverignty over Lothian seems to have been subsequently acknowledged by King Canute during a visit to Scotland in 1031.

    In the north, Malcolm II formed an alliance with the Vikings which included the marriage of one of his daughters to the Norse Earl Sigurd of Orkney. The situation in Strathclyde was more troublesome. Malcolm's ally, King Owen, died without an heir, and Malcolm tried to place his grandson Duncan (later Duncan I of Alba) on the throne of Strathclyde. This displeased the Britons and led to Malcolm's assassination at Glamis on 25 November 1034. He was buried in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel on the Isle of Iona.

    Malcolm's three daughters had between them produced three notable sons. One married Earl Sigurd of Orkney, and their son Earl Thorfinn went on to bring much of Caithness and Sutherland into Scotland. One married Crâinâan, the Abbot of Dunkeld, and their son Duncan went on to succeed Malcom II as Duncan I. And the third married Findláaech, the sub-king of Moray, and their son Macbeth went on to kill Duncan (with Thorfinn's help) and become King Macbeth.

    end of biography

    Buried:
    in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel...

    View images and more history of St Oran's; https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/iona/storanschapel/index.html

    Malcolm married Aefgifu. Aefgifu was born in Ossory, Ireland; died in (Scotland). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 179.  Aefgifu was born in Ossory, Ireland; died in (Scotland).
    Children:
    1. 89. Bethoc was born in 984 in Perthshire, Scotland; died on 15 Sep 1049 in Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland.
    2. Donalda was born in Scotland.
    3. a daughter of Malcolm, II was born in (Scotland).

  7. 184.  Aethelred the Unready, King of the EnglishAethelred the Unready, King of the English was born about 966 in (Wessex) England (son of Edgar the Peaceful, King of England and Aelfthryth); died on 23 Apr 1016 in London, England; was buried in London, England.

    Notes:

    Ąthelred II (Old English: Ą¤elrµd, pronounced [µşelrµ?d];[1] c. 966 – 23 April 1016), known as the Unready, was King of the English from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death. His epithet does not derive from the modern word "unready", but rather from the Old English unrµd (meaning "poorly advised"); it is a pun on his name, which means "well advised".

    Ąthelred was the son of King Edgar and Queen Ąlfthryth. He came to the throne at about the age of 12, following the assassination of his older half-brother, Edward the Martyr. His brother's murder was carried out by supporters of his own claim to the throne, although he was too young to have any personal involvement. The chief problem of Ąthelred's reign was conflict with the Danes. After several decades of relative peace, Danish raids on English territory began again in earnest in the 980s. Following the Battle of Maldon in 991, Ąthelred paid tribute, or Danegeld, to the Danish king. In 1002, Ąthelred ordered what became known as the St. Brice's Day massacre of Danish settlers. In 1013, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England, as a result of which Ąthelred fled to Normandy in 1013 and was replaced by Sweyn. However, he returned as king for two years after Sweyn's death in 1014. Ąthelred's 37-year reign was the longest of any Anglo-Saxon king of England, and was only surpassed in the 13th century, by Henry III. Ąthelred was briefly succeeded by his son, Edmund Ironside, but he died after a few months and was replaced by Sweyn's son, Cnut. Another of his sons, Edward the Confessor, became king in 1042.

    King of the English
    Reign 18 March 978 – 1013 (first time)
    Predecessor Edward the Martyr
    Successor Sweyn Forkbeard
    Reign 1014 – 23 April 1016
    (second time)
    Predecessor Sweyn Forkbeard
    Successor Edmund Ironside
    Born c. 966
    Died 23 April 1016 (aged about 50)
    London, England
    Burial Old St Paul's Cathedral, London, now lost
    Spouse Ąlfgifu of York
    Emma of Normandy
    Issue
    Detail
    See list[show]
    House Wessex
    Father Edgar, King of England
    Mother Ąlfthryth
    Religion Christianity

    Name

    Ąthelred's first name, composed of the elements µşele, "noble", and rµd, "counsel, advice",[2] is typical of the compound names of those who belonged to the royal House of Wessex, and it characteristically alliterates with the names of his ancestors, like Ąthelwulf ("noble-wolf"), Ąlfred ("elf-counsel"), Eadweard ("rich-protection"), and Eadgar ("rich-spear").[3]

    The story of Ąthelred's notorious nickname, Old English Unrµd, goes a long way toward explaining how his reputation has declined through history[dubious – discuss] It is usually translated into present-day English as "The Unready" (less often, though less confusingly, as "The Redeless").[4] The Anglo-Saxon noun unrµd means "evil counsel", "bad plan", or "folly".[2] It most often describes decisions and deeds, and once refers to the nature of Satan's deceit. The element rµd in unrµd is the element in Ąthelred's name which means "counsel". Thus Ą¤elrµd Unrµd is a pun meaning "Noble counsel, No counsel". The nickname has alternatively been taken adjectivally as "ill-advised", "ill-prepared", "indecisive", thus "Ąthelred the ill-advised".

    Because the nickname was first recorded in the 1180s, more than 150 years after Ąthelred's death, it is doubtful that it carries any implications for how the king was seen by his contemporaries or near contemporaries.[5]

    Early life

    Gold mancus of Ąthelred wearing armour, 1003–1006.
    Sir Frank Stenton remarked that "much that has brought condemnation of historians on King Ąthelred may well be due in the last resort to the circumstances under which he became king."[6] Ąthelred's father, King Edgar, had died suddenly in July 975, leaving two young sons behind. The elder, Edward (later Edward the Martyr), was probably illegitimate,[7] and was "still a youth on the verge of manhood" in 975.[8] The younger son was Ąthelred, whose mother, Ąlfthryth, Edgar had married in 964. Ąlfthryth was the daughter of Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon, and widow of Ąthelwold, Ealdorman of East Anglia. At the time of his father's death, Ąthelred could have been no more than 10 years old. As the elder of Edgar's sons, Edward – reportedly a young man given to frequent violent outbursts – probably would have naturally succeeded to the throne of England despite his young age, had not he "offended many important persons by his intolerable violence of speech and behaviour."[8] In any case, a number of English nobles took to opposing Edward's succession and to defending Ąthelred's claim to the throne; Ąthelred was, after all, the son of Edgar's last, living wife, and no rumour of illegitimacy is known to have plagued Ąthelred's birth, as it might have his elder brother's.[9] Both boys, Ąthelred certainly, were too young to have played any significant part in the political manoeuvring which followed Edgar's death. It was the brothers' supporters, and not the brothers themselves, who were responsible for the turmoil which accompanied the choice of a successor to the throne. Ąthelred's cause was led by his mother and included Ąlfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia and Bishop Ąthelwold of Winchester,[10] while Edward's claim was supported by Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Oswald, the Archbishop of York[11] among other noblemen, notably Ąthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia, and Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex. In the end, Edward's supporters proved the more powerful and persuasive, and he was crowned king at Kingston upon Thames before the year was out.

    Edward reigned for only three years before he was murdered by members of his brother's household.[12] Though little is known about Edward's short reign, it is known that it was marked by political turmoil. Edgar had made extensive grants of land to monasteries which pursued the new monastic ideals of ecclesiastical reform, but these disrupted aristocratic families' traditional patronage. The end of his firm rule saw a reversal of this policy, with aristocrats recovering their lost properties or seizing new ones. This was opposed by Dunstan, but according to Cyril Hart, "The presence of supporters of church reform on both sides indicates that the conflict between them depended as much on issues of land ownership and local power as on ecclesiastical legitimacy. Adherents of both Edward and Ąthelred can be seen appropriating, or recovering, monastic lands."[7] Nevertheless, favour for Edward must have been strong among the monastic communities. When Edward was killed at Ąthelred's estate at Corfe Castle in Dorset in March 978, the job of recording the event, as well as reactions to it, fell to monastic writers. Stenton offers a summary of the earliest account of Edward's murder, which comes from a work praising the life of St Oswald: "On the surface his [Edward's] relations with Ąthelred his half-brother and Ąlfthryth his stepmother were friendly, and he was visiting them informally when he was killed. [Ąthelred's] retainers came out to meet him with ostentatious signs of respect, and then, before he had dismounted, surrounded him, seized his hands, and stabbed him. ... So far as can be seen the murder was planned and carried out by Ąthelred's household men in order that their young master might become king. There is nothing to support the allegation, which first appears in writing more than a century later, that Queen Ąlfthryth had plotted her stepson's death. No one was punished for a part in the crime, and Ąthelred, who was crowned a month after the murder, began to reign in an atmosphere of suspicion which destroyed the prestige of the crown. It was never fully restored in his lifetime."[13] Nevertheless, at first, the outlook of the new king's officers and counsellors seems in no way to have been bleak. According to one chronicler, the coronation of Ąthelred took place with much rejoicing by the councillors of the English people.[14] Simon Keynes notes that "Byrhtferth of Ramsey states similarly that when Ąthelred was consecrated king, by Archbishop Dunstan and Archbishop Oswald, 'there was great joy at his consecration’, and describes the king in this connection as 'a young man in respect of years, elegant in his manners, with an attractive face and handsome appearance'."[14] Ąthelred could not have been older than 13 years of age in this year.

    During these early years, Ąthelred was developing a close relationship to Ąthelwold, bishop of Winchester, one who had supported his unsuccessful claim to the throne. When Ąthelwold died, on 1 August 984, Ąthelred deeply lamented the loss, and he wrote later in a charter from 993 that the event had deprived the country of one "whose industry and pastoral care administered not only to my interest but also to that of all inhabitants of the country."[14]

    Conflict with the Danes

    England had experienced a period of peace after the reconquest of the Danelaw in the mid-10th century by King Edgar, Ąthelred's father. However, beginning in 980, when Ąthelred could not have been more than 14 years old, small companies of Danish adventurers carried out a series of coastline raids against England. Hampshire, Thanet and Cheshire were attacked in 980, Devon and Cornwall in 981, and Dorset in 982. A period of six years then passed before, in 988, another coastal attack is recorded as having taken place to the south-west, though here a famous battle was fought between the invaders and the thegns of Devon. Stenton notes that, though this series of isolated raids had no lasting effect on England itself, "their chief historical importance is that they brought England for the first time into diplomatic contact with Normandy."[15] During this period, the Normans, who remembered their origins as a Scandinavian people, were well-disposed to their Danish cousins who, occasionally returning from a raid on England, sought port in Normandy. This led to grave tension between the English and Norman courts, and word of their enmity eventually reached Pope John XV. The pope was disposed to dissolve their hostility towards each other, and took steps to engineer a peace between England and Normandy, which was ratified in Rouen in 991.

    Battle of Maldon

    However, in August of that same year, a sizeable Danish fleet began a sustained campaign in the south-east of England. It arrived off Folkestone, in Kent, and made its way around the south-east coast and up the River Blackwater, coming eventually to its estuary and occupying Northey Island.[14] About 2 kilometres (1 mile) west of Northey lies the coastal town of Maldon, where Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex, was stationed with a company of thegns. The battle that followed between English and Danes is immortalised by the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon, which describes the doomed but heroic attempt of Byrhtnoth to defend the coast of Essex against overwhelming odds. Stenton summarises the events of the poem: "For access to the mainland they (the Danes) depended on a causeway, flooded at high tide, which led from Northey to the flats along the southern margin of the estuary. Before they (the Danes) had left their camp on the island[,] Byrhtnoth, with his retainers and a force of local militia, had taken possession of the landward end of the causeway. Refusing a demand for tribute, shouted across the water while the tide was high, Byrhtnoth drew up his men along the bank, and waited for the ebb. As the water fell the raiders began to stream out along the causeway. But three of Byrthnoth's retainers held it against them, and at last they asked to be allowed to cross unhindered and fight on equal terms on the mainland. With what even those who admired him most called 'over-courage', Byrhtnoth agreed to this; the pirates rushed through the falling tide, and battle was joined. Its issue was decided by Byrhtnoth's fall. Many even of his own men immediately took to flight and the English ranks were broken. What gives enduring interest to the battle is the superb courage with which a group of Byrhtnoth's thegns, knowing that the fight was lost, deliberately gave themselves to death in order that they might avenge their lord."[16] This was the first of a series of crushing defeats felt by the English: beaten first by Danish raiders, and later by organised Danish armies.

    England begins tributes

    In 991, Ąthelred was around 24 years old. In the aftermath of Maldon, it was decided that the English should grant the tribute to the Danes that they desired, and so a gafol of ą10,000 was paid them for their peace. Yet it was presumably the Danish fleet that had beaten Byrhtnoth at Maldon that continued to ravage the English coast from 991 to 993. In 994, the Danish fleet, which had swollen in ranks since 991, turned up the Thames estuary and headed toward London. The battle fought there was inconclusive. It was about this time that Ąthelred met with the leaders of the fleet, foremost among them Olaf Tryggvason[clarification needed] and arranged an uneasy accord. A treaty was signed between Ąthelred and Olaf that provided for seemingly civilised arrangements between the then-settled Danish companies and the English government, such as regulation settlement disputes and trade. But the treaty also stipulated that the ravaging and slaughter of the previous year would be forgotten, and ended abruptly by stating that ą22,000 of gold and silver had been paid to the raiders as the price of peace.[17] In 994, Olaf Tryggvason, already a baptised Christian, was confirmed as Christian in a ceremony at Andover; King Ąthelred stood as his sponsor. After receiving gifts, Olaf promised "that he would never come back to England in hostility."[14] Olaf then left England for Norway and never returned, though "other component parts of the Viking force appear to have decided to stay in England, for it is apparent from the treaty that some had chosen to enter into King Ąthelred's service as mercenaries, based presumably on the Isle of Wight."[14]

    Renewed Danish raids

    In 997, Danish raids began again. According to Keynes, "there is no suggestion that this was a new fleet or army, and presumably the mercenary force created in 994 from the residue of the raiding army of 991 had turned on those whom it had been hired to protect."[14] It harried Cornwall, Devon, western Somerset and south Wales in 997, Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex in 998. In 999, it raided Kent, and, in 1000, it left England for Normandy, perhaps because the English had refused in this latest wave of attacks to acquiesce to the Danish demands for gafol or tribute, which would come to be known as Danegeld, 'Dane-payment'. This sudden relief from attack Ąthelred used to gather his thoughts, resources, and armies: the fleet's departure in 1000 "allowed Ąthelred to carry out a devastation of Strathclyde, the motive for which is part of the lost history of the north."[18]

    In 1001, a Danish fleet – perhaps the same fleet from 1000 – returned and ravaged west Sussex. During its movements, the fleet regularly returned to its base in the Isle of Wight. There was later an attempted attack in the south of Devon, though the English mounted a successful defence at Exeter. Nevertheless, Ąthelred must have felt at a loss, and, in the Spring of 1002, the English bought a truce for ą24,000. Ąthelred's frequent payments of immense Danegelds are often held up as exemplary of the incompetency of his government and his own short-sightedness. However, Keynes points out that such payments had been practice for at least a century, and had been adopted by Alfred the Great, Charles the Bald and many others. Indeed, in some cases it "may have seemed the best available way of protecting the people against loss of life, shelter, livestock and crops. Though undeniably burdensome, it constituted a measure for which the king could rely on widespread support."[14]

    St. Brice's Day massacre of 1002

    Main article: St. Brice's Day massacre
    Ąthelred ordered the massacre of all Danish men in England to take place on 13 November 1002, St Brice's Day. No order of this kind could be carried out in more than a third of England, where the Danes were too strong, but Gunhilde, sister of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, was said to have been among the victims. It is likely that a wish to avenge her was a principal motive for Sweyn's invasion of western England the following year.[19] By 1004 Sweyn was in East Anglia, where he sacked Norwich. In this year, a nobleman of East Anglia, Ulfcytel Snillingr met Sweyn in force, and made an impression on the until-then rampant Danish expedition. Though Ulfcytel was eventually defeated, outside Thetford, he caused the Danes heavy losses and was nearly able to destroy their ships. The Danish army left England for Denmark in 1005, perhaps because of their injuries sustained in East Anglia, perhaps from the very severe famine which afflicted the continent and the British Isles in that year.[14]

    An expedition the following year was bought off in early 1007 by tribute money of ą36,000, and for the next two years England was free from attack. In 1008, the government created a new fleet of warships, organised on a national scale, but this was weakened when one of its commanders took to piracy, and the king and his council decided not to risk it in a general action. In Stenton's view: "The history of England in the next generation was really determined between 1009 and 1012...the ignominious collapse of the English defence caused a loss of morale which was irreparable." The Danish army of 1009, led by Thorkell the Tall and his brother Hemming, was the most formidable force to invade England since Ąthelred became king. It harried England until it was bought off by ą48,000 in April 1012.[20]

    Invasion of 1013

    Sweyn then launched an invasion in 1013 intending to crown himself king of England, during which he proved himself to be a general greater than any other Viking leader of his generation. By the end of 1013 English resistance had collapsed and Sweyn had conquered the country, forcing Ąthelred into exile in Normandy. But the situation changed suddenly when Sweyn died on 3 February 1014. The crews of the Danish ships in the Trent that had supported Sweyn immediately swore their allegiance to Sweyn's son Cnut the Great, but leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Ąthelred to negotiate his restoration to the throne. He was required to declare his loyalty to them, to bring in reforms regarding everything that they disliked and to forgive all that had been said and done against him in his previous reign. The terms of this agreement are of great constitutional interest in early English History as they are the first recorded pact between a King and his subjects and are also widely regarded as showing that many English noblemen had submitted to Sweyn simply because of their distrust of Ąthelred.[21] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

    they [the counsellors] said that no lord was dearer to them than their natural (gecynde) lord, if he would govern them more justly than he did before. Then the king sent his son Edward hither with his messengers and bade them greet all his people and said that he would be a gracious (hold) lord to them, and reform all the things which they hated; and all the things which had been said and done against him should be forgiven on condition that they all unanimously turned to him (to him gecyrdon) without treachery. And complete friendship was then established with oath and pledge (mid worde and mid wµdde) on both sides, and they pronounced every Danish king an exile from England forever.[22]
    Ąthelred then launched an expedition against Cnut and his allies. It was only the people of the Kingdom of Lindsey (modern North Lincolnshire) who supported Cnut. Ąthelred first set out to recapture London apparently with the help of the Norwegian Olaf Haraldsson. According to the Icelandic historian, Snorri Sturluson, Ólaf led a successful attack on London bridge with a fleet of ships. He then went on to help Ąthelred retake London and other parts of the country. Cnut and his army decided to withdraw from England, in April 1014, leaving his Lindsey allies to suffer Ąthelred's revenge. In about 1016 it is thought that Ólaf left to concentrate on raiding western Europe.[23] In the same year, Cnut returned to find a complex and volatile situation unfolding in England.[23] Ąthelred's son, Edmund Ironside, had revolted against his father and established himself in the Danelaw, which was angry at Cnut and Ąthelred for the ravaging of Lindsey and was prepared to support Edmund in any uprising against both of them

    Death and burial

    Over the next few months Cnut conquered most of England, while Edmund rejoined Ąthelred to defend London when Ąthelred died on 23 April 1016. The subsequent war between Edmund and Cnut ended in a decisive victory for Cnut at the Battle of Ashingdon on 18 October 1016. Edmund's reputation as a warrior was such that Cnut nevertheless agreed to divide England, Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the whole of the country beyond the Thames. However, Edmund died on 30 November and Cnut became king of the whole country.[24]

    Ąthelred was buried in Old St Paul's Cathedral, London. The tomb and his monument were destroyed along with the cathedral in the Great Fire of London in 1666.[25] A modern monument in the crypt lists his among the important graves lost.

    Legislation

    A charter of Ąthelred's in 1003 to his follower, Ąthelred. British Library, London.
    Ąthelred's government produced extensive legislation, which he "ruthlessly enforced."[26] Records of at least six legal codes survive from his reign, covering a range of topics.[27] Notably, one of the members of his council (known as the Witan) was Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, a well-known homilist. The three latest codes from Ąthelred's reign seemed to have been drafted by Wulfstan.[28] These codes are extensively concerned with ecclesiastical affairs. They also exhibit the characteristics of Wulfstan's highly rhetorical style. Wulfstan went on to draft codes for King Cnut, and recycled there many of the laws which were used in Ąthelred's codes.[29]

    Despite the failure of his government in the face of the Danish threat, Ąthelred's reign was not without some important institutional achievements. The quality of the coinage, a good indicator of the prevailing economic conditions, significantly improved during his reign due to his numerous coinage reform laws.[30]

    Legacy

    Later perspectives of Ąthelred have been less than flattering. Numerous legends and anecdotes have sprung up to explain his shortcomings, often elaborating abusively on his character and failures. One such anecdote is given by William of Malmesbury (lived c. 1080–c. 1143), who reports that Ąthelred had defecated in the baptismal font as a child, which led St Dunstan to prophesy that the English monarchy would be overthrown during his reign. This story is, however, a fabrication, and a similar story is told of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Copronymus, another mediaeval monarch who was unpopular among certain of his subjects.

    Efforts to rehabilitate Ąthelred's reputation have gained momentum since about 1980. Chief among the rehabilitators has been Simon Keynes, who has often argued that our poor impression of Ąthelred is almost entirely based upon after-the-fact accounts of, and later accretions to, the narrative of events during Ąthelred's long and complex reign. Chief among the culprits is in fact one of the most important sources for the history of the period, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which, as it reports events with a retrospect of 15 years, cannot help but interpret events with the eventual English defeat a foregone conclusion. Yet, as virtually no strictly contemporary narrative account of the events of Ąthelred's reign exists, historians are forced to rely on what evidence there is. Keynes and others thus draw attention to some of the inevitable snares of investigating the history of a man whom later popular opinion has utterly damned. Recent cautious assessments of Ąthelred's reign have more often uncovered reasons to doubt, rather than uphold, Ąthelred's later infamy. Though the failures of his government will always put Ąthelred's reign in the shadow of the reigns of kings Edgar, Aethelstan, and Alfred, historians' current impression of Ąthelred's personal character is certainly not as unflattering as it once was: "Ąthelred's misfortune as a ruler was owed not so much to any supposed defects of his imagined character, as to a combination of circumstances which anyone would have found difficult to control."[31]

    Origin of the jury

    Ąthelred has been credited with the formation of a local investigative body made up of twelve thegns who were charged with publishing the names of any notorious or wicked men in their respective districts. Because the members of these bodies were under solemn oath to act in accordance with the law and their own good consciences, they have been seen by some legal historians as the prototype for the English Grand Jury.[32] Ąthelred makes provision for such a body in a law code he enacted at Wantage in 997, which states:

    ¤µt man habbe gemot on µlcum wµpentace; & gan ut ¤a yldestan XII ¤egnas & se gerefa mid, & swerian on ¤am haligdome, ¤e heom man on hand sylle, ¤µt hig nellan nµnne sacleasan man forsecgean ne nµnne sacne forhelan. & niman ¤onne ¤a tihtbysian men, ¤e mid ¤am gerefan habbaş, & heora µlc sylle VI healfmarc wedd, healf landrican & healf wµpentake.[33]

    that there shall be an assembly in every wapentake,[34] and in that assembly shall go forth the twelve eldest thegns and the reeve along with them, and let them swear on holy relics, which shall be placed in their hands, that they will never knowingly accuse an innocent man nor conceal a guilty man. And thereafter let them seize those notorious [lit. "charge-laden"] men, who have business with the reeve, and let each of them give a security of 6 half-marks, half of which shall go to the lord of that district, and half to the wapentake.

    But the wording here suggests that Ąthelred was perhaps revamping or re-confirming a custom which had already existed. He may actually have been expanding an established English custom for use among the Danish citizens in the North (the Danelaw). Previously, King Edgar had legislated along similar lines in his Whitbordesstan code:

    ic wille, ¤µt µlc mon sy under borge ge binnan burgum ge buton burgum. & gewitnes sy geset to µlcere byrig & to µlcum hundrode. To µlcere byrig XXXVI syn gecorone to gewitnesse; to smalum burgum & to µlcum hundrode XII, buton ge ma willan. & µlc mon mid heora gewitnysse bigcge & sylle µlc ¤ara ceapa, ¤e he bigcge oşşe sylle a¤er oşşe burge oşşe on wµpengetace. & heora µlc, ¤onne hine man µrest to gewitnysse gecysş, sylle ¤µne aş, ¤µt he nµfre, ne for feo ne for lufe ne for ege, ne µtsace nanes ¤ara ¤inga, ¤e he to gewitnysse wµs, & nan oşer ¤ingc on gewitnysse ne cyşe buton ¤µt an, ¤µt he geseah oşşe gehyrde. & swa geµ¤dera manna syn on µlcum ceape twegen oşşe ¤ry to gewitnysse.[35]

    It is my wish that each person be in surety, both within settled areas and without. And 'witnessing' shall be established in each city and each hundred. To each city let there be 36 chosen for witnessing; to small towns and to each hundred let there be 12, unless they desire more. And everybody shall purchase and sell their goods in the presence a witness, whether he is buying or selling something, whether in a city or a wapentake. And each of them, when they first choose to become a witness, shall give an oath that he will never, neither for wealth nor love nor fear, deny any of those things which he will be a witness to, and will not, in his capacity as a witness, make known any thing except that which he saw and heard. And let there be either two or three of these sworn witnesses at every sale of goods.

    The 'legend' of an Anglo-Saxon origin to the jury was first challenged seriously by Heinrich Brunner in 1872, who claimed that evidence of the jury was only seen for the first time during the reign of Henry II, some 200 years after the end of the Anglo-Saxon period, and that the practice had originated with the Franks, who in turn had influenced the Normans, who thence introduced it to England.[36] Since Brunner's thesis, the origin of the English jury has been much disputed. Throughout the 20th century, legal historians disagreed about whether the practice was English in origin, or was introduced, directly or indirectly, from either Scandinavia or Francia.[32] Recently, the legal historians Patrick Wormald and Michael Macnair have reasserted arguments in favour of finding in practices current during the Anglo-Saxon period traces of the Angevin practice of conducting inquests using bodies of sworn, private witnesses. Wormald has gone as far as to present evidence suggesting that the English practice outlined in Ąthelred's Wantage code is at least as old as, if not older than, 975, and ultimately traces it back to a Carolingian model (something Brinner had done).[37] However, no scholarly consensus has yet been reached.

    Appearance and character

    "[A] youth of graceful manners, handsome countenance and fine person..."[38] as well as "[A] tall, handsome man, elegant in manners, beautiful in countenance and interesting in his deportment."[39]

    Marriages and issue

    Ąthelred married first Ąlfgifu, daughter of Thored, earl of Northumbria, in about 985.[14] Their known children are:

    Ąthelstan Ątheling (died 1014)
    Ecgberht Ątheling (died c. 1005)[40]
    Edmund Ironside (died 1016)
    Eadred Ątheling (died before 1013)
    Eadwig Ątheling (executed by Cnut 1017)
    Edgar Ątheling (died c. 1008)[40]
    Eadgyth or Edith (married Eadric Streona)
    Ąlfgifu (married Uchtred the Bold, ealdorman of Northumbria)
    Wulfhilda? (married Ulfcytel Snillingr)
    Abbess of Wherwell Abbey?
    In 1002 Ąthelred married Emma of Normandy, sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their children were:

    Edward the Confessor (died 1066)
    Ąlfred Ątheling (died 1036–7)
    Goda of England (married 1. Drogo of Mantes and 2. Eustace II, Count of Boulogne)
    All of Ąthelred's sons were named after predecessors of Ąthelred on the throne.[41]

    Buried:
    Old St Paul's Cathedral, London, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_St_Paul%27s_Cathedral, now lost

    Aethelred married Aelfgifu of York, Queen Consort of England. Aelfgifu (daughter of Thored Gunnarsson, Earl of Southern Northumbria and Hilda LNU) was born in ~970 in (Yorkshire) England; died in 1002. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 185.  Aelfgifu of York, Queen Consort of England was born in ~970 in (Yorkshire) England (daughter of Thored Gunnarsson, Earl of Southern Northumbria and Hilda LNU); died in 1002.

    Notes:

    Ąlfgifu of York (fl. c. 970 – 1002) was the first wife of Ąthelred the Unready (r. 968–1016), by whom she bore many offspring, including Edmund Ironside. It is most probable that she was a daughter of Thored, Earl of southern Northumbria.

    Queen consort of England
    Tenure 980s–1002
    Born fl. c. 970
    Died c. 1002
    Spouse Ąthelred the Unready
    Issue Ąthelstan Ątheling
    Ecgberht of England
    Edmund, King of England
    Eadred Ątheling
    Eadwig Ątheling
    Edgar of England
    Edith, Lady of the Mercians
    Ąlfgifu, Lady of Northumbria
    Wulfhilda, Lady of East Anglia
    Father

    Identity and background

    Her name and paternity do not surface in the sources until sometime after the Conquest. The first to offer any information at all, Sulcard of Westminster (fl. 1080s), merely describes her as being “of very noble English stock” (ex nobilioribus Anglis), without naming her,[1] while in the early 12th century, William of Malmesbury has nothing to report. All primary evidence comes from two Anglo-Norman historians. John of Worcester, also writing in the early 12th century, states that Ąthelred's first wife was Ąlfgifu, daughter of the nobleman Ąthelberht (comes Agelberhtus) and the mother of Edmund, Ąthelstan, Eadwig and Eadgyth.[2] Writing in the 1150s, Ailred of Rievaulx identifies her as a daughter of earl (comes) Thored and the mother of Edmund, though he supplies no name.[3] Ailred had been seneschal at the court of King David I of Scotland (r. 1124–53), whose mother Margaret descended from King Ąthelred and his first wife. Although his testimony is late, his proximity to the royal family may have given him access to genuine information.[4]

    Problem of fatherhood

    These two accounts are irreconcilable at the point of ascribing two different fathers to Ąthelred's first wife (in both cases, Edmund's mother). One way out of it would be to assume the existence of two different wives before the arrival of Queen Emma, Ąthelred's Norman wife, although this interpretation presents difficulties of its own, especially as the sources envisage a single woman.[5] Historians generally favour the view that John of Worcester was in error about the father's name, as Ąthelberht's very existence is under suspicion:[6] if Latin comes is to be interpreted as a gloss on the office of ealdorman, only two doubtful references to one or two duces (ealdormen) of this name can be put forward that would fit the description.[7] All in all, the combined evidence suggests that Ąthelred's first wife was Ąlfgifu, the daughter of Earl Thored. This magnate is likely to have been the Thored who was a son of Gunnar and earl of (southern) Northumbria.[8]

    Marriage and children[edit]
    Based largely on the careers of her sons, Ąlfgifu's marriage has been dated approximately to the (mid-)980s.[8] Considering Thored's authority as earl of York and apparently, the tenure of that office without royal appointment, the union would have signified an important step for the West-Saxon royal family by which it secured a foothold in the north.[9] Such a politically weighty union would help explain the close connections maintained by Ąlfgifu's eldest sons Edmund and Ąthelstan with noble families based in the northern Danelaw.[10]

    The marriage produced six sons, all of whom were named after Ąthelred's predecessors, and an unknown number of daughters. The eldest sons Ąthelstan, Ecgberht, Eadred and Edmund first attest charters in 993, while the younger sons Eadwig and Edgar first make an appearance in them in 997 and 1001 respectively.[11] Some of these sons seem to have spent part of their childhood in fosterage elsewhere, possibly with Ąthelred's mother Ąlfthryth.[12]

    Out of Ąlfgifu's six sons, only Edmund Ironside outlived his father and became king. In 1016 he suffered several defeats against Cnut and in October they agreed to share the kingdom, but Edmund died within six weeks and Cnut became king of all England. Ąthelred gave three of his daughters in marriage to ealdormen, presumably in order to secure the loyalties of his nobles and so to consolidate a defence system against Viking attacks.[13]

    Sons

    Ąthelstan (born before 993, d. 1014)
    Ecgberht (born before 993, d. 1005)
    Edmund (II) Ironside (born before 993, d. 1016)
    Eadred (d. 1012 x 1015)
    Eadwig (born before 997, exiled and killed 1017)
    Edgar (born before 1001, d. 1012 x 1015)

    Daughters

    Eadgyth (born before 993), married Eadric Streona, ealdorman of Mercia.[14]
    Ąlfgifu, married ealdorman Uhtred of Northumbria.[15]
    (possibly) Wulfhild, who married Ulfcytel (Snillingr) (d. 1016), apparently ealdorman of East Anglia.[16]
    possibly an unnamed daughter who married the Ąthelstan who was killed fighting the Danes at the Battle of Ringmere in 1010. He is called Ąthelred's aşum, meaning either son-in-law or brother-in-law.[16] Ann Williams, however, argues that the latter meaning is the appropriate one and refers to Ąthelstan as being Ąlfgifu's brother.[8]
    possibly unnamed daughter, who became abbess of Wherwell.[17]

    Life and death

    Unlike her mother-in-law, Ąlfthryth, Ąlfgifu was not anointed queen and never signed charters.[18] She did, however, make at least some impression on the contemporary record. In a will issued between 975/980 and 987, the thegn Beorhtric and his wife bequeathed to their “lady” (hlµfdige) an armlet worth 30 gold mancuses and a stallion, calling upon her authority to oversee the implementation of the arrangements set out by will.[19] In a will of later date (AD 990 x 1001), in which she is addressed as “my lady” (mire hlµfdian), the noblewoman Ąthelgifu promised a bequest of 30 mancuses of gold.[20] Just as little is known of Ąlfgifu's life, so the precise date and circumstances of her death cannot be recovered.[21] In any event, she appears to have died by 1002, possibly in childbirth, when Ąthelred took to wife Emma of Normandy, daughter of Count Richard of Rouen, who received or adopted her predecessor's Anglo-Saxon name, Ąlfgifu.

    Children:
    1. 92. Edmund II, King of the English was born in 990 in (Wessex) England; died on 30 Nov 1016 in (London) England; was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England.


Generation: 9

  1. 320.  William of Normandy, I, Duke of NormandyWilliam of Normandy, I, Duke of Normandy was born in ~893 in Normandy, France (son of Rollo and Lady Poppa of Bayeux); died on 17 Dec 942 in Piquigny, France.

    Notes:

    William Longsword (French: Guillaume Longue-âEpâee, Latin: Willermus Longa Spata, Old Norse: Vilhjâalmr Langaspjâot; c. 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.[1]

    He is sometimes anachronistically dubbed "Duke of Normandy", even though the title duke (dux) did not come into common usage until the 11th century.[2] Longsword was known at the time by the title Count (Latin comes) of Rouen.[3][4] Flodoard—always detailed about titles—consistently referred to both Rollo and his son William as principes (chieftains) of the Norse.[5]

    Birth

    William Longsword was born "overseas"[a][6] to the Viking Rollo (while he was still a pagan) and his Christian wife Poppa of Bayeux.[7][8] Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his panegyric of the Norman dukes describes Poppa as the daughter of a Count Beranger, the dominant prince of that region.[9] In the 11th century Annales Rouennaises (Annals of Rouen), she is called the daughter of Guy, Count of Senlis,[10] otherwise unknown to history.[b] Despite the uncertainty of her parentage she was undoubtedly a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[11] According to the Longsword's planctus, he was baptized a Christian probably at the same time as his father,[12] which Orderic Vitalis stated was in 912, by Franco, Archbishop of Rouen.[13]

    Life

    Longsword succeeded Rollo (who would continue to live for about another 5 years) in 927[14] and, early in his reign, faced a rebellion from Normans[15] who felt he had become too Gallicised and too soft.[16] According to Orderic Vitalis, the leader was Riouf of Evreux,[16][17][18] who was besieging Longsword in Rouen. Sallying forth, Longsword won a decisive battle, proving his authority to be Duke.[19]:25-6 At the time of this 933 rebellion Longsword sent his pregnant wife by custom, Sprota, to Fâecamp where their son Richard was born.[20]

    In 933 Longsword recognized Raoul as King of Western Francia, who was struggling to assert his authority in Northern France. In turn Raoul gave him lordship over much of the lands of the Bretons including Avranches, the Cotentin Peninsula and the Channel Islands.[21][22][23]:lii The Bretons did not agree to these changes and resistance to the Normans was led by Alan Wrybeard, Duke of Brittany and Count Berenger of Rennes but ended shortly with great slaughter and Breton castles being razed to the ground,[19]:24 Alan fleeing to England and Beranger seeking reconciliation.[24]

    In 935, Longsword married Luitgarde,[1] daughter of Count Herbert II of Vermandois whose dowry gave him the lands of Longueville, Coudres and Illiers l'Eveque.[18] Longsword also contracted a marriage between his sister Adela (Gerloc was her Norse name) and William, Count of Poitou with the approval of Hugh the Great.[25] In addition to supporting King Raoul, he was now a loyal ally of his father-in-law, Herbert II, both of whom his father Rollo had opposed.[26] In January 936 King Raoul died and the 16 year old Louis IV, who was living in exile in England, was persuaded by a promise of loyalty by Longsword, to return and became King. The Bretons returned to recover the lands taken by the Normans, resulting in fighting in the expanded Norman lands.[23]:lii


    The funerary monument of William Longsword in the cathedral of Rouen, France. The monument is from the 14th century.
    The new King was not capable of controlling his Barons and after Longsword's brother in law, Herluin II, Count of Montreuil, was attacked by Flanders, Longsword went to their assistance in 939,[19]:28-9 Arnulf I, Count of Flanders retaliated by attacking Normandy. Arnulf captured the castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer expelling Herluin. Herluin and Longsword cooperated to retake the castle.[27][28] Longsword was excommunicated for his actions in attacking and destroying several estates belonging to Arnulf.[29]

    Longsword pledged his loyalty to King Louis IV when they met in 940 and, in return, he was confirmed in lands that had been given to his father, Rollo.[30] [23]:liii In 941 a peace treaty was signed between the Bretons and Normans, brokered in Rouen by King Louis IV which limited the Norman expansion into Breton lands.[23]:liii The following year, on 17 December 942 at Picquigny on an island on the Somme, Longsword was ambushed and killed by followers of Arnulf while at a peace conference to settle their differences.[18][28] Longsword's son, Richard becoming the next Duke of Normandy.

    Family
    Longsword had no children with his wife Luitgarde.[31] He fathered his son, Richard the Fearless, with Sprota [c] who was a Breton captive and his concubine.[32] Richard, then aged 10, succeeded him as Duke of Normandy in December 942.[31]

    end of biography

    William married Sprota. Sprota was born in 0911 in Bretagne, France; died in 0940. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 321.  Sprota was born in 0911 in Bretagne, France; died in 0940.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Residence: Fecamp, Normandie, France

    Notes:

    Sprota was the name of a Breton captive who William I, Duke of Normandy took as a wife in the Viking fashion (more danico)[1][2] and by her had a son, Richard I, Duke of Normandy. After the death of her husband William, she became the wife of Esperleng and mother of Rodulf of Ivry.[3][4][5]

    Life

    The first mention of her is by Flodoard of Reims and although he doesn't name her he identifies her under the year [943] as the mother of "William’s son [Richard] born of a Breton concubine".[6] Her Breton origins could mean she was of Breton, Scandinavian, or Frankish origin, the latter being the most likely based on her name spelling.[7] Elisabeth van Houts wrote "on this reference rests the identification of Sprota, William Longsword’s wife 'according to the Danish custom', as of Breton origin".[8] The first to provide her name was William of Jumiáeges.[9][10] The irregular nature (as per the Church) of her relationship with William served as the basis for her son by him being the subject of ridicule, the French King Louis "abused the boy with bitter insults", calling him "the son of a whore who had seduced another woman's husband."[11][12]

    At the time of the birth of her first son Richard, she was living in her own household at Bayeux, under William's protection.[4] William, having just quashed a rebellion at Prâe-de Bataille (c.936),[a] received the news by a messenger that Sprota had just given birth to a son; delighted at the news William ordered his son to be baptized and given the personal name of Richard.[10] William's steward Boto became the boy's godfather.[13]

    After the death of William Longsword and the captivity of her son Richard, she had been 'collected' from her dangerous situation by the 'immensely wealthy' Esperleng.[3] Robert of Torigni identified Sprota's second husband[b] as Esperleng, a wealthy landowner who operated mills at Păitres.[4][14]

    Children:
    1. 160. Richard de Normandie, I was born on 28 Aug 932 in Fecamp, Normandie, France; died on 20 Nov 996 in Fecamp, France; was buried in Fecamp, France.

  3. 322.  Harold Gormsen, VII, King of Denmark was born in ~0895 in Blauzahn, Bavaria, Schwaben, Germany (son of Gorm the Old, King of Denmark and Elgiva of Wessex, Queen of Denmark); died on 1 Sep 0986 in Gormshoj, Denmark.

    Harold married Gunhild von Denmark in ~935 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Gunhild was born in ~0920 in Copenhagen, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 323.  Gunhild von Denmark was born in ~0920 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
    Children:
    1. 161. Gonor de Crepon, Duchess of Normandy was born in 936-941 in Rouen, France; died on 5 Jan 1031 in Normandie, France.

  5. 326.  Geoffrey of Anjou

    Geoffrey married Adele of Meaux. Adele (daughter of Robert De Vermandois, Count of Meaux and Adelaide-Werra de Chaton) was born in ~950 in Meaux, France; died in ~980. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 327.  Adele of Meaux was born in ~950 in Meaux, France (daughter of Robert De Vermandois, Count of Meaux and Adelaide-Werra de Chaton); died in ~980.

    Notes:

    Adele Carolingian of Meaux was born 950 to Robert de Vermandois (918-968) and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) and died 980 of unspecified causes. She married Lambert de Chalon (930-979) . She married Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]

    The French Wikipedia has her first husband marry her mother,[1] which is unlikely, given her age. The same source has her a daughter Gerberge marry King Adalberto of Italy. This would make Adele a grandmother at the age of 12. However, in the reconstruction shown here, Adele is married to two men at once, with her youngest daughter from her first marriage born around 972 and her eldest daughter from her second marriage born around 965.

    Note that Genealogie Quebec merges her with her sister.[2]



    Children

    Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Hugh I de Chalon (?-1039)
    Mahaut de Chalon (?-1019) Henri I de Bourgogne (c948-1002)
    Geoffroi de Semur (?-c990)

    Aelis of Chalon (?-?) Guy I de Macon (975-1006)

    Elizabeth de Chalon (970-1014)

    Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Gottfried of Anjou (?-987) 987
    Fulk III, Count of Anjou (972-1040) 972 21 June 1040 Metz, France âElisabeth de Vendăome (c979-999)
    Hildegarde de Beaugency (c990-)

    Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) 967 Conan I of Rennes (927-992)

    Gerberge of Anjou (965-1041) 965 1041 Guillaume III Taillefer of Angoulăeme (960-1028)
    ^ wikipedia:fr:Lambert de Chalon
    ^ http://genealogiequebec.info/testphp/info.php?no=23981

    Noteworthy descendants include

    William I of England (1027-1087)

    Children:
    1. 163. Ermengarde of Anjou was born before 967 in (Anjou, France).

  7. 356.  Kenneth II of Scotland, King of AlbaKenneth II of Scotland, King of Alba was born in 932 in Scotland (son of Malcolm I of Scotland, King of Alba and unnamed spouse); died in 995 in Fettercairn, Scotland; was buried in Isle of Iona, Scotland.

    Notes:

    Kenneth II (a.k.a. Cinâaed mac Maâil Choluim) lived from 932 to 995 and was King of Alba from 971 to 995. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline. Kenneth was the son of Malcolm I and brother to King Duff, who had ruled until 966. He became King of Alba on the killing of his predecessor, King Culen, by the Britons of Strathclyde, though it was no until he killed Culen's brother Amlaib in 977 that he was able to rule unchallenged.

    Kenneth II spent much of his reign in conflict. He first fought the Britons of Strathclyde, before turning his attention to Northumbria, where he further secured Alba's hold on the lands between the River Forth and the River Tweed against the ever present threat of King Edgar's English forces.

    In the north, Scottish claims were being constantly challenged by Sigurd, Earl of Orkney, and much of Caithness, Easter Ross and Inverness-Shire were under Viking control. Kenneth strengthened his ties with the Irish nobility by marrying a Princess of Leinster. They had at least one son, who went on to become Malcolm II.

    After a reign of 24 years Kenneth was killed in Fettercairn. According to the chronciles of John of Fordun, this was as a result of a plot mounted by Lady Finella, the daughter of the Earl of Angus. After the murder Finella fled to St Cyrus before being caught and executed. Kenneth II was buried in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel on the Isle of Iona. Kenneth II was succeeded by his third cousin Constantine III, son of King Culen.

    end of biography

    Cinâaed mac Maâil Coluim (Modern Gaelic: Coinneach mac Mhaoil Chaluim[1] anglicised as Kenneth II, and nicknamed An Fionnghalach, "The Fratricide";[2] died 995) was King of Scots (Alba). The son of Malcolm I (Mâael Coluim mac Domnaill), he succeeded King Cuilâen (Cuilâen mac Iduilb) on the latter's death at the hands of Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal in 971.

    Primary sources

    The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba was compiled in Kenneth's reign, but many of the place names mentioned are entirely corrupt, if not fictitious.[3] Whatever the reality, the Chronicle states that "[h]e immediately plundered [Strathclyde] in part. Kenneth's infantry were slain with very great slaughter in Moin Uacoruar." The Chronicle further states that Kenneth plundered Northumbria three times, first as far as Stainmore, then to Cluiam and lastly to the River Dee by Chester. These raids may belong to around 980, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records attacks on Cheshire.[4]

    In 973, the Chronicle of Melrose reports that Kenneth, with Mâael Coluim I (Mâael Coluim mac Domnaill), the King of Strathclyde, "Maccus, king of very many islands" (i.e. Magnus Haraldsson (Maccus mac Arailt), King of Mann and the Isles) and other kings, Welsh and Norse, came to Chester to acknowledge the overlordship of the English king Edgar the Peaceable[5] at a council in Chester. It may be that Edgar here regulated the frontier between the southern lands of the kingdom of Alba and the northern lands of his English kingdom. Cumbria was English, the western frontier lay on the Solway. In the east, the frontier lay somewhere in later Lothian, south of Edinburgh.[6]

    The Annals of Tigernach, in an aside, name three of the Mormaers of Alba in Kenneth's reign in entry in 976: Cellach mac Fâindgaine, Cellach mac Baireda and Donnchad mac Morgaâind. The third of these, if not an error for Domnall mac Morgaâind, is very likely a brother of Domnall, and thus the Mormaer of Moray. The Mormaerdoms or kingdoms ruled by the two Cellachs cannot be identified.

    The feud which had persisted since the death of King Indulf (Idulb mac Causantâin) between his descendants and Kenneth's family persisted. In 977 the Annals of Ulster report that "Amlaâib mac Iduilb [Amlaâib, son of Indulf], King of Scotland, was killed by Cinâaed mac Domnaill." The Annals of Tigernach give the correct name of Amlaâib's killer: Cinâaed mac Maâil Coluim, or Kenneth II. Thus, even if only for a short time, Kenneth had been overthrown by the brother of the previous king.[7]

    Adam of Bremen tells that Sweyn Forkbeard found exile in Scotland at this time, but whether this was with Kenneth, or one of the other kings in Scotland, is unknown. Also at this time, Njal's Saga, the Orkneyinga Saga and other sources recount wars between "the Scots" and the Northmen, but these are more probably wars between Sigurd Hlodvisson, Earl of Orkney, and the Mormaers, or Kings, of Moray.[8]

    The Chronicle says that Kenneth founded a great monastery at Brechin.

    Kenneth was killed in 995, the Annals of Ulster say "by deceit" and the Annals of Tigernach say "by his subjects". Some later sources, such as the Chronicle of Melrose, John of Fordun and Andrew of Wyntoun provide more details, accurately or not. The simplest account is that he was killed by his own men in Fettercairn, through the treachery of Finnguala (also called Fimberhele or Fenella), daughter of Cuncar, Mormaer of Angus, in revenge for the killing of her only son.[9]

    The Prophecy of Berchâan adds little to our knowledge, except that it names Kenneth "the kinslayer", and states he died in Strathmore.[10]

    Children

    Kenneth's son Malcolm II (Mâael Coluim mac Cinâaeda) was later king of Alba. Kenneth may have had a second son, named either Dâungal or Gille Coemgâain.[11] Sources differ as to whether Boite mac Cinâaeda should be counted a son of Kenneth II or of Kenneth III (Cinâaed mac Duib).[12] Another son of Kenneth may have been Suibne mac Cinâaeda, a king of the Gall Gaidheil who died in 1034.
    Interpretation

    Kenneth's rival Amlaâib, King of Scotland is omitted by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba and later Scottish king-lists. The Irish Annals of Tigernach appear to better reflect contemporary events. Amlaâib could be a direct predecessor of Kenneth who suffered damnatio memoriae, or the rival king recognized in parts of Scotland. A period of divided kingship appears likely.[13]

    Amlaâib was the heir of his brother Cuilâen, who was killed in a hall-burning. He might have served as a regent north of the River Forth, during the absence of his brother. Kenneth was brother to the deceased Dub, King of Scotland and was most likely an exile. He could claim the throne due to the support of friends and maternal kin. He was likely older and more experienced than his rival king.[13] Amlaâib is the Gaelic form of Ólâafr, suggesting maternal descent from Norsemen. He could possibly claim descent from the Uâi Ímair dynasty. Alex Woolf suggests he was a grandson of Amlaâib Cuarâan, King of Dublin or his cousin Olaf Guthfrithson, which suggests his own group of supporters.[13]

    Death

    According to John of Fordun (14th century), Kenneth II of Scotland (reigned 971-995) attempted to change the succession rules, allowing "the nearest survivor in blood to the deceased king to succeed", thus securing the throne for his own descendants. He reportedly did so to specifically exclude Constantine (III) and Kenneth (III), called Gryme in this source. The two men then jointly conspired against him, convincing Lady Finella, daughter of Cuncar, Mormaer of Angus, to kill the king. She reportedly did so to achieve personal revenge, as Kenneth II had killed her own son. Entries in the Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, collected by William Forbes Skene, provide the account of Finnela killing Kenneth II in revenge, but not her affiliation to Constantine or his cousins. These entries date to the 12th and 13th centuries.[14][15] The Annals of Ulster simply record "Cinaed son of Mael Coluim [Kenneth, son of Malcolm], king of Scotland, was deceitfully killed", with no indication of who killed him.[16][17]

    In the account of John of Fordun, Constantine the Bald, son of King Cullen and Gryme were "plotting unceasingly the death of the king and his son". One day, Kenneth II and his companions went hunting into the woods, "at no great distance from his own abode". The hunt took him to Fettercairn, where Finella resided. She approached him to proclaim her loyalty and invited him to visit her residence, whispering into his ear that she had information about a conspiracy plot. She managed to lure him to "an out-of-the-way little cottage", where a booby trap was hidden. Inside the cottage was a statue, connected by strings to a number of crossbows. If anyone touched or moved the statue, he would trigger the crossbows and fall victim to their arrows. Kenneth II gently touched the statue and "was shot though by arrows sped from all sides, and fell without uttering another word." Finella escaped through the woods and managed to join her abettors, Constantine III and Gryme. The hunting companions soon discovered the bloody king. They were unable to locate Finella, but burned Fettercairn to the ground.[18] Smyth dismisses the elaborate plotting and the mechanical contraption as mere fables, but accepts the basic details of the story, that the succession plans of Kenneth II caused his assassination.[19] Alan Orr Anderson raised his own doubts concerning the story of Finella, which he considered "semi-mythical". He noted that the feminine name Finnguala or Findguala means "white shoulders", but suggested it derived from "find-ela" (white swan). The name figures in toponyms such as Finella Hill (near Fordoun) and Finella Den (near St Cyrus), while local tradition in The Mearns (Kincardineshire) has Finella walking atop the treetops from one location to the other. Anderson thus theorized that Finella could be a mythical figure, suggesting she was a local stream-goddess.[20] A later passage of John of Fordun mentions Finele as mother of Macbeth, King of Scotland (reigned 1040–1057), but this is probably an error based on the similarity of names. Macbeth was son of Findlâaech of Moray, not of a woman called Finella.[20][21]

    end of biography

    Buried:
    in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel... https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/iona/storanschapel/index.html

    View images and more history of St Oran's; https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/iona/storanschapel/index.html, (images: https://www.google.com/search?q=Saint+Oran%27s+Chapel+image&client=firefox-b-1-ab&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjcxPKjgIraAhUL71MKHcCmCYoQ7AkIQA&biw=1224&bih=826)

    Kenneth married a Princess of Leinster. a was born in (Leinster, Ireland); died in (Scotland). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 357.  a Princess of Leinster was born in (Leinster, Ireland); died in (Scotland).
    Children:
    1. 178. Malcolm II of Scotland, High King of Scotland was born in ~0954 in Scotland; died on 25 Nov 1034 in Glamis, Scotland; was buried in Isle of Iona, Scotland.

  9. 368.  Edgar the Peaceful, King of EnglandEdgar the Peaceful, King of England was born about 943 in (Wessex) England (son of Edmund I, King of the English and Aelfgifu of Shaftsbury); died on 8 Jul 0975 in Winchester, Hampshire, England; was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England.

    Notes:

    Edgar (Old English: Eadgar; c.?943—8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of England from 959 until his death. He was the younger son of Edmund I and Ąlfgifu of Shaftesbury, and came to the throne as a teenager, following the death of his older brother Eadwig. As king, Edgar further consolidated the political unity achieved by his predecessors, with his reign being noted for its relative stability. His most trusted advisor was Dunstan, whom he recalled from exile and made Archbishop of Canterbury. The pinnacle of Edgar's reign was his coronation at Bath in 973, which was organised by Dunstan and forms the basis for the current coronation ceremony. After his death he was succeeded by his son Edward, although the succession was disputed.

    King of the English
    Reign 1 October 959 – 8 July 975
    Predecessor Eadwig
    Successor Edward
    Born 943/944
    Died 8 July 975 (aged 31/32)
    Winchester, Hampshire
    Burial Glastonbury Abbey
    Spouse Ąthelflµd[1]
    Wulfthryth[1]
    Ąlfthryth
    Issue Edward, King of England
    Eadgyth[1]
    Edmund[2]
    Ąthelred, King of England
    House Wessex
    Father Edmund, King of England
    Mother Ąlfgifu of Shaftesbury
    Religion Christianity

    Early years and accession

    Edgar was the son of Edmund I and Ąlfgifu of Shaftesbury. Upon the death of King Edmund in 946, Edgar's uncle, Eadred, ruled until 955. Eadred was succeeded by his nephew, Eadwig, the son of Edmund and Edgar's older brother.

    Eadwig was not a popular king, and his reign was marked by conflict with nobles and the Church, primarily St Dunstan and Archbishop Oda. In 957, the thanes of Mercia and Northumbria changed their allegiance to Edgar.[3] A conclave of nobles declared Edgar as king of the territory north of the Thames.[4] Edgar became King of England upon Eadwig's death in October 959, aged just 16.

    Government

    One of Edgar's first actions was to recall Dunstan from exile and have him made Bishop of Worcester (and subsequently Bishop of London and later, Archbishop of Canterbury). Dunstan remained Edgar's advisor throughout his reign. While Edgar may not have been a particularly peaceable man[citation needed], his reign was peaceful. The Kingdom of England was well established, and Edgar consolidated the political unity achieved by his predecessors. By the end of his reign, England was sufficiently unified in that it was unlikely to regress back to a state of division among rival kingships, as it had to an extent under the reign of Eadred. William Blackstone mentions that King Edgar standardised measure throughout the realm.[5] According to George Molyneaux, Edgar's reign, "far more than the reigns of either Alfred or Ąthelstan, was probably the most pivotal phase in the development of the institutional structures that were fundamental to royal rule in the eleventh-century kingdom".[6] Indeed, an early eleventh century king Cnut the Great states in a letter to his subjects that ''it is my will that all the nation, ecclesiastical and lay, shall steadfastly observe Edgar's laws, which all men have chosen and sworn at Oxford''.[7]

    Benedictine reform

    A coin of Edgar, struck in Winchcombe (c. 973-75).
    The Monastic Reform Movement that introduced the Benedictine Rule to England's monastic communities peaked during the era of Dunstan, Ąthelwold, and Oswald (historians continue to debate the extent and significance of this movement).[8]

    Dead Man's Plack

    In 963, Edgar allegedly killed Earl Ąthelwald, his rival in love, near present-day Longparish, Hampshire.[9] The event was commemorated by the Dead Man's Plack, erected in 1825.[9] In 1875, Edward Augustus Freeman debunked the story as a "tissue of romance" in his book, Historic Essays;[10] however, his arguments were rebutted by naturalist William Henry Hudson in his 1920 book Dead Man's Plack and an Old Thorn.[4]

    Coronation at Bath

    Edgar was crowned at Bath and along with his wife Ąlfthryth was anointed, setting a precedent for a coronation of a queen in England itself.[11] Edgar's coronation did not happen until 973, in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign (a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy). This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, forms the basis of the present-day British coronation ceremony.

    Main article: King Edgar's council at Chester
    The symbolic coronation was an important step; other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar shortly afterwards at Chester. Six kings in Britain, including the King of Scots and the King of Strathclyde, pledged their faith that they would be the king's liege-men on sea and land. Later chroniclers made the kings into eight, all plying the oars of Edgar's state barge on the River Dee.[12] Such embellishments may not be factual, and what actually happened is unclear.[13]

    Death

    Edgar died on 8 July 975 at Winchester, Hampshire. He left behind Edward, who was probably his illegitimate son by Ąthelflµd (not to be confused with the Lady of the Mercians), and Ąthelred, the younger, the child of his wife Ąlfthryth. He was succeeded by Edward. Edgar also had a possibly illegitimate daughter by Wulfthryth, who later became abbess of Wilton. She was joined there by her daughter, Edith of Wilton, who lived there as a nun until her death. Both women were later regarded as saints.[14][15]

    Appearance

    "[H]e was extremely small both in stature and bulk..."[16]

    See also

    House of Wessex family tree; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex#House_of_Wessex_family_tree

    Edgar married Aelfthryth. Aelfthryth was born about 945; died in 1000-1001. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  10. 369.  Aelfthryth was born about 945; died in 1000-1001.
    Children:
    1. 184. Aethelred the Unready, King of the English was born about 966 in (Wessex) England; died on 23 Apr 1016 in London, England; was buried in London, England.

  11. 370.  Thored Gunnarsson, Earl of Southern Northumbria was born in 938 in Wessex, England; died in 992-994 in Northumberland, England.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Death: 992, Wessex, England

    Notes:

    Thored (Old English: Łoreş or ´oreş; fl. 979–992) was a 10th-century ealdorman of York, ruler of the southern half of the old Kingdom of Northumbria on behalf of the king of England. He was the son of either Gunnar or Oslac, northern ealdormen. If he was the former, he may have attained adulthood by the 960s, when a man of his name raided Westmorland. Other potential appearances in the records are likewise uncertain until 979, the point from which Thored's period as ealdorman can be accurately dated.

    Although historians differ in their opinions about his relationship, if any, to Kings Edgar the Peaceable and Edward the Martyr, it is generally thought that he enjoyed a good relationship with King Ąthelred II. His daughter Ąlfgifu married Ąthelred. Thored was ealdorman in Northumbria for much of his reign, disappearing from the sources in 992 after being appointed by Ąthelred to lead an expedition against the Vikings.

    Ealdorman of York
    Reign c. 964/974x979–992x994
    Predecessor Oslac (?)
    Successor Ąlfhelm
    Born unknown
    unknown
    Died 992 or 994
    Burial unknown
    Issue Ąlfgifu (died 1002)
    Ąthelstan (died 1010)
    Father Gunnar (probable)/
    Oslac (potential)
    Mother unknown

    Origins

    The area shaded under "Jorvik" (York), probably corresponds very roughly with Thored's territory of southern Northumbria; it should be noted that the Danelaw as a territory is a modern construct, though Yorkshire was in the area where Dena lagu ("Scandinavian law") was practised

    Thored appears to have been of at least partially Scandinavian origin, suggested by the title applied to him in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 992. Here, the ealdorman of Hampshire is called by the English title "ealdorman", while Thored himself is styled by the Scandinavian word eorl (i.e. Earl).[1]

    Two accounts of Thored's origins have been offered by modern historians. The first is that he was a son of Oslac, ealdorman of York from 966 until his exile in 975.[2] This argument is partly based on the assertion by the Historia Eliensis, that Oslac had a son named Thorth (i.e. "Thored").[3] The other suggestion, favoured by most historians, is that he was the son of a man named Gunnar.[4] This Gunnar is known to have held land in the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire.[5]

    If the latter suggestion is correct, then Thored's first appearance in history is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recension D (EF)'s entry for 966, which recorded the accession of Oslac to the ealdormanry of southern Northumbria:

    In this year, Thored, Gunnar's son, harried Westmoringa land, and, in this same year, Oslac succeeded to the office of ealdorman.[6]

    The Anglo-Saxon scholar Frank Stenton believed that this was an act of regional faction-fighting, rather than, as had been suggested by others, Thored carrying out the orders of King Edgar the Peaceable.[7] This entry is, incidentally, the first mention of Westmoringa land, that is, Westmorland.[7] Gunnar seems to have been ealdorman earlier in the decade, for in one charter (surviving only in a later cartulary) dated to 963 and three Abingdon charters dated to 965, an ealdorman (dux) called Gunnar is mentioned.[8]

    Thored may be the Thored who appears for the first time in charter attestations during the reign of King Edgar (959–75), his earliest possible appearance being in 964, witnessing a grant of land in Kent by King Edgar to St Peter's, Ghent. This is uncertain because the authenticity of this particular charter is unclear.[9] A charter issued by Edgar in 966, granting land in Oxfordshire to a woman named Ąlfgifu, has an illegible ealdorman witness signature beginning with ´, which may be Thored.[10]

    Ealdorman

    Coin of Ąthelred the Unready.jpgAethelred rev2.jpg
    O: Draped bust of Ąthelred II left. +ĄŁELRED REX ANGLOR R: Long cross. +EAD?OLD MO CĄNT
    'LonCross' penny of Ąthelred II, moneyer Eadwold, Canterbury, c. 997-1003. The cross made cutting the coin into half-pennies or farthings (quarter-pennies) easier. (Note spelling Ead?old in inscription, using Anglo-Saxon letter wynn in place of modern w.)
    Thored's governorship as ealdorman, based on charter attestations, cannot be securely dated before 979.[11] He did attest royal charters during the reign of Ąthelred II, the first in 979,[12] six in 983,[13] one in 984,[14] three in 985,[15] one in 988,[16] appearing in such attestations for the last time in 989.[12] It is possible that such appearances represent more than one Thored, though that is not a generally accepted theory.[17] His definite predecessor, Oslac, was expelled from England in 975.[18] The historian Richard Fletcher thought that Oslac's downfall may have been the result of opposing the succession of Edward the Martyr, enemy and brother of Ąthelred II.[19] What is known about Thored's time as ealdorman is that he did not have a good relationship with Oswald, Archbishop of York (971–92). In a memorandum written by Oswald, a group of estates belonging to the archdiocese of York was listed, and Oswald noted that "I held them all until Thored came to power; then was St Peter [to whom York was dedicated] robbed".[20] One of the estates allegedly lost was Newbald, an estate given by King Edgar to a man named Gunnar, suggesting to historian Dorothy Whitelock that Thored may just have been reclaiming land "wrongly alienated from his family".[21]

    His relationship with King Edgar is unclear, particularly given the uncertainty of Thored's paternity, Oslac being banished from England in 975, the year of Edgar's death.[2] Richard Fletcher, who thought Thored was the son of Gunnar, argued that Thored's raid on Westmorland was caused by resentment derived from losing out on the ealdormanry to Oslac, and that Edgar thereafter confiscated various territories as punishment.[5] The evidence for this is that Newbald, granted by Edgar to Gunnar circa 963, was bought by Archbishop Osketel from the king sometime before 971, implying that the king had seized the land.[5]

    Thored's relationship with the English monarchy under Ąthelred II seems to have been good. Ąlfgifu, the first wife of King Ąthelred II, was probably Thored's daughter.[22] Evidence for this is that in the 1150s Ailred of Rievaulx in his De genealogia regum Anglorum wrote that the wife of Ąthelred II was the daughter of an ealdorman (comes) called Thored (Thorth).[23] Historian Pauline Stafford argued that this marriage was evidence that Thored had been a local rather than royal appointment to the ealdormanry of York, and that Ąthelred II's marriage was an attempt to woo Thored.[24] Stafford was supported in this argument by Richard Fletcher.[25]

    Death

    Modern imaginative depiction of the ship of Ólâafr Tryggvason, the "Long Serpent" (Illustration by Halfan Egedius)
    The date of Thored's death is uncertain, but his last historical appearance came in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, recension C (D, E), under the year 992, which reported the death of Archbishop Oswald and an expedition against a marauding Scandinavian fleet:

    In this year the holy Archbishop Oswald left this life and attained the heavenly life, and Ealdorman Ąthelwine [of East Anglia] died in the same year. Then the king and all his counsellors decreed that all the ships that were any use should be assembled at London. And the king then entrusted the expedition to the leadership of Ealdorman Ąlfric (of Hampshire), Earl Thored and Bishop Ąlfstan [.of London or of Rochester.] and Bishop Ąscwig [of Dorchester], and they were to try if they could entrap the Danish army anywhere at sea. Then Ealdorman Ąlfric sent someone to warn the enemy, and then in the night before the day on which they were to have joined battle, he absconded by night from the army, to his own disgrace, and then the enemy escaped, except that the crew of one ship was slain. And then the Danish army encountered the ships from East Anglia and from London, and they made a great slaughter there and captured the ship, all armed and equipped, on which the ealdorman was.[26]

    Scandinavians led by Ólâafr Tryggvason had been raiding England's coast since the previous year, when they killed Ealdorman Brihtnoth of Essex at the Battle of Maldon.[27]

    Historians think that Thored was either killed fighting these Scandinavians, or else survived, but became disgraced through defeat or treachery.[28] Fletcher speculated that Thored was removed from office and replaced by the Mercian Ąlfhelm as a result of his failure against the Scandinavians.[29] Another historian, William Kapelle, believed Thored was removed because of his Scandinavian descent, an argument based on the Worcester Chronicle's claim, added to the text borrowed from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, that Frµna, Godwine and Frythegyst fled a battle against the Danes in the following year because "they were Danish on their father's side".[30]

    A man named Ąthelstan who died at the Battle of Ringmere in 1010, "the king's a¤um", was probably Thored's son.[31] The term a¤um means either "son-in-law" or "brother-in-law", so this Ąthelstan could also have been Thored's grandson by an unknown intermediary.[32] Thored's immediate successor was Ąlfhelm, who appears witnessing charters as ealdorman from 994.[33]

    Thored married Hilda LNU(Wessex, England). Hilda was born in 948 in Wessex, England; died in 970 in England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  12. 371.  Hilda LNU was born in 948 in Wessex, England; died in 970 in England.
    Children:
    1. 185. Aelfgifu of York, Queen Consort of England was born in ~970 in (Yorkshire) England; died in 1002.


Generation: 10

  1. 640.  RolloRollo was born in 846 in Maer, Norway (son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of Mar and Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, Countess of Mar); died in 931; was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France.

    Notes:

    Rollo or Gaange Rolf[1] (Norman: Rou; Old Norse: Hrâolfr; French: Rollon; c. 846 – c. 930 AD) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, a region of France. He is sometimes called the 1st Duke of Normandy. His Scandinavian name Rolf was extended to Gaange Rolf because he as an adult became too heavy for a horse to carry, therefore he had to walk ("gaa" in older Dano-Norwegian). Rollo emerged as the outstanding personality among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine. Charles the Simple, the king of West Francia, ceded them lands between the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen in exchange for Rollo agreeing to end his brigandage, and provide the Franks with protection against future Viking raids.[2]

    Rollo is first recorded as the leader of these Viking settlers in a charter of 918, and he continued to reign over the region of Normandy until at least 928. He was succeeded by his son, William Longsword in the Duchy of Normandy that he had founded.[3] The offspring of Rollo and his followers became known as the Normans. After the Norman conquest of England and their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily over the following two centuries, their descendants came to rule Norman England (the House of Normandy), the Kingdom of Sicily (the Kings of Sicily) as well as the Principality of Antioch from the 10th to 12th century, leaving behind an enduring legacy in the historical developments of Europe and the Near East.[4]

    Name

    The name Rollo is generally presumed to be a latinisation of the Old Norse name Hrâolfr – a theory that is supported by the rendition of Hrâolfr as Roluo in the Gesta Danorum. It is also sometimes suggested that Rollo may be a Latinised version of another Norse name, Hrollaugr.[5]

    Rollo is generally identified with one Viking in particular – a man of high social status mentioned in Icelandic sagas, which refer to him by the Old Norse name Gčongu-Hrâolfr, meaning "Hrâolfr the Walker". (Gčongu-Hrâolfr is also widely known by an Old Danish variant, Ganger-Hrolf.) The byname "Walker" is usually understood to suggest that Rollo was so physically imposing that he could not be carried by a horse and was obliged to travel on foot. Norman and other French sources do not use the name Hrâolfr, and the identification of Rollo with Gčongu-Hrâolfr is based upon similarities between circumstances and actions ascribed to both figures.[citation needed]

    The 10th-century Norman historian Dudo records that Rollo took the baptismal name Robert.[6] A variant spelling, Roul, is used in the 12th-century Norman French Roman de la Rou, which was compiled by Wace and commissioned by King Henry II of England (a descendant of Rollo).[citation needed]

    Origins and historiography
    Rollo was born in the latter half of the 9th century; his place of birth is unknown.

    The earliest well-attested historical event associated with Rollo is his leadership of Vikings who besieged Paris in 885–886.[7]

    Perhaps the earliest known source to mention Rollo's early life is the French chronicler Richer of Reims, who claims (in the 10th century) that Rollo was the son of a Viking named Ketill.[8] In terms of onomastics, it is interesting that Richer also names – without explicitly linking him to Rollo – a man named Ketill as being the leader of subsequent Viking raids (in 888), against areas on the coast of West Francia, between the Seine and the Loire.

    Medieval sources contradict each other regarding whether Rollo's family was Norwegian or Danish in origin. In part, this disparity may result from the indifferent and interchangeable usage in Europe, at the time, of terms such as "Vikings", "Northmen", "Danes", "Norwegians" and so on (in the Medieval Latin texts Dani vel Nortmanni means "Danes or Northmen").

    A biography of Rollo, written by the cleric Dudo of Saint-Quentin in the late 10th Century, claimed that Rollo was from Denmark. One of Rollo's great-grandsons and a contemporary of Dudo was known as Robert the Dane. However, Dudo's Historia Normannorum (or Libri III de moribus et actis primorum Normanniae ducum) was commissioned by Rollo's grandson, Richard I of Normandy and – while Dudo likely had access to family members and/or other people with a living memory of Rollo – this fact must be weighed against the text's potential biases, as an official biography. According to Dudo, an unnamed king of Denmark was antagonistic to Rollo's family, including his father – an unnamed Danish nobleman – and Rollo's brother Gurim. Following the death of Rollo and Gurim's father, Gurim was killed and Rollo was forced to leave Denmark.[9] Dudo appears to have been the main source for William of Jumiáeges (after 1066) and Orderic Vitalis (early 12th century), although both include additional details.[10]

    A Norwegian background for Rollo was first explicitly claimed by Goffredo Malaterra (Geoffrey Malaterra), an 11th-century Benedictine monk and historian, who wrote: "Rollo sailed boldly from Norway with his fleet to the Christian coast."[11] Likewise, the 12th-century English historian William of Malmesbury stated that Rollo was "born of noble lineage among the Norwegians".[12]

    A chronicler named Benoăit (probably Benoăit de Sainte-More) wrote in the mid-12th Century Chronique des ducs de Normandie that Rollo had been born in a town named "Fasge". This has since been variously interpreted as referring to Faxe, in Sjµlland (Denmark), Fauske, in Hęalogaland (Norway), or perhaps a more obscure settlement that has since been abandoned or renamed. Benoăit also repeated the claim that Rollo had been persecuted by a local ruler and had fled from there to "Scanza island", by which Benoăit probably means Scania (Swedish Skęane). While Faxe was physically much closer to Scania, the mountainous scenery of "Fasge", described by Benoăit, would seem to be more like Fauske.

    The claim that Rollo was the brother of a King of Norway, Harald Finehair was made by an anonymous 12th-century Welsh author, in The Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan.[13]

    Rollo was first explicitly identified with Hrâolf the Walker (Norse Gčongu-Hrâolfr; Danish Ganger-Hrâolf) by the 13th-century Icelandic sagas, Heimskringla and Orkneyinga Saga. Hrâolf the Walker was so named because he "was so big that no horse could carry him".[14] The Icelandic sources claim that Hrâolfr was born in M˛re, western Norway, in the late 9th century and that his parents were the Norwegian jarl Rognvald Eysteinsson ("Rognvald the Wise") and a noblewoman from M˛re named Hildr Hrâolfsdâottir. However, these claims were made three centuries after the history commissioned by Rollo's own grandson.

    There may be circumstantial evidence for kinship between Rollo and his historical contemporary, Ketill Flatnose, King of the Isles – a Norse realm centred on the Western Isles of Scotland. If, as Richer suggested, Rollo's father was also named Ketill and as Dudo suggested, Rollo had a brother named Gurim, such names are onomastic evidence for a family connection: Icelandic sources name Ketill Flatnose's father as Bjčorn Grâimsson,[15] and "Grim" – the implied name of Ketill Flatnose's paternal grandfather – was likely cognate with Gurim. In addition, both Irish and Icelandic sources suggest that Rollo, as a young man, visited or lived in Scotland, where he had a daughter named Cadlinar (Kaşlâin; Kathleen).[16][17] Moreover, Ketill Flatnose's ancestors were said to have come from M˛re – Rollo's ancestral home in the Icelandic sources. However, Ketill was a common name in Norse societies,[18] as were names like Gurim and Grim. It is also possible that the later sources were attempting to suggest an otherwise undocumented link between the historical figures of Rollo and Ketill Flatnose, by way of little-known, possibly apocryphal figures like Grim, Gurim and the Ketill said to be Rollo's father.[citation needed]

    Biography

    Statue of Rollo in Rouen. There are two bronze replicas of this statue: one at ęAlesund (Norway) and the other one at Fargo, North Dakota (United States)
    Dudo tells us that Rollo seized Rouen in 876. He is supported by the contemporary chronicler Flodoard, who records that Robert of the Breton March waged a campaign against the Vikings, who nearly levelled Rouen and other settlements; eventually, he conceded "certain coastal provinces" to them.[19]

    According to Dudo, Rollo struck up a friendship in England with a king that Dudo calls Alstem. This has puzzled many historians, but recently the puzzle has been resolved by recognition that this refers to Guthrum, the Danish leader whom Alfred the Great baptised with the baptismal name Athelstan, and then recognised as king of the East Angles in 880.[20]

    Dudo records that when Rollo took Bayeux by force, he carried off with him the beautiful Popa or Poppa, a daughter of Berenger, Count of Rennes, took her in marriage and with her had their son and Rollo's heir, William Longsword.[21]


    Rollo's grave at the Cathedral of Rouen

    There are few contemporary mentions of Rollo. The earliest record is from 918, in a charter of Charles III to an abbey, which referred to an earlier grant to "the Normans of the Seine", namely "Rollo and his associates" for "the protection of the kingdom." [22] Dudo retrospectively stated that this pact took place in 911 at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In return for formal recognition of the lands he possessed, Rollo agreed to be baptised and assist the king in the defence of the realm. Rollo took the baptismal name Robert. The seal of agreement was to be marriage between Rollo and Gisla, daughter of Charles. Dudo claims that Gisla was a legitimate daughter of Charles.[23] Since Charles first married in 907, that would mean that Gisla was at most 5 years old at the time of the treaty of 911 which offered her in marriage.[24] It has therefore been speculated that she could have been an illegitimate daughter.[25] However a diplomatic child betrothal need not be doubted.[26]

    After pledging his fealty to Charles III as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, Rollo divided the lands between the rivers Epte and Risle among his chieftains, and settled with a de facto capital in Rouen.[27]

    Charles was overthrown by a revolt in 923, and his successor, Robert I, was killed by the Vikings in 923. His successor, Ralph, conceded the Bessin and Maine to Rollo shortly afterwards, the chronicler Flodoard tells us.[28]

    Rollo died sometime between a final mention of him by Flodoard in 928, and 933, the year in which a third grant of land, usually identified as being the Cotentin and Avranchin areas, was made to his son and successor William.[29]

    Descendants

    A genealogical chart of the Norman dynasty
    Rollo's son and heir, William Longsword, and grandchild, Richard the Fearless, forged the Duchy of Normandy into West Francia's most cohesive and formidable principality.[30] The descendants of Rollo and his men assimilated with their maternal Frankish-Catholic culture and became known as the Normans, lending their name to the region of Normandy.

    Rollo is the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, or William I of England. Through William, he is one of the ancestors of the present-day British royal family, as well as an ancestor of all current European monarchs and a great many claimants to abolished European thrones.

    One daughter of Rollo, Gerloc (also known as Adele), who married William III, Duke of Aquitaine, was mentioned by Dudo. According to William of Jumiáeges, writing in the latter half of the 11th century, Gerloc's mother was named Poppa.[31]

    According to the medieval Irish text An Banshenchas and Icelandic sources, another daughter, Cadlinar (Kaşlâin; Kathleen) was born in Scotland (probably to a Scots mother) and married an Irish prince named Beollâan mac Ciarmaic, later King of South Brega (Lagore). A daughter of Cadlinar and Beollâan named Nithbeorg was abducted by an Icelandic Viking named Helgi Ottarsson,[32][33] and became the mother of the poet Einarr Helgason and grandmother of Guşrâun Ósvâifrsdâottir (protagonist of the Laxdśla saga).

    A genetic investigation into the remains of Rollo's grandson, Richard the Fearless, and his great-grandson, Richard the Good, was announced in 2011 with the intention of discerning the origins of the historic Viking leader.[34] On 29 February 2016 Norwegian researchers opened Richard the Good's tomb and found his lower jaw with eight teeth in it.[35] Unfortunately, the skeletal remains in both graves turned out to significantly predate Rollo and therefore are not related to him.[36]

    Depictions in fiction

    Rollo is the subject of the seventeenth-century play Rollo Duke of Normandy, written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

    A character, broadly inspired by the historical Rollo but including many events before the real Rollo was born, played by Clive Standen, is Ragnar Lothbrok's brother in the History Channel television series Vikings.[37]

    end of biography

    Also known as Hrolf the Ganger or Rollon, 1st Duke of Normandy from 911 to 927, called also Rolf the Walker, because, being so tall, he preferred to go afoot rather than ride the little Norwegian horses. Also shown as Rollon, Row, or Robert. Originally a Norse Viking, he was noted for strength and martial prowess. In the reign of Charles II the Bald, he sailed up the Seine River and took Rouen, which he kept as a base of operations. He gained a number of victories over the Franks, and extorted the cession of the province since called Normandy.

    By the famous treaty which Charles the Bald, http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I53974&tree=hennessee, and Rollo signed the latter agreed to adopt Christianity. He was born in 846 and died in 932, and was buried in the Cathedral at Rouen.
    -------------------------------------------------------
    From: http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/rollo000.htm

    Commentary
    Supposed father: Rognvaldr, jarl of M˛re.

    Supposed mother: Ragnhildr or Hildr.

    The origin of Rollo is contraversial. There are several medieval sources which claim to give information about the origin of Rollo, the most widely repeated of which would make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M˛re by Ragnhildr or Hildr. As can be seen from the following brief notices, the various primary sources offer very contradictory information about Rollo's origin.

    The earliest author to attribute an explicit origin to Rollo was Richer of Rheims, writing between 996 and 998, who called Rollo the son of another Viking invader of France named Catillus (presumably representing the Norse name Ketil) [Richer i, 28 (see PL 138: 35)]. Since Catillus appears to be a legendary individual, this account has generally been discredited, probably correctly [see Douglas 420-1].

    According to Dudo of St. Quentin (writing early 11th century), author of the earliest history of the Normans, Rollo had a younger brother named Gurim, presumed to be the familiar name Gorm. Dudo states that Rollo and Gurim were sons of a man who held many lands in "Dacia" (Dudo's word for Denmark, following other authors), and that after the death of the (unnamed) father of Rollo and Gurim, the king of Dacia fought against the sons, killing Gurim and driving Rollo out [Dudo ii, 2-4 (pp. 26-7)]. Dudo later refers to duke Richard I as being related to a "king of Dacia" named Haigrold [Dudo iv, 84-88 (pp. 114-20 passim)], who must have been the Viking raider of France of that name [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 945, see PL 135: 463-4, van Houts 51], and not king Harald "Bluetooth" of Denmark. Note that Gurim cannot be the famous Gorm "the Old" of Denmark, who survived Rollo by many years.

    William of Malmesbury (early 12th century) appears to be the earliest author to attribute a Norwegian origin to Rollo [WM ii, 5 (p. 125)].

    As is well known, the Orkneyinga Saga (late twelfth century) [OrkS 4 (pp. 29-30)], followed by other Icelandic sources (such as the well known Heimskringla and Landnâamabâok), gives Rollo the name Hrâolfr, and make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of M˛re, and brother of (among others) jarl Torf-Einarr of the Orkneys [OI 1: 187]. Earlier sources, such as Ari's Íslendingabâok (early to middle 12th century), mention Rognvald of M˛re and his son Hrollaugr who settled in Iceland, but not the supposed connection to the dukes of Normandy [Ari 49, 61]. A poem allegedly written by Einar mentions his brothers, including a Hrâolfr, but does not connect Hrâolfr to Normandy, and does not name a Gorm among the brothers. (See the page on Rognvaldr for more on this poem.)

    Historia Gruffud vab Kenan (ca. 1250), apparently a Welsh translation and/or revision of an earlier Latin life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, gives Haraldr Hâarfagri of Norway ("Harald Harfagyr") a brother named Rodulf (i.e., the Latin form of Hrâolfr) who is called the founder of Normandy [HGK, 3-4]. However, this is evidently a corrupt version of the Scandinavian version, and the suggestion that Rollo was a brother of Haraldr Hâarfagri need not be given any credence.

    The most prominent argument of the case for accepting the Scandinavian account that Rollo was the same person as Hrâolfr, son of Rognvaldr of M˛re, was given by D. C. Douglas [Douglas 419-23], and those who accept this identification have generally followed the same arguments. On the other side, arguments against the identification were given by Viggo Starcke in his book Denmark in World History [Starcke 222-7].

    Most of the argument of Douglas consists of accepting the tale of the sagas and rejecting evidence from the Norman sources which contradict the saga version, while explaining away the problems (on which more below). The evidence which Douglas puts forward as "a powerful, if not a conclusive, argument in favor of the identity of Rollo with Ganger-Rolf" concerns a passage in Landnâaamabâok that refers to a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr:

    "... Annarr son Óttars vas Helge; hann herjaşe âa Skottland, ok feck ¤ar at herfange Nişbiorgo, dâottor Beolans konungs ok Caşlâinar, dâottor Gongo-Hrâolfs" (Another son of Óttarr was Helge. He harried in Scotland, and won there as his booty Nişbjorg, daughter of king Beolan and Caşlâin, daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr.) [OI 1: 66-7]

    This passage, which Douglas attributed to "Ari the Learned" (who may or may not have been the author), is then compared with a passage from the nearly contemporary Plaintsong of Rollo's son William "Longsword" which was written soon after William's death:

    "Hic in orbe transmarino natus patre
    in errore paganorum permanente
    matre quoque consignata alma fide
    sacra fuit lotus unda"
    (Born overseas from a father who stuck to the pagan error and from a mother who was devoted to the sweet religion, he was blessed with the holy chrism.)
    [Douglas 422 (Latin); van Houts 41 (English translation)]

    After explaining that the two stories are consistent with one another, Douglas then state that "[t]he suggestion of the Landnâamabâok is thus confirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in the tenth century." While it is true that the two accounts as they stand are consistent with each other and with the claim that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man (ignoring all other evidence), it is surely a gross overstatement to claim that the Plaintsong "confirms" the other account, for there is not a single statement in the passage from Landnâamabâok that is confirmed by the Plaintsong. This is a clear case of circular reasoning, for without first assuming that Rollo and Gongu-Hrâolfr were the same man, there is no evidence that the two passages have any relation whatsoever. Douglas's case is further undermined by the fact that another source [Laxdśla Saga chapter 32, see OI 1: 246] makes Nişbjorg's mother Caşlâin a daughter of Gongu-Hrâolfr, son of Oxna-´âorir, directly contradicting the thesis that Caşlâin was supposedly a granddaughter of Rognvaldr of M˛re. Yet, Douglas apparently regarded this as the strongest part of his argument.

    There are three main strands of evidence (somewhat related to each other) against the identification of Rollo with Hrâolfr son of Rognvaldr:

    1. The discrepancies between the Norman and Icelandic sources.
    Among other contradictions, the Norman sources give Rollo a brother named Gurim, while the Icelandic sources give Hrâolfr several brothers, none of them named Gormr (the presumed Old-Norse form for Gurim). Although both of the sources have their problems, earlier native sources would seem to have a higher priority than later foreign sources. While many elements of the Dudo's account are clearly legendary, there appears to be no clear motive on the part of Dudo (writing less than a century after Rollo's death) to invent a younger brother for Rollo who is then immediately killed off.

    2. The general unreliability of Norse source for the early tenth century.
    For the period under consideration, i.e., the early ninth century, the sagas have a poor record for reliability, even for Scandinavian history. For example, consider the following words of Peter Sawyer (written with regard to a different matter, but true in general), a well known expert on early Viking history: "... These sagas cannot, however, be accepted as reliable sources for the tenth century. The only trustworthy evidence for the tenth century in those sagas are the contemporary verses around which the saga writers wove their tales." [Sawyer 42] None of these verses confirm the identity of Rollo and Hrâolfr. The suspicion is made even larger by the fact that the Icelandic sources show no knowledge of Norman history other than the fact (well known throughout Europe at the time) that William the Conqueror was a descendant of the dukes of Normandy.

    3. Rollo and Hrâolfr appear to be different names.
    The natural Latinization of the name Hrâolfr would be Radulfus or Rodulfus. Yet, the Frankish and Norman sources consistently refer to the founder of Normandy as Rollo. Since these sources also include numerous individuals named Rodulfus, and consistently separate the two names, it appears that the names were regarded as different. Douglas explained this by suggesting a hypothetical hypochoristic form "Hrolle" of the name "Hroşwulf" as the basis for the name Rollo, and provides a single charter in which Rollo is referred to as "Rolphus" as evidence that the names were the same, acknowledging, however, that the charter itself was "not above suspicion." If the names were really regarded as the same, it would be expected that more convincing evidence to this effect could be offered.

    Personally, I am inclined to believe that the identification of Hrâolfr and Rollo has no basis in fact, that it was likely to have been invented by a saga writer who wanted to give the jarls of Orkney some famous relatives (i.e., the kings of England), and that whatever the confusing Norman sources say are probably about the closest we are going to get to Rollo's origin. However, based on the surviving evidence, it is not possible to come to any definitive conclusion one way or the other, and Rollo's parentage should be listed as "unknown" unless further evidence becomes available.

    Supposed second wife:

    Gisla, said to be daughter of Charles the Simple, king of France [Dudo, 46-7, 53]. She is unknown in the Frankish sources. The fact that Charles the Simple's kinsman Charles the Fat had a daughter also named Gisla who married a Viking (Godefridus) in the ninth century has led to the natural suspicion that this Gisla is an invention based on the earlier woman of the name. If she existed at all, there is no reason to believe that she was a mother of any of Rollo's children.

    Supposed additional child:

    Caşlin (Kathleen), said by Norse sources to have married a certain king Beolan, who is otherwise unidentified. As discussed above, the evidence for her is less than satisfactory.

    end of commentary

    Rollo Ragnvaldsson
    French: Robert Rognvalsson De Heidmark, Norwegian: Hrolf Ragnvaldsson, Norse, Old: Gange-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson
    Also Known As: "Hrolf", "Rolf", "Rollo", "Gange-Rolv", "Gange-Rolf", "Gčongu-Hrâolfr", "le marcheur", "the walker", "the dane", "duke of normandy", "Rollo the Walker", "Viking", "Gange Rolf"
    Birthdate: circa 860 (71)
    Death: 931 (67-75)
    Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France
    Place of Burial: Rouen, Haute-Normandie, France
    Immediate Family:
    Son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M˛re and Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir, of More
    Husband of Poppa of Bayeux and Gisáele
    Partner of Kaşlin's mother
    Father of William "Longsword"; Adáele of Normandy and Kaşlin
    Brother of Gutum Ragnvaldson
    Half brother of Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hallad Ragnvaldsson Orkneyjarl, .; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl and Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjčorşur, Íslands
    Occupation: Duc de Normandie, Comte de Rouen, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy (911 - 932), duc de Normandie, Earl of Normandy, Viking chief, Count of Normandy, 'Agongah-woekh' Aeuello (Rollo Rognvaldsson), First Duke of Normandy, Duke of Normandy 1st, Norse Viking
    Managed by: Private User
    Last Updated: October 12, 2017

    About Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' of Normandy
    http://www.friesian.com/flanders.htm#norman

    http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00020055&tree=LEO

    Duke of Normandy was the title given to the rulers of the Duchy of Normandy in northwestern France, which has its origins as the County of Rouen, a fief created in 911 by King Charles III "the Simple" of France for Rollo, a Norwegian nobleman and Viking leader of Northmen.

    Gangu-Hrâolfr Ragnvaldsson, or Rollo de Normandie was a Norse nobleman and the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. The name "Rollo" is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from the Old Norse name Hrâolfr, modern Scandinavian name Rolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolfr into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

    Parents: Ragnvald Eysteinsson M˛rejarl & Hild Nefja (uncertain, see below)
    Spouses:
    1. Poppa de Bayeux
    Children:
    Vilhjalm Langaspjâot (Guillaume Longue âEpâee)
    Geirlaug (Gerloc) who later took the name Adela
    2. Gisela de France (betrothal, no children)
    According to Landnâama (The book of Settlers in Iceland, written in the 12th century), Rollo had a daughter named Kaşlâin (Kathlin or Cathlin) her mother is not named (Notes by Anna Petursdottir):

    Kaşlin (Kathlin)
    Kaşlâin is mentioned along with her father Rollo in chapter 33 in Landnâamabâok (The Book of Settlers) and her father, Rollo, and his brothers, also their father, Ragnvald are mentioned in chapert 82 : https://www.snerpa.is/net/snorri/landnama.htm

    BIG NEWS
    French and Norwegian scientists within several fields go together in a project to extract DNA from the remains of Rollo's grandson and great grandson in Fâecamp. This might give us the final answer to Rollo's origin (Note from Anna Petursdottir: Provided that the remains that are being researched, are in fact the persons in question and also are legitimate grandsons of Rollo). Excavations are expected in July 2011, results sometime autumn 2011.

    Links and Resources
    Snorre's saga
    Dudo's account (eng): http://the-orb.arlima.net/orb_done/dudo/dudindex.html
    Store Norske Leksikon
    MEDIEVAL LANDS
    [ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gčongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi".

    According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].

    ROLLO ["Ganger" Hrolf], son of [RAGNVALD "the Wise" Jarl of Mčore in Norway & his wife Ragnhild ---] (-Rouen [928/33], bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[6]). The parentage of Rollo/Rolf is uncertain and the chronology of his life confused. Richer names "Rollone filio Catilli" as leader of the Vikings who raided along the Loire and against whom "Robertus Celticµ Galliµ dux" campaigned[7]. No further reference has been found to "Catillus/Ketel". Flodoard provides no information on Rollo´s ancestry. The early 12th century William of Malmesbury states that "Rollo…[was] born of noble lineage among the Norwegians, though obsolete from its extreme antiquity" and adds that he was "banished by the king´s command from his own country"[8]. The later Orkneyinga Saga is more specific, naming “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gčongu-Hrolf”[9]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[10]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[11]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". Guillaume de Jumiáeges accords a Danish origin to Rollo, stating that his father "possâedant presque en totalitâe le royaume de Dacie, conquit en outre les territoires limitrophes de la Dacie et de l´Alanie" and left "deux fils…l´aăinâe Rollon et le plus jeune Gurim"[12]. He records that the king of Denmark defeated the two brothers and killed Gorm, and that Rollo fled the country, first landing in England, where he made peace with "le roi…Alstem"[13]. If this refers to Ąthelstan King of Wessex, the account must be confused given King Ąthelstan´s succession in 924. Freeman suggests that Guillaume de Jumiáeges must be referring to "Guthrum-Ąthelstan of East-Anglia"[14], although this does not resolve the chronological problems assuming that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is correct in recording Guthrum´s death in 890[15]. After recording Rollo´s expeditions in Frisia, Guillaume de Jumiáeges states that Rollo landed at Jumiáeges after sailing up the Seine in 876[16], another suspect date which Houts suggests should be corrected to [900][17]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo defeated "Renaud duc de toute la France", captured "le chăateau de Meulan", defeated and killed Duke Renaud in another campaign, besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, and attacked Paris again while his other troops devastated Evreux where they killed "son âevăeque…Sibor"[18]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Rollo attacked Chartres but withdrew after being defeated by "Richard duc de Bourgogne" and "Anselme l âevăeque"[19].

    William of Malmesbury records that "Rollo…experienced a check at Chartres" but escaped the "plentiful slaughter" of the Vikings by the townspeople, before capturing Rouen "in 876"[20]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", that "les princes de cette province…Bâeranger et Alain" swore allegiance to Rollo, and that Rollo was baptised in 912 by "l´archâevăeque Francon", adopting the name ROBERT after "le duc Robert" who acted as his sponsor[21].

    William of Malmesbury records that "it was determined by treaty, that [Rollo] should be baptised, and hold the country of the king as his lord"[22]. The charter which confirms the original grant (assuming that there was such a document) has not survived. However, the grant of land is inferred from a charter dated 14 Mar 918, under which land was donated to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes specifying that the donation excluded "that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[23]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that Normandy was an enfeofment for which the ruling duke owed allegiance, and the later dukes of Normandy, who claimed that it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed[24].

    The version of events recorded by Flodoard provides a different slant and names two Viking leaders. Firstly, Flodoard records that in 923 "Ragenoldus princeps Nortmannorum" who occupied "in fluvio Ligeri" devastated "Franciam trans Isaram", that "Nortmanni" made peace in 924 "cum Francis", that King Raoul granted them "Cinomannis et Baiocµ" [Maine and Bayeux], but that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted the land between the Loire and the Seine[25]. This passage makes no mention of the supposed earlier grant of land along the shore. Secondly, the same source records that "Raginoldus cum suis Nortmannis" devasted Burgundy in 925, that Hâeribert [II] Comte de Vermandois besieged Norman castles "super Sequanam", that "Nortmanni" devastated "pagum Belvacensem atque Ambianensem" [Beauvais and Amboise], while Comte Hâeribert and Arnoul Count of Flanders forced "Rollo princeps" from his strongholds[26]. Thirdly, Flodoard states that "Hugo filius Rotberti et Heribertus comes" campaigned against "Nortmannos" in 927, that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles at "castellum…Auga", and that "Rollo" held "filius Heriberti Odo" as a hostage in 928, which suggests some sort of alliance between Rollo and Comte Hâeribert[27]. William of Malmesbury records that Rollo died at Rouen[28]. The date of his death is uncertain: Flodoard names Rollo as living in 928 (see above) but the same source names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[29]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of Robert's body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[30], which would date the event to [1064]. He is known to history as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie], although no early source has been identified which refers to him by this name or title.

    [m] [firstly] ---. The identity of Rollo´s first wife or concubine is not known.

    m [secondly] ([886] or after, repudiated, remarried after 912) POPPA, daughter of BERENGAR Comte de Bayeux & his wife ---. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Rollo took "Popa, fille de Bâerenger, homme illustre" when he captured Bayeux and "s´unit avec elle, áa la maniáere des Danois"[31]. According to Orderic Vitalis, Rollo "stormed and captured Bayeux, slew its count Berengar and took to wife his daughter Poppa"[32]. In another passage, the same source records that Rollo besieged Paris, captured Bayeux, killed "Berengarium comitem" and married his daughter Popa, in 886[33], although this date appears early in light of the likely birth date range of the couple's son Guillaume. The Chronico Rotomagensis records that "mortua a Gisla, accepit Rollo propriam uxorem filiam comitis Silvanectensis Widonis"[34]. Robert of Torigny combines the information, recording that "Rollo dux Northmannorum" married "Popam prius repudiatam uxorem…filiam…Berengarii comitis Baiocensis neptem vero Widonis comitis Silvanectensis"[35]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after capturing Rouen, "Rodulfus" married the daughter of its deceased count by whom he was father of "Willelmum…Longosped"[36]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that "le comte Bernard" welcomed "son neveu Richard" (grandson of Rollo) at Senlis after his escape from captivity[37], although in another passage he describes how Rollo captured Bayeux and took "une tráes-noble jeune fille Popa, fille de Bâerenger" in the town, marrying her "áa la maniáere des Danois"[38], in a later passage adding that Rollo married Poppa, whom he had previously repudiated, a second time after the death of his wife[39]. It would be possible to reconcile the different versions if Comte Bernard's mother was married twice, her first husband being Bâerenger Comte de Bayeux.

    m thirdly (912) GISELA, daughter of CHARLES III "le Simple" King of the West Franks & his first wife Frederuna --- ([908/16]-before her husband). The Genealogica Arnulfi Comitis names (in order) "Hyrmintrudim, Frederunam, Adelheidim, Gislam, Rotrudim et Hildegardim" as the children of "Karolus rex…ex Frederuna regina"[40]. Guillaume of Jumiáeges records that Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted Rollo "tout le territoire maritime qui s´âetend depuis la riviáere d´Epte jusqu´aux confines de la Bretagne" together with "sa fille…Gisáele", and their marriage which took place after Rollo´s baptism[41]. Her marriage is recorded in the Norman annals for 912, which state that she died without issue, presumably soon after the marriage when Gisla must still have been an infant. The chronicle of Dudo of Saint-Quentin[42] describes her as of "tall stature, most elegant…", which is of course inconsistent with her supposed birth date range. The Liber Modernorum Regum Francorum records the marriage of "filiam suam [=rex Karolus] nomine Gillam" to "Rollo"[43]. Settipani considers that the marriage did not occur, and that the Norman sources confused it with the marriage of Gisela, daughter of Lothaire II King of Lotharingia, to the Viking leader Gotfrid[44].

    Rollo & his [first wife] had two children:

    1. [KADLINE . Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the Landnâama-Boc which records that "son of Oht-here…Helge" captured and married [her daughter] "Nidh-beorg, daughter of king Beolan and Cadh-lina, daughter of Walking-Rolf [Gongo-Hrâolfs]" when he "harried in Scotland", and also records their descendants[45]. No other record has been found of "king Beolan" and the accuracy of this report is unknown. m BEOLAN King [in Scotland].]

    2. [NIEDERGA . Niederga is shown in Europčaische Stammtafeln[46] as the second daughter of Rollo by his first wife but the primary source on which this is based has not been identified.]

    Robert & his [second] wife had two children:

    3. GUILLAUME (Rouen [900/05]-murdered Pequigny 17 Dec 942, bur ---, transferred [1064] to Rouen Cathedral[47]). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa[48]. However, the Planctus for William Longsword[49], composed shortly after the murder of Guillaume, states that he had a Christian mother of overseas origin. Dudo of Saint-Quentin states that he was born in Rouen and, in a later passage, describes him as a "young man" one year before his father's death[50]. His father chose him as heir one year before his death[51]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that he was born before his father's marriage to Gisela and his remarriage with Popa after Gisela's death[52]. Flodoard records that "filius Rollonis" did homage to ex-king Charles III "le Simple" at "castellum…Auga" in 927[53]. He succeeded his father in [928/33] as GUILLAUME I "Longuespee" Comte [de Normandie]. Flodoard names "Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum" in 933[54]. He quelled a rebellion by the Viking chief Riulf after the latter besieged Rouen[55]. In return for swearing allegiance to Raoul King of France, he appears to have been granted rights to further territory along the coast in 933, maybe the Cotentin and Avranchin. If this is correct, it would have created rivalry with the dukes of Brittany. Dudo of Saint-Quentin describes Comte Guillaume's invasion of Brittany shortly after his accession to quell a rebellion against him, and his defeat of the rebels at Bayeux[56]. Responding to raids by Comte Guillaume, Arnoul I Count of Flanders invaded Ponthieu and in 939 captured Montreuil from Herluin Comte de Ponthieu, although it was recaptured by Comte Guillaume's forces. In 939, Guillaume joined the alliance against Louis IV King of France which was led by Otto I "der GroĎe" King of Germany who raided Frankish territory. Comte Guillaume, however, met King Louis at Amiens, receiving a confirmation of the grant of his lands in Normandy. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume was tricked into a meeting on the river Seine at Pecquigny by Arnoul Count of Flanders to settle their dispute over the castle of Montreuil, but was murdered on Count Arnoul's orders, recording his death on 17 Dec[57]. The Annalibus Rotomagensibus record that "Willermus dux Normannorum filius Rollonis" was killed "943 XVI Kal Jan"[58]. Orderic Vitalis implies that the transfer of his body to Rouen Cathedral took place after the "the ninth year" in office of Archbishop Maurilius, who had succeeded Mauger de Normandie[59], which would date the event to [1064].

    [m] firstly SPROTA, daughter of ---. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records that Guillaume married "une tráes-noble jeune fille Sprota…selon l'usage des Danois"[60]. From Brittany. It is possible that Sprota was Count Guillaume's concubine rather than wife, particularly as no reference has been found to a dissolution of any marriage before she married Esperleng. She married Esperleng de Păitres, by whom she had Rodulf [Raoul] Comte d'Ivry.

    m secondly ([940]) as her first husband, LUITGARDIS de Vermandois, daughter of HERIBERT II Comte de Vermandois & his wife Adela [Capet] (before 925-14 Nov after 985, bur Chartres, Abbaye de Saint-Páere). Rodulfus Glauber refers to the wife of Comte Guillaume as "sororem [Heribertum Trecorum comitem]", specifying that she was childless by her first husband, when recording her second marriage to "Tetbaldus"[61]. Guillaume de Jumiáeges records the marriage of Guillaume and the daughter of Heribert, specifying that it was arranged by Hugues "le Grand"[62]. The source which confirms her name has not yet been identified. She married secondly Thibaut I Comte de Blois. "Hugonis ducis, Odonis comitis, Hugonis sanctµ Bituricensis archiprµsulis, Letgardis comitissµ, Bertµ comitissµ, Gauzfridi vicecomitis…" subscribed the charter dated 985 under which "Robertus" donated property to "Sancti Petri Carnotensis", on the advice of "Odonem, simul cum sua matre Ledgarde, pariterque dominam meam Bertam, ipsius µque coniugem"[63]. The necrology of Chartres cathedral records the death "XVIII Kal Dec" of "Letgardis comitissa"[64]. Guillaume & his first wife had one child:

    a) RICHARD (Fâecamp [932]-20 Nov 996, bur Fâecamp). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names Richard as son of Guillaume and Sprota, recording that news of his birth was brought to his father when he was returning from his victory against the rebels led by "Riulf"[65]. After the death of Richard's father, Louis IV "d'Outremer" King of the West Franks briefly controlled Rouen, and kept Richard prisoner, before the latter was able to escape, whereupon he succeeded as RICHARD I "Sans Peur" Comte [de Normandie].

    4. GERLOC (-after 969). Guillaume de Jumiáeges names "Guillaume et…Gerloc" as children of Rollo and Poppa, in a later passage records her marriage to "Guillaume comte de Poitou"[66]. Robert of Torigny also names "Willermum Longum Spatam et Gerloch" as children of "Rollo dux Northmannorum" and Poppa[67]. The Chronico Richardi Pictavensis records that "Heblus…Pictavorum Comes et Dux Aquitaniµ duxit Adelam filiam Rolli Rothomagensis"[68], although this is presumably an error for Guillaume son of Ebles. She adopted the name ADELA when baptised. "Guillelmi comitis, Adeleidis comitisse" subscribed a charter recording a donation to Cluny dated [963][69]. Lothaire King of France granted her 14 Oct 962 the right to dispose of extensive property in Poitiers, la Cour de Faye, this grant effectively putting an end to the long dispute between her husband and the family of Hugues "Capet". She used the property to found the Monastery of Sainte-Trinitâe[70]. m (935) GUILLAUME I "Tăete d'Etoupe" Comte de Poitou, son of EBLES "Mancer" Comte de Poitou, Duke of Aquitaine & his first wife Aremburga ([900]-3 Apr 963). He succeeded in 959 as GUILLAUME III Duke of Aquitaine.

    Rollo's origin
    He is named as Rollo and said to have come from Dacia by Dudo of St. Quentin (c. 965-after 1043), the historian of the Norman dukes and the earliest source. Dudo does not name Rollo's parents. The Orkneyinga saga, a later source (c. 1230), identifies him with Hrolf Gange, who is said to have been a son of Ragnvald Eysteinsson, jarl of M˛re. Modern scholars generally doubt the identification with Hrolf. See, for example, Stewart Baldwin, "Rollo of Normany" in soc.genealogy.medieval, Mar. 16, 1998.

    There is much support for the claim of Rollo's homeland being Sykkylven in Sunnm˛re (M˛re), Norway.

    Dacia, the country Dudo refers to as Rollo's homeland, was what people outside Scandinavia called the Nordic countries as a unity: Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland together. Dudo describes Dacia as a country of high mountains, surrounding Rollo's estate - just like Gange-Hrolf's Fauske in Sykkylven. (see photos)

    At the time the language, Old Norse (called dčonsk tunga by Snorri and others) was still the same and had not started to divide into separate dialects or languages.

    Fasge, the place Adam of Bremen describes as Rollo's home, can easily be placed in Sykkylven where Gangu-Hrolfr had his estate at the farm called Fauske, Aure or Aurum. The Danish historian Steenstrup identified (works from 1876-82) Fasge with the town Faxe in Denmark, but linguistic argument shows that this consonant change is highly unlikely, and that the Norwegian place-name Fauske is more probable.

    The outstanding linguist Hęakon Melberg argued in his dissertation that linguistic studies could shed light on the origin of the Scandinavian people and their history. In particular he opposes Steenstrup's analysis and points at several discrepancies, making Denmark improbable as Gange-Hrolf's origin.

    http://books.google.com/books?hl=no&id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&q=fauske#search_anchor

    Sources
    Linge, Per Eldar: Gangerolvs mektige M˛re, Sunnm˛rsposten forlag 1992.
    More here: http://www.eutopia.no/Gangerolv.html

    Melberg, Hęakon: Origin of the Scandinavian Nations and Languages : An Introduction (doctoral dissertation). University of Oslo, 1952.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A5kon_Melberg http://books.google.com/books?id=KGIeAAAAMAAJ&hl=no&pgis=1 http://ask.bibsys.no/ask/action/show?pid=921271042&kid=biblio

    Languages
    Gangu-Hrolf's Languages: Old French and Old Norse (the language spoken in the Nordic countries at the time):

    "Danish tounge", dansk tunga, would be the language spoken in all of Scandinavia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Norse_language

    dčonsk tunga: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Icelandic_language#The_Scandinavian_period_.28550.E2.80.931050.29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_French

    Snorri Sturlusson
    From Heimskringla, Snorri: "24. ROLF GANGER DRIVEN INTO BANISHMENT.

    Earl Ragnvald was King Harald's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him. He was married to Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia, and their sons were Rolf and Thorer. Earl Ragnvald had also three sons by concubines, -- the one called Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug; and all three were grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children Rolf became a great viking, and was of so stout a growth that no horse could carry him, and wheresoever he went he must go on foot; and therefore he was called Rolf Ganger. He plundered much in the East sea. One summer, as he was coming from the eastward on a viking's expedition to the coast of Viken, he landed there and made a cattle foray. As King Harald happened, just at that time, to be in Viken, he heard of it, and was in a great rage; for he had forbid, by the greatest punishment, the plundering within the bounds of the country. The king assembled a Thing, and had Rolf declared an outlaw over all Norway. When Rolf's mother, Hild heard of it she hastened to the king, and entreated peace for Rolf; but the king was so enraged that here entreaty was of no avail. Then Hild spake these lines: --

    "Think'st thou, King Harald, in thy anger, To drive away my brave Rolf Ganger Like a mad wolf, from out the land? Why, Harald, raise thy mighty hand? Why banish Nefia's gallant name-son, The brother of brave udal-men? Why is thy cruelty so fell? Bethink thee, monarch, it is ill With such a wolf at wolf to play, Who, driven to the wild woods away May make the king's best deer his prey."

    Rolf Ganger went afterwards over sea to the West to the Hebrides, or Sudreys; and at last farther west to Valland, where he plundered and subdued for himself a great earldom, which he peopled with Northmen, from which that land is called Normandy. Rolf Ganger's son was William, father to Richard, and grandfather to another Richard, who was the father of Robert Longspear, and grandfather of William the Bastard, from whom all the following English kings are descended. From Rolf Ganger also are descended the earls in Normandy. Queen Ragnhild the Mighty lived three years after she came to Norway; and, after her death, her son and King Harald's was taken to the herse Thorer Hroaldson, and Eirik was fostered by him." (Snorri Sturlasson )

    Gange-Rolv (Gčongu-Hrâolfr), var en norsk vikingh˛vding og sagafigur som egentlig het Hrâolfr Rčognvaldsson (ca 860-932) og var s˛nn av Ragnvald M˛rejarl, kjent som jarlen som klippet Harald Hęarfagre etter at Norge var samlet til ett rike.

    Gange-Rolv fikk tilnavnet fordi han var sęa stor at han alltid męatte gęa til fots, underforstęatt at hesten ble for liten. I f˛lge norsk og islandsk tradisjon er denne personen identisk med den historiske Rollo, som i 911 ble utnevnt til hertug over Normandie. Rollos opphav er imidlertid omdiskutert og nok umulig ęa stadfeste helt sikkert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger. En sannsynlig slektning, Vilhelm Erobreren av Normandie, inntok England i 1066 og grunnla et nytt normannisk kongehus i der.

    Gange-Rolv var med pęa mange tokt i Austerled, men ble forvist fra landet av Harald Hęarfagre etter et strandhogg han gjorde i Viken (Norge). I henhold til Snorre dro Rolv til Valland (Frankrike) etter landsforvisningen. Der ble han blant annet ble gift med kongsdatteren Gisela, og han skal ha blitt d˛pt i Saint-Clair-katedralen.

    WIKIPEDIA (Eng)
    Rollo (c. 860 - c. 932) was the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy. He is also in some later sources known as Robert of Normandy.

    The name Rollo is a Frankish-Latin name probably taken from Scandinavian name Hrâolf (cf. the latinization of Hrâolf Kraki into the similar Roluo in the Gesta Danorum).

    Historical evidence Rollo was a Viking leader of contested origin. Dudo of St. Quentin, in his De moribus et actis primorum Normannorum ducum (Latin), tells of a powerful Danish nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed. William of Jumiáeges also mentions Rollo's prehistory in his Gesta Normannorum Ducum however he states that he was from the Danish town of Fasge. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event in his Roman de Rou, also mentions the two brothers (as Rou and Garin), as does the Orkneyinga Saga.

    Norwegian and Icelandic historians identified this Rollo with a son of Rognvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M˛re, in Western Norway, based on medieval Norwegian and Icelandic sagas that mention a Ganger Hrolf (Hrolf, the Walker). The oldest source of this version is the Latin Historia Norvegiae, written in Norway at the end of the 12th century. This Hrolf fell foul of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, and became a Jarl in Iceland. The nickname of that character came from being so big that no horse could carry him. [1]

    The question of Rollo's Danish or Norwegian origins was a matter of heated dispute between Norwegian and Danish historians of the 19th and early 20th century, particularly in the run-up to Normandy's 1000-year-anniversary in 1911. Today, historians still disagree on this question, but most would now agree that a certain conclusion can never be reached.'

    Invasion of France In 885, Rollo was one of the lesser leaders of the Viking fleet which besieged Paris under Sigfred. Legend has it that an emissary was sent by the king to find the chieftain and negotiate terms. When he asked for this information, the Vikings replied that they were all chieftains in their own right. In 886, when Sigfred retreated in return for tribute, Rollo stayed behind and was eventually bought off and sent to harry Burgundy.

    Later, he returned to the Seine with his followers (known as Danes, or Norsemen). He invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy.

    Rather than pay Rollo to leave, as was customary, the Frankish king, Charles the Simple, understood that he could no longer hold back their onslaught, and decided to give Rollo the coastal lands they occupied under the condition that he defend against other raiding Vikings.

    In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with King Charles, Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required to kiss the foot of King Charles, as a condition of the treaty, he refused to perform so great a humiliation, and when Charles extended his foot to Rollo, Rollo ordered one of his warriors to do so in his place. His warrior then lifted Charles' foot up to his mouth causing him to fall to the ground. [2]

    Settlement Initially, Rollo stayed true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time he and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet. Eventually, however, Rollo's men intermarried with the local women, and became more settled as Frenchmen. At the time of his death, Rollo's expansion of his territory had extended as far west as the Vire River.

    Death Sometime around 927, Rollo passed the fief in Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshipped,[citation needed] and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true God in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, some of his pagan roots surfaced at the end.

    Legacy Rollo is a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. Through William, he is a direct ancestor and predecessor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

    The "Clameur de Haro" in the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

    Depictions in Fiction Rollo is the subject of the 17th Century play Rollo Duke of Normandy written by John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Ben Jonson, and George Chapman.

    References ^ Gčongu-Hrâolfs saga in Old Norse from heimskringla.no ^ Holden, A.J. (1970). Le Roman de Rou de Wace. Paris: âEditions A.J. Picard. p.54. Lines 1147-1156 D.C. Douglas, "Rollo of Normandy", English Historical Review, Vol. 57 (1942), pp. 414-436 Robert Helmerichs, [Rollo as Historical Figure] Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdom under the Carolingians, 751-987, (Longman) 1983 Dudonis gesta Normannorum - Dudo of St. Quentin Gesta Normannorum Latin version at Bibliotheca Augustana Dudo of St. Quentin's Gesta Normannorum - An English Translation Gwyn Jones. Second edition: A History of the Vikings. Oxford University Press. (1984). William W. Fitzhugh and Elizabeth Ward. Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. Smithsonian Institute Press. (2000) Eric Christiansen. The Norsemen in the Viking Age. Blackwell Publishers Ltd. (2002) Agnus Konstam. Historical Atlas of the Viking World. Checkmark Books. (2002) Holgar Arbman. Ancient People and Places: The Vikings. Thames and Husdson. (1961) Eric Oxenstierna. The Norsemen, New York Graphics Society Publishers, Ltd. (1965)

    TEXT - SOURCE? Rollo was a Viking leader, probably (based on Icelandic sources) from Norway, the son of Ragnvald, Earl of Moer; sagas mention a Hrolf, son of Ragnvald jarl of Moer. However, the latinization Rollo has in no known instance been applied to a Hrolf, and in the texts which speak of him, numerous latinized Hrolfs are included. Dudo of St. Quentin (by most accounts a more reliable source, and at least more recent and living nearer the regions concerned), in his Gesta Normannorum, tells of a powerful Dacian nobleman at loggerheads with the king of Dacia, who then died and left his two sons, Gurim and Rollo, leaving Rollo to be expelled and Gurim killed.(1) With his followers (known as Normans, or northmen), Rollo invaded the area of northern France now known as Normandy. Wace, writing some 300 years after the event, gives a Scandinavian origin, as does the Orkneyinga Saga, Danish or Norwegian most likely.

    Unlike most Vikings whose intentions were to plunder Frankish lands, Rollo's true intentions were to look for lands to settle. Upon arrival in France, and after many battles with the Vikings, Charles the Simple understood that he could no longer hold back their advances, and decided as a tempory measure to give Rollo land around Rouen, as he did with his other barons, but under the condition that he would convert to Christianity and defend the Seine River from other raiding Vikings. In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) with the French King Charles the Simple, "for the protection of the realm," Rollo pledged feudal allegiance to the king, changed his name to the Frankish version, and converted to Christianity, probably with the baptismal name Robert. In return, and in admission of defeat, King Charles granted Rollo the lower Seine area (today's upper Normandy) and the titular rulership of Normandy, centred around the city of Rouen. There exists some argument among historians as to whether Rollo was a "duke" (dux) or whether his position was equivalent to that of a "count" under Charlemagne. According to legend, when required, in conformity with general usage, to kiss the foot of King Charles, he refused to stoop to what he considered so great a degradation; yet as the homage could not be dispensed with, he ordered one of his warriors to perform it for him. The latter, as proud as his chief, instead of stooping to the royal foot, raised it so high, that the King fell to the ground. It is important to note that Rollo did stay true to his word of defending the shores of the Seine river in accordance to the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, but in time Rollo and his followers had very different ideas. Rollo began to divide the land between the Epte and Risle rivers among his chieftains and settled there with a de-facto capital in Rouen. With these settlements, Rollo began to further raid other Frankish lands, now from the security of a settled homeland, rather than a mobile fleet.

    Rollo expanded his territory as far west as the Vire River and sometime around 927 he passed the Duchy of Normandy to his son, William Longsword. Rollo may have lived for a few years after that, but certainly died before 933. According to the historian Adhemar, 'As Rollo's death drew near, he went mad and had a hundred Christian prisoners beheaded in front of him in honour of the gods whom he had worshiped, and in the end distributed a hundred pounds of gold around the churches in honour of the true god in whose name he had accepted baptism.' Even though Rollo had converted to Christianity, at the end, some of Rollo's pagan roots eventually came to the surface. He was a direct ancestor of William the Conqueror. By William, he was a direct ancestor of the present-day British royal family, including Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The "clameur de haro" on the Channel Islands is, supposedly, an appeal to Rollo.

    TEXT - SOURCE??? Rollo (later Robert) "of Normandy" Viking leader in France, d. 932.

    Although he is often referred to as the first Duke of Normandy, that title is an anachronism. Probably about 911, King Charles the Simple of France ceded a district around the city of Rouen to Rollo, which eventually evolved into the duchy of Normandy. He is said to have been baptized in 912, assuming the Christian name Robert. He was still living in 928, when he was holding Eudes, son of Heribert of Vermandois, as a captive and was probably dead by 932, when his son William was mentioned as leading the Normans.

    end of biography

    ROLLO THE VIKING

    DIED 931 A.D.


    For more than two hundred years during the Middle Ages the Christian countries of Europe were attacked on the southwest by the Saracens of Spain, and on the northwest by the Norsemen, or Northmen. The Northmen were so called because they came into Middle Europe from the north. Sometimes they were called Vikings, or pirates, because they were adventurous sea-robbers who plundered all countries which they could reach by sea.



    Their ships were long and swift In the center was placed a single mast, which carried one large sail. For the most part, however, the Norsemen depended on rowing, not on the wind, and sometimes there were twenty rowers in one vessel.



    The Vikings were a terror to all their neighbors; but the two regions that suffered most from their attacks were the Island of Britain and that part of Charlemagne's empire in which the Franks were settled.

    endof commentary







    Nearly fifty times in two hundred years the lands of the Franks were invaded. The Vikings sailed up the large rivers into the heart of the region which we now call France and captured and pillaged cities and towns. Some years after Charlemagne's death they went as far as his capital, Aix, took the place, and stabled their horses in the cathedral which the great emperor had built.



    In the year 860 they discovered Iceland and made a settlement upon its shores. A few years later they sailed as far as Greenland, and there established settlements which existed for about a century.



    These Vikings were the first discoverers of the continent on which we live. Ancient books found in Iceland tell the story of the discovery. It is related that a Viking ship was driven during a storm to a strange coast, which is thought to have been that part of America now known as Labrador.



    When the captain of the ship returned home he told what he had seen. His tale so excited the curiosity of a young Viking prince, called Leif the Lucky, that he sailed to the newly discovered coast.



    Going ashore, he found that the country abounded in wild grapes; and so he called it Vinland, or the land of Vines. Vinland is thought to have been a part of what is now the Rhode Island coast.



    The Vikings were not aware that they had found a great unknown continent. No one in the more civilized parts of Europe knew anything about their discovery; and after a while the story of the Vinland voyages seems to have been forgotten, even among the Vikings themselves.



    So it is not to them that we owe the discovery of America, but to Columbus; because his discovery, though nearly five hundred years later than that of the Norsemen, actually made known to all Europe, for all time, the existence of the New World.



    II



    THE Vikings had many able chieftains. One of the most famous was Rollo the Walker, so called because he was such a giant that no horse strong enough to carry him could be found, and therefore he always had to walk. However, he did on foot what few could do on horseback.



    In 885 seven hundred ships, commanded by Rollo and other Viking chiefs, left the harbors of Norway, sailed to the mouth of the Seine, and started up the river to capture the city of Paris.



    Rollo and his men stopped on the way at Rouen, which also was on the Seine, but nearer its mouth. The citizens had heard of the giant, and when they saw the river covered by his fleet they were dismayed. However, the bishop of Rouen told them that Rollo could be as noble and generous as he was fierce; and he advised them to open their gates and trust to the mercy of the Viking chief. This was done, and Rollo marched into Rouen and took possession of it. The bishop had given good advice, for Rollo treated the people very kindly.



    Soon after capturing Rouen he left the place, sailed up the river to Paris, and joined the other Viking chiefs. And now for six long miles the beautiful Seine was covered with Viking vessels, which carried an army of thirty thousand men.



    A noted warrior named Eudes was Count of Paris, and he had advised the Parisians to fortify the city. So not long before the arrival of Rollo and his companions, two walls with strong gates had been built round Paris.



    It was no easy task for even Vikings to capture a strongly walled city. We are told that Rollo and his men built a high tower and rolled it on wheels up to the walls. At its top was a floor well manned with soldiers. But the people within the city shot hundreds of arrows at the besiegers, and threw down rocks, or poured boiling oil and pitch upon them.



    The Vikings thought to starve the Parisians, and for thirteen months they encamped round the city. At length food became very scarce, and Count Eudes determined to go for help. He went out through one of the gates on a dark, stormy night, and rode post-haste to the king. He told him that something must be done to save the people of Paris.







    So the king gathered an army and marched to the city. No battle was fought--the Vikings seemed to have been afraid to risk one. They gave up the siege, and Paris was relieved.



    Rollo and his men went to the Duchy of Burgundy, where, as now, the finest crops were raised and the best of wines were made.



    III



    PERHAPS after a time Rollo and his Vikings went home; but we do not know what he did for about twenty-five years. We do know that he abandoned his old home in Norway in 911. Then he and his people sailed from the icy shore of Norway and again went up the Seine in hundreds of Viking vessels.



    Of course, on arriving in the land of the Franks, Rollo at once began to plunder towns and farms.



    Charles, then king of the Franks, although his people called him the Simple, or Senseless, had sense enough to see that this must be stopped.



    So he sent a message to Rollo and proposed that they should have a talk about peace. Rollo agreed and accordingly they met. The king and his troops stood on one side of a little river, and Rollo with his Vikings stood on the other. Messages passed between them. The king asked Rollo what he wanted.



    "Let me and my people live in the land of the Franks; let us make ourselves home here, and I and my Vikings will become your vassals," answered Rollo. He asked for Rouen and the neighboring land. So the king gave him that part of Francia; and ever since it has been called Normandy, the land of the Northmen.



    When it was decided that the Vikings should settle in Francia and be subjects of the Frankish king, Rollo was told that he must kiss the foot of Charles in token that he would be the king's vassal. The haughty Viking refused. "Never," said he, "will I bend my knee before any man, and no man's foot will I kiss." After some persuasion, however, he ordered one of his men to perform the act of homage for him. The king was on horseback and the Norseman, standing by the side of the horse, suddenly seized the king's foot and drew it up to his lips. This almost made the king fall from his horse, to the great amusement of the Norsemen.



    Becoming a vassal to the king meant that if the king went to war Rollo would be obliged to join his army and bring a certain number of armed men--one thousand or more.



    Rollo now granted parts of Normandy to his leading men on condition that they would bring soldiers to his army and fight under him. They became his vassals, as he was the king's vassal.



    The lands granted to vassals in this way were called feuds, and this plan of holding lands was called the Feudal System.



    It was established in every country of Europe during the Middle Ages.



    The poorest people were called serfs. They were almost slaves and were never permitted to leave the estate to which they belonged. They did all the work. They worked chiefly for the landlords, but partly for themselves.



    Having been a robber himself, Rollo knew what a shocking thing it was to ravage and plunder, and he determined to change his people's habits. He made strict laws and hanged robbers. His duchy thus became one of the safest parts of Europe.



    The Northmen learned the language of the Franks and adopted their religion.



    The story of Rollo is especially interesting to us, because Rollo was the forefather of that famous Duke of Normandy who, less than a hundred and fifty years later, conquered England and brought into that country the Norman nobles with their French language and customs.

    The Vikings in Normandy:
    Timeline
    Pre-Norman France map, http://www.viking.no/e/france/norm_col_gb.gif The chronology of the Vikings in Normandy can be encapsulated by a division into two successive centuries:

    From AD 820 to c. AD 920, the Viking incursions on the lower Seine became more and more frequent, resulting finally in some permanent colonisation.
    From c. AD 920 to AD 1020 was a consolidation period for Normandy, with the influx of numerous Scandinavian settlers, before turning increasingly to the Kingdom of France.

    Timeline showing the Viking raids on the river Seine

    820 Thirteen ships reach the Seine Bay. A force of Vikings lands but, having to face the shore guard, they are forced to re-embark, leaving five of their number dead on the Neustrian shore.
    841 Asgeir's fleet sails up the River Seine (from 12th May), takes the city of Rouen (14th May) and burns it down. The loot is enormous. Aesgir's army continues its penetration of the Seine, plunders and burns the rich Jumiáege monastery (24th May). The nearby monastery of Fontenelle (the future Saint-Wandrille) is also assaulted and held to ransom. In this expedition, sixty-eight captives are taken and then returned on payment of a ransom by the monks of Saint-Denis (28th May).
    845 Ragnar's fleet of 120 ships (therefore c. 6000 men) sails up the Seine and besieges Paris (28th March). Charles the Bald pays 7000 livres in order to spare Paris.
    851 Asgeir and his men, back on the Seine, this time devastate the monastery of Fontenelle (13th October) and return there eighty-nine days later (9th January 852) and, finding nothing to plunder, burn it down.
    852 Asgeir and his force raid on foot in the Beauvais region (Flanders county), from their base in Rouen. Engaged by a Frankish army, they have to withdraw and camp for the winter on Jeufosse island, securely controlling the entrance to the Seine. They stay there up to the 5th June. By the end of this year, a new group of Vikings, mainly Norwegians led by Sigtrygg (back from Ireland) and Godfrid, sails up the Seine to Jeufosse to establish their own base there. The Frankish army of Charles the Bald besieges the island.
    853 (beg.) Charles the Bald negotiates with Godfrid, who afterwards retires. As for Sigtrygg, he stays to plunder and burn numerous places up to March.
    855 Sigtrygg returns (18th July) to attempt to destroy a Frankish fort located on the Seine shore on the approach to Paris. He is reinforced by Bjčorn, leading a powerful fleet (17th August). The two armies join and carry out a raid in the south of the Seine, as far as Chartres, where they are stopped by the Frankish army of Charles the Bald. They have to withdraw to the Seine after heavy losses.
    857 Again from Jeufosse, which has now become an established base, Sigtrygg's and Bjčorn's armies attack Paris (January). Chartres is assaulted again (12th June); on this occasion, revenging the reverse of AD 855, they take it, plunder it, and slaughter all its population. During the summer they also attack Evreux and many other places, the action taking place generally around Jeufosse island. Finally, Sigtrygg retires with his men.
    858 Bjčorn is joined by a new group of Danes, led by Hasting (9th January). They lay again into the abbey of Fontenelle, which they burn down. Leading a mounted force, Bjčorn surrounds Paris and demands a ransom of the Parisian monasteries. Charles the Bald is defeated when he reacts and tries again to besiege the Viking base of Jeufosse.
    859 The attacks from the Seine valley are redoubled. Charles the Bald is engaged in a struggle with his brother, Louis the German. The Vikings take advantage of this to attack freely far from their bases: Bayeux, Laon and Beauvais, where the bishops are executed.
    860 The Viking chief, Veland, is paid 3000 silver livres by Charles the Bald to try to drive out the Vikings of the lower Seine.
    861 From May, Veland besieges Jeufosse island, leading 200 Viking ships. The Vikings of Jeufosse have to retire from the Seine, with some 100 ships. This fleet then joins Veland's. Taking advantage of several years of respite, Charles the Bald builds forts which control the Seine at Pont-de-l'Arche.
    865 Fifty Viking ships settle at Păitres (near Pont-de-l'Arche), on the Seine.
    876 100 new Viking ships make an incursion into the Seine. They sail away again after a payment of 5000 livres by Charles the Bald.
    885 A huge fleet sails up the Seine (one report tells of some 700 ships) to besiege Paris. Losses are severe on both sides. The new Frankish king, Charles the Big, relieves the city by paying a heavy ransom to the besiegers.
    887-911 Rolf (Rollo/Rollon) imposes himself as chief of the Vikings settled in the lower Seine region. He repels the Franks, pushing right up to the doors of the Ile-de-France. He attacks Chartres but, repulsed, withdraws again to the Seine.
    911 Seeking to block the lower Seine, which had become a real "motorway" for the Viking invasions of the Kingdom of Frankia, the new king, Charles the Simple, concludes an agreement with Rolf at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, conceding to him the suzerainty of the territory of the lower Seine which, de facto, Rolf had already had for several years.

    Timeline showing the Viking Raids in Western Neustria

    From AD 836 Bjčorn and Hasting lead numerous raids in Cotentin and Avranchin.
    860-989 There are no more resident bishops in Cotentin and Avranchin nor any ecclesiastical infrastructures in these bishoprics. Whole areas are deserted by the native population as they become untenable, particularly in Cotentin.
    867 The Frankish king, Charles the Bald, concedes Cotentin and Avranchin to the Bretons, so that they might defend these territories.
    889, 890 and 891 Respectively, Saint-Lăo, Coutances and Avranches are plundered or burnt down.
    890-892 Rolf makes several raids in Bessin (Bayeux).
    905 Vire is plundered.
    907 Since Brittany is too devastated by the Viking raids, the Breton sovereignty of Cotentin and Avranchin exists only theoretically.
    911 Since Rolf is now Jarl of Rouen, and since they refuse to convert to Christianity, and seek new conquests, many of Rolf's companions settle in Cotentin and Bessin.
    916 From Cotentin and Bessin, where they have settled, numerous Scandinavian forces attack the whole eastern region of Brittany.
    924 Bessin is added to Rolf's territory.
    925 Some unsubdued Scandinavian troops of Bessin, united with native Saxons, devastate the western part of the Seine colony.
    927-928 Rolf erect many fortifications (Bayeux, Exmes, Saint-Lăo, Brionne, etc.) to face a huge influx of new Viking contingents, resistant to his authority in Cotentin (Danes from the Danelaw, and Hiberno-Norse from Ireland) and in Bessin (especially Danes from the Danelaw).
    931 Brittany is totally subdued: on the east by the Normans of the Seine and on the west by Normans who have settled on the River Loire. The Normans of the Seine take advantage of this to get a foothold in Cotentin and Avranchin, and on the Channel Islands, in order to control the Scandinavian troops which have to submit to the Jarl of Rouen's authority.
    933 Cotentin and Avranchin are conceded officially by the King of France, Raoul, to the Normans of the Seine, who are also appointed to the protectorate of Brittany.

    Rollo married Lady Poppa of Bayeux. Poppa (daughter of Berengar II of Neustria, Count of Bayeux and unnamed spouse) was born in (850) in Bayeux, France; was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 641.  Lady Poppa of BayeuxLady Poppa of Bayeux was born in (850) in Bayeux, France (daughter of Berengar II of Neustria, Count of Bayeux and unnamed spouse); was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Residence: Place de Gaulle, Bayeux, France

    Notes:

    Poppa of Bayeux was the Christian wife or mistress[1] (perhaps more danico)[2] of the Viking conqueror Rollo.

    She was the mother of William I Longsword and grandmother of Richard the Fearless, who forged the Duchy of Normandy into a great fief of medieval France.[3]

    Dudo of Saint-Quentin, in his panegyric of the Norman dukes, describes her as the daughter of a "Count Berengar", the dominant prince of that region, who was captured at Bayeux by Rollo in 885 or 889.[4]

    This has led to speculation that she was the daughter of Berengar II of Neustria. Despite the uncertainty of her parentage, she undoubtedly was a member of the Frankish aristocracy.[5]

    A statue of Poppa stands at the Place de Gaulle in Bayeux.

    Notes:

    Married:
    Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy.

    Children:
    1. 320. William of Normandy, I, Duke of Normandy was born in ~893 in Normandy, France; died on 17 Dec 942 in Piquigny, France.

  3. 644.  Gorm the Old, King of DenmarkGorm the Old, King of Denmark was born in 860 in Jellinge, Denmark; died in 931 in Jellinge, Denmark; was buried in Jellinge, Denmark.

    Notes:

    Gorm the Old (Danish: Gorm den Gamle, Old Norse: Gormr gamli, Latin: Gormus Senex[1][2]), also called Gorm the Languid (Danish: Gorm L˛ge, Gorm den Dvaske), was the first historically recognized ruler of Denmark, reigning from c.? 936 to his death c.? 958.[3] He ruled from Jelling, and made the oldest of the Jelling Stones in honour of his wife Thyra. Gorm was born before 900 and died c.? 958.[3]

    Ancestry and reign

    Gorm is the reported son of semi-legendary Danish king Harthacnut. Chronicler Adam of Bremen says that Harthacnut came from Northmannia to Denmark and seized power in the early 10th century.[4] He deposed the young king Sigtrygg Gnupasson, reigning over Western Denmark.[3] When Harthacnut died, Gorm ascended the throne.

    Heimskringla reports Gorm taking at least part of the kingdom by force from Gnupa, and Adam himself suggests that the kingdom had been divided prior to Gorm's time. Gorm is first mentioned as the host of Archbishop Unni of Hamburg and Bremen in 936.[4] According to the Jelling Stones, Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, "won all of Denmark", so it is speculated that Gorm only ruled Jutland from his seat in Jelling.[4]

    Marriage to Thyra

    Runic stone for Thyra, back side
    Gorm married Thyra, who is given conflicting and chronologically dubious parentage by late sources, but no contemporary indication of her parentage survives. Gorm raised one of the great burial mounds at Jelling as well as the oldest of the Jelling Stones for her, calling her tanmarkar but ("Denmark's Salvation" or "Denmark's Adornment"). Gorm was the father of three sons, Toke, Knut and Harald, later King Harald Bluetooth.[5]

    His wife, Thyra, is credited with the completion of the Danevirke, a wall between Denmark's southern border and its unfriendly Saxon neighbors to the south. The wall was not new, but it was expanded with a ditch and earthen foundation topped by a timber stockade above it. The Danevirke ran between the Schlei and the Treene river, across what is now Schleswig.[6]

    Death, burial and reburial

    Gorm died in the winter of 958–959[5] and dendrochronology shows that his burial chamber was made from wood of timbers felled in 958.[7] Arild Huitfeldt explains how in Danmarks Riges Kr˛nike:[citation needed]


    Runic stone for Thyra, front side
    The three sons were Vikings in the truest sense, departing Denmark each summer to raid and pillage. Harald came back to the royal enclosure at Jelling with the news that his son Canute had been killed in an attempt to capture Dublin, Ireland. Canute was shot with a coward's arrow while watching some games at night. No one would tell the king in view of the oath the king had made. Queen Thyra ordered the royal hall hung with black cloth and that no one was to say a single word. When Gorm entered the hall, he was astonished and asked what the mourning colors meant. Queen Thyra spoke up: "Lord King, you had two falcons, one white and the other gray. The white one flew far afield and was set upon by other birds which tore off its beautiful feathers and is now useless to you. Meanwhile the gray falcon continues to catch fowl for the king's table." Gorm understood immediately the Queen's metaphor and cried out, "My son is surely dead, since all of Denmark mourns!" "You have said it, your majesty," Thyra announced, "Not I, but what you have said is true." According to the story Gorm was so grieved by Canute's death that he died the following day.

    This account would contradict information on the Jelling Stones which point to Queen Thyra dying before Gorm. Some archaeologists and historians have suggested that Gorm was buried first in Queen Thyra's grave mound at Jelling, and later moved by his son, Harald Bluetooth, into the original wooden church in Jelling.[3] According to this theory it is believed, that the skeleton found at the site of the first Christian church of Jelling is in fact Gorm the Old, though the theory is still much debated. During the reign of Gorm, most Danes still worshipped the Norse gods, but during the reign of Gorm's son, Harold Bluetooth, Denmark officially converted to Christianity. Harald, accordingly, left the hill where Gorm had originally been interred as a memorial.

    Legacy

    Gorm was "old" in the sense that he was considered the traditional ancestral "head" of the Danish monarchy. Saxo Grammaticus in the Gesta Danorum asserts that Gorm was older than other monarchs and having lived so long was blind by the time his son Canute was killed.

    end of biography

    Gorm's pedigree: https://fabpedigree.com/s038/f790309.htm

    end of comment

    Buried:
    Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark

    Gorm married Elgiva of Wessex, Queen of Denmark. Elgiva (daughter of Aethelstan, King of the East Angles and unnamed spouse) was born in ~872 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died in ~935 in Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark; was buried in Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 645.  Elgiva of Wessex, Queen of Denmark was born in ~872 in Wantage, Berkshire, England (daughter of Aethelstan, King of the East Angles and unnamed spouse); died in ~935 in Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark; was buried in Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark.
    Children:
    1. 322. Harold Gormsen, VII, King of Denmark was born in ~0895 in Blauzahn, Bavaria, Schwaben, Germany; died on 1 Sep 0986 in Gormshoj, Denmark.

  5. 654.  Robert De Vermandois, Count of Meaux was born in 918 in (France) (son of Herbert de Vermandois, II, Count of Meaux and Hildebranda of France); died on 29 Aug 968 in Seine-et-Marne, France.

    Notes:

    Robert Carolingian Vermandois de Meaux, Count of Meaux, Count of Troyes, was born circa 920 to Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) and Hildebranda of France (895-931) and died circa 968 in Seine-et-Marne, France of unspecified causes. He married Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.

    Children

    Offspring of Robert de Vermandois and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Herbert III of Meaux (c950-995) 950 995
    Adele of Meaux (c950-c980) 950 980 Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
    Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)

    Adelaide de Troyes (c955-c991) 955 991 Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (953-993)
    Noteworthy descendants include

    William I of England (1027-1087)

    Namesakes of Robert de Vermandois (918-968)

    Birth place
    Death place
    Father
    Mother
    Joined with
    Robert de Vermandois (918-968) Seine-et-Marne, France Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) Hildebranda of France (895-931) Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
    Robert I of Senlis (?-1004) Bernard of Senlis (919-947)
    Robert II of Senlis (?-1028) Robert I of Senlis (?-1004)

    Robert married Adelaide-Werra de Chaton in 953 in Vermandois, France. Adelaide-Werra was born in 920 in (France); died in 967 in (France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 655.  Adelaide-Werra de Chaton was born in 920 in (France); died in 967 in (France).

    Notes:

    Adele Carolingian of Meaux was born 950 to Robert de Vermandois (918-968) and Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967) and died 980 of unspecified causes. She married Lambert de Chalon (930-979) . She married Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]

    The French Wikipedia has her first husband marry her mother,[1] which is unlikely, given her age. The same source has her a daughter Gerberge marry King Adalberto of Italy. This would make Adele a grandmother at the age of 12. However, in the reconstruction shown here, Adele is married to two men at once, with her youngest daughter from her first marriage born around 972 and her eldest daughter from her second marriage born around 965.

    Note that Genealogie Quebec merges her with her sister.[2]



    Children

    Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Lambert de Chalon (930-979)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Hugh I de Chalon (?-1039)
    Mahaut de Chalon (?-1019) Henri I de Bourgogne (c948-1002)
    Geoffroi de Semur (?-c990)

    Aelis of Chalon (?-?) Guy I de Macon (975-1006)

    Elizabeth de Chalon (970-1014)

    Offspring of Adele of Meaux and Geoffrey I of Anjou (-987)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Gottfried of Anjou (?-987) 987
    Fulk III, Count of Anjou (972-1040) 972 21 June 1040 Metz, France âElisabeth de Vendăome (c979-999)
    Hildegarde de Beaugency (c990-)

    Ermengarde of Anjou (bef967-) 967 Conan I of Rennes (927-992)

    Gerberge of Anjou (965-1041) 965 1041 Guillaume III Taillefer of Angoulăeme (960-1028)
    ^ wikipedia:fr:Lambert de Chalon
    ^ http://genealogiequebec.info/testphp/info.php?no=23981

    Children:
    1. 327. Adele of Meaux was born in ~950 in Meaux, France; died in ~980.

  7. 712.  Malcolm I of Scotland, King of AlbaMalcolm I of Scotland, King of Alba was born in 897 in Scotland (son of Donald of Scotland, II, King of Alba and unnamed spouse); died in 954 in Auldearn, Scotland; was buried in Isle of Iona, Scotland.

    Notes:

    Mâael Coluim mac Domnaill (anglicised Malcolm I) (died 954) was king of Scots (before 943 – 954), becoming king when his cousin Causantâin mac Áeda abdicated to become a monk. He was the son of Domnall mac Causantâin.

    Mâael Coluim was probably born during his father's reign (889–900).[1] By the 940s, he was no longer a young man, and may have become impatient in awaiting the throne. Willingly or not—the 11th-century Prophecy of Berchâan, a verse history in the form of a supposed prophecy, states that it was not a voluntary decision that Constantine II abdicated in 943 and entered a monastery, leaving the kingdom to Mâael Coluim.[2]

    Seven years later, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says:

    [Malcolm I] plundered the English as far as the River Tees, and he seized a multitude of people and many herds of cattle: and the Scots called this the raid of Albidosorum, that is, Nainndisi. But others say that Constantine made this raid, asking of the king, Malcolm, that the kingship should be given to him for a week's time, so that he could visit the English. In fact, it was Malcolm who made the raid, but Constantine incited him, as I have said.[3]

    Woolf suggests that the association of Constantine with the raid is a late addition, one derived from a now-lost saga or poem.[4]

    He died in the shield wall next to his men.[citation needed] Mâael Coluim would be the third in his immediate family to die violently, his father Donald II and grandfather Constantine I both having met similar fates 54 years earlier in 900 and 77 years earlier in 877 respectively.

    In 945, Edmund I of England, having expelled Amlaâib Cuaran (Olaf Sihtricsson) from Northumbria, devastated Cumbria and blinded two sons of Domnall mac Eâogain, king of Strathclyde. It is said that he then "let" or "commended" Strathclyde to Mâael Coluim in return for an alliance.[5] What is to be understood by "let" or "commended" is unclear, but it may well mean that Mâael Coluim had been the overlord of Strathclyde and that Edmund recognised this while taking lands in southern Cumbria for himself.[6]

    The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that Mâael Coluim took an army into Moray "and slew Cellach". Cellach is not named in the surviving genealogies of the rulers of Moray, and his identity is unknown.[7]

    Mâael Coluim appears to have kept his agreement with the late English king, which may have been renewed with the new king, Edmund having been murdered in 946 and succeeded by his brother Edred. Eric Bloodaxe took York in 948, before being driven out by Edred, and when Amlaâib Cuaran again took York in 949–950, Mâael Coluim raided Northumbria as far south as the Tees taking "a multitude of people and many herds of cattle" according to the Chronicle.[8] The Annals of Ulster for 952 report a battle between "the men of Alba and the Britons [of Strathclyde] and the English" against the foreigners, i.e. the Northmen or the Norse-Gaels. This battle is not reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and it is unclear whether it should be related to the expulsion of Amlaâib Cuaran from York or the return of Eric Bloodaxe.[9]

    The Annals of Ulster report that Mâael Coluim was killed in 954. Other sources place this most probably in the Mearns, either at Fetteresso following the Chronicle, or at Dunnottar following the Prophecy of Berchâan. He was buried on Iona.[10] Mâael Coluim's sons Dub and Cinâaed were later kings.

    end of biography

    Malcolm I (a.k.a. Mâael Coluim mac Domnaill) lived from 897 to 954 and was King of Alba from 943 to 954. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.

    Malcolm I was the son of Donald II of Alba, and succeeded to he throne on the abdication of his father's cousin, King Constantine II.

    Malcolm gained a reputation for his wisdom and Edmund I of England sought him out as an ally against the Vikings, giving Malcolm the province of Cumbria in return for an alliance. The alliance was invoked by Edmund's successor, who wanted Malcolm's support against King Anlaf of Northumberland which at that time still included the Lothians.

    In 954 Malcolm I was faced with a revolt by the men of Moray led by their maormor (or earl), Cellach. The revolt was suppressed, and Cellach was killed. But shortly afterwards Malcolm I was himself killed by one of Cellach's supporters at Auldearn. He was buried, as was now traditional for Scottish Kings, in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel on the Isle of Iona.

    Malcolm I was succeeded by King Indulf, his second cousin and son of King Constantine II.

    end of biography

    Buried:
    in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel...

    View images and more history of St Oran's; https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/iona/storanschapel/index.html, (images: https://www.google.com/search?q=Saint+Oran%27s+Chapel+image&client=firefox-b-1-ab&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjcxPKjgIraAhUL71MKHcCmCYoQ7AkIQA&biw=1224&bih=826)

    Malcolm married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 713.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 356. Kenneth II of Scotland, King of Alba was born in 932 in Scotland; died in 995 in Fettercairn, Scotland; was buried in Isle of Iona, Scotland.

  9. 736.  Edmund I, King of the EnglishEdmund I, King of the English was born in ~921 in Wessex, England (son of Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons and Eadgifu of Kent); died on 26 May 946 in Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, England; was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England.

    Notes:

    Edmund I (Old English: Eadmund, pronounced [µ??dmund]; 921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 939 until his death. His epithets include the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, and the Magnificent.

    Edmund was the son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His father died when he was young, and was succeeded by his oldest son Ąthelstan. Edmund came to the throne upon the death of his half-brother in 939, apparently with little opposition. His reign was marked by almost constant warfare, including conquests or reconquests of the Midlands, Northumbria, and Strathclyde (the last of which was ceded to Malcolm I of Scotland). Edmund was assassinated after six-and-a-half years as king, while attending mass in Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire. He was initially succeeded by his brother Eadred, but his two sons – Eadwig and Edgar the Peaceful – both later came to the throne.

    King of the English
    Tenure 27 October 939 – 26 May 946
    Coronation c. 29 November 939
    probably at Kingston upon Thames[1]
    Predecessor Ąthelstan
    Successor Eadred
    Born 921
    Wessex, England
    Died 26 May 946 (aged 24–25)
    Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, England
    Burial Glastonbury Abbey
    Spouse Ąlfgifu of Shaftesbury
    Ąthelflµd of Damerham
    Issue Eadwig, King of England
    Edgar, King of England
    House Wessex
    Father Edward the Elder
    Mother Eadgifu of Kent
    Religion Roman Catholic

    Early life and military threats

    Edmund came to the throne as the son of Edward the Elder,[2] and therefore the grandson of Alfred the Great, great-grandson of Ąthelwulf of Wessex and great-great grandson of Egbert of Wessex, who was the first of the house of Wessex to start dominating the Anglo Saxon realms. However, being born when his father was already a middle aged man, Edmund lost his father when he was a toddler, in 924, which saw his 30 year old half brother Athelstan come to the throne. Edmund would grow up in the reign of Athelstan, even participating in the Battle of Brunanburgh in his adolescence in 937.[citation needed]

    Athelstan died in the year 939, which saw young Edmund come to the throne. Shortly after his proclamation as king, he had to face several military threats. King Olaf III Guthfrithson conquered Northumbria and invaded the Midlands; when Olaf died in 942, Edmund reconquered the Midlands.[2] In 943, Edmund became the god-father of King Olaf of York. In 944, Edmund was successful in reconquering Northumbria.[3] In the same year, his ally Olaf of York lost his throne and left for Dublin in Ireland. Olaf became the king of Dublin as Amlaâib Cuarâan and continued to be allied to his god-father. In 945, Edmund conquered Strathclyde but ceded the territory to King Malcolm I of Scotland in exchange for a treaty of mutual military support.[3] Edmund thus established a policy of safe borders and peaceful relationships with Scotland. During his reign, the revival of monasteries in England began.

    Louis IV of France

    One of Edmund's last political movements of which there is some knowledge is his role in the restoration of Louis IV of France to the throne. Louis, son of Charles the Simple and Edmund's half-sister Eadgifu, had resided at the West-Saxon court for some time until 936, when he returned to be crowned King of France. In the summer of 945, he was captured by the Norsemen of Rouen and subsequently released to Duke Hugh the Great, who held him in custody. The chronicler Richerus claims that Eadgifu wrote letters both to Edmund and to Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor in which she requested support for her son. Edmund responded to her plea by sending angry threats to Hugh.[4] Flodoard's Annales, one of Richerus' sources, report:

    Edmund, king of the English, sent messengers to Duke Hugh about the restoration of King Louis, and the duke accordingly made a public agreement with his nephews and other leading men of his kingdom. [...] Hugh, duke of the Franks, allying himself with Hugh the Black, son of Richard, and the other leading men of the kingdom, restored to the kingdom King Louis.[5][6]

    Death and succession

    On 26 May 946, Edmund was murdered by Leofa, an exiled thief, while attending St Augustine's Day mass in Pucklechurch (South Gloucestershire).[7] John of Worcester and William of Malmesbury add some lively detail by suggesting that Edmund had been feasting with his nobles, when he spotted Leofa in the crowd. He attacked the intruder in person, but in the event, Leofa killed him. Leofa was killed on the spot by those present.[8] A recent article re-examines Edmund's death and dismisses the later chronicle accounts as fiction. It suggests the king was the victim of a political assassination.[9]

    Edmund's sister Eadgyth, the wife of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, died earlier the same year, as Flodoard's Annales for 946 report.[10]

    Edmund was succeeded as king by his brother Eadred, king from 946 until 955. Edmund's sons later ruled England as:

    Eadwig, King of England from 955 until 957, king of only Wessex and Kent from 957 until his death on 1 October 959.
    Edgar the Peaceful, king of Mercia and Northumbria from 957 until his brother's death in 959, then king of England from 959 until 975.

    Buried:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Abbey

    Edmund married Aelfgifu of Shaftsbury. Aelfgifu was born in (~914); died in 944; was buried in Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  10. 737.  Aelfgifu of Shaftsbury was born in (~914); died in 944; was buried in Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset, England.

    Notes:

    Saint Ąlfgifu of Shaftesbury, also known as Saint Elgiva[1] (died 944) was the first wife of Edmund I (r. 939–946), by whom she bore two future kings, Eadwig (r. 955–959) and Edgar (r. 959–975). Like her mother Wynflaed, she had a close and special if unknown connection with the royal nunnery of Shaftesbury (Dorset), founded by King Alfred,[2] where she was buried and soon revered as a saint. According to a pre-Conquest tradition from Winchester, her feast day is 18 May.[3][4]

    Queen consort of England
    Tenure 939 - 944
    Died 944
    Burial Shaftesbury Abbey
    Spouse Edmund I, King of England
    Issue Eadwig, King of England
    Edgar, King of England
    Mother Wynflaed

    Family background

    Will of Wynflµd (British Library Cotton Charters viii. 38)[5]
    Her mother appears to have been an associate of Shaftesbury Abbey called Wynflaed (also Wynnflµd). The vital clue comes from a charter of King Edgar, in which he confirmed the grant of an estate at Uppidelen (Piddletrenthide, Dorset) made by his grandmother (ava) Wynflµd to Shaftesbury.[6] She may well be the nun or vowess (religiosa femina) of this name in a charter dated 942 and preserved in the abbey's chartulary. It records that she received and retrieved from King Edmund a handful of estates in Dorset, namely Cheselbourne and Winterbourne Tomson, which somehow ended up in the possession of the community.[7]

    Since no father or siblings are known, further speculation on Ąlfgifu's background has largely depended on the identity of her mother, whose relatively uncommon name has invited further guesswork. H. P. R. Finberg suggests that she was the Wynflµd who drew up a will, supposedly sometime in the mid-10th century, after Ąlfgifu's death. This lady held many estates scattered across Wessex (in Somerset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire) and was well connected with the nunneries at Wilton and Shaftesbury, both of which were royal foundations. On that basis, a number of relatives have been proposed for Ąlfgifu, including a sister called Ąthelflµd, a brother called Eadmµr, and a grandmother called Brihtwyn.[8]

    There is, however, no consensus among scholars about Finberg's suggestion. Simon Keynes and Gale R. Owen object that there is no sign of royal relatives or connections in Wynflµd's will and Finberg's assumptions about Ąlfgifu's family therefore stand on shaky ground.[9] Andrew Wareham is less troubled about this and suggests that different kinship strategies may account for it.[10] Much of the issue of identification also seems to hang on the number of years by which Wynflµd can plausibly have outlived her daughter. In this light, it is significant that on palaeographical grounds, David Dumville has rejected the conventional date of c. 950 for the will, which he considers “speculative and too early” (and that one Wynflµd was still alive in 967).[11]

    Married life

    The sources do not record the date of Ąlfgifu's marriage to Edmund. The eldest son Eadwig, who had barely reached majority on his accession in 955, may have been born around 940, which gives us only a very rough terminus ante quem for the betrothal. Although as the mother of two future kings, Ąlfgifu proved to be an important royal bed companion, there is no strictly contemporary evidence that she was ever consecrated as queen. In a charter of doubtful authenticity dated 942-946, she attests as the king's concubine (concubina regis).[12] but later in the century Ąthelweard the Chronicler styles her queen (regina).


    The remains of the Norman buildings which replaced the earlier ones at Shaftesbury Abbey.
    Much of Ąlfgifu's claim to fame derives from her association with Shaftesbury. Her patronage of the community is suggested by a charter of King Ąthelred, dated 984, according to which the abbey exchanged with King Edmund the large estate at Tisbury (Wiltshire) for Butticanlea (unidentified). Ąlfgifu received it from her husband and intended to bequeath it back to the nunnery, but such had not yet come to pass (her son Eadwig demanded that Butticanlea was returned to the royal family first).[13]

    Ąlfgifu predeceased her husband in 944.[14] In the early 12th century, William of Malmesbury wrote that she suffered from an illness during the last few years of her life, but there may have been some confusion with details of Ąthelgifu's life as recorded in a forged foundation charter of the late 11th or 12th century (see below).[15] Her body was buried and enshrined at the nunnery.[16]

    Sainthood

    Ąlfgifu was venerated as a saint soon after her burial at Shaftesbury. Ąthelweard reports that many miracles had taken place at her tomb up to his day,[17] and these were apparently attracting some local attention. Lantfred of Winchester, who wrote in the 970's and so can be called the earliest known witness of her cult, tells of a young man from Collingbourne (possibly Collingbourne Kingston, Wiltshire), who in the hope of being cured of blindness travelled to Shaftesbury and kept vigil. What led him there was the reputation of “the venerable St Ąlfgifu [...] at whose tomb many bodies of sick person receive medication through the omnipotence of God”.[18] Despite the new prominence of Edward the Martyr as a saint interred at Shaftesbury, her cult continued to flourish in later Anglo-Saxon England, as evidenced by her inclusion in a list of saints' resting places, at least 8 pre-Conquest calendars and 3 or 4 litanies from Winchester.[19]

    Ąlfgifu is styled a saint (Sancte Ąlfgife) in the D-text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (mid-11th century) at the point where it specifies Eadwig's and Edgar's royal parentage.[20] Her cult may have been fostered and used to enhance the status of the royal lineage, more narrowly that of her descendants.[21] Lantfred attributes her healing power both to her own merits and those of her son Edgar. It may have been due to her association that in 979 the supposed body of her murdered grandson Edward the Martyr was exhumed and in a spectacular ceremony, received at the nunnery of Shaftesbury, under the supervision of ealdorman Ąlfhere.[22]

    According to William of Malmesbury, Ąlfgifu would secretly redeem those who were publicly condemned to severe judgment, she gave expensive clothes to the poor, and she also had prophetic powers as well as powers of healing. [23]

    Ąlfgifu's fame at Shaftesbury seems to have eclipsed that of its first abbess, King Alfred's daughter Ąthelgifu,[24] so much so perhaps that William of Malmesbury wrote contradictory reports on the abbey's early history. In the Gesta regum, he correctly identifies the first abbess as Alfred's daughter, following Asser, although he gives her the name of Ąlfgifu (Elfgiva),[25] while in his Gesta pontificum, he credits Edmund's wife Ąlfgifu with the foundation.[26] Either William encountered conflicting information, or he meant to say that Ąlfgifu refounded the nunnery.[27] In any event, William would have had access to local traditions at Shaftesbury, since he probably wrote a now lost metrical Life for the community, a fragment of which he included in his Gesta pontificum:[28]



    Latin text Translation
    Nam nonnullis passa annis morborum molestiam,
    defecatam et excoctam Deo dedit animam.
    Functas ergo uitae fato beatas exuuias
    infinitis clemens signis illustrabat Deitas.
    Inops uisus et auditus si adorant tumulum,
    sanitati restituti probant sanctae meritum.
    Rectum gressum refert domum qui accessit loripes,
    mente captus redit sanus, boni sensus locuples

    For some years she suffered from illness,
    And gave to God a soul that it had purged and purified
    When she died, God brought lustre to her blessed remains
    In his clemency with countless miracles.
    If a blind man or a deaf worship at her tomb,
    They are restored to health and prove the saint's merits.
    He who went there lame comes home firm of step,
    The madman returns sane, rich in good sense.[29]

    See also

    Ąlfgifu of Exeter; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86lfgifu_of_Exeter

    Children:
    1. 368. Edgar the Peaceful, King of England was born about 943 in (Wessex) England; died on 8 Jul 0975 in Winchester, Hampshire, England; was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England.


Generation: 11

  1. 1280.  Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of Mar was born in 825 in Jamtland, Sweden; died in 890-894 in Giske, Norway; was buried in Giske, Norway.

    Notes:

    Rognvald Eysteinsson (fl. 865) was the founding Jarl (or Earl) of M˛re in Norway, and a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair, the earliest known King of Norway. In the Norse language he is known as Rognvaldr Eysteinsson and in modern Norwegian as Ragnvald M˛rejarl. He is sometimes referred to with bynames that may be translated into modern English as "Rognvald the Wise" or "Rognvald the Powerful".

    The earliest available sources regarding Rognvald are mutually contradictory and were compiled long after he died. The best known are the Norse Sagas, although modern scholars highlight many inconsistencies and improbable claims regarding Rognvald in the sagas, and believe that they must be treated with caution:[2] The texts of the sagas were compiled three centuries after the events described and their accuracy in regard to Rognvald's life and historical significance is now questioned. Hence some scholars instead emphasise other accounts, closer to the historical period in question, such as Irish and Scottish sources.

    While Rognvald does appear to have had some kind of role in the founding of the Norse Earldom of Orkney, most historians now doubt claims in the Sagas that Rognvald led one particular "great voyage" - a Norwegian expedition that attacked rebel vikings, who had been raiding Norway from bases on Orkney and Shetland, before raiding the Scottish mainland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is now generally believed that any such expedition would have occurred after Rognvald's lifetime. A modern authority on Orcadian history, William P. L. Thomson, comments that the story of the "great voyage is so thoroughly ingrained in popular and scholarly history, both ancient and modern, that it comes as a bit of a shock to realise that it might not be true."[3]

    Modern scholars also highlight inconsistencies and improbable claims in the sagas' claims regarding: the relationship between Rognvald and Harald; the names and biographies of Rognvald's immediate family, and; the founding of the earldom of M˛re.

    Rognvald was the father of Torf-Einarr (d. circa 910) an earl of Orkney. Some Norse accounts claimed that another son, Hrâolfr, settled in France and, under the name Rollo (d. 930), founded the Duchy of Normandy. However, French sources suggest that Rollo's father was an unnamed Danish or Norwegian nobleman, or a viking named Ketill.


    Contents
    1 Traditional accounts
    1.1 Sources
    1.2 Family
    1.3 Death and legacy
    2 Modern interpretations
    2.1 Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
    2.2 Founding of the earldom of Orkney
    2.3 Rognvald's brother and sons
    2.4 Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
    2.5 Broad themes
    3 References
    4 External links
    Traditional accounts

    Sources

    The oldest account that may refer to Rognvald and the Earldom of Orkney appears to be the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. These annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic, who died in 1039,[4] although they survive only as incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (17th century).

    ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkney Islands. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son.
    Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor.
    These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[5] and the mention of an eclipse confirms a date of 865.[6]

    Dating the Orkneyinga saga has proven to be controversial but a recent analysis has the "majority of scholars in favour of dates between 1170 and 1220"[7] whilst admitting that "it remains to be established when, why, where, for whom and by whom it was written".[8] Much of the information it contains is "hard to corroborate".[2]

    Rognvald is also referred to in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (written c. 1230), written in Iceland.


    Christian Krohg's portrait of Snorri Sturluson, 13th century compiler of the Heimskringla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Snorre_Sturluson-Christian_Krohg.jpg
    While the Historia Norvegiae (written c. 1505) includes an account of the foundation of the Orkney earldom, as well as some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney, it has relatively little to say about Rognvald.

    Family

    It is not certain that the Ragnall of the Irish annals is synonymous with Rognvald Eysteinsson. The relevant entry goes on to describe Ragnall's older sons raiding in Spain and North Africa, but there is no specific mention of the Earldom of Orkney. There is also a separate piece of circumstantial evidence, suggesting a link between Ragnall and the 9th century figure Ragnar Lodbrok: runic inscriptions found inside Maeshowe, dating from the 12th century, state that the mound was "built before Loşbrâok".[6]

    There is no agreement in the available sources on Rognvald's parentage. According to the Irish annals, Ragnall was the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make Ragnall the brother of King Harald Fairhair. This is contradicted by later Norse sagas, which suggest that Halfdan was Rognvald's grandfather.[9] The Orkneyinga saga says that Rognvald was the son of Eystein Ivarsson and grandson of Ívarr Upplendingajarl.[10]

    He was married, according to the Orkneyinga saga to Ragnhild, the daughter of a man named Hrâolfr Nose,[11] although in the Heimskringla his wife is named Hild.[12]

    Both sagas refer to six sons. The oldest, "by concubines", were Hallad, Einarr and Hrollaug, who were "grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children".[11][12] The latter were Ivar, Hrâolfr, and Thorir the Silent. Hrâolfr, who "was so big that no horse could carry him", hence his byname of "Ganger-Hrâolf",[11] is identified by the saga writers with Rollo, founder of Duchy of Normandy (in 911).[12]

    In the Orkneyinga saga Rognvald was made the Earl of M˛re by Harald Fairhair. The Saga of Harald Fairhair in Heimskringla recounts that Rognvald caused Harald Fairhair to be given his byname by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of his vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway.[13] Rognvald accompanied the king on a great military expedition. First the islands of Shetland and Orkney were cleared of vikings who had been raiding Norway and then continued on to Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. During this campaign Rognvald's son Ivarr was killed and in compensation Harald granted Rognvald Orkney and Shetland.

    Rognvald thereafter returned to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[14][11] Sigurd had been the forecastleman on Harald's ship and after sailing back east the king "gave Sigurd the title of earl".[11] However, the Heimskringla states specifically that Sigurd was the first Earl of Orkney.[15] According to the Orkneyinga Saga, after Sigurd became earl he died in a curious fashion, following a battle with Mâael Brigte of Moray. Sigurd's son Gurthorm ruled for a single winter after this and died childless.[16][17] Rognvald's son Hallad then inherited the title. However, unable to constrain Danish raids on Orkney, he gave up the earldom and returned to Norway, which "everyone thought was a huge joke."[18] Still, there is a tradition among the folk at Strath Halladale, Sutherland, which is named for Hallad, that he returned and was slain in battle at the beginning of the tenth century and was buried near the battle site in a circular trench ten or twelve feet wide. His sword, it is said, was placed beside him in the grave, and a stone was placed in the center of the circle, part of which was still visible at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The site was near a little town called Dal Halladha, Halladha's field.[19]


    A page from the Orkneyinga saga, as it appears in the 14th century Flateyjarbâok. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg/220px-Flatey_Book%2C_Orkneyinga_saga.jpg
    The Danish raids caused Rognvald to fly into a rage and summon his sons Thorir and Hrolluag. He predicted that Thorir's path would keep him in Norway and that Hrolluag was destined seek his fortune in Iceland. Turf-Einar, the youngest, then came forward and offered to go to the islands. Rognvald said: "Considering the kind of mother you have, slave-born on each side of her family, you are not likely to make much of a ruler. But I agree, the sooner you leave and the later you return the happier I'll be."[20] His father's misgivings notwithstanding, Torf-Einarr succeeded in defeating the Danes and founded a dynasty which retained control of the islands for centuries after his death.[21]

    Historia Norvegiae includes some questionable details about pre-Viking Orkney - such as an account of the Picts as a small people who hid in the daytime - as well as the foundation of the Orkney earldom,.

    In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[22]

    This account does not specifically associate Rognvald with the earldom, attributing the "dominion" of the islands to the anonymous kinfolk of his son Hrâolfr.[23]

    Death and legacy
    Rognvald was killed by King Harald's son Halfdan Hęalegg and Gudrod Gleam, who engineered a sudden attack, surrounding the house in which Rognvald was staying, and burned it to the ground with the earl and 60 of his men inside it. Harald "flew into a rage" when he heard about this and sent out a "great force" against Gudrod who was then banished. Halfdan escaped into the western seas and Rognvald's death was later avenged by Torf-Einarr, who killed him on North Ronaldsay and then made peace with Harald. Rognvald's son Thorir was then made Earl of M˛re by Harald, who also gave Thorir his daughter Alof in marriage.[24][25][26]

    The sagas thus identify Rognvald as the apical figure of the Norse Earls of Orkney who controlled the islands until the early 13th century, and a forerunner of important Icelandic families. Furthermore, through his son Hrolfr, Rognvald is portrayed as an ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy who, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, became the kings of England.[11]

    Modern interpretations
    Harald Fairhair and the voyage to the west
    Black and white drawing of a snapshot showing shipmasts with flags and warriors marching below. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg/170px-Kong-magnus-berrfott-menn.jpg
    Magnus Barefoot's army in Ireland. Magnus' actions in the west clearly form the basis of the saga narrative about the submission of Orkney and Shetland to Harald Fairhair's fleet.[27]
    Rognvald's life occurs within the first eight short chapters within the Orkneyinga saga and it is clear that in this early period it contains generally less detail and historical accuracy than in the later events it describes.[28] Recorded in the 13th century, the sagas are informed by Norwegian politics of the day.

    Harald Fairhair's supposed expeditions to the west, recounted by Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla are no longer accepted as historical realities by many modern historians, including Thomson.[3] Later (mid-13th century) rivalry between the Norwegians and the Kings of the Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man are seen to have driven Sturluson's account.[29] At least in part, the sagas aim to legitimise Norwegian claims to both the Northern Isles and the Kingdom of the Isles in the west.[27] The situation faced by Earl Harald Maddadsson of Orkney in 1195, when he was forced to submit himself to royal authority after an ill-judged intervention in Norwegian affairs, would have made legendary material of this nature of considerable interest in Orkney, at the time that the sagas were written.[30]

    It is also clear that elements in the narrative are drawn from the much later expeditions undertaken by Magnus Barefoot.[27]

    Nonetheless, the view that the Orkney earldom was created by "members of the M˛re family" continues to receive academic support.[31]

    Harald Fairhair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[32] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889-900).[33] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier. The entry in the Fragmentary Annals at an early date also makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.


    The monument at Haraldshaugen, erected to celebrate the millennial anniversary of Norway's unification under the rule of King Harald Fairhair after the Battle of Hafrsfjord. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Haraldshaugen.JPG/220px-Haraldshaugen.JPG
    Other saga material provides an alternative description. In the Eyrbyggja saga the same story of a great expedition to punish unruly Vikings who were raiding Norway is undertaken, but here it is Ketil flatnefr (Ketil Flatnose) who leads it. Although this is apparently done at Harald's behest, Ketil then claims the islands as his own. Once again, the chronology is flawed by Harald's inclusion in the tale as other information provided about Ketil gives him a floruit of the mid, rather than late, 9th century.[3]

    Furthermore, contemporary Irish sources have a great deal to say about Viking raids on the coasts of Ireland and southern Scotland and those who led them, but none mention King Harald. The earliest of the large expeditions again belong to a period-the 840s-that pre-dates the time of Harald's kingship.[34]

    Smyth (1984) credits the launching of the great voyage to the west to Olaf the White, whom he provides with a royal Vestfold origin along with various military activities in Scotland and for whom, assuming an identification of Olaf with Amlaib "Conung" the King of Dublin, there is a contemporary Irish reference dating to 853.[35] Icelandic sources also have Olaf marrying Aud the Deep-Minded, Ketil flatnefr's daughter, and the ''Annals of Ulster'' record what may be dynastic in-fighting between Olaf and his father-in-law in 857.[36][Note 1]

    Founding of the earldom of Orkney
    By implication the Orkneyinga saga identifies Rognvald as the founder of the earldom, although Heimskringla has his brother Sigurd as the first to formally hold the title. Other sources are less specific (see above) and the sagas have been interpreted in various other ways. Smyth (1984), having banished King Harald's role in the voyage to the west to the realms of myth concludes that the role of the brothers Eysteinsson can be similarly so dispatched and that Torf-Einarr "may be regarded as the first historical earl of Orkney".[38]

    Drawing on Adam of Bremen's assertion that Orkney was not conquered until the time of Harald Hardrada, who ruled Norway from 1043-66, Woolf (2007) speculates that Sigurd "the Stout" Hlodvirsson, Torf-Einarr's great-grandson, may have been the first Earl of Orkney [39]

    Rognvald's brother and sons

    Orkney and Shetland at centre, in relation to nearby territories https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png/220px-Shetland_and_surrounding_lands.png
    The notion that Rognvald could hand over his Northern Isles estates to his brother has been interpreted in various ways. For example, it may be that he was aware of ongoing Viking raiding in the area and considered the gift from the king as a mixed blessing.[40] This is also one of a number of instances in which the writer of the Orkneyinga saga attempts to reconcile the conflicting themes of independence from Norway (Rognvald gifts the islands to Sigurd) and dependence on royal authority (Harald formalises the process by confirming Sigurd as earl).[41] Beuermann (2011) speculates that Rognvald's transfer of power to his brother may have been an attempt by the saga writers to imply that the Orkney earldom had more independence from Norway than that of M˛re[42] and that Rognvald's holdings in Caithness may have allowed for an even greater degree of freedom of action. Such implications are more likely to be rooted in the writer's interest in emphasising Orcadian independence at the time of writing rather than the 9th/10th century events they purport to describe.[43]

    After Hallad's failure in Orkney there is a dialogue between father and sons that has been interpreted as being about Rognvald's desire to cement his own position as Earl of M˛re and an allusion to the early history of Iceland, where the sagas were written. Thorir is a compliant son who Rognvald is happy to keep at home. Hrolluag is portrayed as a man of peace who will go to Iceland. Einarr is aggressive and a threat to his father's position so can be spared for the dangers of Orkney.[44] In the Landnâamabâok version the equally aggressive Hrolfr is also present, and his destiny is anticipated to be in conveniently far-away Normandy.[45][Note 2]

    Similarities to Ragnall ua Ímair
    Alex Woolf suggests that saga authors may have synthesised elements of the life of Ragnall ua Ímair, a later figure, into the figure of Rognvald Eysteinsson of M˛re. Ragnall ua Ímair, who was active between 914 and 921 in the Irish Sea region, was a grandson of Ímar, the "king of the Northmen of all Britain and Ireland", whose death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster in 873.[46]

    There are at least two major similarities between the two figures include: both are grandsons of an Ímar/Ivarr and; like Rognvald, a close relative of Ragnall named Ímar was killed in battle in Scotland (Ímar ua Ímair, d. 904).[47]

    Broad themes
    There are several recurring themes in the Orkneyinga saga, including strife between brothers, relationships between the jarls and the Norwegian crown, and raiding in the Hebrides,[48] all of which are touched on during the saga's coverage of Rognvald's life and times. In part, the saga's purpose was to "explore such social and psychological tensions as these in the history of the people of Orkney, and to help them understand themselves through a knowledge of their origins".[49]

    References
    Notes
    More controversially, Smyth also identifies Olaf the White with Olaf Geirstad-Alf, a legendary Norwegian king of the House of Yngling - a suggestion dismissed by Ó Corrâain (1979).[37]
    In the Heimskringla Hrolfr is banished by King Harald.[12]
    Footnotes
    Muir (2005) Preface: Genealogical table of the Earls of Orkney.
    Woolf (2007) p. 242
    Thomson (2008) p. 25
    Radner (1999) p. 322-23
    Anderson (1990) p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865.
    Thomson (2008) p. 22
    Phelpstead (2001) p. xvi
    Phelpstead (2001) p. ix, quoting Inger Ekrem.
    Crawford (1987) pp. 53-54
    Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 3 - "The Sea-Kings" p. 25-26
    Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 4 - " To Shetland and Orkney" pp. 26-27
    Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 24 - Rolf Ganger Driven Into Banishment.
    Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23
    Anderson (1990) pp. 332-334; Saga of Harald Fairhair Chapter 22- King Harald's Voyage To The West.
    Heimskringla. "Chapter 99 - History Of The Earls Of Orkney".
    Thomson (2008) p. 28.
    Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 5 - "A poisoned tooth" pp. 27-28
    Thomson (2008) p. 30 quoting chapter 5 of the Orkneyinga saga.
    Pinkerton, John (1809). A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and in All Parts of the World, Vol. 3. London. p. 152. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
    Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 6 - "Forecasts" pp. 28-29.
    Thomson (2008) p. 29
    Anderson (1990) pp. 330-331
    Phelpstead (2001) p. 9
    Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29-30
    Orkneyinga saga (1981) Chapter 8 - "Troublemakers from Norway" pp. 29-33
    Heimskringla. "Harald Harfager's Saga, Part 30 - Earl Ragnvald Burnt In His House".
    Thomson (2008) p. 27
    Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 11
    Crawford (1987) pp. 52-53.
    Thomson (2008) pp. 27-28
    Helle, Knut (2006) "Earls of Orkney": The Vikings and Scotland - Impact and Influence, Royal Society of Edinburgh Conference 22-26 September 2006. Edinburgh (Rapporteur: Andrew Heald); retrieved 27 January 2014.
    Crawford (1987) p. 55-56.
    Anderson (1990) pp. 395-396.
    Thomson (2008) p. 26
    Smyth (1984) pp. 152-53
    Smyth (1984) p. 156
    Ó Corrâain (1979) p. 298
    Smyth (1984) p. 153
    Woolf (2007) p. 307
    Muir (2005) p. 6
    Thomson (2008) p. 31
    Beuermann (2011) p. 120
    Beuermann (2011) p. 121
    Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 13
    Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 14
    Ó Corrâain (1998) p. 37
    Woolf (2007) pp. 300-303
    Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" pp. 15-16
    Pâalsson and Edwards (1981) "Introduction" p. 19
    General references
    Anderson, Alan Orr (1990) Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500-1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford. ISBN 1-871615-03-8
    Beuermann, Ian "Jarla Sogur Orkneyja. Status and power of the earls of Orkney according to their sagas" in Steinsland, Gro; Sigurşsson, Jâon Vişar; Rekda, Jan Erik and Beuermann, Ian (eds) (2011) Ideology and power in the viking and middle ages: Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, Orkney and the Faeroes . The Northern World: North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 A.D. Peoples, Economics and Cultures. 52. Leiden. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20506-2
    Crawford, Barbara (1987) Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0
    Muir, Tom (2005) Orkney in the Sagas: The Story of the Earldom of Orkney as told in the Icelandic Sagas. The Orcadian. Kirkwall. ISBN 0954886232.
    Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (Mar 1979) "High-Kings, Vikings and Other Kings". Irish Historical Studies 22 No. 83 pp. 283-323. Irish Historical Studies Publications.
    Ó Corrâain, Donnchadh (1998) Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the Ninth Century CELT. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
    Pâalsson, Hermann and Edwards, Paul Geoffrey (1981). Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044383-5
    Phelpstead, Karl (ed) (2001) A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Ólâafr. (pdf) Translated by Devar Kunin. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series. XIII. University of London.
    Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). "Fragmentary Annals of Ireland". CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
    Radner, Joan N. (1999) "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form" (PDF), Celtica. 23, pp. 312-325.
    Smyth, Alfred P. (1984) Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80-1000. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7
    Sturluson, Snorri (1992) Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin. ISBN 0-292-73061-6
    Sturlson, Snorri Heimskringla. Wisdom Library ;retrieved 21 January 2014.
    Thomson, William P. L. (2008) The New History of Orkney. Edinburgh. Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-696-0
    Woolf, Alex (2007) From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5

    end of this biography

    Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M˛re
    Norwegian: Ragnvald Eysteinsson, M˛rejarl
    Also Known As: "R˛gnvald", "Rognvaldr Mśrajarl", "son Eysteins glumru", "den Ręadsnare", "Ragnvald ˘ysteinsson", "Rognvald I Eysteinsson", "Rčognvaldr Mśrajarl"
    Birthdate: 825
    Birthplace: Vestfold, Norway or, ęAre Municipality, Jčamtland County, Sweden
    Death: 894 (69)
    Giske, M˛re og Romsdal, Norway (Norway, Ragnvald, With 60 of His Men, Die In A Longhouse When Two of Harald's Jealous Sons Burned It Down With Them In It)
    Place of Burial: Giske, M˛re og Romsdal, Norway

    Ragnvald is the 37th great grandfather of David Michael Cornett ... http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I848&tree=hennessee

    Immediate Family:

    Ragnvald is the 32nd through the 37th great grandfather to Martha Ann Millsaps

    Son of Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» Glumra and N.N.
    Husband of Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir
    Partner of NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnvald M˛rejarl, mother/s of Torf-Einar, Hrollaug and Hallad
    Father of Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl; Hrollager Rognvaldsson; Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjčorşur, Íslands; Ivar Ragnvaldsson M˛rejarl and 3 others
    Brother of Sigurd Eysteinsson, I, Jarl of Orkney and Svanhild Eysteinsdotter
    Occupation: M˛rejarl, Earl of M˛re and Romsdal, Earl of More and Romsdal, Earl of More, also "The Wise", Earl of Shetland and Orkney, Count of Maer, Jarl of North and South More and Of Ramsdal, Jarl âa Mµri., Jarl âa Mµri, EARL OF MORE, Earl, Jarl
    Managed by: Harald Tveit Alvestrand
    Last Updated: January 22, 2019

    Immediate Family

    NN Frille (Mistress/es) of Ragnv...partner

    Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Orkneyjarl, son

    Einarr "Turf" Rognvaldsson, Orkn..., son

    Hrollager Rognvaldsson, son

    Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Eyjafjčor..., son

    Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, wife

    Ivar Ragnvaldsson M˛rejarl, son

    Gange-Hrâolfr 'Rollo' Ragnvaldsson, son

    Tore "Teiande" Ragnvaldsson, son

    Gutum Ragnvaldson, son

    Eystein Ivarsson «the Noisy» G...father

    N.N., mother
    About Ragnvald Eysteinsson, Earl of M˛re
    Rognvaldr Mčorejarl, son Eysteins glumru. Earl of M˛re and father of Gange-Hrolf Rollo of Normandie.

    Basics
    Father: Eystein "Glumra" Ivarsson
    Mother: Asdis (Ascrida) (undocumented)
    Concubines: Names unknown
    Son: Hallad
    Son: Hrollaug, who settled in Iceland
    Son: Torf-Einar, who settled in Orkney
    Wife: Ragnhild (also called Hild) Hrolfsdatter
    Son: Gange-Rolf, who settled in Normandie
    Son: Ivar, killed in battle
    Son: Tore Teiande, who became a jarl in Norway
    LInks and notes
    http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORWEGIAN%20NOBILITY.htm#Ragnvalddied894A http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_Eysteinsson http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=&emne=nor&person=Ragnvald%20%D8ysteinsson

    D˛d omkring 892. Han var s˛nn av ˘ystein Glumra. Ragnvald var gift med Hild Rolvsdatter. De hadde barna: 1. Gange-Rolv Ragnvaldson av Normandie. F˛dt mellom 860 og 866. D˛d 931. 2. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldson M˛rejarl. F˛dt omkring 862. D˛d mellom 938 og 940.
    I henhold til Orkn˛yingenes saga gęar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s˛nn var far til Sveide sj˛konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ˘ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den ręadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

    Ragnvald levde pęa Harald Hęarfagres tid, og ble av ham forlenet med Nordm˛re, Romsdal og Sundm˛re i 865. Han var av sine samtidige h˛yt ansett for sin klokskap og ble kalt «den mektige». Det var han som klipte Haralds hęar, som da ikke var klippet pęa 10 ęar. ----------------------------- RAGNVALD "the Wise", son of [EYSTEIN "Glumra/Clatterer" Jarl in Norway & his wife ---] (-[894]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Eystein the Clatterer, father of the wise counsellor Earl Rognwald the Powerful…”, adding that “Earl Rognwald campaigned with King Harald Fine-Hair who gave him charge of North More, South More and Romsdale”[141].

    Snorre names "Ragnvald Earl of More, a son of Eystein "Glumra" when recording that he had become a supporter of King Harald who had invested him with the districts of North More and Raumsdal[142]. Snorre records that he was created Jarl of North and South Mčore and of Raumsdal in Norway by Harald I "Hęarfagre" King of Norway after his victory at Solskiel [869] against Hunthiof King of Mčore and Nokve King of Raumsdal[143].

    Orkneyinga Saga and Snorre both record that King Harald granted Shetland and Orkney to Ragnvald in compensation for the death of his son Ivar[144]. The Historia Norwegie records that "principi Rogwaldi" crossed the Solund Sea, destroyed the peoples of the Orkney islands, in the days of "Haraldi Comati regis…Norwegie"[145].

    Orkneyinga Saga records that “Halfdan Long-Leg and Gudrod Gleam, King Harald´s sons by Snµfrid” attacked “Earl Rognvald of More, killed him and assumed his authority”[146].

    Snorre records that Ragnvald was ambushed in his hall and burned alive by Halfdan Haaleg and Gudred Liomi, two of King Harald's sons[147].

    m [RAGNHILD, daughter of HROLF “Nevja/Nose” & his wife ---. Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Rognwald” married “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[148]. Snorre names "Hild, a daughter of Rolf Nefia" as the wife of "Earl Ragnvald"[149].]

    [Ragnvald & his wife had three children:]

    1. [IVAR (-killed in battle either Hafrsfiord [872] or Orkney [874]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that Ivar was killed in battle fighting with Harald I "Hęarfagre" King of Norway in Scotland[150]. Snorre names "Ivar, a son of Ragnvald Earl of More" when recording his death in battle during a Viking campaign against the Scottish islands[151]. The Complete Peerage dates the appointment of Sigurd (Ivar´s reported paternal uncle) as Jarl of Orkney to [875][152], which means that Ivar must have been killed shortly before this date. However, as explained below this causes considerable chronological difficulties with the reported events in the career of Turf-Einar, Ivar´s youngest illegitimate half-brother, so should be considered as extremely approximate.

    2. [ROLLO [Hrolf "Ganger/the Walker"] (-[928]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Hrolf who conquered Normandy” as son of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”, adding that he was so big that no horse could carry him, giving rise to his name “Gčongu-Hrolf”[153]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild, recording that Rolf was banished from Norway by King Harald and travelled to the Hebrides, settling first in Orkney before moving southwards through Scotland, and eventually conquering Normandy[154]. The Historia Norwegie records that, after Orkney was conquered by "principi Rogwaldi" and his followers, "de quorum collegio…Rodulfus" captured Rouen in Normandy, commenting that he was known as "Gongurolfr" because he was obliged to walk as he was too large to travel on horseback[155]. This source makes no reference to any blood relationship between Rollo and "principi Rogwaldi". According to Dudo of Saint-Quentin, Rollo arrived in northern France in 876[156], although there is some debate about [900] being a more likely date[157]. William of Jumiáeges records that Rollo was chosen by lot to be leader of the Viking colonists[158]. Viking raids intensified in northern France. Although they were defeated after raiding Chartres [911], Charles III "le Simple" King of the West Franks granted the Normans land around Rouen in which to settle[159]. The uncertain nature of the demise was the source of future problems between the French crown, which claimed that it was an enfeofment for which the ruler owed allegiance, and the later Dukes of Normandy who claimed it was an unconditional allod for which no allegiance was owed. A charter dated 14 Mar 918 which granted land to the monastery of Saint-Germain-des-Prâes "except that part…which we have granted to the Normans of the Seine, namely to Rollo and his companions"[160]. He was later known as ROBERT I Comte [de Normandie].]

    3. [THORE Ragnvaldsson "Tause/the Silent". Orkneyinga Saga names “Ivar and Thorer the Silent” as the two other sons of “Earl Rognwald” and his wife “Ragnhild the daughter of Hrolf Nose”[161]. Snorre names "Rolf and Thorer" as the two sons of "Earl Ragnvald" and his wife Hild[162]. He succeeded his father in [894] as Jarl of Mčore, having dispossessed Gudrod "Ljome", son of King Harald, who had seized Mčore on the death of Jarl Ragnvald[163].

    m ([890]) ALOF "Aarbod/Season-bettering", daughter of HARALD I "Hęarfagre/Harfagri/Fairhair" King of Norway & his second wife Gyda of Hordaland. Snorre records that King Harald gave Jarl Thore his daughter "Alof, called Arbot" after the king confirmed him as Jarl of Mčore[164].] [Thore & his wife had one child:]

    a) [BERGLJOT Thoresdatter. The Historia Norwegie names "Bergliota filia Thoris Tacentis", from "nobilissima Morensium ac Halogensium comitum prosapia", as the wife of "Siwardo"[165]. Snorre names "Bergljot, a daughter of Earl Thorer the Silent" & his wife as the wife of Sigurd[166].

    m SIGURD Jarl, son of HAAKON Grjotgardson Jarl of Haalogaland & his wife -- (-murdered Oglo 962).]

    [Ragnvald had three illegitimate children by unknown mistresses:]

    4. [HALLAD . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[167]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[168]. Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent “his son Hallad west to the islands” after hearing of the death of his brother and nephew, and that Harald I "Hęarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl” to Hallad who “came to Orkney and took up residence on Mainland”[169]. Snorre records that Earl Ragnvald installed his son Hallad as Jarl of Orkney after the death of his brother Sigurd, but that he resigned the earldom and returned to Norway[170]. Orkneyinga Saga records that, following complaints by farmers about Viking raids, Hallad “tiring of his rule, gave up the earldom and went back to Norway as a common landholder” which “made him a laughing stock”[171].

    5. [HROLLAUG . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[172]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[173].

    Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald told his son Hrollaug that “your fate will take you to Iceland [where] you´ll have plenty of descendants”[174]. His alleged descendants in Iceland shown below are as stated in Thorstein Side-Hallum's Saga and Flatey-book's St Olaf's Saga[175] but the accuracy of this information, which has not been corroborated in other sources, is unknown. m ---. The name of Hrollaug´s wife is not known.] [Hrollaug & his wife had one child:]

    a) [JON Ozur . m ---. The name of Jon´s wife is not known.] [Jon & his wife had one child:]

    i) [THOREY . m ---. The name of Thorey´s wife is not known.] [Thorey & his wife had one child:]

    (a) [HALL of Sida . m ---. The name of Hall´s wife is not known.] [Hall & his wife had two children:]

    (1) [THORSTEIN . Aged 20 at the battle of Clontarf 1014.

    (2) [THORDIS . Orkneyinga Saga records that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[176]. m ---. The name of Thordis´s husband is not known.] Thordis & her husband had one child:

    a. USPAK . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of…Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[177]. m ---. The name of Uspak´s wife is not known. Uspak & his wife had one child:

    (i) SOMERLED . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”[178]. m ---. The name of Somerled´s wife is not known. Somerled & his wife had one child:

    (a) THORA . Orkneyinga Saga records that “Earl Erlend Thorfinnson” married “Thora, the daughter of Sumarlidi Ospaksson”, adding that “the mother of this Ospak was Thordis, daughter of Hall of Sida”[179]. Orkneyinga Saga records that “his mother was married…to a man called Sigurd” when her son Magnus returned to Orkney, adding that she and her second husband had a son “Hakon Karl…[and] a farm at Paplay”[180]. m firstly ERLEND Thorfinsson Jarl of Orkney, son of THORFINN "the Black" Jarl of Orkney & his wife Ingibjčorg Finnsdatter (-in prison Nidaros 1098, bur Nidaros). m secondly SIGURD of Paplay .

    b) [HALLBERA . m ASBIORN, son of HRAFUNKEL of Steinrodar-Stadir in Iceland.]

    6. [EINAR "Turf-Einar” . Orkneyinga Saga names “Hallad, Hrollaug and the youngest Einar” as “natural sons” of “Earl Rognwald”[181]. Snorre names "Hallad, the second Einar, the third Hrollaug" as the three sons of "Earl Ragnvald" by concubines, adding that they were all "grown men" when their legitimate brothers were still children[182].

    Orkneyinga Saga records that Ragnvald sent his “youngest son Einar” to “the islands” after his brother Hallad returned to Norway and that Harald I "Hęarfagre" King of Norway gave “the title of earl”, adding that his mother was “slave-born on each side of her family”, and stating that he killed “Thorir Tree-Beard and Kalf Scurvy” and succeeded in imposing his authority in Orkney where “he was the first man to dig peat for fuel…at Tarbat Ness in Scotland”, and that he “was tall and ugly…and…one-eyed”[183]. It should be noted that there are considerable chronological difficulties with the career of Turf-Einar and his sons, as reported in Orkneyinga Saga.

    The starting point for the analysis of these problems is the date of the battle in Northumbria in which Turf-Einar´s two oldest sons were killed, which can with reasonable accuracy be placed in the early 950s. If these two sons were at least in their late thirties or forties when they died (a difficult assumption to make considering that they had no reported direct heirs), their births could not be placed before [905/15] at the earliest. The likelihood would then be that their father, Turf-Einar, was not born much earlier than [975/95]. The difficulty is that this date is completely incompatible with (a) the fact that the illegitimate sons of Ragnvald were reported as “grown men” when their legitimate half-brothers were children, and (b) that the date when Ivar, the oldest legitimate son, was killed is estimated to [874].

    ----------------------------- Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hęarfagres saga: «10. ... Ragnvald M˛rejarl, s˛nn til ˘ystein Glumra, var blitt kong Haralds mann da om sommeren. Kong Harald satte ham til h˛vding over disse to fylkene, Nordm˛re og Romsdal, og ga ham rett til hjelp bęade av stormenn og b˛nder, likesęa skip nok til ęa verge landet for ufred. Han ble kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den ręadsnare, og de sier at begge navnene var sanne. Kong Harald var i Trondheimen vinteren som fulgte.»

    «23. Kong Harald var i gjestebud pęa M˛re hos Ragnvald jarl; da hadde han lagt hele landet under seg. Da gikk kongen i bad der. Og nęa lot kong Harald hęaret sitt greie, og Ragnvald jarl skar hęaret hans; da hadde det ikke vµrt skęaret eller kjemmet pęa ti ęar. F˛r kalte de ham Harald Luva, men nęa ga Ragnvald jarl ham nytt navn, og kalte ham Harald Hęarfagre. Alle som sęa ham, sa at det var virkelig et sant navn, for han hadde et hęar som var bęade stort og vakkert.»

    Ragnvald ble innebrent pęa sin gęard sammen med 60 mann av Halvdan Hęalegg og Gudr˛d Ljome, to av Haralds s˛nner, som vill vµre jarler over M˛re. 1)

    1). Snorre Sturlason: Harald Hęarfagres saga, avsnitt 10, 23-24. Snorre Sturlason: Olav den helliges saga, avsnitt 96. Mogens Bugge: Vęare forfedre, nr. 278. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 50, 76. ----------------------------------------------- Ragnvald's life is described by Snorri Sturluson in The Saga of Harald Hęarfagre (Fairhair): http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?lang=no&emne=asatru&person=&list=&vis=s_e_harald_harfagre#43 --------------------------------------- About the name Ragnvald in various versions: http://www.nordicnames.de/pojk_r/Ragnvald.html

    Ragnvald ˘ysteinsson M˛rejarl (norr˛nt Rčognvaldr Mśrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pęa nordvestlandet i Norge pęa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omręadet som i dag heter M˛re og Romsdal.
    Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s˛nn av ˘ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ˘ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn˛yingenes saga gęar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s˛nn var far til Sveide sj˛konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ˘ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den ręadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

    Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hęarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M˛rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h˛yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s˛nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles˛nner ogsęa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef˛dte br˛drene deres var barn ennęa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sęa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

    Ragnvald var sęaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld˛mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s˛nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

    Den ręadsnare If˛lge Snorre satte Harald Hęarfagre Ragnvald til ęa vµre jarl over Nordm˛re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm˛re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bęade stormenn og b˛nder, likesęa skip nok til ęa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsęa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den ręadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

    Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hęar da han etter ti ęar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F˛r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hęaret var skęaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hęarfagre».

    Orkn˛yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s˛nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sęa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke ęa ligne pęa forfedrene sine. Den andre s˛nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn˛yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st˛rre hęap om at dine frender fęar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbęarne».

    Ragnvald utstyrte s˛nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pęa Orkn˛yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pęa Orkn˛yene og en mektig mann, en˛yd og stygg ęa se pęa.

    Innebrent Da Harald Hęarfagre tok til ęa eldes ble s˛nnene hans Halvdan Hęalegg og Gudr˛d Ljome stadig mer misforn˛yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da ęa ikke vente mer pęa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M˛rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

    Da kongen h˛rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr˛d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sęa Tore Teiande, s˛nn av Ragnvald M˛rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren ęAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «ęArbot». Halvdan Hęalegg dro derimot over til Orkn˛yene, kom uventet pęa Torv-Einar som męatte flykte, men samme h˛st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

    Original text: Snorri, Heimskringla, Haralds saga hins hâarfagra: "Rčognvaldr Mśrajarl, son Eysteins glumru, hafşi ¤âa um sumarit gerzt maşr Haralds konungs. Haraldr konungr setti hann hčofşingja yfir ¤essi tvau fylki, Norşmśri ok Raumsdal, ok fâekk honum ¤ar styrk til bµşi af râikismčonnum ok bâondum, svâa ok skipakost at verja landit fyrir âufrişi. Hann var kallaşr Rčognvaldr hinn râiki eşa hinn râaşsvinni, ok segja menn at hvâarrtveggja vµri sannnefni. Haraldr konungr var um vetrinn eptir âi ´râandheimi."
    [...]

    "12. Brenna Vemundar konungs.

    Eptir ¤at lagşi Haraldr konungr undir sik Sunnmśri. Vemundr, brâoşir Auşbjarnar konungs, hâelt Firşafylki ok gerşist konungr yfir. ´etta var sâişla um haust, ok gera menn ¤at râaş meş Haraldi konungi, at hann skyldi eigi fara suşr um Staş âa haustdegi. ´âa setti Haraldr konungr Rčognvald jarl yfir Mśri hvâaratveggju ok Raumsdal, ok hafşi hann ¤âa um sik mikit fjčolmenni. Haraldr konungr sneri ¤âa norşr aptr til ´râandheims. ´ann sama vetr fâor Rčognvaldr jarl hit işra um Eiş, ok svâa suşr um Fjčorşu. Hann hafşi njâosn af Vemundi konungi, ok kom um nâott ¤ar sem heitir Naustdalr; Var Vemundr konungr ¤ar âa veizlu. Rčognvaldr jarl tâok hâus âa ¤eim, ok brendi konung inni meş nâiutigi manna. Eptir ¤at kom Berşlukâari til Rčognvalds jarls meş langskip alskipat, ok fâoru ¤eir bâaşir norşr âa Mśri. Tâok Rčognvaldr jarl skip ¤au, er âatt hafşi Vemundr konungr, ok alt lausafâe ¤at er hann fâekk. Berşlukâari fâor norşr til ´râandheims âa fund Haralds konungs ok gerşist hans maşr; hann var berserkr mikill."

    Ragnvald Eysteinsson, The Wise (830-890), Earl of Sunnm˛re, Nordm˛re and Romsdal, was born in Maer Nord-Tr˛ndelag, Norway and died at the Orkney Islands.
    He was son of Eystein Glumra the Noisy, Earl of Oppland, and grandson of Halfdan the Old.

    His second wife was Ragnhild Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir (Raghldr (Hldr) Hrolfsdâottir) daughter of Hrolfr Nefjaa. Ragnvald was the father of Hrolf Ganger, the founder of Normandy. He was also the father of Turf-Einar, the ancestor of the jarls of Orkney.

    He was the direct ancestor to William I of England, Edward III of England, James I of England, and, therefore, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He is therefore the ancestor of most of the royal families of Europe.

    Ragnvald Eystemssčon, allmčant kallad Mčorejarl. norsk storman i 9:de ęarh., ęatnjčot i hčog grad Harald Hęarfagres fčortroende och styrde sęasom hans jarl Mčorerne (Nord- och Sčondmčore samt Romsdalen). R. blef genom sin ene son. Torv-Einar, stamfader fčor Orkenčo-jarlarna och genom den andre, Gęange-Rolf, stamfader fčor hertigarna af Normandie. Af sina samtida kallades han den »ręadmilde» och den »mčaktige». Trots sin ęadagalagda trohet mot konungen čoverfčolls och drčaptes han af dennes sčoner omkr. 890. Y. s.
    Fręan Nordisk Familjebok

    Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
    The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

    In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M˛re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.[2]

    The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

    Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hęalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

    The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

    In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

    This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous kinfolk.

    The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

    The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

    These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

    Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rognvald_Eysteinsson

    Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More (1) M, #104777 Last Edited=28 Oct 2002
    Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More is the son of Eystein 'the Noisy' Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Ascrida Ragnvaldsdottir. (1) He died circa 890, burnt to death in his house. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More gained the title of Earl of More. Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More also went by the nick-name of 'The Mighty'.
    Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Groa (?) -1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -2. Turf-Einar Ragnvaldsson, Earl of Orkney (1) -3. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson (1) Children of Ragnvald I 'the Wise' Eysteinsson, Earl of More and Ragnhild Hrolfsdottir -1. Ivar Ragnvaldsson (1) -2. Thori 'the Silent' Ragnvaldsson, Jarl of More+ (1) -3. Rollo Ragnvaldsson, 1st Duc de Normandie+ b. c 846, d. c 931 (1)

    Forrâas: http://www.thepeerage.com/p10478.htm#i104777

    Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

    Contents [hide] 1 Sagas 2 Historia Norvegiae 3 Fragmentary Annals of Ireland 4 Notes 5 References

    [edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

    In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M˛re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

    The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

    Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hęalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

    [edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

    In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

    This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

    [edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patrâaic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

    The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

    These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

    Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

    [edit] Notes ^ Crawford, pp. 52–53. ^ Anderson, pp. 332–334; Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 22. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 24. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29–30. ^ Anderson, pp. 330–331. ^ Crawford, pp. 53–54. ^ Anderson, p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865. ^ Crawford, p. 55–56. ^ Anderson, pp. 395–396.

    [edit] References Anderson, Alan Orr. Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8 Crawford, Barbara. Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leicester, 1987. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0 Ó Corrain, Donnchad. "The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the Ninth Century", Peritia, vol 12, pp296–339. (etext (pdf) Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator). Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. University College Cork. Retrieved on 2007-03-10. Radner, Joan N. "Writing history: Early Irish historiography and the significance of form", Celtica, volume 23, pp. 312–325. (etext (pdf)) Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000. Reprinted, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1998. ISBN 0-7486-0100-7 Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texas Press, Austin, 1992. ISBN 0-292-73061-6

    Ragnvald ˘ysteinsson M˛rejarl (norr˛nt Rčognvaldr Mśrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pęa nordvestlandet i Norge pęa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omręadet som i dag heter M˛re og Romsdal.
    Innhold [skjul] 1 Ragnvalds µtt 2 Den ręadsnare 3 Orkn˛yene 4 Innebrent

    [rediger] Ragnvalds µtt Ragnvald var s˛nn av ˘ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ˘ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn˛yingenes saga gęar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s˛nn var far til Sveide sj˛konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ˘ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den ręadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

    Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hęarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M˛rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h˛yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s˛nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles˛nner ogsęa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef˛dte br˛drene deres var barn ennęa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sęa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

    Ragnvald var sęaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld˛mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert. Via s˛nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

    [rediger] Den ręadsnare If˛lge Snorre satte Harald Hęarfagre Ragnvald til ęa vµre jarl over Nordm˛re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm˛re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bęade stormenn og b˛nder, likesęa skip nok til ęa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsęa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den ręadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

    Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hęar da han etter ti ęar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F˛r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hęaret var skęaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hęarfagre».

    [rediger] Orkn˛yene Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s˛nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sęa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke ęa ligne pęa forfedrene sine. Den andre s˛nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn˛yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st˛rre hęap om at dine frender fęar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbęarne».

    Ragnvald utstyrte s˛nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pęa Orkn˛yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pęa Orkn˛yene og en mektig mann, en˛yd og stygg ęa se pęa.

    [rediger] Innebrent Da Harald Hęarfagre tok til ęa eldes ble s˛nnene hans Halvdan Hęalegg og Gudr˛d Ljome stadig mer misforn˛yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da ęa ikke vente mer pęa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M˛rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

    Da kongen h˛rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr˛d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sęa Tore Teiande, s˛nn av Ragnvald M˛rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren ęAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «ęArbot». Halvdan Hęalegg dro derimot over til Orkn˛yene, kom uventet pęa Torv-Einar som męatte flykte, men samme h˛st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

    Forgjenger:

    - Jarl av M˛re
    (865–892) Etterf˛lger:

    Tore Teiande
    Hentet fra «http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl»

    Rognvald Eysteinsson "the Wise" Earl of More (830-) [Pedigree]

    Son of Eystein Glumra Ivarsson Jarl of Hedemarken (810-) and Aseda Rognvaldsdottir (812-)

    REF RFC. A Norwegian viking. Jarl of More b. ABT 830, Maer, Norway b. Abt 0857 r. Upland, Denmark d. 890, Orkney, Orkney Islands, Scotland d. ABT 890, Maer, Norway
    Married first Rognhild (Hildir) Hrolfsdotter (848-892)

    Children:

    1. Rollo the Dane 1st Duke of Normandy (-927) m(1) Poppa de_Valois Duchess of Norway (872-)
    Married second Ermina

    Children:

    1. Hrollager Rognvaldsson (874-)
    Sources:

    1. "Royalty for Commoners",

    Roderick W. Stuart, 1992, 2nd edition. This book lists all of the known ancestors of John of Gaunt, which amounts to most of the Medieval royalty of Europe. Also see the following article: "A Mediaeval Miscellany: Commentaries on Roderick W. Stuart's Royalty for Commoners," The American Genealogist 69 (April 1994)
    2. "Europaische Stammtafeln",

    Isenburg.
    3. "Plantagenet Ancestry",

    Turton.
    Ragnvald I Eysteinsson , 1st Earl of Orkne

    B: abt 0825 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway S: Rognvald Mere-Earl and Ragnvald "the wise" S: abt 0872 as Jarl of More and 1st Earl of Orkney D: 0894 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland M: abt 0852

    http://www.geneajourney.com/nrmndy.html
    Eystein Glumra, Jarl of the Upplands, b abt 803, of Norway. The identity of his wife is not known. Known children of Eystein Glumra were: • Ragnvald I, the Wise, Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832. • Swanhild b abt 846, of Norway. She md Harald I, "Fairhair, 1st King of Norway, abt 866, son of Halfdan, "the Black, King of Vestfold, and Ragnhild. Ragnvald I, "the Wise", Jarl of North and South More and of Ramsdal, b abt 832, Norway, d 890. He md Hiltrude abt 850, daughter of Hrolf Nefia. She was b abt 834. Child of Ragnvald the Wise and Hiltrude was: Rollo/Robert I of Normandy [a], 1st Duke of Normandy, aka Ganger Rolf, b abt 855, Norway, d abt 927-931, prob Normandy, France. He md Poppa of Bayeux abt 886, daughter of Berenger,Count of Bayeux. She was b abt 876.

    Ragnvald var jarl i Mčore, Norge, och čar nog inte lika omtalad som flera av sina sčoner. En son čar sannolikt 'Gęange-Rolf', som blev stamfader fčor hertigar och kungar i Normandie, Frankrike, och det engelska kungahuset samt den som skapade hertigdčomet Normandie. En annan son 'Torv-Einar' blev jarl pęa Orkneyčoarna liksom hans broder Hallad. Ragnvald var gift med med Ragnhild Rolfsdotter, men hade ocksęa barn med frillan Groa. Ragnvalds syster Svanhild blev gift med Harald 'Hęarfager'. Ragnvald (Mčorejarl) blev mčordad (innebrčand) av Harald 'Hęarfagers' sčoner Halvdan 'Hęalegg' og Gudrčod 'Ljome'. Jarl, dčod ca 890. Ragnvald var jarl pęa Mčore. Hans far skall ha varit čOystein 'Glumra'. Han levde pęa Harald Hęarfagers tid, och blev av honom fčorlčanad med Nordmčore, Romsdal og Sundmčore ęar 865. Han var av sina samtida hčogt ansedd fčor sin klokskap och blev kallad 'den mčaktige'. Det var han som klippte Haralds hęar, som dęa icke varit klippt pęa 10 ęar.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kčallor

    1) Directory of Royal Genealogical Data, Hull, England
    Ragnvald ˘ysteinsson M˛rejarl (norr˛nt Rčognvaldr Mśrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pęa nordvestlandet i Norge pęa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omręadet som i dag heter M˛re og Romsdal.

    Ragnvald var s˛nn av ˘ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ˘ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn˛yingenes saga gęar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s˛nn var far til Sveide sj˛konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ˘ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den ręadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

    Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hęarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M˛rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h˛yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s˛nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles˛nner ogsęa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef˛dte br˛drene deres var barn ennęa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sęa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

    Ragnvald var sęaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld˛mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Vişar Sigurşsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s˛nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

    Den ręadsnare

    If˛lge Snorre satte Harald Hęarfagre Ragnvald til ęa vµre jarl over Nordm˛re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm˛re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bęade stormenn og b˛nder, likesęa skip nok til ęa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsęa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den ręadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

    Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hęar da han etter ti ęar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F˛r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hęaret var skęaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hęarfagre».

    Orkn˛yene

    Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s˛nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sęa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke ęa ligne pęa forfedrene sine. Den andre s˛nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn˛yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st˛rre hęap om at dine frender fęar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbęarne».

    Ragnvald utstyrte s˛nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pęa Orkn˛yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pęa Orkn˛yene og en mektig mann, en˛yd og stygg ęa se pęa.

    Innebrent

    Da Harald Hęarfagre tok til ęa eldes ble s˛nnene hans Halvdan Hęalegg og Gudr˛d Ljome stadig mer misforn˛yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da ęa ikke vente mer pęa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M˛rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

    Da kongen h˛rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr˛d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sęa Tore Teiande, s˛nn av Ragnvald M˛rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren ęAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «ęArbot». Halvdan Hęalegg dro derimot over til Orkn˛yene, kom uventet pęa Torv-Einar som męatte flykte, men samme h˛st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

    http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnvald_M%C3%B8rejarl

    ROGNVALD I ~
    Rognvald , The Wise, Jarl (Earl) of More, Norway, the first Jarl of Orkney and a near relative of King Harold Fairhair.

    The house of Rognvald was one of the oldest lines of rulers in Norway.

    Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.
    The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.

    In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M˛re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson.

    The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway, and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.

    Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hęalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.

    Ragnvald ˘ysteinsson M˛rejarl (norr˛nt Rčognvaldr Mśrajarl) (circa 830 - 892) var en jarl pęa nordvestlandet i Norge pęa midten av 800-tallet, tilsvarende det omręadet som i dag heter M˛re og Romsdal.
    Ragnvald var s˛nn av ˘ystein Ivarsson som ble kalt for ˘ystein Glumra. I henhold til Orkn˛yingenes saga gęar Ragnvalds µtt tilbake til «Heite Gors s˛nn var far til Sveide sj˛konge, far til Halvdan den gamle, far til Ivar Opplendingejarl, far til ˘ystein Glumra, far til Ragnvald jarl den mektige og den ręadsnare». Den samme sagaen strekker hans µtt tilbake til en mytologisk opprinnelse til skikkelse ved navn Fornjot fra Finland eller Kvenland.

    Snorre Sturlasson skriver i Harald Hęarfagres saga i Heimskringla: «Ragnvald M˛rejarl var den kjµreste venn kong Harald hadde, og kongen satte ham h˛yt. Ragnvald jarl var gift med Hild, datter til Rolv Nevja; deres s˛nner var Rolv og Tore. Ragnvald jarl hadde noen frilles˛nner ogsęa; en het Hallad; en annen Einar og en tredje Rollaug; de var voksne da de ektef˛dte br˛drene deres var barn ennęa. Rolv var en stor viking; han var sęa svµr til vekst at ingen hest kunne bµre ham, derfor gikk han til fots overalt. Han ble kalt for Gange-Rolv. Han herjet ofte i austerveg.»

    Ragnvald var sęaledes far til sagnomsuste Gange-Rolf som i sagalitteraturen er blitt identifisert som den nordbo som franskmennene kaller for «Rollo» og som grunnla et jarld˛mme i Normandie. Dette har imidlertid aldri blitt historisk dokumentert ettersom kildene spriker i alle retninger, en av dem som stiller seg bak de tidligere nevnte tradisjonene er Jâon Vişar Sigurşsson i boken Norsk Historie 800 - 1300 (Det Norske Samlaget, 1999). Via s˛nnen Torv-Einar ble Ragnvalds µtt giftet inn i det skotske kongehuset.

    Den ręadsnare

    If˛lge Snorre satte Harald Hęarfagre Ragnvald til ęa vµre jarl over Nordm˛re og Romsdal (og etter hvert Sunnm˛re). Kongen gav ham rett til hjelp av bęade stormenn og b˛nder, likesęa skip nok til ęa verge landet for ufred. Ragnvald ble ogsęa kalt Ragnvald jarl den mektige eller den ręadsnare, og det ble sagt at begge navnene var sanne.

    Kongen skal ha betraktet Ragnvald som en av sine viktigste menn og legenden sier at Ragnvald var den som klippet kongens hęar da han etter ti ęar var blitt konge over alle i Norge. F˛r ble kongen kalt for «Harald Luva» (Lurvehode), men etter at hęaret var skęaret, ga Ragnvald ham et nytt navn, «Hęarfagre».

    Orkn˛yene

    Snorre forteller at Ragnvald sendte s˛nnen Hallad vestover etter at broren Sigurd var blitt drept, men han ble sęa plaget av vikinger og ransmenn at han ble lei og kom tilbake. Faren ble da sint og skjelte ham ut for ikke ęa ligne pęa forfedrene sine. Den andre s˛nnen, Einar, lovte da at han kunne reise til Orkn˛yene og aldri komme tilbake til Norge mer. Ragnvald jarl skal da ha sagt at det var like greit om han aldri kom tilbake igjen: «For jeg har ikke st˛rre hęap om at dine frender fęar µre av deg, for alle i morsµtta di er trellbęarne».

    Ragnvald utstyrte s˛nnen med skip og mannskap og lot ham dro vestover hvor han kom i kamp med vikinger og drepte dem. Pęa Orkn˛yene ble han kalt for Torv-Einar for han lot skjµre torv som brensel for det vokste ikke trµr der. Han ble jarl pęa Orkn˛yene og en mektig mann, en˛yd og stygg ęa se pęa.

    Innebrent

    Da Harald Hęarfagre tok til ęa eldes ble s˛nnene hans Halvdan Hęalegg og Gudr˛d Ljome stadig mer misforn˛yd med at de selv ikke hadde noe rike mens faren hadde innsatt jarler rundt om i fylkene. De besluttet da ęa ikke vente mer pęa odelen sin. Snorre skriver at «de dro ut med en stor flokk og kom uventet over Ragnvald M˛rejarl, kringsatte huset hans og brente ham inne med seksti mann.»

    Da kongen h˛rte dette dro han med en stor hµr mot Gudr˛d som overga seg og ble sendt til Agder. Kongen innsatte sęa Tore Teiande, s˛nn av Ragnvald M˛rejarl, som ny jarl og giftet ham med datteren ęAlov. Kongsdatteren ble siden kalt «ęArbot». Halvdan Hęalegg dro derimot over til Orkn˛yene, kom uventet pęa Torv-Einar som męatte flykte, men samme h˛st kom Torv-Einar tilbake og overrasket Halvdan og fikk ham drept.

    Also known as Count Regnvald ("the Rich") and as "The Wise", Earl of North and South More, of Raumsdale in Norway.{"Royal Ancestors of Magna Charta Barons," Carr P. Collins, Jr., Dallas, 1959, p.201-02, states that he died about 894. (Rogenwald = Regnvald = Rognald)}

    Earl of More/Moer in Norway and Jarl of Orkney and Shetland. He had his name Gallicized to Reginald. He supported King Harold Fairhair in an attempt to unify Norway. Norr: Jarl Rognwald (Rogvald, Raonwald, Regvald, Rouis), created Earl of Moer in 885. Roll: Rognwald, Earl of Maere. Norr: Jarl Rogwald (Raowald, Regvald, Rouis), Earl of Moer 885. Married Hilder. Beyond Rognvald, things get pretty confused. Norr has about 25 generations going back to Oden. RC doesn't agree. But some RC names coming down from RC's Odin agree in the upper portion. But the dates are some 250 years different. RC and Kraentzler agree in taking Rognvald back three more generations. Russell goes way back to Olaf the Sharp-eyed, King of Rerik.

    Rognvald Eysteinsson Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

    [edit] Sagas The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

    In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M˛re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

    The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

    Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hęalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

    [edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

    In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

    This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

    [edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pâatraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland.

    The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

    These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

    Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

    Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland.

    The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas.[1]

    In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of M˛re. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

    The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrâolf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrâolfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4]

    Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hęalegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5]

    [edit] Historia Norvegiae The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald.

    In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns.[6]

    This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

    [edit] Fragmentary Annals of Ireland ...for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patraic (died 1039). The annals are known to have had been influential in later writings on Iceland.

    The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7]

    These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

    Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantâin (ruled 889–900).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

    Earl of More

    Born: abt 830 Maer, Nord Trondelag, Norway Died: 890 Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland
    Rčognvaldr Eysteinsson, M˛rejarl1,2,3 b. circa 830, d. 894 Rčognvaldr Eysteinsson, M˛rejarl|b. c 830\nd. 894|p314.htm#i5205|Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 800|p6.htm#i8264|Aseda Rčognvaldsdâottir||p67.htm#i8832|Ivarr O., Jarl of the Uplanders|b. c 760\nd. a 800|p305.htm#i8265|N. N. of Throndheim|b. c 780|p67.htm#i8831|Rčognvaldr H. H. Ó., King of Vestfold||p278.htm#i9457|Thâora Sigurdsdâottir||p111.htm#i13338| Father Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders4,5 b. circa 800 Mother Aseda Rčognvaldsdâottir

    Also called Jarl Ragnald I of Orkney.6 Rčognvaldr Eysteinsson, M˛rejarl was King Harald Fairhair's dearest friend, and the king had the greatest regard for him.4 Also called Jarl Rognvaldr of M˛re.7 He was per late Icelandic sources, for which there is no good reason to believe that these generations are historical, a son of Eysteinn Glumra, son of Ívarr, son of Hâalfdan the Old.7 Rčognvaldr Eysteinsson, M˛rejarl also went by the name of Ragnvald "the Wise".4,5 He associated with unknown , a concubine.8 Rčognvaldr Eysteinsson, M˛rejarl was born circa 830 at Maer, Norway. He was the son of Eysteinn Glumra, Jarl of the Uplanders and Aseda Rčognvaldsdâottir.4,5 Rčognvaldr Eysteinsson, M˛rejarl became one of H

    Earl Rognvald joined Harold fair-hair when he seized the land, but he (Harold) gave him lordship over both the Mµren and Romsdale; (7) he had to wife Ragnhilda the daughter of Hrolf nosy; their son was Hrolf who won Normandy, he was so tall that horses could not carry him; for that he was called Ganging-Hrolf; from him are come the Rouen Jarls and the English Kings; their son was also Ivar, and Thorir the silent.

    Rognvald had also base-born sons, their names were Hallad and Hrollaug and Einar, he was the youngest.

    end of this commentary

    Ragnvald married Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, Countess of MarVestfold, Norway. Ragnhild was born in 848 in Vestfold, Norway; died in 892 in Norway. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 1281.  Ragnhild Hrâolfsdâottir, Countess of Mar was born in 848 in Vestfold, Norway; died in 892 in Norway.

    Notes:

    Name Ragnhild 'Hild' Hrâolfsdâottir
    Born 848 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
    Sex Woman
    Baptism ca. 848
    Age: About 0
    Employment Countess of More, Countess of Maer, Condesa de More, Countess., Comtesse de Moer, COUNTESS OF MORE
    Death 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
    Buried ca. 892 Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
    Person ID I2578 My Family Genealogy | The Ravnholdt & Hansen family
    Last modified Aug 1 2018

    Family Ragnvald Eysteinsson, of M˛re , b. 825, Vestfold county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 892, Giske, M˛re and Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 67 years)
    Married ca. 845 County of Vestfold, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location
    Children
    1. Hallad Ragnvaldsson Mśrajarl, Orkneyjarl , b. 850, Sunnm˛re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 894, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 44 years)
    2. Ivar Ragnvaldsson M˛rejarl , b. 850, Sunnm˛re, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 872, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 22 years)
    3. Einarr Rognvaldsson, Orkneyjarl , b. 852, M˛re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 910, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 58 years)
    4. Hrollaug Ragnvaldsson Mśrajarls , b. 859, Giske, M˛re og Romsdal county, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. 896, Eyjafjčorşur, Iceland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 37 years)
    + 5. Rollo Ragnvaldsson , f. Ml. 860 and 866, d. Ca. 931, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 71 years)
    + 6. Tore Teiande Ragnvaldsson Rčognvaldsson , f. Ca. 862, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location, d. Ca. 939, Norway Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 77 years)
    7. Gutum Ragnvaldson , d. 875

    end of this profile

    Children:
    1. 640. Rollo was born in 846 in Maer, Norway; died in 931; was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France.

  3. 1282.  Berengar II of Neustria, Count of Bayeux died in 0896.

    Notes:

    Berengar II (died 896) was the Count of Bayeux and Rennes and Margrave of the Breton March from 886 until his death a decade later.

    In 874, Brittany's internal politics were thrown into turmoil when King Salomon was murdered by a rival. The resulting surge of Viking attacks made possible by the power vacuum was narrowly held at bay by a hasty Breton-Frankish alliance between Alan the Great of Vannes and Berengar of Rennes. Between 889-90, the Seine Vikings moved into Brittany, hard on the heels of the Loire fleet that Alan and Berengar had successfully driven out (this latter force had broken up into several small flotillas and sailed west). Alain again joined forces with Berengar of Rennes and led two Breton armies into the field. Finding their retreat down the Marne blocked, the Vikings hauled their ships overland to the Vire and besieged Saint-Lo, where the Bretons virtually annihilated the fleet.

    Berengar's kin became the first Gallo-speaking lords holding residence within Brittany (Rennes and Penthiáevre, rather than the Loire Valley-predominant Nantes or Vannes), as a consequence of the Breton nobility being more or less broken under the Norman invasions of the 880s and as a reward for holding his ground against their attacks.

    Berengar is speculated to have married the daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany, by which relationship he attained the countship of Rennes. This would make him brother-in-law of Judicael, Duke of Brittany. He is thought to be the Berengar of Bayeux whose daughter Poppa was captured in a raid and married to Rollo of Normandy. Various reconstructions make him father, grandfather, or great-grandfather of Judicael Berengar, later Count of Rennes.

    References

    This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

    Sources

    Price, Neil (1989). The Vikings in Brittany (PDF). Retrieved July 2012. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
    Arthur de la Borderie (1898). Histoire de Bretagne. p. 334.
    Musset, Lucien (1965). Les invasions: le second assaut contre I'Europe Chrâetienne.
    Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 890.

    end of biography

    Berengar married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 1283.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 641. Lady Poppa of Bayeux was born in (850) in Bayeux, France; was buried in Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, Normandy, France.

  5. 1290.  Aethelstan, King of the East Angles was born in ~838 in Wantage, Berkshire, England (son of Aethelwulf of Wessex, King of Wessex and Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex); died in 890.

    Notes:

    Guthrum or Guşrum (died c. 890), christened Ąthelstan on his conversion to Christianity in 878, was King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw. He is mainly known for his conflict with Alfred the Great.

    Guthrum, founder of the Danelaw

    It is not known how Guthrum consolidated his rule as king over the other Danish chieftains of the Danelaw (Danish-ruled territory of England), but by 874 he was able to wage a war against Wessex and its King, Alfred.

    In 875, the Danish forces, then under Guthrum and Halfdan Ragnarsson, divided, Halfdan's contingent returning north to Northumbria, while Guthrum's forces went to East Anglia, quartering themselves at Cambridge for the year.

    By 876, Guthrum had acquired various parts of the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria and then turned his attention to acquiring Wessex, where his first confrontation with Alfred took place on the south coast. Guthrum sailed his army around Poole Harbour and linked up with another Viking army that was invading the area between the Frome and Piddle rivers which was ruled by Alfred.[1] According to the historian Asser, Guthrum won his initial battle with Alfred, and he captured the castellum as well as the ancient square earthworks known as the Wareham, where there was a convent of nuns.

    Alfred successfully brokered a peace settlement, but by 877 this peace was broken as Guthrum led his army raiding further into Wessex, thus forcing Alfred to confront him in a series of skirmishes that Guthrum continued to win. At Exeter, which Guthrum had also captured, Alfred made a peace treaty, with the result that Guthrum left Wessex to winter in Gloucester.

    Surprise attack

    Silver penny of Ąthelstan
    On Epiphany, 6 January 878, Guthrum made a surprise night-time attack on Alfred and his court at Chippenham, Wiltshire. It being a Christian feast day the Saxons were presumably taken by surprise—indeed it is possible that Wulfhere, the Ealdorman of Wiltshire, allowed the attack either through negligence or intent, for on Alfred's return to power later in 878 Wulfhere was stripped of his role as Ealdorman.

    Alfred fled the attack with a few retainers and took shelter in the marshes of Somerset, staying in the small village of Athelney. Over the next few months he built up his force and waged a guerrilla war against Guthrum from his fastness in the fens. After a few months Alfred called his loyal men to Egbert's Stone, and from there they travelled to Edington to fight the invaders.

    Defeat by Alfred

    Guthrum's hopes of conquering all of Wessex came to an end with his defeat at the hands of Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. At Edington, Guthrum’s entire army was routed by Alfred's and fled to their encampment where they were besieged by Alfred's fyrd for two weeks. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Guthrum’s army was able to negotiate a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Wedmore.[2] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded the event:

    “Then the raiding army granted him (Alfred) hostages and great oaths that they would leave his kingdom and also promised him that their king (Guthrum) would receive baptism; and they fulfilled it. And three weeks later the king Guthrum came to him, one of thirty of the most honourable men who were in the raiding army, at Aller - and that is near Athelney - and the king received him at baptism; and his chrism loosing was at Wedmore.” [2]
    Conversion to Christianity and peace
    Under the Treaty of Wedmore the borders dividing the lands of Alfred and Guthrum were established,[3] and perhaps more importantly, Guthrum converted to Christianity and took on the Christian name Ąthelstan with Alfred as his godfather.

    Guthrum upheld his end of the treaty and left the boundary that separated the Danelaw from English England unmolested. Guthrum, although failing to conquer Wessex, turned towards the lands to the east that the treaty had allotted under his control. Guthrum withdrew his army from the western borders facing Alfred's territory and moved eastward before eventually settling in the Kingdom of Guthrum in East Anglia in 879. He lived out the remainder of his life there until his death in 890. According to the Annals of St Neots, a chronicle compiled in Bury St Edmunds, Guthrum was buried at Headleage, which is usually identified as Hadleigh, Suffolk.[4]

    Popular culture

    Guthrum appears in several works of fiction, including:

    G. K. Chesterton's poem The Ballad of the White Horse.
    C. Walter Hodges' juvenile historical novels The Namesake and The Marsh King.
    Bernard Cornwell's first three novels of The Saxon Stories series The Last Kingdom, and The Pale Horseman, and The Lords of the North.
    On screen, he was portrayed by Brian Blessed in episode 4 ("King Alfred") of Churchill's People, by Michael York in the 1969 film Alfred the Great, and Thomas W. Gabrielsson in The Last Kingdom.

    References
    Collingwood, M. A. and Powell, F. Y. Scandinavian Britain (New York: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1908), p. 94.
    Anglo Saxon Chronicle Trans. by M. J. Swanton (New York, Routledge: 1996).
    Davis, R. H. C. From Alfred the Great to Stephen (London, The Hambledon Press: 1991) p. 48.
    Dumville, David; Lapidge, Michael (1985). The Annals of St Neots with Vita Prima Sancti Neoti, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: a Collaborative Edition. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-85991-117-7.

    end of biography

    Aethelstan married unnamed spouse. unnamed was born in ~0842 in (Wantage, Berkshire, England). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 1291.  unnamed spouse was born in ~0842 in (Wantage, Berkshire, England).
    Children:
    1. 645. Elgiva of Wessex, Queen of Denmark was born in ~872 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died in ~935 in Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark; was buried in Gormshoj, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark.

  7. 1308.  Herbert de Vermandois, II, Count of Meaux was born in 884 in Vermandois, France (son of Herbert de Vermandois, I, Count of Vermandois and Bertha de Morvois); died on 23 Feb 943 in St Quentin, Peronne, Somme, France.

    Notes:

    Herbert II Carolingian de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, was born 884 to Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907) and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907) and died 23 February 943 of unspecified causes. Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]



    Children

    Offspring of Herbert II de Vermandois and Hildebranda of France (895-931)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Adele de Vermandois (910-960) 910 960 Arnulf I of Flanders (c890-965)

    Eudes d'Amiens (910-aft946) 910 946
    Robert de Vermandois (918-968) 920 968 Seine-et-Marne, France Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)

    Hugues de Reims (920-962) 920 962
    Liutgarde de Vermandois (c920-978) 920 9 February 978 William Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy (893-942)
    Thibaut I de Blois (913-975)

    Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) 913 982 Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)

    Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) 915 Saint-Quentin 8 September 987 Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978)
    Siblings
    Siblings

    Offspring of Herbert I de Vermandois and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Bâeatrice of Vermandois (c880-931) 880 Paris, France 26 March 931 Soissons, France Robert I of France (866-923)

    Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) 884 23 February 943 Hildebranda of France (895-931)

    Cunigunde of Vermandois (-943) 943 Udo I von der Wetterau (c900-949)

    Adele of Vermandois (?-?) Gebhard von Ufgau (?-c947)

    Berengar of Bayeaux (?-?) Daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany



    Herbert married Hildebranda of France(France). Hildebranda was born in 895 in (France); died in 931 in (France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 1309.  Hildebranda of France was born in 895 in (France); died in 931 in (France).

    Notes:

    Hildebranda of France was born 895 to Robert I of France (866-923) and Aelis and died 931 of unspecified causes. Ancestors are from Germany, France.

    Children

    Offspring of Hildebranda Capet and Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943)

    Name Birth Death Joined with

    Adele de Vermandois (910-960) 910 960 Arnulf I of Flanders (c890-965)

    Eudes d'Amiens (910-aft946) 910 946
    Robert de Vermandois (918-968) 920 968 Seine-et-Marne, France Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)

    Hugues de Reims (920-962) 920 962
    Liutgarde de Vermandois (c920-978) 920 9 February 978 William Longsword, 2nd Duke of Normandy (893-942)
    Thibaut I de Blois (913-975)

    Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) 913 982 Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)

    Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) 915 Saint-Quentin 8 September 987 Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978)

    Children:
    1. 654. Robert De Vermandois, Count of Meaux was born in 918 in (France); died on 29 Aug 968 in Seine-et-Marne, France.

  9. 1424.  Donald of Scotland, II, King of AlbaDonald of Scotland, II, King of Alba was born in (850-860) in (Scotland); died in 900 in Forres, Scotland; was buried in Isle of Iona, Scotland.

    Notes:

    Donald II (a.k.a. Domnall mac Causantâin and Domnall II) lived from 862 to 900 and was King of Alba from 889 to 900. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.

    Donald II was the son of King Constantine I of the Picts and Scots, and it is arguable that he should have succeeded to the throne on the death of his uncle, King Aedh. However, Aedh's murder in 878 was followed by the joint rule of Eochaid and Giric. In 889 Eochaid tried to gain sole control of the crown by commissioning Donald to kill Giric. This Donald did, at Dundurn near St Fillans at the eastern end of Loch Earn. He then went on to exile Eochaid, before taking the crown for himself.

    However dubious Eochaid's claims to the Crown of the Picts and Scots had been, he claim to be King of Strathclyde was much stronger. When Eochaid was exiled by Donald II to Gwynedd in Wales most of the nobility of Strathclyde left with him, and Donald II combined the Crowns of the Picts and Scots and the Crown of Strathclyde, becoming the first person to be referred to in his own time as King of Alba. Alba had been an entity since the merging of the Crowns of the Picts and the Scots by Kenneth I in 843; but until Donald, Kings had taken the title King of Picts or King of the Picts and Scots.

    Donald II's reign was a turbulent one. During it, much of northern Scotland fell under the control of the Vikings under Sigurd the Mighty. He was also the first Scottish King (though not the last) to be recorded as fighting against Highlanders.

    Donald was killed in battle by the Danes at Dunnottar, in 900 and was buried in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel on the Isle of Iona. His successor was his cousin, King Constantine II. Donald's son, Malcolm, later became King Malcolm I.

    end of biography

    Domnall mac Causantâin (Modern Gaelic: Dáomhnall mac Cháoiseim),[1] anglicised as Donald II (died 900) was King of the Picts or King of Scotland (Alba) in the late 9th century. He was the son of Constantine I (Causantâin mac Cinâaeda). Donald is given the epithet Dâasachtach, "the Madman", by The Prophecy of Berchâan.[2]

    Life

    Donald became king on the death or deposition of Giric (Giric mac Dâungail), the date of which is not certainly known but usually placed in 889. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba reports:

    Doniualdus son of Constantini held the kingdom for 11 years [889–900]. The Northmen wasted Pictland at this time. In his reign a battle occurred between Danes and Scots at Innisibsolian where the Scots had victory. He was killed at Opidum Fother [modern Dunnottar] by the Gentiles.[3]

    It has been suggested that the attack on Dunnottar, rather than being a small raid by a handful of pirates, may be associated with the ravaging of Scotland attributed to Harald Fairhair in the Heimskringla.[4] The Prophecy of Berchâan places Donald's death at Dunnottar, but appears to attribute it to Gaels rather than Norsemen; other sources report he died at Forres.[5] Donald's death is dated to 900 by the Annals of Ulster and the Chronicon Scotorum, where he is called king of Alba, rather than king of the Picts. He was buried on Iona. Like his father, Constantine, he died a violent death at a premature age.

    The change from king of the Picts to king of Alba is seen as indicating a step towards the kingdom of the Scots, but historians, while divided as to when this change should be placed, do not generally attribute it to Donald in view of his epithet.[6] The consensus view is that the key changes occurred in the reign of Constantine II (Causantâin mac Áeda),[7] but the reign of Giric has also been proposed.[8]

    The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba has Donald succeeded by his cousin Constantine II. Donald's son Malcolm (Mâael Coluim mac Domnall) was later king as Malcolm I. The Prophecy of Berchâan appears to suggest that another king reigned for a short while between Donald II and Constantine II, saying "half a day will he take sovereignty". Possible confirmation of this exists in the Chronicon Scotorum, where the death of "Ead, king of the Picts" in battle against the Uâi Ímair is reported in 904. This, however, is thought to be an error, referring perhaps to Ądwulf, the ruler of Bernicia, whose death is reported in 913 by the other Irish annals.[9]

    end of biography

    Timeline: Prehistory to 1000

    8500 BC: The date of the oldest human settlement yet found in Scotland, at Cramond, near Edinburgh.

    3000 BC: Maeshowe chambered tomb is built on Orkney.

    3000 BC: Alleged date of origin of the Fortingall Yew, probably the world's oldest living thing.

    3000 BC: Occupation of what may be the first Crannog or artificial islet residence, on the islet Eilean Domhnuill on Loch Olabhat in North Uist.

    2500 BC to 2000 BC: Stone village of Skara Brae on Orkney in occupation.

    1400 BC: The era of Scota, the daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh, who features in the foundation myth of Ireland an Scotland, and who Scotland is named after.

    500 BC: Crannogs, houses built on stilts or artificial islets, begin to appear widely on Scottish lochs.

    200 BC: According to Irish legend, the "School for Heroes" is run by the warrior queen Scâathach, or Sgathach, at her fortress Dâun Scâaith, near Tarskavaig on Skye.

    200 BC to AD 200: Building and occupation of Brochs, circular stone defensive towers.

    20 BC: Pontius Pilate, later to become the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, is born at Fortingall.

    AD 80: Julius Agricola Roman Governor of Britain, invades Scotland, reaching a line between the Rivers Clyde and Forth by AD 82.

    AD 83: Julius Agricola invades northern Scotland.

    AD 84: The Battle of Mons Graupius takes place at a location still uncertain. The Romans under Julius Agricola convincingly defeat the Caledonians under Calgacus. They fail to press home their advantage, however, and instead establish a defensive line of forts extending north east from Loch Lomond to Stonehaven to guard the exits from the main highland glens.

    AD 105: The Romans withdraw from Scotland to a defensive line between the Rivers Solway and Tyne. This is fortified as Hadrian's Wall from AD 121.

    AD 139: The Romans advance again, to a line between the Forth and Clyde and build the Antonine Wall.

    AD 170: The Romans withdraw to Hadrian's Wall once more.

    AD 208: Roman Emperor Septimius Severus launches the last campaign intended to conquer Scotland, establishing a major base at Cramond, on the site of a fort built in AD 142.

    AD 211: Septimius Severus dies in York. His successor Caracalla abandons territory north of Hadrians Wall and in 212 the Romans withdraw from what will later become Scotland for the final time.

    AD 250: The first raids take place in western Scotland by the strong Irish tribe, the Scots.

    AD 367: The Picti, or the Picts, push the Romans back from Hadrian's Wall. "Picti" is the Romans' disparaging slang for their northern neighbours, meaning the painted (or tattooed) ones.

    AD 397: Saint Ninian dedicates the first Christian church in Scotland, the Candida Casa at Whithorn, to St Martin.

    AD 500: Increased migration of Scoti or Scots from Ireland to Scotland leads to the establishment of the kingdom of Dalriada in what is now Argyll, with its capital at Dunadd in Kilmartin Glen.

    AD 500: King of the Scots of Dalriada, Fergus Mor fights both the Picts to the east and the Britons of Strathclyde to the south for land.

    10 March 520: St Kessog, the original patron saint of Scotland, is killed at Bandry, on the western shore of Loch Lomond.

    7 December 521: The birth in County Donegal in Ireland of the man who would go on to become Saint Columba.

    AD 550: The Angles establish Bernicia, later called Northumbria, with boundaries extending south to Yorkshire.

    AD 552: St Mungo or St Kentigern founds a church on part of the site that later became Glasgow Cathedral.

    AD 562: St Moluag founds a settlement on the Isle of Lismore in the mouth of Loch Linnhe.

    12 May 563: Saint Columba and twelve companions land on the island of Iona to establish a monastery.

    25 June 592: St Moluag dies in Rosemarkie.

    9 June 597: St Columba dies in his monastery at Iona.

    13 January 614: St Mungo or St Kentigern dies, and is buried at his church in Clas-gu which later becomes Glasgow.

    17 April 617: Saint Donan and 52 of his followers are murdered during a raid on their monastery on the Island of Eigg.

    AD 638: Edinburgh - Din Eidyn - is overrun by the Angles of the Kingdom of Northumbria.

    3 January 642: The birth in Ireland of Saint Maelrubha, a monk who founded a monastery at what is now Applecross.

    5 August 642: The death at the Battle of Maserfield (near modern Oswestry) of King Oswald of Northumbria, later known as St Oswald.

    31 August 651: The death in what is now St Aidan's Church in Bamburgh of St Aidan of Lindisfarne, the Apostle of Northumbria.

    AD 672: A Pictish uprising against the Kingdom of Northumbria is suppressed.

    AD 678: St Nathalan dies on Deeside.


    Clickable Index Map


    8500 BC: The date of the oldest human settlement yet found in Scotland, at Cramond, near Edinburgh.

    3000 BC: Maeshowe chambered tomb is built on Orkney.

    3000 BC: Alleged date of origin of the Fortingall Yew, probably the world's oldest living thing.

    3000 BC: Occupation of what may be the first Crannog or artificial islet residence, on the islet Eilean Domhnuill on Loch Olabhat in North Uist.

    2500 BC to 2000 BC: Stone village of Skara Brae on Orkney in occupation.

    1400 BC: The era of Scota, the daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh, who features in the foundation myth of Ireland an Scotland, and who Scotland is named after.

    500 BC: Crannogs, houses built on stilts or artificial islets, begin to appear widely on Scottish lochs.

    200 BC: According to Irish legend, the "School for Heroes" is run by the warrior queen Scâathach, or Sgathach, at her fortress Dâun Scâaith, near Tarskavaig on Skye.

    200 BC to AD 200: Building and occupation of Brochs, circular stone defensive towers.

    20 BC: Pontius Pilate, later to become the Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, is born at Fortingall.

    AD 80: Julius Agricola Roman Governor of Britain, invades Scotland, reaching a line between the Rivers Clyde and Forth by AD 82.

    AD 83: Julius Agricola invades northern Scotland.

    AD 84: The Battle of Mons Graupius takes place at a location still uncertain. The Romans under Julius Agricola convincingly defeat the Caledonians under Calgacus. They fail to press home their advantage, however, and instead establish a defensive line of forts extending north east from Loch Lomond to Stonehaven to guard the exits from the main highland glens.

    AD 105: The Romans withdraw from Scotland to a defensive line between the Rivers Solway and Tyne. This is fortified as Hadrian's Wall from AD 121.

    AD 139: The Romans advance again, to a line between the Forth and Clyde and build the Antonine Wall.

    AD 170: The Romans withdraw to Hadrian's Wall once more.

    AD 208: Roman Emperor Septimius Severus launches the last campaign intended to conquer Scotland, establishing a major base at Cramond, on the site of a fort built in AD 142.

    AD 211: Septimius Severus dies in York. His successor Caracalla abandons territory north of Hadrians Wall and in 212 the Romans withdraw from what will later become Scotland for the final time.

    AD 250: The first raids take place in western Scotland by the strong Irish tribe, the Scots.

    AD 367: The Picti, or the Picts, push the Romans back from Hadrian's Wall. "Picti" is the Romans' disparaging slang for their northern neighbours, meaning the painted (or tattooed) ones.

    AD 397: Saint Ninian dedicates the first Christian church in Scotland, the Candida Casa at Whithorn, to St Martin.

    AD 500: Increased migration of Scoti or Scots from Ireland to Scotland leads to the establishment of the kingdom of Dalriada in what is now Argyll, with its capital at Dunadd in Kilmartin Glen.

    AD 500: King of the Scots of Dalriada, Fergus Mor fights both the Picts to the east and the Britons of Strathclyde to the south for land.

    10 March 520: St Kessog, the original patron saint of Scotland, is killed at Bandry, on the western shore of Loch Lomond.

    7 December 521: The birth in County Donegal in Ireland of the man who would go on to become Saint Columba.

    AD 550: The Angles establish Bernicia, later called Northumbria, with boundaries extending south to Yorkshire.

    AD 552: St Mungo or St Kentigern founds a church on part of the site that later became Glasgow Cathedral.

    AD 562: St Moluag founds a settlement on the Isle of Lismore in the mouth of Loch Linnhe.

    12 May 563: Saint Columba and twelve companions land on the island of Iona to establish a monastery.

    25 June 592: St Moluag dies in Rosemarkie.

    9 June 597: St Columba dies in his monastery at Iona.

    13 January 614: St Mungo or St Kentigern dies, and is buried at his church in Clas-gu which later becomes Glasgow.

    17 April 617: Saint Donan and 52 of his followers are murdered during a raid on their monastery on the Island of Eigg.

    AD 638: Edinburgh - Din Eidyn - is overrun by the Angles of the Kingdom of Northumbria.

    3 January 642: The birth in Ireland of Saint Maelrubha, a monk who founded a monastery at what is now Applecross.

    5 August 642: The death at the Battle of Maserfield (near modern Oswestry) of King Oswald of Northumbria, later known as St Oswald.

    31 August 651: The death in what is now St Aidan's Church in Bamburgh of St Aidan of Lindisfarne, the Apostle of Northumbria.

    AD 672: A Pictish uprising against the Kingdom of Northumbria is suppressed.

    AD 678: St Nathalan dies on Deeside.

    20 May 685: The Battle of Dunnichen or Nechtansmere, near Forfar. King Ecgfrith of Northumbria is decisively defeated by the Picts, paving the way for the development of a separate Scottish nation. The battle is later depicted on a cross slab at Aberlemno Kirk.

    20 March 687: The death on Inner Farne Island of St Cuthbert, the a monk, bishop and hermit regarded as the patron saint of northern England.

    23 September 704: The death of Adomnâan of Iona, also known as Saint Adomnâan. He was Abbot of Iona, the author of the Life of Columba and the promoter of the hugely influential Law of Adomnâan.

    6 March 757: The death on Bass Rock of Saint Baldred of Tyninghame.

    8 June 793: The monastery at Lindisfarne suffers its first raid by Vikings. Others will follow, leading to the abandonment of the monastery in 875.

    795: First recorded Viking raid (probably from Orkney), on Iona, which is raided twice more in the following decade.

    839: The Picts, who have controlled all of Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde except for Argyll, suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of the Vikings. Most of the Pictish nobility is wiped out in the defeat, including King Bridei VI.

    843: Kenneth Mac Alpin becomes King of the Scots of Dalriada; and later becomes King of the Picts of Pictland as well, unifying the main groups in Scotland north of the Forth-Clyde line for the first time within the Kingdom of Alba.

    850: Viking pressure leads to the relocation of the capital of Alba from Argyll to Scone, near Perth. The religious centre, and the relics of St Columba, moves from Iona to Dunkeld.

    850: Kenneth Mac Alpin, also known as Kenneth I, raids Northumbria six times in the 850s.

    858: Kenneth Mac Alpin is succeeded by Donald I.

    863: Donald I is succeeded by Constantine I.

    870: Following a 15 week siege the Vikings capture the fortress at Dumbarton Rock guarding the entrance to the Clyde and the British Kingdom of Strathclyde.

    872: Constantine I arranges the death of the King of Strathclyde in 872. He replaces him with his own brother in law, Rhun: effectively making Strathclyde a subordinate kingdom to Alba.

    877: Constantine I is succeeded by King Aedh.

    878: King Aedh is succeeded by the joint rule of Kings Eochaid and Giric.

    889: Kings Eochaid and Giric are succeeded by Donald II.

    890: The Vikings capture the Pictish fortress at Dunnottar, near Stonehaven.

    900: Constantine II succeeds Donald II and helps incorporate Viking settlers into the emerging Kingdom of Scotland.

    937: A joint army comprising Constantine II's Scots and Olaf III Guthfrithson's Vikings is defeated at the Battle of Brunanburh by King Athelstan of England in 937: largely securing the future of what is to become England.

    943: Constantine II is succeeded by Malcolm I.

    945: Edmund, a Danish King ruling Northumbria, gives Cumbria to Malcolm I of Scotland in return for military support.

    954: Malcolm I is succeeded by King Indulf.

    962: King Indulf is succeeded by King Duff.

    967: King Duff is succeeded by King Culen.

    971: King Culen is succeeded by Kenneth II.

    995: Kenneth II is succeeded by Constantine III.

    997: Constantine III is succeeded by Kenneth III.

    end of timeline

    Died:
    A brief history and overview of Forres; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forres

    The earliest written reference to Forres may be the ????a? e?s??s?? (Ouâarar eâischysis, 'Varar Estuary') mentioned in the second century Geography of Claudius Ptolemy. A royal castle was present in the area from at least 900 AD, and around 1140 AD Forres became a royal burgh. Royal burghs were founded by the Kings of Scots of the 12th century to encourage trade and economic improvement. The local abbey was plundered by the Wolf of Badenoch.

    On 23 June 1496 King James IV of Scotland issued a Royal Charter laying down the rights and privileges that the town's people are believed to have held by an earlier charter since the reign of King David I some 300 years earlier.

    Buried:
    was buried in the graveyard at Saint Oran's Chapel... https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/iona/storanschapel/index.html

    View images and more history of St Oran's; https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/iona/storanschapel/index.html, (images: https://www.google.com/search?q=Saint+Oran%27s+Chapel+image&client=firefox-b-1-ab&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjcxPKjgIraAhUL71MKHcCmCYoQ7AkIQA&biw=1224&bih=826)

    Donald married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  10. 1425.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 712. Malcolm I of Scotland, King of Alba was born in 897 in Scotland; died in 954 in Auldearn, Scotland; was buried in Isle of Iona, Scotland.

  11. 1472.  Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-SaxonsEdward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons was born in ~874 in (Wantage, Berkshire) England (son of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex and Ealhswith); died on 17 Jul 924 in Farndon, Cheshire, England; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

    Notes:

    Edward the Elder (c. 874 – 17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Ąthelwold, who had a strong claim to the throne as the son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor as king, Ąthelred.

    Alfred had succeeded Ąthelred as king of Wessex in 871, and almost faced defeat against the Danish Vikings until his decisive victory at the Battle of Edington in 878. After the battle, the Vikings still ruled Northumbria, East Anglia and eastern Mercia, with only Wessex and western Mercia under Anglo-Saxon control. In the early 880s Ąthelred, Lord of the Mercians, the ruler of western Mercia, accepted Alfred's lordship and married his daughter Ąthelflµd, and around 886 Alfred adopted the new title 'King of the Anglo-Saxons' as the ruler of all Anglo-Saxons not subject to Danish rule.

    In 910 a Mercian and West Saxon army inflicted a decisive defeat on an invading Northumbrian army, ending the threat from the northern Vikings. In the 910s, Edward conquered Viking ruled southern England in partnership with his sister Ąthelflµd, who had succeeded as Lady of the Mercians following the death of her husband in 911. Historians dispute how far Mercia was dominated by Wessex during this period, and after Ąthelflµd's death in June 918 her daughter Ąlfwynn briefly became second Lady of the Mercians, but in December Edward took her into Wessex and imposed direct rule on Mercia. By the end of the 910s he ruled Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia, and only Northumbria remained under Viking rule. In 924 he faced a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester, and after putting it down he died at Farndon in Cheshire on 17 July 924. He was succeeded by his eldest son Ąthelstan.

    Edward has been described as "perhaps the most neglected of English kings", partly because few primary sources for his reign survive. His reputation among historians rose in the late twentieth century, and he is seen as destroying the power of the Vikings in southern England, and laying the foundations for a south-centred united English kingdom.

    King of the Anglo-Saxons
    Reign 26 October 899 – 17 July 924
    Coronation 8 June 900 Kingston upon Thames or Winchester
    Predecessor Alfred the Great
    Successor Ąthelstan
    Born c.?874
    Died 17 July 924
    Farndon, Cheshire, England
    Burial New Minster, Winchester, later translated to Hyde Abbey
    Spouse Ecgwynn
    Ąlfflµd
    Eadgifu
    Issue
    Detail
    See list[show]
    House Wessex
    Father Alfred the Great
    Mother Ealhswith


    Background

    Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England in the eighth century and maintained its position until it suffered a decisive defeat by Wessex at the Battle of Ellandun in 825. Thereafter the two kingdoms became allies, which was to be an important factor in English resistance to the Vikings.[1] In 865 the Danish Viking Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and used this as a starting point for an invasion. The East Anglians were forced to buy peace and the following year the Vikings invaded Northumbria, where they appointed a puppet king in 867. They then moved on Mercia, where they spent the winter of 867–868. King Burgred of Mercia was joined by King Ąthelred of Wessex and his brother, the future King Alfred, for a combined attack on the Vikings, who refused an engagement; in the end the Mercians bought peace with them. The following year, the Danes conquered East Anglia, and in 874 they expelled King Burgred, and Ceolwulf became the last King of Mercia with their support. In 877 the Vikings partitioned Mercia, taking the eastern regions for themselves and allowing Ceolwulf to keep the western ones. The situation was transformed the following year when Alfred won a decisive victory over the Danes at the Battle of Edington. He was thus able to prevent the Vikings from taking Wessex and western Mercia, although they still occupied Northumbria, East Anglia and eastern Mercia.[2]

    Childhood

    A page from the will of Alfred the Great, which left the bulk of his estate to Edward
    Alfred the Great married Ealhswith in 868. Her father was Ąthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini, and her mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family. Alfred and Ealhswith had five children who survived childhood. The oldest was Ąthelflµd, who married Ąthelred, Lord of the Mercians, and ruled as Lady of the Mercians after his death. Edward was next, and the second daughter, Ąthelgifu, became abbess of Shaftesbury. The third daughter, Ąlfthryth, married Baldwin, Count of Flanders, and the younger son, Ąthelweard, was given a scholarly education, including learning Latin. This would usually suggest that he was intended for the church, but it is unlikely in Ąthelweard's case as he had sons. There were also an unknown number of children who died young. Neither part of Edward's name, which means 'protector of wealth', had been used previously by the West Saxon royal house, and Barbara Yorke suggests that he may have been named after his maternal grandmother Eadburh, reflecting the West Saxon policy of strengthening links with Mercia.[3]

    Ąthelflµd was probably born about a year after her parents' marriage, and Edward was brought up with his youngest sister, Ąlfthryth. Yorke argues that he was therefore probably nearer in age to Ąlfthryth than Ąthelflµd. However, he led troops in battle in 893, and he must have been of marriagable age in that year as his oldest son Ąthelstan was born about 894, so Edward was probably born in the mid-870s.[4] According to Asser in his Life of King Alfred, Edward and Ąlfthryth were educated at court by male and female tutors, and read ecclesiastical and secular works in English, such as the Psalms and Old English poems. They were taught the courtly qualities of gentleness and humility, and Asser wrote that they were obedient to their father and friendly to visitors. This is the only known case of an Anglo-Saxon prince and princess receiving the same upbringing.[5]

    Ątheling

    As a son of a king, Edward was an µtheling, a prince of the royal house who was eligible for kingship. However, even though he had the advantage of being the eldest son of the reigning king, his accession was not assured, as he had cousins who had a strong claim to the throne. Ąthelhelm and Ąthelwold were sons of Ąthelred, Alfred's older brother and predecessor as king, but they had been passed over because they were infants when their father died. More is known about Edward's childhood than about that of other Anglo-Saxon princes, providing information about the training of a prince in a period of Carolingian influence, and Yorke suggest that we may know so much due to Alfred's efforts to portray his son as the most throneworthy µtheling.[6]

    Ąthelhelm is only recorded in Alfred's will of the mid-880s, and probably died at some time in the next decade, but Ąthelwold is listed above Edward in the only charter where he appears, probably indicating a higher status. Ąthelwold may also have had an advantage because his mother Wulfthryth witnessed a charter as queen, whereas Edward's mother Ealhswith never had a higher status than king's wife.[7] However, Alfred was in a position to give his own son considerable advantages. In his will, he only left a handful of estates to his brother's sons, and the bulk of his property to Edward, including all his booklands (landed vested in a charter which could be alienated by the holder, as opposed to folkland, which had to pass to heirs of the body) in Kent.[8] Alfred also advanced men who could be depended on to support his plans for his succession, such as his brother-in-law, a Mercian ealdorman called Ąthelwulf, and his son-in-law Ąthelred. Edward witnessed several of his father's charters, and often accompanied him on royal peregrinations.[9] In a Kentish charter of 898 Edward witnessed as rex Saxonum, suggesting that Alfred may have followed the strategy adopted by his grandfather Egbert of strengthening his son's claim to succeed to the West Saxon throne by making him sub-king of Kent.[10]

    Once Edward grew up Alfred was able to give him military commands and experience of royal business.[11] The English defeated renewed Viking attacks in 893 to 896, and in Richard Abels' view, the glory belonged to Ąthelred and Edward rather than Alfred himself. In 893 Edward defeated the Vikings in the Battle of Farnham, although he was unable to follow up his victory as his troops' period of service had expired and he had to release them. The situation was saved by the arrival of troops from London led by Ąthelred.[12] Yorke argues that although Alfred packed the witan with members whose interests lay in the continuation of Alfred's line, that may not have been sufficient to ensure Edward's accession if he had not displayed his fitness for kingship.[13]

    In about 893 Edward probably married Ecgwynn, who bore him two children, the future King Ąthelstan and a daughter who married Sitric, a Viking King of York. The twelfth-century chronicler William of Malmesbury described Ecgwynn as an illustris femina, and stated that Edward chose Ąthelstan as his heir as king. She may have been related to St Dunstan, the aristocratic tenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. However, William also stated that Ąthelstan's accession in 924 was opposed by a nobleman who claimed that his mother was a concubine of low birth.[14] The suggestion that Ecgwynn was Edward's mistress is accepted by some historians such as Simon Keynes and Richard Abels,[15] but Yorke and Ąthelstan's biographer, Sarah Foot, disagree, arguing that the allegations should be seen in the context of the disputed succession in 924, and were not an issue in the 890s.[16] Ecgwynn probably died by 899, as around the time of Alfred's death Edward married Ąlfflµd, the daughter of Ealdorman Ąthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire.[17]

    Janet Nelson suggests that there was conflict between Alfred and Edward in the 890s. She points out that the contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, produced under court auspices in the 890s, does not mention Edward's military successes. These are only known from the late tenth century chronicle of Ąthelweard, such as his account of the Battle of Farnham, in which in Nelson's view "Edward's military prowess, and popularity with a following of young warriors, are highlighted". Towards the end of his life Alfred invested his young grandson Ąthelstan in a ceremony which historians see as designation as eventual successor to the kingship. Nelson argues that while this may have been proposed by Edward to support the accession of his own son, on the other hand it may have been intended by Alfred as part of a scheme to divide the kingdom between his son and grandson. Ąthelstan was sent to be brought up in Mercia by Ąthelflµd and Ąthelred, but it is not known whether this was Alfred's idea or Edward's. Alfred's wife Ealhswith was ignored in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in her husband's lifetime, but emerged from obscurity when her son acceded. This may be because she supported her son against her husband.[18]

    Ąthelwold's revolt

    Further information: Ąthelwold's Revolt; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelwold%27s_Revolt

    Coin of Edward the Elder
    Alfred died on 26 October 899 and Edward succeeded to the throne, but Ąthelwold disputed the succession.[19] He seized the royal estates of Wimborne, symbolically important as the place where his father was buried, and Christchurch. Edward marched with his army to the nearby Iron Age hillfort at Badbury Rings. Ąthelwold declared that he would live or die at Wimborne, but then left in the night and rode to Northumbria, where the Danes accepted him as king.[20] Edward was crowned on 8 June 900 at Kingston upon Thames or Winchester.[a]

    In 901, Ąthelwold came with a fleet to Essex, and the following year he persuaded the East Anglian Danes to invade English Mercia and northern Wessex, where his army looted and then returned home. Edward retaliated by ravaging East Anglia, but when he retreated the men of Kent disobeyed the order to retire, and were intercepted by the Danish army. The two sides met at the Battle of the Holme (perhaps Holme in Huntingdonshire) on 13 December 902. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Danes "kept the place of slaughter", meaning that they won the battle, but they suffered heavy losses, including Ąthelwold and a King Eohric, possibly of the East Anglian Danes. Kentish losses included Sigehelm, ealdorman of Kent and father of Edward's third wife, Eadgifu. Ąthelwold's death ended the threat to Edward's throne.[22]

    King of the Anglo-Saxons

    In London in 886 Alfred had received the formal submission of "all the English people that were not under subjection to the Danes", and thereafter he adopted the title Anglorum Saxonum rex (King of the Anglo-Saxons), which is used in his later charters and all but two of Edward's. This is seen by Keynes as "the invention of a wholly new and distinctive polity", covering both West Saxons and Mercians, which was inherited by Edward with the support of Mercians at the West Saxon court, of whom the most important was Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury. In 903 Edward issued several charters concerning land in Mercia. Three of them are witnessed by the Mercian leaders and their daughter Ąlfwynn, and they all contain a statement that Ąthelred and Ąthelflµd "then held rulership and power over the race of the Mercians, under the aforesaid king". Other charters were issued by the Mercian leades which did not contain any acknowledgment of Edward's authority, but they did not issue their own coinage.[23] This view of Edward's status is accepted by Martin Ryan, who states that Ąthelred and Ąthelflµd had "a considerable but ultimately subordinate share of royal authority" in English Mercia.[24]

    Other historians disagree. Pauline Stafford describes Ąthelflµd as "the last Mercian queen",[25] while in Charles Insley's view Mercia kept its independence until Ąthelflµd's death in 918.[26] Michael Davidson contrasts the 903 charters with one of 901 in which the Mercian rulers were "by grace of God, holding, governing and defending the monarchy of the Mercians". Davidson comments that "the evidence for Mercian subordination is decidedly mixed. Ultimately, the ideology of the 'Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons' may have been less successful in achieving the absorption of Mercia and more something which I would see as a murky political coup." The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled at the West Saxon court from the 890s, and the entries for the late ninth and early tenth centuries are seen by historians as reflecting the West Saxon viewpoint; Davidson observes that "Alfred and Edward possessed skilled 'spin doctors'".[27] However, some versions of the Chronicle incorporate part of a lost Mercian Register, which gives a Mercian perspective and details of Ąthelfµd's campaign against the Vikings.[24]

    In the late ninth and early tenth centuries connection with the West Saxon royal house was seen as prestigious by continental rulers. In the mid-890s Alfred had married his daughter Ąlfthryth to Baldwin II of Flanders, and in 919 Edward married his daughter Eadgifu to Charles the Simple, King of West Francia. In 925, after Edward's death, another daughter Eadgyth married Otto, the future King of Germany and (after Eadgyth's death) Holy Roman Emperor.[28]

    Conquest of the southern Danelaw

    No battles are recorded between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danish Vikings for several years after the Battle of the Holme, but in 906 Edward agreed peace with the East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, suggesting that there had been conflict. According to one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he made peace "of necessity", which implies that he was forced to buy them off.[19] He encouraged Englishmen to purchase land in Danish territory, and two charters survive relating to estates in Bedfordshire and Derbyshire.[29] In 909 Edward sent a combined West Saxon and Mercian army which harassed the Northumbria]]n Danes, and seized the bones of the Northumbrian royal saint Oswald from Bardney Abbey in [[Lincolnshire. Oswald was translated to a new Mercian minster established by Ąthelred and Ąthelfµd in Gloucester and the Danes were compelled to accept peace on Edward's terms.[30] In the following year, the Northumbrian Danes retaliated by raiding Mercia, but on their way home they were met by a combined Mercian and West Saxon army at the Battle of Tettenhall, where the Vikings suffered a disastrous defeat. After that, the Northumbrian Danes never ventured south of the River Humber, and Edward and his Mercian allies were able to concentrate on conquering the southern Danelaw in East Anglia and the Five Boroughs of Viking east Mercia: Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford.[19] In 911 Ąthelred, Lord of the Mercians, died, and Edward took control of the Mercian lands around London and Oxford. Ąthelred was succeeded as ruler by his widow Ąthelflµd as Lady of the Mercians, and she had probably been acting as ruler for several years as Ąthelred seems to have been incapacitated in later life.[31]

    Edward and Ąthelflµd then began the construction of fortresses to guard against Viking attacks and protect territory captured from them. In November 911 he constructed a fort on the north bank of the River Lea at Hertford to guard against attack by the Danes of Bedford and Cambridge. In 912 he marched with his army to Maldon in Essex, and ordered the building of a fort at Witham and a second fort at Hertford, which protected London from attack and encouraged many English living under Danish rule in Essex to submit to him. In 913 there was a pause in his activities, although Ąthelflµd continued her fortress building in Mercia.[32] In 914 a Viking army sailed from Brittany and ravaged the Severn estuary. It then attacked Ergyng in south-east Wales (now Archenfield in Herefordshire) and captured Bishop Cyfeilliog. Edward ransomed him for the large sum of forty pounds of silver. The Vikings were defeated by the armies of Hereford and Gloucester, and gave hostages and oaths to keep the peace. Edward kept an army on the south side of the estuary in case the Vikings broke their promises, and he twice had to repel attacks. In the autumn the Vikings moved on to Ireland. The episode suggests that south-east Wales fell within the West Saxon sphere of power, unlike Brycheiniog just to the north, where Mercia was dominant.[33] In late 914 Edward built two forts at Buckingham, and Earl Thurketil, the leader of the Danish army at Bedford submitted to him. The following year he occupied Bedford, and constructed another fortification on the south bank of the River Great Ouse against a Viking one on the north bank. In 916 Edward returned to Essex and built a fort at Maldon to bolster the defence of Witham. He also helped Earl Thurketil and his followers to leave England, reducing the number of Viking armies in the Midlands.[34]

    The decisive year in the war was 917. In April Edward built a fort at Towcester as a defence against the Danes of Northampton, and another at an unidentified place called Wigingamere. The Danes launched unsuccessful attacks on Towcester, Bedford and Wigingamere, while Ąthelflµd captured Derby, showing the value of the English defensive measures, which were aided by disunity and a lack of coordination among the Viking armies. The Danes had built their own fortress at Tempsford in Bedfordshire, but at the end of the summer the English stormed it and killed the last Danish king of East Anglia. The English then took Colchester, although they did not try to hold it. The Danes retaliated by sending a large army to lay siege to Maldon, but the garrison held out until it was relieved and the retreating army was heavily defeated. Edward then returned to Towcester and reinforced its fort with a stone wall, and the Danes of nearby Northampton submitted to him. The armies of Cambridge and East Anglia also submitted, and by the end of the year the only Danish armies still holding out were those of four of the Five Boroughs, Leicester, Stamford, Nottingham, and Lincoln.[35]

    In early 918, Ąthelflµd secured the submission of Leicester without a fight, and the Danes of Northumbrian York offered her their allegiance, probably for protection against Norse (Norwegian) Vikings who had invaded Northumbria from Ireland, but she died on 12 June before she could take up the proposal. The same offer is not known to have been made to Edward, and the Norse Vikings took York in 919. According to the main West Saxon version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, after Ąthelflµd's death the Mercians submitted to Edward, but the Mercian version (the Mercian Register) states that in December 918 her daughter Ąlfwynn, "was deprived of all authority in Mercia and taken into Wessex". Mercia may have made a bid for continued semi-independence which was suppressed by Edward, and it then came under his direct rule. Stamford had surrendered to Edward before Ąthelflµd's death, and Nottingham did the same shortly afterwards. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 918, "all the people who had settled in Mercia, both Danish and English, submitted to him". This would mean that he ruled all England south of the Humber, but it is not clear whether Lincoln was an exception, as coins of Viking York in the early 920s were probably minted at Lincoln.[36] Some Danish jarls were allowed to keep their estates, although Edward probably also rewarded his supporters with land, and some he kept in his own hands. Coin evidence suggests that his authority was stronger in the East Midlands than in East Anglia.[37] Three Welsh kings, Hywel Dda, Clydog and Idwal Foel, who had previously been subject to Ąthelflµd, now gave their allegiance to Edward.[38]

    Coinage

    The principal currency was the silver penny, and some coins carried a stylised portrait of the king. Royal coins had "EADVVEARD REX" on the obverse and the name of the moneyer on the reverse. The places of issue were not shown in his reign, but they were in that of his son Ąthelstan, allowing the location of many moneyers of Edward's reign to be established. There were mints in Bath, Canterbury, Chester, Chichester, Derby, Exeter, Hereford, London, Oxford, Shaftesbury, Shrewsbury, Southampton, Stafford, Wallingford, Wareham, Winchester and probably other towns. No coins were struck in the name of Ąthelred or Ąthelflµd, but from around 910 mints in English Mercia produced coins with an unusual decorative design on the reverse. This ceased before 920, and probably represents Ąthelflµd's way of distinguishing her coinage from that of her brother. There was also a minor issue of coins in the name of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury. There was a dramatic increase in the number of moneyers over Edward's reign, with less than 25 in the south in the first ten years rising to 67 in the last ten years, around 5 in English Mercia rising to 23, plus 27 in the conquered Danelaw.[39]

    Church

    In 908, Plegmund conveyed the alms of the English king and people to the Pope, the first visit to Rome by an Archbishop of Canterbury for almost a century, and the journey may have been to seek papal approval for a proposed re-organisation of the West Saxon sees.[40] When Edward came to the throne Wessex had two dioceses, Winchester, held by Denewulf, and Sherborne, held by Asser.[41] In 908 Denewulf died and was replaced the following year by Frithestan; soon afterwards Winchester was divided into two sees, with the creation of the diocese of Ramsbury covering Wiltshire and Berkshire, while Winchester was left with Hampshire and Surrrey. Forged charters date the division to 909, but this may not be correct. Asser died in the same year, and at some date between 909 and 918 Sherborne was divided into three sees, with Crediton covering Devon and Cornwall, and Wells covering Somerset, while Sherborne was left with Dorset.[42] The effect of the changes were to strengthen the status of Canterbury compared with Winchester and Sherborne, but the division may have been related to a change in the secular functions of West Saxon bishops, to become agents of royal government in shires rather than provinces, assisting in defence and taking part in shire courts.[43]

    At the beginning of Edward's reign, his mother Ealhswith founded the abbey of St Mary for nuns, known as the Nunnaminster, in Winchester.[44] Edward's daughter Eadburh became a nun there, and she was venerated as a saint and the subject of a hagiography by Osbert of Clare in the twelfth century.[45] In 901 Edward started building a major monastery for men, probably in accordance of his father's wishes. The monastery was next to Winchester Cathedral, which became known as the Old Minster, while Edward's foundation was called the New Minster. It was much larger than the Old Minster, and was probably intended as a royal mausoleum.[46] It acquired relics of the Breton Saint Judoc, which probably arrived in England from Ponthieu in 901, and the body of one of Alfred's closest advisers, Grimbald, who died in the same year and who was soon venerated as a saint. Edward's mother died in 902, and he buried her and Alfred there, moving his father's body from the Old Minster. Burials in the early 920s included Edward himself, his brother Ąthelweard, and his son Ąlfweard. However, when Ąthelstan became king in 924, he did not show any favour to his father's foundation, probably because Winchester sided against him when the throne was disputed after Edward's death. The only other king buried at the New Minster was Eadwig in 959.[47]

    Edward's decision not to expand the Old Minster, but rather to overshadow it with a much larger building, suggests animosity towards Bishop Denewulf, and this was compounded by forcing the Old Minster to cede both land for the new site, and an estate of 70 hides at Beddington to provide an income for the New Minster. Edward was remembered by the New Minster as a benefactor, but at the Old Minster as rex avidus (greedy king).[48] Alan Thacker comments:

    Edward's method of endowing New Minster was of a piece with his ecclesiastical policy in general. Like his father he gave little to the church — indeed, judging by the dearth of charters for much of his reign he seems to have given away little at all...More than any other, Edward's kingship seems to epitomise the new hard-nosed monarchy of Wessex, determined to exploit all its resources, lay and ecclesiastical, for its own benefit.[49]
    Patrick Wormald observes: "The thought occurs that neither Alfred nor Edward was greatly beloved at Winchester Cathedral; and one reason for Edward's moving his father's body into the new family shrine next door was that he was surer of sincere prayers there."[50]

    Learning and culture

    The standard of Anglo-Saxon learning declined severely in the ninth century, particularly in Wessex, and Mercian scholars such as Plegmund played a prominent part in the revival of learning initiated by Alfred. Mercians were prominent at the courts of Alfred and Edward, and the Mercian dialect and scholarship commanded West Saxon respect.[51] It is uncertain how far Alfred's programmes continued during his son's reign. English translations of works in Latin made during Alfred's reign continued to be copied, but few original works are known. The script known as Anglo-Saxon Square minuscule reached maturity in the 930s, and its earliest phases date to Edward's reign. The main scholarly and scriptorial centres were the cathedral centres of Canterbury, Winchester and Worcester; monasteries did not make a significant contribution until Ąthelstan's reign.[52] Very little survives of the manuscript production of Edward's reign.[53]

    The only surviving large scale embroideries which were certainly made in Anglo-Saxon England date to Edward's reign. They are a stole, a maniple and a possible girdle removed from the shrine of St Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral in the nineteenth century. They were donated to the shrine by Ąthelstan in 934, but inscriptions on the embroideries show that they were commissioned by Edward's second wife, Ąlfflµd, as a gift to Frithestan, Bishop of Winchester. They probably did not reach their intended destination because Ąthelstan was on bad terms with Winchester.[54]

    Law and administration

    Almost all surviving charters from Edward's reign are later copies, and the only surviving original is not a charter of Edward himself, but a grant by Ąthelred and Ąthelflµd in 901.[55] In the same year a meeting at Southampton was attended by his brother and sons, his household thegns and nearly all bishops, but no ealdormen. It was on this occasion that the king acquired land from the Bishop of Winchester for the foundation of the New Minster, Winchester. No charters survive for the period from 910 to the king's death in 924, much to the puzzlement and distress of historians. Charters were usually issued when the king made grants of land, and it is possible that Edward followed a policy of retaining property which came into his hands in order to help finance his campaigns against the Vikings.[56] Charters rarely survive unless they concerned property which passed to the church and were preserved in their archives, and another possibility is that Edward was only making grants of property on terms which ensured that they returned to male members of the royal house; such charters would not be found in church archives.[57]

    Clause 3 of the law code called I Edward provides that people convincingly charged with perjury shall not be allowed to clear themselves by oath, but only by ordeal. This is the start of the continuous history in England of trial by ordeal; it is probably mentioned in the laws of King Ine (688 to 726),[b] but not in later codes such as those of Alfred.[58] The administrative and legal system in Edward's reign may have depended extensively on written records, almost none of which survive.[59] Edward was one of the few Anglo-Saxon kings to issue laws about bookland. There was increasing confusion in the period as to what was really bookland, and Edward urged prompt settlement in bookland/folkland disputes, and laid down that jurisdiction belonged to the king and his officers.[60]

    Later life

    Silver brooch imitating a coin of Edward the Elder, c. 920, found in Rome, Italy. British Museum.
    According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, there was a general submission of rulers in Britain to Edward in 920:

    Then [Edward] went from there into the Peak District to Bakewell and ordered a borough to be built in the neighbourhood and manned. And then the king of the Scots and all the people of the Scots, and Rµgnald and the sons of Eadwulf[c] and all who live in Northumbria, both English and Danish, Norsemen and others, and also the king of the Strathclyde Welsh and all the Strathclyde Welsh, chose him as father and lord.[62]
    This passage was regarded as a straightforward report by most historians until the late twentieth century,[63] and Frank Stenton observed that "each of the rulers named in this list had something definite to gain from an acknowledgement of Edward's overlordship".[64] Since the 1980s the 'submission' has been viewed with increasing scepticism, particularly as the passage in the Chronicle is the only evidence for it, unlike other submissions such as that one in 927 to Ąthelstan, for which there is independent support from literary sources and coins.[65] Alfred Smyth points out that Edward was not in a position to impose the same conditions on the Scots and the Northumbrians as he could on conquered Vikings, and argues that the Chronicle presented a treaty between kings as a submission to Wessex.[66] Stafford observes that the rulers had met at Bakewell on the border between Mercia and Northumbria, and that meetings on borders were generally considered to avoid any implication of submission by either side.[67] Davidson points out that the wording "chosen as father and lord" applied to conquered army groups and burhs, not relations with other kings. In his view:

    The idea that this meeting represented a 'submission', while it must remain a possibility, does however seem unlikely. The textual context of the chronicler's passage makes his interpretation of the meeting suspect, and ultimately, Edward was in no position to force the subordination of, or dictate terms to, his fellow kings in Britain.[68]
    Edward continued Ąthelflµd's policy of founding burhs in the north-west, with ones at Thelwall and Manchester in 919, and Cledematha (Rhuddlan) at the mouth of the River Clwyd in North Wales in 921.[69]

    Nothing is known of his relations with the Mercians between 919 and the last year of his life, when he put down a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester. Mercia and the eastern Danelaw were organised into shires at an unknown date in the tenth century, ignoring traditional boundaries, and historians such as Sean Miller and David Griffiths suggest that Edward's imposition of direct control from 919 is a likely context for a change which ignored Mercian sensibilities. Resentment at the changes, at the imposition of rule by distant Wessex, and at fiscal demands by Edward's reeves, may have provoked the revolt at Chester. He died at the royal estate of Farndon, twelve miles south of Chester, on 24 July 924, shortly after putting down the revolt, and was buried in the New Minster, Winchester.[70] In 1109, the New Minster was moved outside the city walls to become Hyde Abbey, and the following year Edward and his parents were translated to the new church.[71]

    Reputation

    According to William of Malmesbury, Edward was "much inferior to his father in the cultivation of letters" but "incomparably more glorious in the power of his rule". Other medieval chroniclers expressed similar views, and he was generally seen as inferior in book learning, but superior in military success. John of Worcester described him as "the most invincible King Edward the Elder". However, even as war leader he was only one of a succession of successful kings; his achievements were overshadowed because he did not have a famous victory like Alfred's at Edington and Ąthelstan's at Brunanburh, and William qualified his praise by saying that "the chief prize of victory, in my judgment, is due to his father". Edward has also been overshadowed by chroniclers' admiration for his highly regarded sister, Ąthelflµd.[72]

    A principal reason for the neglect of Edward is that very few primary sources for his reign survive, whereas there are many for Alfred. He was largely ignored by historians until the late twentieth century, but he is now highly regarded. He is described by Keynes as "far more than the bellicose bit between Alfred and Ąthelstan",[73] and according to Nick Higham: "Edward the Elder is perhaps the most neglected of English kings. He ruled an expanding realm for twenty-five years and arguably did as much as any other individual to construct a single, south-centred, Anglo-Saxon kingdom, yet posthumously his achievements have been all but forgotten." In 1999 a conference on his reign was held at the University of Manchester, and the papers given on this occasion were published as a book in 2001. Prior to this conference, no monographs had been published on Edward's reign, whereas his father has been the subject of numerous biographies and other studies.[74]

    In the view of F. T. Wainwright: "Without detracting from the achievements of Alfred, it is well to remember that it was Edward who reconquered the Danish Midlands and gave England nearly a century of respite from serious Danish attacks."[75] Higham summarises Edward's legacy as follows:

    Under Edward's leadership, the scale of alternative centres of power diminished markedly: the separate court of Mercia was dissolved; the Danish leaders were in large part brought to heel or expelled; the Welsh princes were constrained from aggression of the borders and even the West Saxon bishoprics divided. Late Anglo-Saxon England is often described as the most centralised polity in western Europe at the time, with its shires, its shire-reeves and its systems of regional courts and royal taxation. If so — and the matter remains debatable — much of that centrality derives from Edward's activities, and he has as good a claim as any other to be considered the architect of medieval England.[76]
    Edward's cognomen 'the Elder' was first used in Wulfstan's Life of St Ąthelwold at the end of the tenth century, to distinguish him from King Edward the Martyr.[19]

    Marriages and children[edit]
    Edward had about fourteen children from three marriages.[d]

    He first married Ecgwynn around 893.[82] Their children were:

    Ąthelstan, King of England 924–939[19]
    A daughter, perhaps called Edith, married Sihtric Câaech, Viking King of York in 926, who died in 927. Possibly Saint Edith of Polesworth[83]
    In c. 900, Edward married Ąlfflµd, daughter of Ealdorman Ąthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire.[17] Their children were:

    Ąlfweard, died August 924, a month after his father; possibly King of Wessex for that month[84]
    Edwin, drowned at sea 933[85]
    Ąthelhild, lay sister at Wilton Abbey[86]
    Eadgifu (died in or after 951), married Charles the Simple, King of the West Franks, c. 918[87]
    Eadflµd, nun at Wilton Abbey[86]
    Eadhild, married Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks in 926[88]
    Eadgyth (died 946), in 929/30 married Otto I, future King of the East Franks, and (after Eadgyth's death) Holy Roman Emperor[89]
    Ąlfgifu, married "a prince near the Alps", perhaps Louis, brother of King Rudolph II of Burgundy[90]
    Edward married for a third time, about 919, Eadgifu, the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent.[91] Their children were

    Edmund, King of England 939–946[77]
    Eadred, King of England 946–955[77]
    Eadburh (died c. 952), Benedictine nun at Nunnaminster, Winchester, and saint[92]
    Eadgifu, existence uncertain, possibly the same person as Ąlfgifu[93]

    Buried:
    New Minster, Winchester, later translated to Hyde Abbey

    Edward married Eadgifu of Kent in ~919. Eadgifu was born in C. 903 in England; died in C. 966. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  12. 1473.  Eadgifu of Kent was born in C. 903 in England; died in C. 966.

    Notes:

    Eadgifu of Kent (also Edgiva or Ediva) (in or before 903 – in or after 966) was the third wife of Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons.

    Biography

    Eadgifu was the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent, who died at the Battle of the Holme in 902.[1] She married Edward in about 919 and became the mother of two sons, Edmund I of England, later King Edmund I, and Eadred of England, later King Eadred, and two daughters, Saint Eadburh of Winchester and Eadgifu.[2] She survived Edward by many years, dying in the reign of her grandson Edgar.

    According to a narrative written in the early 960s, her father had given Cooling in Kent to a man called Goda as security for a loan. She claimed that her father had repaid the loan and left the land to her, but Goda denied receiving payment and refused to surrender the land. She got possession of Cooling six years after her father's death, when her friends persuaded King Edward to threaten to dispossess Goda of his property unless he gave up the estate. Edward later declared Goda's lands forfeit and gave the charters to Eadgifu, but she returned most of the estates to Goda, although retained the charters. Some time after this her marriage to Edward took place. After his death King Ąthelstan required Eadgifu to return the charters to Goda, perhaps because the king was on bad terms with his stepmother.[3]

    She disappeared from court during the reign of her step-son, King Ąthelstan, but she was prominent and influential during the reign of her two sons.[2] As queen dowager, her position seem to have been higher than that of her daughter-in-law; In a Kentish charter datable between 942 and 944, her daughter-in-law Ąlfgifu of Shaftesbury subscribes herself as the king's concubine (concubina regis), with a place assigned to her between the bishops and ealdormen. By comparison, Eadgifu subscribes higher up in the witness list as mater regis, after her sons Edmund and Eadred but before the archbishops and bishops.[4]

    Following the death of her younger son Eadred in 955, she was deprived of her lands by her eldest grandson, King Eadwig, perhaps because she took the side of his younger brother, Edgar, in the struggle between them. When Edgar succeeded on Eadwig's death in 959 she recovered some lands and received generous gifts from her grandson, but she never returned to her prominent position at court. She is last recorded as a witness to a charter in 966.[2]

    She was known as a supporter of saintly churchmen and a benefactor of churches.[2]

    See also

    House of Wessex family tree; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex#House_of_Wessex_family_tree

    Children:
    1. 736. Edmund I, King of the English was born in ~921 in Wessex, England; died on 26 May 946 in Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, England; was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England.


Generation: 12

  1. 2580.  Aethelwulf of Wessex, King of WessexAethelwulf of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in (~820) in Wessex, England (son of Egbert of Wessex, King of Wessex and Redburga); died on 13 Jan 0858; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

    Notes:

    Ąthelwulf (Old English for "Noble Wolf";[2] died 13 January 858) was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.[a] In 825, his father, King Egbert, defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending a long Mercian dominance over Anglo-Saxon England south of the Humber. Egbert sent Ąthelwulf with an army to Kent, where he expelled the Mercian sub-king and was himself appointed sub-king. After 830, Egbert maintained good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by Ąthelwulf when he became king in 839, the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.

    The Vikings were not a major threat to Wessex during Ąthelwulf's reign. In 843, he was defeated in a battle against the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset, but he achieved a major victory at the Battle of Aclea in 851. In 853 he joined a successful Mercian expedition to Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony, and in the same year his daughter Ąthelswith married King Burgred of Mercia. In 855 Ąthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. In preparation he gave a "decimation", donating a tenth of his personal property to his subjects; he appointed his eldest surviving son Ąthelbald to act as King of Wessex in his absence, and his next son Ąthelberht to rule Kent and the south-east. Ąthelwulf spent a year in Rome, and on his way back he married Judith, the daughter of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald.

    When Ąthelwulf returned to England, Ąthelbald refused to surrender the West Saxon throne, and Ąthelwulf agreed to divide the kingdom, taking the east and leaving the west in Ąthelbald's hands. On Ąthelwulf's death in 858 he left Wessex to Ąthelbald and Kent to Ąthelberht, but Ąthelbald's death only two years later led to the reunification of the kingdom.

    In the 20th century Ąthelwulf's reputation among historians was poor: he was seen as excessively pious and impractical, and his pilgrimage was viewed as a desertion of his duties. Historians in the 21st century see him very differently, as a king who consolidated and extended the power of his dynasty, commanded respect on the continent, and dealt more effectively than most of his contemporaries with Viking attacks. He is regarded as one of the most successful West Saxon kings, who laid the foundations for the success of his son, Alfred the Great.

    King of Wessex
    Reign 839–858
    Predecessor Egbert
    Successor Ąthelbald
    Died 13 January 858
    Burial Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral[1]
    Spouse Osburh
    Judith
    Issue Ąthelstan, King of Kent
    Ąthelswith, Queen of Mercia
    Ąthelbald, King of Wessex
    Ąthelberht, King of Wessex
    Ąthelred, King of Wessex
    Alfred, King of Wessex
    House House of Wessex
    Father Egbert

    Background

    Southern British Isles 9th century
    Southern Britain in the middle of the ninth century
    At the beginning of the 9th century, England was almost completely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons, with Mercia and Wessex the most important southern kingdoms. Mercia was dominant until the 820s, and it exercised overlordship over East Anglia and Kent, but Wessex was able to maintain its independence from its more powerful neighbour. Offa, King of Mercia from 757 to 796, was the dominant figure of the second half of the 8th century. King Beorhtric of Wessex (786–802), married Offa's daughter in 789. Beorhtric and Offa drove Ąthelwulf's father Egbert into exile, and he spent several years at the court of Charlemagne in Francia. Egbert was the son of Ealhmund, who had briefly been King of Kent in 784. Following Offa's death, King Coenwulf of Mercia (796–821) maintained Mercian dominance, but it is uncertain whether Beorhtric ever accepted political subordination, and when he died in 802 Egbert became king, perhaps with the support of Charlemagne.[5] For two hundred years three kindreds had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. Egbert's best claim was that he was the great-great-grandson of Ingild, brother of King Ine (688–726), and in 802 it would have seemed very unlikely that he would establish a lasting dynasty.[6]

    Almost nothing is recorded of the first twenty years of Egbert's reign, apart from campaigns against the Cornish in the 810s.[7] The historian Richard Abels argues that the silence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was probably intentional, concealing Egbert's purge of Beorhtric's magnates and suppression of rival royal lines.[8] Relations between Mercian kings and their Kentish subjects were distant. Kentish ealdormen did not attend the court of King Coenwulf, who quarrelled with Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury (805–832) over the control of Kentish monasteries; Coenwulf's primary concern seems to have been to gain access to the wealth of Kent. His successors Ceolwulf I (821–23) and Beornwulf (823–26) restored relations with Archbishop Wulfred, and Beornwulf appointed a sub-king of Kent, Baldred.[9]

    England had suffered Viking raids in the late 8th century, but no attacks are recorded between 794 and 835, when the Isle of Sheppey in Kent was ravaged.[10] In 836 Egbert was defeated by the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset,[7] but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.[11]

    Family

    Ąthelwulf was the son of Egbert, King of Wessex from 802 to 839. His mother's name is unknown, and he had no recorded siblings. He is known to have had two wives in succession, and so far as is known, Osburh, the senior of the two, was the mother of all his children. She was the daughter of Oslac, described by Asser, biographer of their son Alfred the Great, as "King Ąthelwulf's famous butler",[b] a man who was descended from Jutes who had ruled the Isle of Wight.[13][14] Ąthelwulf had six known children. His eldest son, Ąthelstan, was old enough to be appointed King of Kent in 839, so he must have been born by the early 820s, and he died in the early 850s.[c] The second son, Ąthelbald, is first recorded as a charter witness in 841, and if, like Alfred, he began to attest when he was around six, he would have been born around 835; he was King of Wessex from 858 to 860. Ąthelwulf's third son, Ąthelberht, was probably born around 839 and was king from 860 to 865. The only daughter, Ąthelswith, married Burgred, King of Mercia, in 853.[16] The other two sons were much younger: Ąthelred was born around 848 and was king from 865 to 871, and Alfred was born around 849 and was king from 871 to 899.[17] In 856 Ąthelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia and future Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Ermentrude. Osburh had probably died, although it is possible that she had been repudiated.[d] There were no children from Ąthelwulf's marriage to Judith, and after his death she married his eldest surviving son and successor, Ąthelbald.[13]

    Early life

    Ąthelwulf was first recorded in 825, when Egbert won the crucial Battle of Ellandun against King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending the long Mercian ascendancy over southern England. Egbert followed it up by sending Ąthelwulf with Eahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Wulfheard, Ealdorman of Hampshire, with a large army into Kent to expel sub-king Baldred.[e] Ąthelwulf was descended from kings of Kent, and he was sub-king of Kent, and of Surrey, Sussex and Essex, which were then included in the sub-kingdom, until he inherited the throne of Wessex in 839.[22] His sub-kingship is recorded in charters, in some of which King Egbert acted with his son's permission,[13] such as a grant in 838 to Bishop Beornmod of Rochester, and Ąthelwulf himself issued a charter as King of Kent in the same year.[23] Unlike their Mercian predecessors, who alienated the Kentish people by ruling from a distance, Ąthelwulf and his father successfully cultivated local support by governing through Kentish ealdormen and promoting their interests.[24] In Abels' view, Egbert and Ąthelwulf rewarded their friends and purged Mercian supporters.[25][f] Historians take differing views on the attitude of the new regime to the Kentish church. At Canterbury in 828 Egbert granted privileges to the bishopric of Rochester, and according to the historian of Anglo-Saxon England Simon Keynes, Egbert and Ąthelwulf took steps to secure the support of Archbishop Wulfred.[27] However, the medievalist Nicholas Brooks argues that Wulfred's Mercian origin and connections proved a liability. Ąthelwulf seized an estate in East Malling from the Canterbury church on the ground that it had only been granted by Baldred when he was in flight from the West Saxon forces; the issue of archiepiscopal coinage was suspended for several years; and the only estate Wulfred was granted after 825 he received from King Wiglaf of Mercia.[28]

    In 829 Egbert conquered Mercia, only for Wiglaf to recover his kingdom a year later.[29] The scholar D. P. Kirby sees Wiglaf's restoration in 830 as a dramatic reversal for Egbert, which was probably followed by his loss of control of the London mint and the Mercian recovery of Essex and Berkshire,[30] and the historian Heather Edwards states that his "immense conquest could not be maintained".[7] However, in the view of Keynes:

    It is interesting ... that both Egbert and his son Ąthelwulf appear to have respected the separate identity of Kent and its associated provinces, as if there appears to have been no plan at this stage to absorb the southeast into an enlarged kingdom stretching across the whole of southern England. Nor does it seem to have been the intention of Egbert and his successors to maintain supremacy of any kind over the kingdom of Mercia ... It is quite possible that Egbert had relinquished Mercia of his own volition; and there is no suggestion that any residual antagonism affected relations between the rulers of Wessex and Mercia thereafter.[31]

    In 838 King Egbert held an assembly at Kingston in Surrey, where Ąthelwulf may have been consecrated as king by the archbishop. Egbert restored the East Malling estate to Wulfred's successor as Archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, in return for a promise of "firm and unbroken friendship" for himself and Ąthelwulf and their heirs, and the same condition is specified in a grant to the see of Winchester. Egbert thus ensured support for Ąthelwulf, who became the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.[32] At the same meeting Kentish monasteries chose Ąthelwulf as their lord, and he undertook that, after his death, they would have freedom to elect their heads. Wulfred had devoted his archiepiscopate to fighting against secular power over Kentish monasteries, but Ceolnoth now surrendered effective control to Ąthelwulf, whose offer of freedom from control after his death was unlikely to be honoured by his successors. Kentish ecclesiastics and laymen now looked for protection against Viking attacks to West Saxon rather than Mercian royal power. [33]

    Egbert's conquests brought him wealth far greater than his predecessors had enjoyed, and enabled him to purchase the support which secured the West Saxon throne for his descendants.[34] The stability brought by the dynastic succession of Egbert and Ąthelwulf led to an expansion of commercial and agrarian resources, and to an expansion of royal income.[35] The wealth of the West Saxon kings was also increased by the agreement in 838–39 with Archbishop Ceolnoth for the previously independent West Saxon minsters to accept the king as their secular lord in return for his protection.[36] However, there was no certainty that the hegemony of Wessex would prove more permanent than that of Mercia.[37]

    King of Wessex

    13th century depiction of Ąthelwulf
    Depiction of Ąthelwulf in the late-13th-century Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings
    When Ąthelwulf succeeded to the throne of Wessex in 839, his experience as sub-king of Kent had given him valuable training in kingship, and he in turn made his own sons sub-kings.[38] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, on his accession "he gave to his son Ąthelstan the kingdom of the people of Kent, and the kingdom of the East Saxons [Essex] and of the people of Surrey and of the South Saxons [Sussex]". However, Ąthelwulf did not give Ąthelstan the same power as his father had given him, and although Ąthelstan attested his father's charters[g] as king, he does not appear to have been given the power to issue his own charters. Ąthelwulf exercised authority in the south-east and made regular visits there. He governed Wessex and Kent as separate spheres, and assemblies in each kingdom were only attended by the nobility of that country. The historian Janet Nelson says that "Ąthelwulf ran a Carolingian-style family firm of plural realms, held together by his own authority as father-king, and by the consent of distinct âelites." He maintained his father's policy of governing Kent through ealdormen appointed from the local nobility and advancing their interests, but gave less support to the church.[39] In 843 Ąthelwulf granted ten hides at Little Chart to Ąthelmod, the brother of the leading Kentish ealdorman Ealhere, and Ąthelmod succeeded to the post on his brother's death in 853.[40] In 844 Ąthelwulf granted land at Horton in Kent to Ealdorman Eadred, with permission to transfer parts of it to local landowners; in a culture of reciprocity, this created a network of mutual friendships and obligations between the beneficiaries and the king.[41] Archbishops of Canterbury were firmly in the West Saxon king's sphere. His ealdormen enjoyed a high status, and were sometimes placed higher than the king's sons in lists of witnesses to charters.[42] His reign is the first for which there is evidence of royal priests,[43] and Malmesbury Abbey regarded him as an important benefactor, who is said to have been the donor of a shrine for the relics of Saint Aldhelm.[44]

    After 830, Egbert had followed a policy of maintaining good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by Ąthelwulf when he became king. London was traditionally a Mercian town, but in the 830s it was under West Saxon control; soon after Ąthelwulf's accession it reverted to Mercian control.[45] King Wiglaf of Mercia died in 839 and his successor, Berhtwulf, revived the Mercian mint in London; the two kingdoms appear to have struck a joint issue in the mid-840s, possibly indicating West Saxon help in reviving Mercian coinage, and showing the friendly relations between the two powers. Berkshire was still Mercian in 844, but by 849 it was part of Wessex, as Alfred was born in that year at the West Saxon royal estate in Wantage, then in Berkshire.[46][h] However, the local Mercian ealdorman, also called Ąthelwulf, retained his position under the West Saxon kings.[48] Berhtwulf died in 852 and cooperation with Wessex continued under Burgred, his successor as King of Mercia, who married Ąthelwulf's daughter Ąthelswith in 853. In the same year Ąthelwulf assisted Burgred in a successful attack on Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony over the Welsh.[49]

    In 9th-century Mercia and Kent, royal charters were produced by religious houses, each with its own style, but in Wessex there was a single royal diplomatic tradition, probably by a single agency acting for the king. This may have originated in Egbert's reign, and it becomes clear in the 840s, when Ąthelwulf had a Frankish secretary called Felix.[50] There were strong contacts between the West Saxon and Carolingian courts. The Annals of St Bertin took particular interest in Viking attacks on Britain, and in 852 Lupus, the Abbot of Ferriáeres and a protâegâe of Charles the Bald, wrote to Ąthelwulf congratulating him on his victory over the Vikings and requesting a gift of lead to cover his church roof. Lupus also wrote to his "most beloved friend" Felix, asking him to manage the transport of the lead.[51] Unlike Canterbury and the south-east, Wessex did not see a sharp decline in the standard of Latin in charters in the mid-9th century, and this may have been partly due to Felix and his continental contacts.[52] Lupus thought that Felix had great influence over the King.[13] Charters were mainly issued from royal estates in counties which were the heartland of ancient Wessex, namely Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, with a few in Kent.[53]

    An ancient division between east and west Wessex continued to be important in the 9th century; the boundary was Selwood Forest on the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. The two bishoprics of Wessex were Selborne in the west and Winchester in the east. Ąthelwulf's family connections seem to have been west of Selwood, but his patronage was concentrated further east, particularly on Winchester, where his father was buried, and where he appointed Swithun to succeed Helmstan as bishop in 852–853. However, he made a grant of land in Somerset to his leading ealdorman, Eanwulf, and on 26 December 846 he granted a large estate to himself in South Hams in west Devon. He thus changed it from royal demesne, which he was obliged to pass on to his successor as king, to bookland, which could be transferred as the owner pleased, so he could make land grants to followers to improve security in a frontier zone.[54]

    Viking threat

    Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and in 843 Ąthelwulf was defeated by the companies of 35 Danish ships at Carhampton in Somerset. In 850 sub-king Ąthelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere of Kent won a naval victory over a large Viking fleet off Sandwich in Kent, capturing nine ships and driving off the rest. Ąthelwulf granted Ealhhere a large estate in Kent, but Ąthelstan is not heard of again, and probably died soon afterwards. The following year the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records five different attacks on southern England. A Danish fleet of 350 Viking ships took London and Canterbury, and when King Berhtwulf of Mercia went to their relief he was defeated. The Vikings then moved on to Surrey, where they were defeated by Ąthelwulf and his son Ąthelbald at the Battle of Aclea. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the West Saxon levies "there made the greatest slaughter of a heathen that we have heard tell of up to the present day". The Chronicle frequently reported victories during Ąthelwulf's reign won by levies led by ealdormen, unlike the 870s when royal command was emphasised, reflecting a more consensual style of leadership in the earlier period.[55]

    In 850 a Danish army wintered on Thanet, and in 853 ealdormen Ealhhere of Kent and Huda of Surrey were killed in a battle against the Vikings, also on Thanet. In 855 Danish Vikings stayed over the winter on Sheppey, before carrying on their pillaging of eastern England.[56] However, during Ąthelwulf's reign Viking attacks were contained and did not present a major threat.[57]

    Coinage

    Coin of King Ąthelwulf
    Coin of King Ąthelwulf: "EŁELVVLF REX", moneyer Manna, Canterbury[58]
    The silver penny was almost the only coin used in middle and later Anglo-Saxon England. Ąthelwulf's coinage came from a main mint in Canterbury and a secondary one at Rochester; both had been used by Egbert for his own coinage after he gained control of Kent. During Ąthelwulf's reign, there were four main phases of the coinage distinguishable at both mints, though they are not exactly parallel and it is uncertain when the transitions took place. The first issue at Canterbury carried a design known as Saxoniorum, which had been used by Egbert for one of his own issues. This was replaced by a portrait design in about 843, which can be subdivided further; the earliest coins have cruder designs than the later ones. At the Rochester mint the sequence was reversed, with an initial portrait design replaced, also in about 843, by a non-portrait design carrying a cross-and-wedges pattern on the obverse.[13][59]

    In about 848 both mints switched to a common design known as DorŻbŻ/Cant – the characters "DorŻbŻ" on the obverse of these coins indicate either Dorobernia (Canterbury) or Dorobrevia (Rochester), and "Cant", referring to Kent, appeared on the reverse. It is possible that the Canterbury mint continued to produce portrait coins at the same time. The Canterbury issue seems to have been ended in 850–851 by Viking raids, though it is possible that Rochester was spared, and the issue may have continued there. The final issue, again at both mints, was introduced in about 852; it has an inscribed cross on the reverse and a portrait on the obverse. Ąthelwulf's coinage became debased by the end of his reign, and though the problem became worse after his death it is possible that the debasement prompted the changes in coin type from as early as 850.[60]

    Ąthelwulf's first Rochester coinage may have begun when he was still sub-king of Kent, under Egbert. A hoard of coins deposited at the beginning of Ąthelwulf's reign in about 840, found in the Middle Temple in London, contained 22 coins from Rochester and two from Canterbury of the first issue of each mint. Some numismatists argue that the high proportion of Rochester coins means that the issue must have commenced before Egbert's death, but an alternative explanation is that whoever hoarded the coins simply happened to have access to more Rochester coins. No coins were issued by Ąthelwulf's sons during his reign.[61]

    Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury throughout Ąthelwulf's reign, also minted coins of his own at Canterbury: there were three different portrait designs, thought to be contemporary with each of the first three of Ąthelwulf's Canterbury issues. These were followed by an inscribed cross design that was uniform with Ąthelwulf's final coinage. At Rochester, Bishop Beornmod produced only one issue, a cross-and-wedges design which was contemporary with Ąthelwulf's Saxoniorum issue.[62]

    In the view of the numismatists Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn, the mints of Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia were not greatly affected by changes in political control: "the remarkable continuity of moneyers which can be seen at each of these mints suggests that the actual mint organisation was largely independent of the royal administration and was founded in the stable trading communities of each city".[63]

    Decimation Charters
    Charter of King Ąthelwulf
    Charter S 316 dated 855, in which Ąthelwulf granted land at Ulaham in Kent to his minister Ealdhere.[64]
    The early 20th-century historian W. H. Stevenson observed that: "Few things in our early history have led to so much discussion" as Ąthelwulf's Decimation Charters;[65] a hundred years later the charter expert Susan Kelly described them as "one of the most controversial groups of Anglo-Saxon diplomas".[66] Both Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say that Ąthelwulf gave a decimation,[i] in 855, shortly before leaving on pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Chronicle "King Ąthelwulf conveyed by charter the tenth part of his land throughout all his kingdom to the praise of God and to his own eternal salvation". However, Asser states that "Ąthelwulf, the esteemed king, freed the tenth part of his whole kingdom from royal service and tribute, and as an everlasting inheritance he made it over on the cross of Christ to the triune God, for the redemption of his soul and those of his predecessors."[68] According to Keynes, Asser's version may just be a "loose translation" of the Chronicle, and his implication that Ąthelwulf released a tenth of all land from secular burdens was probably not intended. All land could be regarded as the king's land, so the Chronicle reference to "his land" does not necessarily refer to royal property, and since the booking of land – conveying it by charter – was always regarded as a pious act, Asser's statement that he made it over to God does not necessarily mean that the charters were in favour of the church.[69]

    The Decimation Charters are divided by Susan Kelly into four groups:

    Two dated at Winchester on 5 November 844. In a charter in the Malmesbury archive, Ąthelwulf refers in the proem to the perilous state of his kingdom as the result of the assaults of pagans and barbarians. For the sake of his soul and in return for masses for the king and ealdormen each Wednesday, "I have decided to give in perpetual liberty some portion of hereditary lands to all those ranks previously in possession, both to God's servants and handmaidens serving God and to laymen, always the tenth hide, and where it is less, then the tenth part."[j]
    Six dated at Wilton on Easter Day, 22 April 854. In the common text of these charters, Ąthelwulf states that "for the sake of his soul and the prosperity of the kingdom and [the salvation of] the people assigned to him by God, he has acted upon the advice given to him by his bishops, comites, and all his nobles. He has granted the tenth part of the lands throughout his kingdom, not only to the churches, but also to his thegns. The land is granted in perpetual liberty, so that it will remain free of royal services and all secular burdens. In return there will be liturgical commemoration of the king and of his bishops and ealdormen."[k]
    Five from Old Minster, Winchester, connected with the Wilton meeting but generally considered spurious.[l]
    One from Kent dated 855, the only one to have the same date as the decimation according to Chronicle and Asser. The king grants to his thegn Dunn property in Rochester "on account of the decimation of lands which by God's gift I have decided to do". Dunn left the land to his wife with reversion to Rochester Cathedral.[m][72]
    None of the charters are original, and Stevenson dismissed all of them as fraudulent apart from the Kentish one of 855. Stevenson saw the decimation as a donation of royal demesne to churches and laymen, with those grants which were made to laymen being on the understanding that there would be reversion to a religious institution.[73] Up to the 1990s, his view on the authenticity of the charters was generally accepted by scholars, with the exception of the historian H. P. R. Finberg, who argued in 1964 that most are based on authentic diplomas. Finberg coined the terms the 'First Decimation' of 844, which he saw as the removal of public dues on a tenth of all bookland, and the 'Second Decimation' of 854, the donation of a tenth of "the private domain of the royal house" to the churches. He considered it unlikely that the First Decimation had been carried into effect, probably due to the threat from the Vikings. Finberg's terminology has been adopted, but his defence of the First Decimation generally rejected. In 1994 Keynes defended the Wilton charters in group 2, and his arguments have been widely accepted.[74]

    Historians have been divided on how to interpret the Second Decimation, and in 1994 Keynes described it as "one of the most perplexing problems" in the study of 9th-century charters. He set out three alternatives:

    It conveyed a tenth of the royal demesne – the lands of the crown as opposed to the personal property of the sovereign – into the hands of churches, ecclesiastics and laymen. In Anglo-Saxon England property was either folkland or bookland. The transmission of folkland was governed by the customary rights of kinsmen, subject to the king's approval, whereas bookland was established by the grant of a royal charter, and could be disposed of freely by the owner. Booking land thus converted it by charter from folkland to bookland. The royal demesne was the crown's folkland, whereas the king's bookland was his own personal property which he could leave by will as he chose. In the decimation Ąthelwulf may have conveyed royal folkland by charter to become bookland, in some cases to laymen who already leased the land.[75]
    It was the booking of a tenth of folkland to its owners, who would then be free to convey it to a church.[76]
    It was a reduction of one tenth in the secular burdens on lands already in the possession of landowners.[76] The secular burdens would have included the provision of supplies for the king and his officials, and payment of various taxes.[77]
    Some scholars, for example Frank Stenton, author of the standard history of Anglo-Saxon England, along with Keynes and Abels, see the Second Decimation as a donation of royal demesne. In Abels' view Ąthelwulf sought loyalty from the aristocracy and church during the king's forthcoming absence from Wessex, and displayed a sense of dynastic insecurity also evident in his father's generosity towards the Kentish church in 838, and in an "avid attention" in this period to compiling and revising royal genealogies.[78] Keynes suggests that "Ąthelwulf's purpose was presumably to earn divine assistance in his struggles against the Vikings",[79] and the mid-20th-century historian Eric John observes that "a lifetime of medieval studies teaches one that an early medieval king was never so political as when he was on his knees".[80] The view that the decimation was a donation of the king's own personal estate is supported by the Anglo-Saxonist Alfred Smyth, who argues that these were the only lands the king was entitled to alienate by book.[81][n] The historian Martin Ryan prefers the view that Ąthelwulf freed a tenth part of land owned by laymen from secular obligations, who could now endow churches under their own patronage. Ryan sees it as part of a campaign of religious devotion.[84] According to the historian David Pratt, it "is best interpreted as a strategic 'tax cut', designed to encourage cooperation in defensive measures through a partial remission of royal dues".[85] Nelson states that the decimation took place in two phases, in Wessex in 854 and Kent in 855, reflecting that they remained separate kingdoms.[86]

    Kelly argues that most charters were based on genuine originals, including the First Decimation of 844. She says: "Commentators have been unkind [and] the 844 version has not been given the benefit of the doubt". In her view Ąthelwulf then gave a 10% tax reduction on bookland, and ten years later he took the more generous step of "a widespread distribution of royal lands". Unlike Finberg, she believes that both decimations were carried out, although the second one may not have been completed due to opposition from Ąthelwulf's son Ąthelbald. She thinks that the grants of bookland to laymen in the Second Decimation were unconditional, not with reversion to religious houses as Stevenson had argued.[87] However, Keynes is not convinced by Kelly's arguments, and thinks that the First Decimation charters were 11th or early 12th century fabrications.[88]

    Pilgrimage to Rome and later life

    In the early 850s Ąthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. According to Abels: "Ąthelwulf was at the height of his power and prestige. It was a propitious time for the West Saxon king to claim a place of honour among the kings and emperors of christendom."[89] His eldest surviving sons Ąthelbald and Ąthelberht were then adults, while Ąthelred and Alfred were still young children. In 853 Ąthelwulf sent his younger sons to Rome, perhaps accompanying envoys in connection with his own forthcoming visit. Alfred, and possibly Ąthelred as well, were invested with the "belt of consulship". Ąthelred's part in the journey is only known from a contemporary record in the liber vitae of San Salvatore, Brescia, as later records such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were only interested in recording the honour paid to Alfred.[13] Abels sees the embassy as paving the way for Ąthelwulf's pilgrimage, and the presence of Alfred, his youngest and therefore most expendable son, as a gesture of goodwill to the papacy; confirmation by Pope Leo IV made Alfred his spiritual son, and thus created a spiritual link between the two "fathers".[90][o] Kirby argues that the journey may indicate that Alfred was intended for the church,[92] while Nelson on the contrary sees Ąthelwulf's purpose as affirming his younger sons' throneworthiness, thus protecting them against being tonsured by their elder brothers, which would have rendered them ineligible for kingship.[93]

    Ąthelwulf set out for Rome in the spring of 855, accompanied by Alfred and a large retinue.[94] The King left Wessex in the care of his oldest surviving son, Ąthelbald, and the sub-kingdom of Kent to the rule of Ąthelberht, and thereby confirmed that they were to succeed to the two kingdoms.[25] On the way the party stayed with Charles the Bald in Francia, where there were the usual banquets and exchange of gifts. Ąthelwulf stayed a year in Rome,[95] and his gifts to the Diocese of Rome included a gold crown weighing 4 pounds (1.8 kg), two gold goblets, a sword bound with gold, four silver-gilt bowls, two silk tunics and two gold-interwoven veils. He also gave gold to the clergy and leading men and silver to the people of Rome. According to the historian Joanna Story, his gifts rivalled those of Carolingian donors and the Byzantine emperor and "were clearly chosen to reflect the personal generosity and spiritual wealth of the West Saxon king; here was no Germanic 'hillbilly' from the backwoods of the Christian world but, rather, a sophisticated, wealthy and utterly contemporary monarch".[96] According to the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury, he helped to pay for the restoration of the Saxon quarter, which had recently been destroyed by fire, for English pilgrims.[97]

    The pilgrimage puzzles historians and Kelly comments that "it is extraordinary that an early medieval king could consider his position safe enough to abandon his kingdom in a time of extreme crisis". She suggests that Ąthelwulf may have been motivated by a personal religious impulse.[98] Ryan sees it as an attempt to placate the divine wrath displayed by Viking attacks,[84] whereas Nelson thinks he aimed to enhance his prestige in dealing with the demands of his adult sons.[99] In Kirby's view:

    Ąthelwulf's journey to Rome is of great interest for it did not signify abdication and a retreat from the world as their journeys to Rome had for Cµdwalla and Ine and other Anglo-Saxon kings. It was more a display of the king's international standing and a demonstration of the prestige his dynasty enjoyed in Frankish and papal circles.[100]

    On his way back from Rome Ąthelwulf again stayed with King Charles the Bald, and may have joined him on a campaign against a Viking warband.[101] On 1 October 856 Ąthelwulf married Charles's daughter, Judith, aged 12 or 13, at Verberie. The marriage was considered extraordinary by contemporaries and by modern historians. Carolingian princesses rarely married and were usually sent to nunneries, and it was almost unknown for them to marry foreigners. Judith was crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims. Although empresses had been anointed before, this is the first definitely known anointing of a Carolingian queen. In addition West Saxon custom, described by Asser as "perverse and detestable", was that the wife of a king of Wessex could not be called queen or sit on the throne with her husband – she was just the king's wife.[102]

    Ąthelwulf returned to Wessex to face a revolt by Ąthelbald, who attempted to prevent his father from recovering his throne. Historians give varying explanations for both the rebellion and the marriage. In Nelson's view, Ąthelwulf's marriage to Judith added the West Saxon king to the family of kings and princely allies which Charles was creating.[103] Charles was under attack both from Vikings and from a rising among his own nobility, and Ąthelwulf had great prestige due to his victories over the Vikings; some historians such as Kirby and Pauline Stafford see the marriage as sealing an anti-Viking alliance. The marriage gave Ąthelwulf a share in Carolingian prestige, and Kirby describes the anointing of Judith as "a charismatic sanctification which enhanced her status, blessed her womb and conferred additional throne-worthiness on her male offspring." These marks of a special status implied that a son of hers would succeed to at least part of Ąthelwulf's kingdom, and explain Ąthelbald's decision to rebel.[104] The historian Michael Enright denies that an anti-Viking alliance between two such distant kingdoms could serve any useful purpose, and argues that the marriage was Ąthelwulf's response to news that his son was planning to rebel; his son by an anointed Carolingian queen would be in a strong position to succeed as king of Wessex instead of the rebellious Ąthelbald.[105] Abels suggests that Ąthelwulf sought Judith's hand because he needed her father's money and support to overcome his son's rebellion,[106] but Kirby and Smyth argue that it is extremely unlikely that Charles the Bald would have agreed to marry his daughter to a ruler who was known to be in serious political difficulty.[107] Ąthelbald may also have acted out of resentment at the loss of patrimony he suffered as a result of the decimation.[98]

    Ąthelbald's rebellion was supported by Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Eanwulf, ealdorman of Somerset, even though they appear to have been two of the king's most trusted advisers.[108] According to Asser, the plot was concerted "in the western part of Selwood", and western nobles may have backed Ąthelbald because they resented the patronage Ąthelwulf gave to eastern Wessex.[109] Asser also stated that Ąthelwulf agreed to give up the western part of his kingdom in order to avoid a civil war. Some historians such as Keynes and Abels think that his rule was then confined to the south-east,[110] while others such as Kirby think it is more likely that it was Wessex itself which was divided, with Ąthelbald keeping Wessex west of Selwood, Ąthelwulf holding the centre and east, and Ąthelberht keeping the south-east.[111] Ąthelwulf insisted that Judith should sit beside him on the throne until the end of his life, and according to Asser this was "without any disagreement or dissatisfaction on the part of his nobles".[112]

    King Ąthelwulf's ring
    King Ąthelwulf's ring was found in a cart rut in Laverstock in Wiltshire in about August 1780 by one William Petty, who sold it to a silversmith in Salisbury. The silversmith sold it to the Earl of Radnor, and the earl's son, William, donated it to the British Museum in 1829. The ring, together with a similar ring of Ąthelwulf's daughter Ąthelswith, is one of two key examples of nielloed 9th-century metalwork. They appear to represent the emergence of a "court style" of West Saxon metalwork, characterised by an unusual Christian iconography, such as a pair of peacocks at the Fountain of Life on the Ąthelwulf ring, associated with Christian immortality. The ring is inscribed "Ąthelwulf Rex", firmly associating it with the King, and the inscription forms part of the design, so it cannot have been added later. Many of its features are typical of 9th-century metalwork, such as the design of two birds, beaded and speckled borders, and a saltire with arrow-like terminals on the back. It was probably manufactured in Wessex, but was typical of the uniformity of animal ornament in England in the 9th century. In the view of Leslie Webster, an expert on medieval art: "Its fine Trewhiddle style ornament would certainly fit a mid ninth-century date."[113] In Nelson's view, "it was surely made to be a gift from this royal lord to a brawny follower: the sign of a successful ninth-century kingship".[13] The art historian David Wilson sees it as a survival of the pagan tradition of the generous king as the "ring-giver".[114]

    Ąthelwulf's will

    King Alfred's will
    A page from King Alfred's will
    Ąthelwulf's will has not survived, but Alfred's has and it provides some information about his father's intentions. The kingdom was to be divided between the two oldest surviving sons, with Ąthelbald getting Wessex and Ąthelberht Kent and the south-east. The survivor of Ąthelbald, Ąthelred and Alfred was to inherit their father's bookland – his personal property as opposed to the royal lands which went with the kingship – and Abels and Yorke argue that this probably means that the survivor was to inherit the throne of Wessex as well.[115] Other historians disagree. Nelson states that the provision regarding the personal property had nothing to do with the kingship,[13] and Kirby comments: "Such an arrangement would have led to fratricidal strife. With three older brothers, Alfred's chances of reaching adulthood would, one feels, have been minimal."[116] Ąthelwulf's moveable wealth, such as gold and silver, was to be divided between "children, nobles and the needs of the king's soul".[13] For the latter, he left one tenth of his hereditary land to be set aside to feed the poor, and he ordered that three hundred mancuses be sent to Rome each year, one hundred to be spent on lighting the lamps in St Peter's at Easter, one hundred for the lights of St Paul's, and one hundred for the pope.[117]

    Death and succession

    Ąthelwulf died on 13 January 858. According to the Annals of St Neots, he was buried at Steyning in Sussex, but his body was later transferred to Winchester, probably by Alfred.[118] Ąthelwulf was succeeded by Ąthelbald in Wessex and Ąthelberht in Kent and the south-east. The prestige conferred by a Frankish marriage was so great that Ąthelbald then wedded his step-mother Judith, to Asser's retrospective horror; he described the marriage as a "great disgrace", and "against God's prohibition and Christian dignity".[13] When Ąthelbald died only two years later, Ąthelberht became King of Wessex as well as Kent, and Ąthelwulf's intention of dividing his kingdoms between his sons was thus set aside. In the view of Yorke and Abels this was because Ąthelred and Alfred were too young to rule, and Ąthelberht agreed in return that his younger brothers would inherit the whole kingdom on his death,[119] whereas Kirby and Nelson think that Ąthelberht just became the trustee for his younger brothers' share of the bookland.[120]

    After Ąthelbald's death Judith sold her possessions and returned to her father, but two years later she eloped with Baldwin, Count of Flanders. In the 890s their son, also called Baldwin, married Ąthelwulf's granddaughter Ąlfthryth.[13]

    Historiography

    Ąthelwulf's reputation among historians was poor in the twentieth century. In 1935 the historian R. H. Hodgkin attributed his pilgrimage to Rome to "the unpractical piety which had led him to desert his kingdom at a time of great danger", and described his marriage to Judith as "the folly of a man senile before his time".[121] To Stenton in the 1960s he was "a religious and unambitious man, for whom engagement in war and politics was an unwelcome consequence of rank".[122] One dissenter was Finberg, who in 1964 described him as "a king whose valour in war and princely munificence recalled the figures of the heroic age",[123] but in 1979 Enright said: "More than anything else he appears to have been an impractical religious enthusiast."[124] Early medieval writers, especially Asser, emphasise his religiosity and his preference for consensus, seen in the concessions made to avert a civil war on his return from Rome.[p] In Story's view "his legacy has been clouded by accusations of excessive piety which (to modern sensibilities at least) has seemed at odds with the demands of early medieval kingship". In 839 an unnamed Anglo-Saxon king wrote to the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious asking for permission to travel through his territory on the way to Rome, and relating an English priest's dream which foretold disaster unless Christians abandoned their sins. This is now believed to have been an unrealised project of Egbert at the end of his life, but it was formerly attributed to Ąthelwulf, and seen as exhibiting what Story calls his reputation for "dramatic piety", and irresponsibility for planning to abandon his kingdom at the beginning of his reign.[126]

    In the twenty-first century he is seen very differently by historians. Ąthelwulf is not listed in the index of Peter Hunter Blair's An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, first published in 1956, but in a new introduction to the 2003 edition Keynes listed him among people "who have not always been accorded the attention they might be thought to deserve ... for it was he, more than any other, who secured the political fortune of his people in the ninth century, and who opened up channels of communication which led through Frankish realms and across the Alps to Rome".[127] According to Story: "Ąthelwulf acquired and cultivated a reputation both in Francia and Rome which is unparalleled in the sources since the height of Offa's and Coenwulf's power at the turn of the ninth century".[128]

    Nelson describes him as "one of the great underrated among Anglo-Saxons", and complains that she was only allowed 2,500 words for him in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, compared with 15,000 for Edward II and 35,000 for Elizabeth I.[129] She says:

    Ąthelwulf's reign has been relatively under-appreciated in modern scholarship. Yet he laid the foundations for Alfred's success. To the perennial problems of husbanding the kingdom's resources, containing conflicts within the royal family, and managing relations with neighbouring kingdoms, Ąthelwulf found new as well as traditional answers. He consolidated old Wessex, and extended his reach over what is now Devon and Cornwall. He ruled Kent, working with the grain of its political community. He borrowed ideological props from Mercians and Franks alike, and went to Rome, not to die there, like his predecessor Ine, ... but to return, as Charlemagne had, with enhanced prestige. Ąthelwulf coped more effectively with Scandinavian attacks than did most contemporary rulers.[13]

    Buried:
    Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral

    Aethelwulf married Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex. Osburga (daughter of Oslac and unnamed spouse) was born in ~810 in Wessex, England; died in ~849. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 2581.  Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex was born in ~810 in Wessex, England (daughter of Oslac and unnamed spouse); died in ~849.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Birth: ~831, (Wessex) England
    • Alt Death: ~854

    Notes:

    Osburh or Osburga was the first wife of King Ąthelwulf of Wessex and mother of Alfred the Great. Alfred's biographer, Asser, described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth".[1]

    Osburh's existence is known only from Asser's Life of King Alfred. She is not named as witness to any charters, nor is her death reported in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. So far as is known, she was the mother of all Ąthelwulf's children, his five sons Ąthelstan, Ąthelbald, Ąthelberht, Ąthelred and Alfred the Great, and his daughter Ąthelswith, wife of King Burgred of Mercia.

    The Boyhood of Alfred the Great (1913).jpg
    She is best known for Asser's story about a book of Saxon songs which she showed to Alfred and his brothers, offering to give the book to whoever could first memorise it, a challenge which Alfred took up and won. This exhibits the interest of high status ninth-century women in books, and their role in educating their children.[2]

    Osburh was the daughter of Oslac (who is also only known from Asser's Life), King Ąthelwulf's pincerna (butler), an important figure in the royal court and household.[3] Oslac is described as a descendant of King Cerdic's Jutish nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar, who conquered the Isle of Wight.[4] and, by this, is also ascribed Geatish/Gothic ancestry.

    Queen consort of Wessex
    Tenure c. 839 – c. 854
    Spouse Ąthelwulf, King of Wessex
    Issue Ąthelstan of Wessex
    Ąthelswith, Queen of Mercia
    Ąthelbald, King of Wessex
    Ąthelbert, King of Wessex
    Ąthelred, King of Wessex
    Alfred, King of Wessex
    House House of Wessex (by marriage)
    Father Oslac

    Issue[edit]
    Name Birth Death Notes
    Ąthelstan 851–855
    Ąthelswith 888 Married, Burgred of Mercia; no issue
    Ąthelbald 20 December 860 Married, Judith
    Ąthelbert Autumn 865
    Ąthelred c.847 23 April 871 Had issue
    Alfred 849 26 October 899 Married 868, Ealhswith; had issue

    See also

    House of Wessex family tree; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex#House_of_Wessex_family_tree

    Notes

    Jump up ^ Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge eds, Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources, London, Penguin Classics, 1983, p. 68
    Jump up ^ Janet L. Nelson, Osburh, 2004, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography In Nelson's view, Osburh may have been dead by 856 or may have been repudiated.
    Jump up ^ Keynes and Lapidge, pp. 68, 229.
    Jump up ^ Asser states that Oslac was a Goth, but this is regarded by historians as an error as Stuf and Wightgar were Jutes. Keynes and Lapidge pp. 229-30 and Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford, Oxford UP, 3rd edition 1971, p. 23-4

    References

    Asser's Life of King Alfred; http://omacl.org/KingAlfred/

    Lees, Clare A. & Gillian R. Overing (eds), Double Agents: Women and Clerical Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2001. ISBN 0-8122-3628-9

    end of biography

    The PEDIGREE of
    Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT

    (1st wife); (Osburh Osburgh; of JUTIE)
    Born: abt. 810 Died: aft. 876


    HM George I's 23-Great Grandmother. HRE Ferdinand I's 20-Great Grandmother. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 26-Great Grandmother. Poss. PM Churchill's 24-Great Grandmother. Wm. von Bismarck's 28-Great Grandmother. Agnes Harris's 25-Great Grandmother. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 24-Great Grandmother.
    Husband/Partner: Ethelwulf (2nd King) of ENGLAND
    Children: Alfred `the Great' (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND ; Aethelred I (King) of WESSEX (& ENGLAND) ; Judith of WESSEX ; Ethelbald (King) of ENGLAND ; Ethelswith ; Ethelbert (King) ; Athelstan (King)
    _______ _______ _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ ____ ____
    / -- Gebolf of the JUTES
    / -- Wihtgar (King) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (? - 544?)
    | \ / -- Freawine of ANCIENT S. + ==&=> [ 221 ,,qD,&]
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- daughter of Elesa
    / -- (NN) ... (NN) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
    | \ | ( many missing generations)
    | | / -- Frithugar DEIRA of A. + ==&=> [ 220 ,,qD,&]
    | | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- poss. sister of Cerdic
    / -- Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (785? - ?)
    /
    - Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT
    \
    \ -- (NN), first wife


    Her (poss.) Grandchildren: Elgiva of WESSEX [alt ped] ; Edward (I) `the Elder' (King) of ENGLAND ; Aefthryth (Elfrida) of WESSEX ; Aethelflaed (Lady) of MERCIA ; Aethelweald (King) of NORTHUMBRIA ; Aethelhelm (Earldorman) of WILTSHIRE ; Elgiva of WESSEX ; Henry `with the Golden Wagon' of ALTDORF

    [ Start ]
    FabPed Genealogy Vers. 85 © Jamie, 1997-2018

    Children:
    1. 1290. Aethelstan, King of the East Angles was born in ~838 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died in 890.
    2. Aethelred of Wessex, King of Mercia was born in ~847 in Wessex, England; died in 911; was buried in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England.
    3. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex was born on 23 Apr 849 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died on 26 Oct 899 in Winchester, Hampshire, England; was buried in Hyde Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire, England.

  3. 2616.  Herbert de Vermandois, I, Count of Vermandois was born in 848 in Paris, France (son of Pepin de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois and unnamed spouse); died in 907 in Soissons, France.

    Notes:

    Herbert I Carolingian de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, was born 848 in Paris, France to Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848) and died 907 in Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, France of Assassinated by Baldwin II, Count of Flanders, for the capture (by Herbert) in 896 and murder of Baldwin's brother Raoul. He married Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]
    Herbert forcibly took the county of Vermandois from his third cousin Rodulf of Flanders (c869-896).



    Children

    Offspring of Herbert I de Vermandois and Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Bâeatrice of Vermandois (c880-931) 880 Paris, France 26 March 931 Soissons, France Robert I of France (866-923)

    Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) 884 23 February 943 Hildebranda of France (895-931)

    Cunigunde of Vermandois (-943) 943 Udo I von der Wetterau (c900-949)

    Adele of Vermandois (?-?) Gebhard von Ufgau (?-c947)

    Berengar of Bayeaux (?-?) Daughter of Gurvand, Duke of Brittany
    Noteworthy descendants include

    Hugh Capet (c940-996)
    Namesakes of Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907)

    Birth place
    Death place
    Father
    Mother
    Joined with
    Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907) Paris, France Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, France Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848) Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)
    Herbert III of Meaux (c950-995) Robert de Vermandois (918-968) Adelaide-Werra de Chalon (920-967)
    Herbert III de Vermandois (c913-c982) Herbert II de Vermandois (884-943) Hildebranda of France (895-931) Eadgifu of Wessex (902-aft955)
    Herbert III de Vermandois (953-1015) Saint-Quentin Albert I de Vermandois (915-987) Gerberge de Lorraine (c935-978) Ermengard de Bar (946-aft1035)
    Herbert IV de Vermandois (1032-1080) Otto de Vermandois (c1000-1045) Pavie de Ham (c990-1058) Adáele de Valois (c1052-c1096)

    Herbert married Bertha de Morvois(France). Bertha was born in ~850. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 2617.  Bertha de Morvois was born in ~850.
    Children:
    1. 1308. Herbert de Vermandois, II, Count of Meaux was born in 884 in Vermandois, France; died on 23 Feb 943 in St Quentin, Peronne, Somme, France.

  5. 2944.  Alfred the Great, King of WessexAlfred the Great, King of Wessex was born on 23 Apr 849 in Wantage, Berkshire, England (son of Aethelwulf of Wessex, King of Wessex and Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex); died on 26 Oct 899 in Winchester, Hampshire, England; was buried in Hyde Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire, England.

    Notes:

    Alfred the Great (849-899)

    Alfred the Great of Wessex was born 23 April 849 in Wantage, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom to Ąthelwulf of Wessex (c795-858) and Osburga (-bef856) and died 26 October 899 in Winchester, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom of unspecified causes. He married Ealhswith (c852-905) 868 JL . Ancestors are from France.
    Contents[show]

    Biography

    King Alfred (or more properly Ąlfred) is the only English king ever to receive the title "The Great" which epithet he earned for his stalwart resistance to the Danes, his wise government, his law-making, and his revival of English arts and culture and education. He was the first King of Wessex to be called "King of England". Reign: 871-899.

    House of Wessex

    He was of the royal English dynasty called House of Wessex, a family originating in the southwest corner of England and gradually increasing in power and prestige. The House became rulers of all the country with the reign of Alfred the Great in 871 and they lasting until Edmund Ironside in 1016. This period of the English monarchy is known as the Saxon period.


    Rome pilgrimage 853

    Young Alfred probably never expected to be king, being the fifth son of King Athelwulf of Wessex, and he even had three brothers precede him to the kingship.

    Young Alfred made two trips to Rome, first in 853 and again in 855, where his father sought the blessings of the pope (Pope Leo IV (847-855)))and the Christian church in his ongoing battles against the pagan Danes. Legend has it that during one of these visits, the pope anointed him to be a great ruler. During these trips he spent some time with the court of Charles the Bald (823-877) and learned much about the grandeur of Charles's grandfather, Charlemagne (747-814).

    "The Great Heathen Army of 865"

    Detailed map of Danish battles; http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Alfred_the_Great_(849-899)?file=EGA2016a.png

    Danish Invasion of England in 865.

    After his father's death in 858, young Alfred started getting much military training in the armies of his brothers ( Athelbald (858-860), Athelbert (860-865) and Athelred (865-861) in their ongoing battles against the Danes (Norsemen, Vikings, etc).

    In the mid 860's a Danish 'Great Army' under Ivar the Boneless invaded eastern England and occupied Northumbria. At first their attention was directed northwards against Mercia and Northumbria and they made many conquests there.

    In 871, the Danes turned their attention towards Wessex and the armies of Alfred and his brother Ąthelred of Wessex (c847-871), and thus began the great "Year of Battles". During the course of these battles Athelred died and Alfred became King. By this time Alfred was a highly experienced military leader.

    After a major battle at Wilton in May 871, a peace was made between Wessex and the Danes, who turned their attention back northward. They returned to do battle in the late 870s under Guthrum, King of East Anglia,

    more information on Guthrum:

    https://fabpedigree.com/s056/f161237.htm
    http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I50855&tree=hennessee

    and again in the 890s under Haesten.

    But as he grew older and wiser, Alfred adopted more cautious tactics and stronger defences for holding back the Danes. He would besiege their fortifications, conduct guerrilla warfare on their transports, and build up the local militia in each shire.

    Most famously, Alfred built a fleet of warships and is traditionally regarded as the father of the English Navy. (He is also called the father of the American navy, which named its first revolutionary warship, USS Alfred, for him.)

    From Treaty of 889, setting the border between English and Danelaw:

    "This is the peace which King Alfred and King Guthrum...have agreed on...First concerning our boundaries: up the Thames, and then up the Lea, and along the Lea to its source, then in a straight line to Bedford, then up the Ouse to the Watling Street."

    Marriage and family

    Alfredjewel

    The Alfred Jewel, discovered near North Petherton, Somerset in 1693. Dates from the late 9th Century with inscription "AELFRED MEC HEFT GEWYRCAN", old English for "Alfred ordered me made." Probably a pointer for following text in a book.

    In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith (c852-905), daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Ąthelred Mucil, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family.

    They had five or six children together, including Edward the Elder (c870-924), who succeeded his father as king, Ąthelflµd (c872-918), who became Lady (ruler) of the Mercians in her own right, and Ąlfthryth of Wessex (c872-929), who married Baldwin II the Count of Flanders. In 2008 the skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, granddaughter of Alfred the Great, was found in Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany. It was confirmed in 2010 that these remains belong to her — one of the earliest members of the English royal family.

    Osferth was described as a relative in King Alfred's will and he attested charters in a high position until 934. A charter of King Edward's reign described him as the king's brother, "mistakenly" according to Keynes and Lapidge; however, in the view of Janet Nelson, he probably was an illegitimate son of King Alfred.

    Ąthelflµd (c872-918) - Married c 886, Ąthelred, Lord of the Mercians d. 911; had children
    Edward the Elder (c870-924) - succeeded his father as King of England, ruling from 899 to 924.
    Ąthelgifu, Abbess of Shaftesbury (?-?) - Abbess of Shaftesbury
    Ąlfthryth of Wessex (c872-929) - Married and had children
    Ąthelwµrd (c880-922) - Married Baldwin II d. 918, Count of Flanders; had children

    end of biography

    Alfred the Great (Old English: Ąlfred,[a] Ąlfr?d[b], "elf counsel" or "wise elf"; 849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.

    King of the Anglo-Saxons
    Reign 23 April 871 – 26 October 899
    Predecessor Ąthelred
    Successor Edward the Elder
    Born 849
    Wantage, then in Berkshire, now Oxfordshire
    Died 26 October 899 (around 50) Winchester
    Burial c. 1100
    Hyde Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire, now lost

    Spouse Ealhswith

    Issue

    Ąthelflµd, Lady of the Mercians
    Edward, King of Wessex
    Ąthelgifu, abbess of Shaftesbury
    Ąthelweard of Wessex
    Ąlfthryth, Countess of Flanders
    Full name
    Ąlfred of Wessex
    House Wessex
    Father Ąthelwulf, King of Wessex
    Mother Osburh
    Religion Catholic


    Alfred was the youngest son of King Ąthelwulf of Wessex. Taking the throne after the death of his brother Ąthelred, Alfred spent several years dealing with Viking invasions. After a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 Alfred made a deal with the Vikings, creating what was known as Danelaw in the North of England. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of the Viking leader, Guthrum.

    Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by the time of his death had become the dominant ruler in England.[1] He is one of only two English monarchs to be given the epithet "the Great", the other being the Scandinavian Cnut the Great. He was also the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of Alfred's life are described in a work by the 9th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser.

    Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be taught in English rather than Latin, and improved his kingdom's legal system, military structure and his people's quality of life. In 2002 Alfred was ranked number 14 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

    Childhood

    Further information: House of Wessex family tree: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex#House_of_Wessex_family_tree

    Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, historically in Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Ąthelwulf of Wessex by his first wife, Osburh.[c]

    In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have been sent to Rome where he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV, who "anointed him as king".[3] Victorian writers later interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his eventual succession to the throne of Wessex. This is unlikely; his succession could not have been foreseen at the time as Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul"; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion.[4] It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855.

    On their return from Rome in 856 Ąthelwulf was deposed by his son Ąthelbald. With civil war looming the magnates of the realm met in council to hammer out a compromise. Ąthelbald would retain the western shires (i.e. historical Wessex), and Ąthelwulf would rule in the east. When King Ąthelwulf died in 858 Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession: Ąthelbald, Ąthelberht and Ąthelred.[5]

    Bishop Asser tells the story of how as a child Alfred won as a prize a book of Saxon poems, offered by his mother to the first of her children able to memorize it.[6] Legend also has it that the young Alfred spent time in Ireland seeking healing. Alfred was troubled by health problems throughout his life. It is thought that he may have suffered from Crohn's disease.[7] Statues of Alfred in Winchester and Wantage portray him as a great warrior. Evidence suggests he was not physically strong and, though not lacking in courage, he was noted more for his intellect than as a warlike character.[8]

    Reigns of Alfred's brothers

    A map of the route taken by the Viking Great Heathen Army which arrived in England from Denmark, Norway, and southern Sweden in 865.
    Alfred is not mentioned during the short reigns of his older brothers Ąthelbald of Wessex and Ąthelberht of Wessex. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the Great Heathen Army, an army of Danes, landing in East Anglia with the intent of conquering the four kingdoms that constituted Anglo-Saxon England in 865.[9] Alfred's public life began at age 16 with the accession of his third brother, 18 year old King Ąthelred of Wessex in 865.

    During this period, Bishop Asser applied to Alfred the unique title of "secundarius", which may indicate a position similar to the Celtic "tanist", a recognised successor closely associated with the reigning monarch. This arrangement may have been sanctioned by Alfred's father or by the Witan to guard against the danger of a disputed succession should Ąthelred fall in battle. It is well known among other Germanic peoples to crown a successor as royal prince and military commander, such as among the Swedes and Franks, to whom the Anglo-Saxons were closely related.

    Fighting the Viking invasion

    In 868, Alfred is recorded as fighting beside Ąthelred in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the Great Heathen Army led by Ivar the Boneless out of the adjoining Kingdom of Mercia.[10] The Danes arrived in his homeland at the end of 870, and nine engagements were fought in the following year, with varying outcomes, though the places and dates of two of these battles have not been recorded.

    A successful skirmish at the Battle of Englefield in Berkshire on 31 December 870 was followed by a severe defeat at the siege and Battle of Reading by Ivar's brother Halfdan Ragnarsson on 5 January 871. Four days later, the Anglo-Saxons won a brilliant victory at the Battle of Ashdown on the Berkshire Downs, possibly near Compton or Aldworth. Alfred is particularly credited with the success of this last battle.[11]

    The Saxons were defeated at the Battle of Basing on 22 January. They were defeated again on 22 March at the Battle of Merton (perhaps Marden in Wiltshire or Martin in Dorset).[11] Ąthelred died shortly afterwards on 23 April.

    King at war

    Early struggles, defeat and flight

    In April 871 King Ąthelred died and Alfred succeeded to the throne of Wessex and the burden of its defence, even though Ąthelred left two under-age sons, Ąthelhelm and Ąthelwold. This was in accordance with the agreement that Ąthelred and Alfred had made earlier that year in an assembly at "Swinbeorg". The brothers had agreed that whichever of them outlived the other would inherit the personal property that King Ąthelwulf had left jointly to his sons in his will. The deceased's sons would receive only whatever property and riches their father had settled upon them, and whatever additional lands their uncle had acquired. The unstated premise was that the surviving brother would be king. Given the ongoing Danish invasion, and the youth of his nephews, Alfred's accession probably went uncontested.

    While he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the Danes defeated the Saxon army in his absence at an unnamed spot, and then again in his presence at Wilton in May.[11] The defeat at Wilton smashed any remaining hope that Alfred could drive the invaders from his kingdom. He was forced instead to make peace with them, according to sources that do not tell what the terms of the peace were. Bishop Asser claimed that the pagans agreed to vacate the realm and made good their promise.[12]

    Indeed, the Viking army did withdraw from Reading in the autumn of 871 to take up winter quarters in Mercian London. Although not mentioned by Asser, or by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfred probably also paid the Vikings cash to leave, much as the Mercians were to do in the following year.[12] Hoards dating to the Viking occupation of London in 871/2 have been excavated at Croydon, Gravesend, and Waterloo Bridge. These finds hint at the cost involved in making peace with the Vikings. For the next five years the Danes occupied other parts of England.[13]

    In 876 under their new leader, Guthrum, the Danes slipped past the Saxon army and attacked and occupied Wareham in Dorset. Alfred blockaded them but was unable to take Wareham by assault.[11] Accordingly, he negotiated a peace which involved an exchange of hostages and oaths, which the Danes swore on a "holy ring"[14] associated with the worship of Thor.[15] The Danes broke their word and, after killing all the hostages, slipped away under cover of night to Exeter in Devon.[16]

    Alfred blockaded the Viking ships in Devon and, with a relief fleet having been scattered by a storm, the Danes were forced to submit. The Danes withdrew to Mercia. In January 878 the Danes made a sudden attack on Chippenham, a royal stronghold in which Alfred had been staying over Christmas, "and most of the people they killed, except the King Alfred, and he with a little band made his way by wood and swamp, and after Easter he made a fort at Athelney in the marshes of Somerset, and from that fort kept fighting against the foe."[17] From his fort at Athelney, an island in the marshes near North Petherton, Alfred was able to mount an effective resistance movement, rallying the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.[11]

    A legend, originating from 12th century chronicles,[2] tells how when he first fled to the Somerset Levels, Alfred was given shelter by a peasant woman who, unaware of his identity, left him to watch some wheaten cakes she had left cooking on the fire. Preoccupied with the problems of his kingdom Alfred accidentally let the cakes burn and was roundly scolded by the woman upon her return.

    878 was the low-water mark in the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. With all the other kingdoms having fallen to the Vikings Wessex alone was still resisting.[18]

    Counter-attack and victory

    King Alfred's Tower (1772) on the supposed site of "Egbert's Stone", the mustering place before the Battle of Edington.[d]
    In the seventh week after Easter (4–10 May 878), around Whitsuntide, Alfred rode to Egbert's Stone east of Selwood where he was met by "all the people of Somerset and of Wiltshire and of that part of Hampshire which is on this side of the sea (that is, west of Southampton Water), and they rejoiced to see him".[17] Alfred's emergence from his marshland stronghold was part of a carefully planned offensive that entailed raising the fyrds of three shires. This meant not only that the king had retained the loyalty of ealdormen, royal reeves and king's thegns, who were charged with levying and leading these forces, but that they had maintained their positions of authority in these localities well enough to answer his summons to war. Alfred's actions also suggest a system of scouts and messengers.[19]

    Alfred won a decisive victory in the ensuing Battle of Edington which may have been fought near Westbury, Wiltshire.[11] He then pursued the Danes to their stronghold at Chippenham and starved them into submission. One of the terms of the surrender was that Guthrum convert to Christianity. Three weeks later the Danish king and 29 of his chief men were baptised at Alfred's court at Aller, near Athelney, with Alfred receiving Guthrum as his spiritual son.[11]

    According to Asser:

    The unbinding of the Chrisom [e] took place with great ceremony eight days later at the royal estate at Wedmore[21]

    While at Wedmore Alfred and Guthrum negotiated what some historians have called the Treaty of Wedmore, but it was to be some years after the cessation of hostilities that a formal treaty was signed.[22] Under the terms of the so-called Treaty of Wedmore the converted Guthrum was required to leave Wessex and return to East Anglia. Consequently, in 879 the Viking army left Chippenham and made its way to Cirencester. [21] The formal Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, preserved in Old English in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (Manuscript 383), and in a Latin compilation known as "Quadripartitus", was negotiated later, perhaps in 879 or 880, when King Ceolwulf II of Mercia was deposed.[23]

    That treaty divided up the kingdom of Mercia. By its terms the boundary between Alfred's and Guthrum's kingdoms was to run up the River Thames to the River Lea, follow the Lea to its source (near Luton), from there extend in a straight line to Bedford, and from Bedford follow the River Ouse to Watling Street.[24]

    In other words, Alfred succeeded to Ceolwulf's kingdom consisting of western Mercia, and Guthrum incorporated the eastern part of Mercia into an enlarged kingdom of East Anglia (henceforward known as the Danelaw). By terms of the treaty, moreover, Alfred was to have control over the Mercian city of London and its mints—at least for the time being.[25] The disposition of Essex, held by West Saxon kings since the days of Egbert, is unclear from the treaty though, given Alfred's political and military superiority, it would have been surprising if he had conceded any disputed territory to his new godson.

    Quiet years, restoration of London (880s)

    Further information: Londinium and Anglo-Saxon London

    With the signing of the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, an event most commonly held to have taken place around 880 when Guthrum's people began settling East Anglia, Guthrum was neutralised as a threat.[26] The Viking army, which had stayed at Fulham during the winter of 878–879, sailed for Ghent and was active on the continent from 879–892.[27][28]

    Alfred was still forced to contend with a number of Danish threats. A year later, in 881, Alfred fought a small sea battle against four Danish ships "on the high seas",[27] Two of the ships were destroyed and the others surrendered to Alfred's forces.[29] Similar small skirmishes with independent Viking raiders would have occurred for much of the period, as they had for decades.

    In 883—though there is some debate over the year—King Alfred, because of his support and his donation of alms to Rome, received a number of gifts from Pope Marinus.[30] Among these gifts was reputed to be a piece of the true cross, a great treasure for the devout Saxon king. According to Asser, because of Pope Marinus' friendship with King Alfred, the pope granted an exemption to any Anglo-Saxons residing within Rome from tax or tribute.[31]

    After the signing of the treaty with Guthrum, Alfred was spared any large-scale conflicts for some time. Despite this relative peace the king was still forced to deal with a number of Danish raids and incursions. Among these was a raid in Kent, an allied kingdom in South East England, during the year 885, which was quite possibly the largest raid since the battles with Guthrum. Asser's account of the raid places the Danish raiders at the Saxon city of Rochester[27] where they built a temporary fortress in order to besiege the city. In response to this incursion Alfred led an Anglo-Saxon force against the Danes who, instead of engaging the army of Wessex, fled to their beached ships and sailed to another part of Britain. The retreating Danish force supposedly left Britain the following summer.[32]

    Not long after the failed Danish raid in Kent, Alfred dispatched his fleet to East Anglia. The purpose of this expedition is debated, though Asser claims that it was for the sake of plunder.[32] After travelling up the River Stour the fleet was met by Danish vessels that numbered 13 or 16 (sources vary on the number) and a battle ensued.[32] The Anglo-Saxon fleet emerged victorious and, as Huntingdon accounts, "laden with spoils".[33] The victorious fleet was then caught unawares when attempting to leave the River Stour and was attacked by a Danish force at the mouth of the river. The Danish fleet defeated Alfred's fleet, which may have been weakened in the previous engagement.[34]


    A plaque in the City of London noting the restoration of the Roman walled city by Alfred.
    A year later, in 886, Alfred reoccupied the city of London and set out to make it habitable again.[35] Alfred entrusted the city to the care of his son-in-law Ąthelred, ealdorman of Mercia. The restoration of London progressed through the latter half of the 880s and is believed to have revolved around: a new street plan; added fortifications in addition to the existing Roman walls; and, some believe, the construction of matching fortifications on the south bank of the River Thames.[36]

    This is also the period in which almost all chroniclers agree that the Saxon people of pre-unification England submitted to Alfred.[37] This was not, however, the point at which Alfred came to be known as King of England; in fact he would never adopt the title for himself.

    Between the restoration of London and the resumption of large-scale Danish attacks in the early 890s, Alfred's reign was rather uneventful. The relative peace of the late 880s was marred by the death of Alfred's sister, Ąthelswith, en route to Rome in 888.[38] In the same year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Ąthelred, also died. One year later Guthrum, or Athelstan by his baptismal name, Alfred's former enemy and king of East Anglia, died and was buried in Hadleigh, Suffolk.[39]


    Map of Britain in 886
    Guthrum's passing changed the political landscape for Alfred. The resulting power vacuum stirred up other power–hungry warlords eager to take his place in the following years. The quiet years of Alfred's life were coming to a close and war was on the horizon.[40]

    Further Viking attacks repelled (890s)

    After another lull, in the autumn of 892 or 893, the Danes attacked again. Finding their position in mainland Europe precarious, they crossed to England in 330 ships in two divisions. They entrenched themselves, the larger body, at Appledore, Kent, and the lesser under Hastein, at Milton, also in Kent. The invaders brought their wives and children with them indicating a meaningful attempt at conquest and colonisation. Alfred, in 893 or 894, took up a position from which he could observe both forces.[41]

    While he was in talks with Hastein, the Danes at Appledore broke out and struck northwestwards. They were overtaken by Alfred's eldest son, Edward, and were defeated in a general engagement at Farnham in Surrey. They took refuge on an island at Thorney, on the River Colne between Buckinghamshire and Middlesex, where they were blockaded and forced to give hostages and promise to leave Wessex.[42][41] They then went to Essex and, after suffering another defeat at Benfleet, joined with Hastein's force at Shoebury.[42]

    Alfred had been on his way to relieve his son at Thorney when he heard that the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes were besieging Exeter and an unnamed stronghold on the North Devon shore. Alfred at once hurried westward and raised the Siege of Exeter. The fate of the other place is not recorded.[43]

    Meanwhile, the force under Hastein set out to march up the Thames Valley, possibly with the idea of assisting their friends in the west. They were met by a large force under the three great ealdormen of Mercia, Wiltshire and Somerset and, forced to head off to the northwest, being finally overtaken and blockaded at Buttington. (Some identify this with Buttington Tump at the mouth of the River Wye, others with Buttington near Welshpool.) An attempt to break through the English lines was defeated. Those who escaped retreated to Shoebury. After collecting reinforcements, they made a sudden dash across England and occupied the ruined Roman walls of Chester. The English did not attempt a winter blockade but contented themselves with destroying all the supplies in the district.[43]

    Early in 894 or 895 lack of food obliged the Danes to retire once more to Essex. At the end of the year the Danes drew their ships up the River Thames and the River Lea and fortified themselves twenty miles (32 km) north of London. A direct attack on the Danish lines failed but, later in the year, Alfred saw a means of obstructing the river so as to prevent the egress of the Danish ships. The Danes realised that they were outmanoeuvred. They struck off north-westwards and wintered at Cwatbridge near Bridgnorth. The next year, 896 (or 897), they gave up the struggle. Some retired to Northumbria, some to East Anglia. Those who had no connections in England withdrew back to the continent.[43]

    Military reorganisation

    Alfred the Great silver offering penny, 871–899. Legend: AELFRED REX SAXONUM "Ąlfred King of the Saxons".
    The Germanic tribes who invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries relied upon the unarmoured infantry supplied by their tribal levy, or fyrd, and it was upon this system that the military power of the several kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England depended.[44] The fyrd was a local militia in the Anglo-Saxon shire in which all freemen had to serve; those who refused military service were subject to fines or loss of their land.[45] According to the law code of King Ine of Wessex, issued in about 694:

    If a nobleman who holds land neglects military service, he shall pay 120 shillings and forfeit his land; a nobleman who holds no land shall pay 60 shillings; a commoner shall pay a fine of 30 shillings for neglecting military service.[46]

    Wessex's history of failures preceding his success in 878 emphasised to Alfred that the traditional system of battle he had inherited played to the Danes' advantage. While both the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes attacked settlements to seize wealth and other resources, they employed very different strategies. In their raids the Anglo-Saxons traditionally preferred to attack head-on by assembling their forces in a shield wall, advancing against their target and overcoming the oncoming wall marshaled against them in defence.[47]

    In contrast the Danes preferred to choose easy targets, mapping cautious forays designed to avoid risking all their accumulated plunder with high-stake attacks for more. Alfred determined their strategy was to launch smaller scaled attacks from a secure and reinforced defensible base to which they could retreat should their raiders meet strong resistance.[47]

    These bases were prepared in advance, often by capturing an estate and augmenting its defences with surrounding ditches, ramparts and palisades. Once inside the fortification, Alfred realised, the Danes enjoyed the advantage, better situated to outlast their opponents or crush them with a counter-attack as the provisions and stamina of the besieging forces waned.[47]

    The means by which the Anglo-Saxons marshaled forces to defend against marauders also left them vulnerable to the Vikings. It was the responsibility of the shire fyrd to deal with local raids. The king could call up the national militia to defend the kingdom but, in the case of the Viking hit-and-run raids, problems with communication, and raising supplies meant that the national militia could not be mustered quickly enough. It was only after the raids were underway that a call went out to landowners to gather their men for battle. Large regions could be devastated before the fyrd could assemble and arrive. And although the landowners were obliged to the king to supply these men when called, during the attacks in 878 many of them opportunistically abandoned their king and collaborated with Guthrum.[48][49]

    With these lessons in mind Alfred capitalised on the relatively peaceful years immediately following his victory at Edington by focusing on an ambitious restructuring of his kingdom's military defences. On a trip to Rome Alfred had stayed with Charles the Bald and it is possible that he may have studied how the Carolingian kings had dealt with the Viking problem. Learning from their experiences he was able to put together a system of taxation and defence for his own kingdom. Also there had been a system of fortifications in pre-Viking Mercia that may have been an influence. So when the Viking raids resumed in 892 Alfred was better prepared to confront them with a standing, mobile field army, a network of garrisons, and a small fleet of ships navigating the rivers and estuaries.[50][51][52]

    Administration and taxation

    Tenants in Anglo-Saxon England had a threefold obligation based on their landholding: the so-called "common burdens" of military service, fortress work, and bridge repair. This threefold obligation has traditionally been called "trinoda neccessitas" or "trimoda neccessitas".[53] The Old English name for the fine due for neglecting military service was "fierdwite" or "fyrdwitee".[46]

    To maintain the burhs, and to reorganise the fyrd as a standing army, Alfred expanded the tax and conscription system based on the productivity of a tenant's landholding. The "hide" was the basic unit of the system on which the tenant's public obligations were assessed. A "hide" is thought to represent the amount of land required to support one family. The "hide" would differ in size according to the value and resources of the land, and the landowner would have to provide service based on how many "hides" he owned.[53][54]

    Burghal system

    See also: Burghal Hidage

    A map of burhs named in the Burghal Hidage.
    At the centre of Alfred's reformed military defence system was the network of burhs, distributed at strategic points throughout the kingdom.[55] There were thirty-three in total, spaced approximately 30 kilometres (19 miles) apart, enabling the military to confront attacks anywhere in the kingdom within a single day.[56][57]

    Alfred's burhs (later termed boroughs) ranged from former Roman towns, such as Winchester, where the stone walls were repaired and ditches added, to massive earthen walls surrounded by wide ditches, probably reinforced with wooden revetments and palisades, such as at Burpham, Sussex.[58][59] The size of the burhs ranged from tiny outposts such as Pilton to large fortifications in established towns, the largest being at Winchester.[60]

    A contemporary document now known as the Burghal Hidage provides an insight into how the system worked. It lists the "hidage" for each of the fortified towns contained in the document. For example, Wallingford had a "hidage" of 2400, which meant that the landowners there were responsible for supplying and feeding 2,400 men, the number sufficient for maintaining 9,900 feet (3.0 kilometres) of wall.[61] A total of 27,071 soldiers were needed system-wide, or approximately one in four of all the free men in Wessex.[62]

    Many of the burhs were twin towns that straddled a river and were connected by a fortified bridge, like those built by Charles the Bald a generation before.[51] The double-burh blocked passage on the river, forcing Viking ships to navigate under a garrisoned bridge lined with men armed with stones, spears, or arrows. Other burhs were sited near fortified royal villas, allowing the king better control over his strongholds.[63] The burhs were also interconnected by a road system maintained for army use (known as "herepaths"). These roads would allow an army to be quickly assembled, sometimes from more than one burh, to confront the Viking invader.[64] This network posed significant obstacles to Viking invaders, especially those laden with booty. The system threatened Viking routes and communications making it far more dangerous for the Viking raiders. The Vikings lacked both the equipment necessary to undertake a siege against a burh and a developed doctrine of siegecraft, having tailored their methods of fighting to rapid strikes and unimpeded retreats to well-defended fortifications. The only means left to them was to starve the burh into submission, but this gave the king time to send his mobile field army or garrisons from neighbouring burhs along the well-maintained army roads. In such cases the Vikings were extremely vulnerable to pursuit by the king's joint military forces.[65] Alfred's burh system posed such a formidable challenge against Viking attack that when the Vikings returned in 892, and successfully stormed a half-made, poorly garrisoned fortress up the Lympne estuary in Kent, the Anglo-Saxons were able to limit their penetration to the outer frontiers of Wessex and Mercia.[66]

    Alfred's burghal system was revolutionary in its strategic conception and potentially expensive in its execution. His contemporary biographer Asser wrote that many nobles balked at the new demands placed upon them even though they were for "the common needs of the kingdom".[67][68]

    English navy

    Alfred also tried his hand at naval design. In 896[69] he ordered the construction of a small fleet, perhaps a dozen or so longships that, at 60 oars, were twice the size of Viking warships. This was not, as the Victorians asserted, the birth of the English Navy. Wessex had possessed a royal fleet before this. King Athelstan of Kent and Ealdorman Ealhhere had defeated a Viking fleet in 851 capturing nine ships,[70] and Alfred himself had conducted naval actions in 882.[71]

    Nevertheless, 897 clearly marked an important development in the naval power of Wessex. The author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle related that Alfred's ships were larger, swifter, steadier and rode higher in the water than either Danish or Frisian ships. It is probable that, under the classical tutelage of Asser, Alfred utilised the design of Greek and Roman warships, with high sides, designed for fighting rather than for navigation.[72]

    Alfred had seapower in mind—if he could intercept raiding fleets before they landed, he could spare his kingdom from being ravaged. Alfred's ships may have been superior in conception. In practice they proved to be too large to manoeuvre well in the close waters of estuaries and rivers, the only places in which a naval battle could occur.[73]

    The warships of the time were not designed to be ship killers but rather troop carriers. It has been suggested that, like sea battles in late Viking age Scandinavia, these battles may have entailed a ship coming alongside an enemy vessel, lashing the two ships together and then boarding the enemy craft. The result was effectively a land battle involving hand-to-hand fighting on board the two lashed vessels.[74]

    In the one recorded naval engagement in 896[75][69] Alfred's new fleet of nine ships intercepted six Viking ships at the mouth of an unidentified river in the south of England. The Danes had beached half their ships and gone inland. Alfred's ships immediately moved to block their escape. The three Viking ships afloat attempted to break through the English lines. Only one made it; Alfred's ships intercepted the other two.[69] Lashing the Viking boats to their own, the English crew boarded and proceeded to kill the Vikings. One ship escaped, because Alfred's heavy ships became grounded when the tide went out.[74] A land battle ensued between the crews. The Danes were heavily outnumbered, but as the tide rose they returned to their boats which, with shallower drafts, were freed first. The English watched as the Vikings rowed past them.[74] But they had suffered so many casualties (120 dead against 62 Frisians and English) that they had difficulty putting out to sea. All were too damaged to row around Sussex and two were driven against the Sussex coast (possibly at Selsey Bill).[69][74] The shipwrecked crew were brought before Alfred at Winchester and hanged.[69]

    Legal reform:

    In the late 880s or early 890s Alfred issued a long domboc or law code consisting of his "own" laws, followed by a code issued by his late seventh-century predecessor King Ine of Wessex.[76] Together these laws are arranged into 120 chapters. In his introduction Alfred explains that he gathered together the laws he found in many "synod-books" and "ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed—those that pleased me; and many of the ones that did not please me, I rejected with the advice of my councillors, and commanded them to be observed in a different way".[77]

    Alfred singled out in particular the laws that he "found in the days of Ine, my kinsman, or Offa, king of the Mercians, or King Ąthelberht of Kent who first among the English people received baptism". He appended, rather than integrated, the laws of Ine into his code and, although he included, as had Ąthelbert, a scale of payments in compensation for injuries to various body parts the two injury tariffs are not aligned. Offa is not known to have issued a law code leading historian Patrick Wormald to speculate that Alfred had in mind the legatine capitulary of 786 that was presented to Offa by two papal legates.[78]

    About a fifth of the law code is taken up by Alfred's introduction which includes translations into English of the Ten Commandments, a few chapters from the Book of Exodus, and the "Apostolic Letter" from the Acts of the Apostles (15:23–29). The Introduction may best be understood as Alfred's meditation upon the meaning of Christian law.[79] It traces the continuity between God's gift of law to Moses to Alfred's own issuance of law to the West Saxon people. By doing so, it linked the holy past to the historical present and represented Alfred's law-giving as a type of divine legislation.[80]

    Similarly Alfred divided his code into 120 chapters because 120 was the age at which Moses died and, in the number-symbolism of early medieval biblical exegetes, 120 stood for law.[81] The link between the Mosaic Law and Alfred's code is the "Apostolic Letter" which explained that Christ "had come not to shatter or annul the commandments but to fulfill them; and he taught mercy and meekness". (Intro, 49.1) The mercy that Christ infused into Mosaic Law underlies the injury tariffs that figure so prominently in barbarian law codes since Christian synods "established, through that mercy which Christ taught, that for almost every misdeed at the first offence secular lords might with their permission receive without sin the monetary compensation which they then fixed".[82]

    The only crime that could not be compensated with a payment of money was treachery to a lord "since Almighty God adjudged none for those who despised Him, nor did Christ, the Son of God, adjudge any for the one who betrayed Him to death; and He commanded everyone to love his lord as Himself".[82] Alfred's transformation of Christ's commandment, from "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Matt. 22:39–40) to love your secular lord as you would love the Lord Christ himself, underscores the importance that Alfred placed upon lordship which he understood as a sacred bond instituted by God for the governance of man.[83]

    When one turns from the domboc's introduction to the laws themselves it is difficult to uncover any logical arrangement. The impression one receives is of a hodgepodge of miscellaneous laws. The law code, as it has been preserved, is singularly unsuitable for use in lawsuits. In fact several of Alfred's laws contradicted the laws of Ine that form an integral part of the code. Patrick Wormald's explanation is that Alfred's law code should be understood not as a legal manual but as an ideological manifesto of kingship "designed more for symbolic impact than for practical direction".[84] In practical terms the most important law in the code may well have been the very first: "We enjoin, what is most necessary, that each man keep carefully his oath and his pledge" which expresses a fundamental tenet of Anglo-Saxon law.[85]

    Alfred devoted considerable attention and thought to judicial matters. Asser underscores his concern for judicial fairness. Alfred, according to Asser, insisted upon reviewing contested judgments made by his ealdormen and reeves and "would carefully look into nearly all the judgements which were passed [issued] in his absence anywhere in the realm to see whether they were just or unjust".[86] A charter from the reign of his son Edward the Elder depicts Alfred as hearing one such appeal in his chamber while washing his hands.[87]

    Asser represents Alfred as a Solomonic judge, painstaking in his own judicial investigations and critical of royal officials who rendered unjust or unwise judgments. Although Asser never mentions Alfred's law code he does say that Alfred insisted that his judges be literate so that they could apply themselves "to the pursuit of wisdom". The failure to comply with this royal order was to be punished by loss of office.[88]

    The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, commissioned at the time of Alfred, was probably written to promote unification of England,[89] whereas Asser's The Life of King Alfred promoted Alfred's achievements and personal qualities. It was possible that the document was designed this way so that it could be disseminated in Wales, as Alfred had recently acquired overlordship of that country.[89]

    Foreign relations

    Asser speaks grandiosely of Alfred's relations with foreign powers but little definite information is available.[43] His interest in foreign countries is shown by the insertions which he made in his translation of Orosius. He corresponded with Elias III, the Patriarch of Jerusalem,[43] and embassies to Rome conveying the English alms to the Pope were fairly frequent.[51][f] Around 890 Wulfstan of Hedeby undertook a journey from Hedeby on Jutland along the Baltic Sea to the Prussian trading town of Truso. Alfred personally collected details of this trip.[90]

    Alfred's relations with the Celtic princes in the western half of Britain are clearer. Comparatively early in his reign, according to Asser, the southern Welsh princes, owing to the pressure on them from North Wales and Mercia, commended themselves to Alfred. Later in his reign the North Welsh followed their example and the latter cooperated with the English in the campaign of 893 (or 894). That Alfred sent alms to Irish and Continental monasteries may be taken on Asser's authority. The visit of the three pilgrim "Scots" (i.e. Irish) to Alfred in 891 is undoubtedly authentic. The story that he himself in his childhood was sent to Ireland to be healed by Saint Modwenna, though mythical, may show Alfred's interest in that island.[43]

    Religion and culture

    King Alfred the Great pictured in a stained glass window in the West Window of the South Transept of Bristol Cathedral.
    In the 880s, at the same time that he was "cajoling and threatening" his nobles to build and man the burhs, Alfred, perhaps inspired by the example of Charlemagne almost a century before, undertook an equally ambitious effort to revive learning.[43] During this time period the Viking raids were often seen as a divine punishment and Alfred may have wished to revive religious awe in order to appease God's wrath.[91] This revival entailed the recruitment of clerical scholars from Mercia, Wales and abroad to enhance the tenor of the court and of the episcopacy; the establishment of a court school to educate his own children, the sons of his nobles, and intellectually promising boys of lesser birth; an attempt to require literacy in those who held offices of authority; a series of translations into the vernacular of Latin works the king deemed "most necessary for all men to know";[92] the compilation of a chronicle detailing the rise of Alfred's kingdom and house, with a genealogy that stretched back to Adam, thus giving the West Saxon kings a biblical ancestry.[93]

    Very little is known of the church under Alfred. The Danish attacks had been particularly damaging to the monasteries. Although Alfred founded monasteries at Athelney and Shaftesbury, these were the first new monastic houses in Wessex since the beginning of the eighth century.[94] According to Asser, Alfred enticed foreign monks to England for his monastery at Athelney as there was little interest for the locals to take up the monastic life.[95]

    Alfred undertook no systematic reform of ecclesiastical institutions or religious practices in Wessex. For him the key to the kingdom's spiritual revival was to appoint pious, learned, and trustworthy bishops and abbots. As king he saw himself as responsible for both the temporal and spiritual welfare of his subjects. Secular and spiritual authority were not distinct categories for Alfred.[96][97]

    He was equally comfortable distributing his translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care to his bishops so that they might better train and supervise priests and using those same bishops as royal officials and judges. Nor did his piety prevent him from expropriating strategically sited church lands, especially estates along the border with the Danelaw, and transferring them to royal thegns and officials who could better defend them against Viking attacks.[97][98]

    Impact of Danish raids on education

    The Danish raids had a devastating effect on learning in England. Alfred lamented in the preface to his translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care that "learning had declined so thoroughly in England that there were very few men on this side of the Humber who could understand their divine services in English or even translate a single letter from Latin into English: and I suppose that there were not many beyond the Humber either".[99] Alfred undoubtedly exaggerated, for dramatic effect, the abysmal state of learning in England during his youth.[100] That Latin learning had not been obliterated is evidenced by the presence in his court of learned Mercian and West Saxon clerics such as Plegmund, Wµferth, and Wulfsige.[101]

    Manuscript production in England dropped off precipitously around the 860s when the Viking invasions began in earnest, not to be revived until the end of the century.[102] Numerous Anglo-Saxon manuscripts burnt up along with the churches that housed them. And a solemn diploma from Christ Church, Canterbury, dated 873, is so poorly constructed and written that historian Nicholas Brooks posited a scribe who was either so blind he could not read what he wrote or who knew little or no Latin. "It is clear", Brooks concludes, "that the metropolitan church [of Canterbury] must have been quite unable to provide any effective training in the scriptures or in Christian worship".[103]

    Establishment of a court school

    Following the example of Charlemagne, Alfred established a court school for the education of his own children, those of the nobility, and "a good many of lesser birth".[92] There they studied books in both English and Latin and "devoted themselves to writing, to such an extent ... they were seen to be devoted and intelligent students of the liberal arts".[104] He recruited scholars from the Continent and from Britain to aid in the revival of Christian learning in Wessex and to provide the king personal instruction. Grimbald and John the Saxon came from Francia; Plegmund (whom Alfred appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 890), Bishop Werferth of Worcester, Ąthelstan, and the royal chaplains Werwulf, from Mercia; and Asser, from St David's in southwestern Wales.[105]

    Advocacy of education in the English language:

    Alfred's educational ambitions seem to have extended beyond the establishment of a court school. Believing that without Christian wisdom there can be neither prosperity nor success in war, Alfred aimed "to set to learning (as long as they are not useful for some other employment) all the free-born young men now in England who have the means to apply themselves to it".[106] Conscious of the decay of Latin literacy in his realm Alfred proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin.[107]

    There were few "books of wisdom" written in English. Alfred sought to remedy this through an ambitious court-centred programme of translating into English the books he deemed "most necessary for all men to know".[107] It is unknown when Alfred launched this programme but it may have been during the 880s when Wessex was enjoying a respite from Viking attacks. Alfred was, until recently, often considered to have been the author of many of the translations but this is now considered doubtful in almost all cases. Scholars more often refer to translations as "Alfredian" indicating that they probably had something to do with his patronage but are unlikely to be his own work.[108]

    Apart from the lost Handboc or Encheiridio, which seems to have been a commonplace book kept by the king, the earliest work to be translated was the Dialogues of Gregory the Great, a book greatly popular in the Middle Ages. The translation was undertaken at Alfred's command by Werferth, Bishop of Worcester, with the king merely furnishing a preface.[43] Remarkably Alfred, undoubtedly with the advice and aid of his court scholars, translated four works himself: Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy", St. Augustine's Soliloquies and the first fifty psalms of the Psalter.[109]

    One might add to this list the translation, in Alfred's law code, of excerpts from the Vulgate Book of Exodus. The Old English versions of Orosius's Histories against the Pagans and Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People are no longer accepted by scholars as Alfred's own translations because of lexical and stylistic differences.[109] Nonetheless the consensus remains that they were part of the Alfredian programme of translation. Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge suggest this also for Bald's Leechbook and the anonymous Old English Martyrology.[110]

    The preface of Alfred's translation of Pope Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care explained why he thought it necessary to translate works such as this from Latin into English. Although he described his method as translating "sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for sense", the translation actually keeps very close to the original although, through his choice of language, he blurred throughout the distinction between spiritual and secular authority. Alfred meant the translation to be used, and circulated it to all his bishops.[111] Interest in Alfred's translation of Pastoral Care was so enduring that copies were still being made in the 11th century.[112]

    Boethius'Consolation of Philosophy was the most popular philosophical handbook of the Middle Ages. Unlike the translation of the Pastoral Care the Alfredian text deals very freely with the original and, though the late Dr. G. Schepss showed that many of the additions to the text are to be traced not to the translator himself[113] but to the glosses and commentaries which he used, still there is much in the work which is distinctive to the translation and has been taken to reflect philosophies of kingship in Alfred's milieu. It is in the Boethius that the oft-quoted sentence occurs: "To speak briefly: I desired to live worthily as long as I lived, and after my life to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good works."[114] The book has come down to us in two manuscripts only. In one of these[115] the writing is prose, in the other[116] a combination of prose and alliterating verse. The latter manuscript was severely damaged in the 18th and 19th centuries.[117]

    The last of the Alfredian works is one which bears the name Blostman, i.e. "Blooms" or Anthology. The first half is based mainly on the Soliloquies of St Augustine of Hippo, the remainder is drawn from various sources. The material has traditionally been thought to contain much that is Alfred's own and highly characteristic of him. The last words of it may be quoted; they form a fitting epitaph for the noblest of English kings. "Therefore, he seems to me a very foolish man, and truly wretched, who will not increase his understanding while he is in the world, and ever wish and long to reach that endless life where all shall be made clear."[111] Alfred appears as a character in the twelfth- or thirteenth-century poem The Owl and the Nightingale where his wisdom and skill with proverbs is praised. The Proverbs of Alfred, a thirteenth-century work, contains sayings that are not likely to have originated with Alfred but attest to his posthumous medieval reputation for wisdom.[118]


    2A drawing of the Alfred Jewel.

    The Alfred Jewel, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, commissioned by Alfred:

    Interesting article about, "The Alfred Jewel", contributed January 14th, 2018 by Martha Ann Millsaps;



    The Alfred jewel, discovered in Somerset in 1693, has long been associated with King Alfred because of its Old English inscription AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN (Alfred ordered me to be made). The jewel is about 2 1/2 inches (6.4 centimetres) long, made of filigreed gold, enclosing a highly polished piece of quartz crystal beneath which is set in a cloisonnâe enamel plaque with an enamelled image of a man holding floriate sceptres, perhaps personifying Sight or the Wisdom of God.[119]

    It was at one time attached to a thin rod or stick based on the hollow socket at its base. The jewel certainly dates from Alfred's reign. Although its function is unknown it has been often suggested that the jewel was one of the "µstels"—pointers for reading—that Alfred ordered sent to every bishopric accompanying a copy of his translation of the Pastoral Care. Each "µstel" was worth the princely sum of 50 mancuses which fits in well with the quality workmanship and expensive materials of the Alfred jewel".[120]

    Historian Richard Abels sees Alfred's educational and military reforms as complementary. Restoring religion and learning in Wessex, Abels contends, was to Alfred's mind as essential to the defence of his realm as the building of the burhs.[121] As Alfred observed in the preface to his English translation of Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, kings who fail to obey their divine duty to promote learning can expect earthly punishments to befall their people.[122] The pursuit of wisdom, he assured his readers of the Boethius, was the surest path to power: "Study Wisdom, then, and, when you have learned it, condemn it not, for I tell you that by its means you may without fail attain to power, yea, even though not desiring it".[123]

    The portrayal of the West-Saxon resistance to the Vikings by Asser and the chronicler as a Christian holy war was more than mere rhetoric or 'propaganda'. It reflected Alfred's own belief in a doctrine of divine rewards and punishments rooted in a vision of a hierarchical Christian world order in which God is the Lord to whom kings owe obedience and through whom they derive their authority over their followers. The need to persuade his nobles to undertake work for the 'common good' led Alfred and his court scholars to strengthen and deepen the conception of Christian kingship that he had inherited by building upon the legacy of earlier kings such as Offa as well as clerical writers such as Bede, Alcuin and the other luminaries of the Carolingian renaissance. This was not a cynical use of religion to manipulate his subjects into obedience but an intrinsic element in Alfred's worldview. He believed, as did other kings in ninth-century England and Francia, that God had entrusted him with the spiritual as well as physical welfare of his people. If the Christian faith fell into ruin in his kingdom, if the clergy were too ignorant to understand the Latin words they butchered in their offices and liturgies, if the ancient monasteries and collegiate churches lay deserted out of indifference, he was answerable before God, as Josiah had been. Alfred's ultimate responsibility was the pastoral care of his people.[121]

    Now, he was greatly loved, more than all his brothers, by his father and mother—indeed, by everybody—with a universal and profound love, and he was always brought up in the royal court and nowhere else. ... [He] was seen to be more comely in appearance than his other brothers, and more pleasing in manner, speech and behaviour ... [and] in spite of all the demands of the present life, it has been the desire for wisdom, more than anything else, together with the nobility of his birth, which have characterized the nature of his noble mind.[124]

    It is also written by Asser that Alfred did not learn to read until he was twelve years old or later, which is described as "shameful negligence" of his parents and tutors. Alfred was an excellent listener and had an incredible memory and he retained poetry and psalms very well. A story is told by Asser about how his mother held up a book of Saxon poetry to him and his brothers, and said; "I shall give this book to whichever one of you can learn it the fastest." After excitedly asking, "Will you really give this book to the one of us who can understand it the soonest and recite it to you?" Alfred then took it to his teacher, learned it, and recited it back to his mother.[125]

    Alfred is also noted as carrying around a small book, probably a medieval version of a small pocket notebook, which contained psalms and many prayers that he often collected. Asser writes: these "he collected in a single book, as I have seen for myself; amid all the affairs of the present life he took it around with him everywhere for the sake of prayer, and was inseparable from it."[125]

    An excellent hunter in every branch of the sport, Alfred is remembered as an enthusiastic huntsman against whom nobody’s skills could compare.[125]

    Although he was the youngest of his brothers, he was probably the most open-minded. He was an early advocate for education. His desire for learning could have come from his early love of English poetry and inability to read or physically record it until later in life. Asser writes that Alfred "could not satisfy his craving for what he desired the most, namely the liberal arts; for, as he used to say, there were no good scholars in the entire kingdom of the West Saxons at that time".[125]

    Family

    In 868 Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Ąthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family.[126]

    They had five or six children together including: Edward the Elder who succeeded his father as king; Ąthelflµd who became Lady (ruler) of the Mercians in her own right; and Ąlfthryth who married Baldwin II the Count of Flanders. His mother was Osburga, daughter of Oslac of the Isle of Wight, Chief Butler of England. Asser, in his Vita Ąlfredi asserts that this shows his lineage from the Jutes of the Isle of Wight. This is unlikely as Bede tells us that they were all slaughtered by the Saxons under Cµdwalla. In 2008 the skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, granddaughter of Alfred the Great was found in Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany. It was confirmed in 2010 that these remains belong to her—one of the earliest members of the English royal family.[127]

    Osferth was described as a relative in King Alfred's will and he attested charters in a high position until 934. A charter of King Edward's reign described him as the king's brother, "mistakenly" according to Keynes and Lapidge, but in the view of Janet Nelson he probably was an illegitimate son of King Alfred.[128][129]

    Name Birth Death Notes
    Ąthelflµd 12 June 918 Married c 886, Ąthelred, Lord of the Mercians d. 911; had issue
    Edward c. 874 17 July 924 Married (1) Ecgwynn, (2) Ąlfflµd, (3) 919 Eadgifu
    Ąthelgifu Abbess of Shaftesbury
    Ąthelweard 16 October 922(?) Married and had issue
    Ąlfthryth 929 Married Baldwin II d. 918; had issue

    Ancestry[edit]

    [show]Ancestors of Alfred the Great

    Death, burial and fate of remains[edit]

    Alfred's will:
    Alfred died on 26 October 899. How he died is unknown, although he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness. His biographer Asser gave a detailed description of Alfred's symptoms and this has allowed modern doctors to provide a possible diagnosis. It is thought that he had either Crohn's disease or haemorrhoidal disease.[7][131] His grandson King Eadred seems to have suffered from a similar illness.[132][g]

    Alfred was originally buried temporarily in the Old Minster in Winchester. Four years after his death he was moved to the New Minster (perhaps built especially to receive his body). When the New Minster moved to Hyde, a little north of the city, in 1110, the monks were transferred to Hyde Abbey along with Alfred's body and those of his wife and children, which were presumably interred before the high altar. Soon after the dissolution of the abbey in 1539, during the reign of Henry VIII, the church was demolished, leaving the graves intact.[134]

    The royal graves and many others were probably rediscovered by chance in 1788 when a prison was being constructed by convicts on the site. Prisoners dug across the width of the altar area in order to dispose of rubble left at the dissolution. Coffins were stripped of lead, and bones were scattered and lost. The prison was demolished between 1846 and 1850.[135] Further excavations in 1866 and 1897 were inconclusive.[134][136] In 1866 amateur antiquarian John Mellor claimed to have recovered a number of bones from the site which he said were those of Alfred. These later came into the possession of the vicar of nearby St Bartholomew's Church who reburied them in an unmarked grave in the church graveyard.[135]

    Excavations conducted by the Winchester Museums Service of the Hyde Abbey site in 1999 located a second pit dug in front of where the high altar would have been located, which was identified as probably dating to Mellor's 1886 excavation.[134] The 1999 archeological excavation uncovered the foundations of the abbey buildings and some bones. Bones suggested at the time to be those of Alfred proved instead to belong to an elderly woman.[137]

    In March 2013 the Diocese of Winchester exhumed the bones from the unmarked grave at St Bartholomew's and placed them in secure storage. The diocese made no claim they were the bones of Alfred, but intended to secure them for later analysis, and from the attentions of people whose interest may have been sparked by the recent identification of the remains of King Richard III.[137][138] The bones were radiocarbon-dated but the results showed that they were from the 1300s and therefore unrelated to Alfred. In January 2014, a fragment of pelvis unearthed in the 1999 excavation of the Hyde site, which had subsequently lain in a Winchester museum store room, was radiocarbon-dated to the correct period. It has been suggested that this bone may belong to either Alfred or his son Edward, but this remains unproven.[139][140]

    end of biography

    More...

    "The Last Kingdom"

    The Last Kingdom is a British television series, an eight-part adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's historical novels series The Saxon Stories.[1] The series premiered on 10 October 2015 on BBC America,[2] and on BBC Two in the UK on 22 October 2015.

    Set in the late ninth century AD, when what is known as England today was several separate kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxon lands are attacked and, in many instances, ruled by Danes. The Kingdom of Wessex has been left standing alone.

    The protagonist Uhtred, the orphaned son of a Saxon nobleman, is captured by viking Danes and reared as one of them. Forced to choose between a kingdom that shares his ancestry and the people of his upbringing, his loyalties are constantly tested.[4]

    The first series' storyline roughly covers the plot of the original two novels, The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman although condensed for the purposes of television ...http://www.bbcamerica.com/shows/the-last-kingdom

    For a more complete genealogy including ancestors and descendants, see House of Wessex family tree ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_the_Peaceful

    Alfred Saxon, King of England is the 5 x great uncle of William I Normandie, King of England ... http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3527&secondpersonID=I3527&maxrels=1&disallowspouses=1&generations=9&tree=00&primarypersonID=I4276

    Alfred Saxon, King of England is the 4 x great grandfather of the wife of William I Normandie, King of England ... http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I3527&secondpersonID=I3527&maxrels=1&disallowspouses=0&generations=9&tree=00&primarypersonID=I4276

    More history on King Alfred of Wessex, the first English king ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/conquest/wessex_kings/birth_england_wessex_05.shtml

    "Alfred the Great" ... his history & issue; http://thehennesseefamily.com/getperson.php?personID=I50596&tree=hennessee

    "...Before Alfred arrived on the scene, England had consisted of a number of small kingdoms, but these were simply overrun and their royal families wiped out by the Vikings by the end of the 860s.
    At this point, the Vikings threatened to overrun the whole of England, and the King of Mercia fled overseas, as did a number of well-to-do West Saxons.

    But on the verge of total disaster, something happened which became part of the English myth in the Anglo-Saxon period, and still is. In early 878, Alfred the Great was surrounded in the marshes of Athelney in Somerset, almost finished. 'England' was on the ropes before it had even come into being..."

    end of comment

    Guthrum or Guşrum (died c. 890), christened Ąthelstan on his conversion to Christianity in 878, was King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw. He is mainly known for his conflict with Alfred the Great.

    Guthrum, founder of the Danelaw

    It is not known how Guthrum consolidated his rule as king over the other Danish chieftains of the Danelaw (Danish-ruled territory of England), but by 874 he was able to wage a war against Wessex and its King, Alfred.

    In 875, the Danish forces, then under Guthrum and Halfdan Ragnarsson, divided, Halfdan's contingent returning north to Northumbria, while Guthrum's forces went to East Anglia, quartering themselves at Cambridge for the year.

    By 876, Guthrum had acquired various parts of the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria and then turned his attention to acquiring Wessex, where his first confrontation with Alfred took place on the south coast. Guthrum sailed his army around Poole Harbour and linked up with another Viking army that was invading the area between the Frome and Piddle rivers which was ruled by Alfred.[1] According to the historian Asser, Guthrum won his initial battle with Alfred, and he captured the castellum as well as the ancient square earthworks known as the Wareham, where there was a convent of nuns.

    Alfred successfully brokered a peace settlement, but by 877 this peace was broken as Guthrum led his army raiding further into Wessex, thus forcing Alfred to confront him in a series of skirmishes that Guthrum continued to win. At Exeter, which Guthrum had also captured, Alfred made a peace treaty, with the result that Guthrum left Wessex to winter in Gloucester.

    Surprise attack

    Silver penny of Ąthelstan: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/KENT-338E94._Early_Medieval_silver_coin%2C_penny_of_Aethelstan_II_Guthran._%28FindID_132251%29.jpg/220px-KENT-338E94._Early_Medieval_silver_coin%2C_penny_of_Aethelstan_II_Guthran._%28FindID_132251%29.jpg

    On Epiphany, 6 January 878, Guthrum made a surprise night-time attack on Alfred and his court at Chippenham, Wiltshire. It being a Christian feast day the Saxons were presumably taken by surprise—indeed it is possible that Wulfhere, the Ealdorman of Wiltshire, allowed the attack either through negligence or intent, for on Alfred's return to power later in 878 Wulfhere was stripped of his role as Ealdorman.

    Alfred fled the attack with a few retainers and took shelter in the marshes of Somerset, staying in the small village of Athelney. Over the next few months he built up his force and waged a guerrilla war against Guthrum from his fastness in the fens. After a few months Alfred called his loyal men to Egbert's Stone, and from there they travelled to Edington to fight the invaders.

    Defeat by Alfred

    Guthrum's hopes of conquering all of Wessex came to an end with his defeat at the hands of Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. At Edington, Guthrum’s entire army was routed by Alfred's and fled to their encampment where they were besieged by Alfred's fyrd for two weeks. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Guthrum’s army was able to negotiate a peace treaty known as the Treaty of Wedmore.[2] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded the event:

    “Then the raiding army granted him (Alfred) hostages and great oaths that they would leave his kingdom and also promised him that their king (Guthrum) would receive baptism; and they fulfilled it. And three weeks later the king Guthrum came to him, one of thirty of the most honourable men who were in the raiding army, at Aller - and that is near Athelney - and the king received him at baptism; and his chrism loosing was at Wedmore.” [2]
    Conversion to Christianity and peace
    Under the Treaty of Wedmore the borders dividing the lands of Alfred and Guthrum were established,[3] and perhaps more importantly, Guthrum converted to Christianity and took on the Christian name Ąthelstan with Alfred as his godfather.

    Guthrum upheld his end of the treaty and left the boundary that separated the Danelaw from English England unmolested. Guthrum, although failing to conquer Wessex, turned towards the lands to the east that the treaty had allotted under his control. Guthrum withdrew his army from the western borders facing Alfred's territory and moved eastward before eventually settling in the Kingdom of Guthrum in East Anglia in 879. He lived out the remainder of his life there until his death in 890. According to the Annals of St Neots, a chronicle compiled in Bury St Edmunds, Guthrum was buried at Headleage, which is usually identified as Hadleigh, Suffolk.[4]

    Popular culture

    Guthrum appears in several works of fiction, including:

    G. K. Chesterton's poem The Ballad of the White Horse.
    C. Walter Hodges' juvenile historical novels The Namesake and The Marsh King.
    Bernard Cornwell's first three novels of The Saxon Stories series The Last Kingdom, and The Pale Horseman, and The Lords of the North.
    On screen, he was portrayed by Brian Blessed in episode 4 ("King Alfred") of Churchill's People, by Michael York in the 1969 film Alfred the Great, and Thomas W. Gabrielsson in The Last Kingdom.

    References

    Collingwood, M. A. and Powell, F. Y. Scandinavian Britain (New York: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1908), p. 94.
    Anglo Saxon Chronicle Trans. by M. J. Swanton (New York, Routledge: 1996).
    Davis, R. H. C. From Alfred the Great to Stephen (London, The Hambledon Press: 1991) p. 48.
    Dumville, David; Lapidge, Michael (1985). The Annals of St Neots with Vita Prima Sancti Neoti, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: a Collaborative Edition. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-85991-117-7.

    External links

    Guthrum 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

    English royalty

    Preceded by
    Ąthelred King of East Anglia 879– 890

    Succeeded by Eohric

    Alfred the Great had a crippling disability...

    When we look up at the statue of King Alfred of Wessex in Winchester, we are confronted by an image of our national ‘superhero’: the valiant defender of a Christian realm against the heathen Viking marauders. There is no doubt that Alfred fully deserves this accolade as ‘England’s darling’, but there was another side to him that is less well known.

    Alfred never expected to be king – he had three older brothers – but when he was four years old on a visit to Rome the pope seemed to have granted him special favour when his father presented him to the pontiff. As he grew up, Alfred was constantly troubled by illness, including irritating and painful piles – a real problem in an age where a prince was constantly in the saddle. Asser, the Welshman who became his biographer, relates that Alfred suffered from another painful, draining malady that is not specified. Some people believe it was Crohn’s Disease, others that it may have been a sexually transmitted disease, or even severe depression.

    The truth is we don’t know exactly what Alfred’s mystery ailment was. Whatever it was, it is incredible to think that Alfred’s extraordinary achievements were accomplished in the face of a daily struggle with debilitating and chronic illness.

    end of commentary

    Alfred married Ealhswith in 868. Ealhswith was born in ~852 in England; died on 5 Dec 0902; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 2945.  Ealhswith was born in ~852 in England; died on 5 Dec 0902; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

    Notes:

    Ealhswith or Ealswitha (died 5 December 902) was the wife of King Alfred the Great. Her father was a Mercian nobleman, Ąthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini, which is thought to be an old Mercian tribal group. Her mother was Eadburh, a member of the Mercian royal family, and according to the historian Cyril Hart she was a descendant of King Coenwulf of Mercia.[1] She is commemorated as a saint in the Christian East and the West on July 20.[2]

    Reign 23 April 871 – 26 October 899
    Died 902
    Burial New Minster, Winchester
    Spouse Alfred, King of Wessex
    Issue Ąthelflµd, Lady of the Mercians
    Edward, King of England
    Ąthelgifu
    Ąthelweard of Wessex
    Ąlfthryth, Countess of Flanders
    Father Ąthelred Mucel
    Mother Eadburh

    Life[edit]
    She was married to Alfred in 868 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. His elder brother Ąthelred was then king, and Alfred was regarded as heir apparent.[3][4] The Danes occupied the Mercian town of Nottingham in that year, and the marriage was probably connected with an alliance between Wessex and Mercia.[5] Alfred became king on his brother's death in 871.

    Ealhswith is very obscure in contemporary sources. She did not witness any known charters, and Asser did not even mention her name in his life of King Alfred. In accordance with ninth century West Saxon custom, she was not given the title of queen. According to King Alfred, this was because of the infamous conduct of a former queen of Wessex called Eadburh, who had accidentally poisoned her husband.[6]

    Alfred left his wife three important symbolic estates in his will, Edington in Wiltshire, the site of one important victory over the Vikings, Lambourn in Berkshire, which was near another, and Wantage, his birthplace. These were all part of his bookland, and they stayed in royal possession after her death.[4]

    It was probably after Alfred's death in 899 that Ealhswith founded the convent of St Mary's Abbey, Winchester, known as the Nunnaminster. She died on 5 December 902, and was buried in her son Edward's new Benedictine abbey, the New Minster, Winchester. She is commemorated in two early tenth century manuscripts as "the true and dear lady of the English".[4]

    Ealhswith had a brother called Ąthelwulf,[4] who was ealdorman of western and possibly central Mercia under his niece's husband, Ąthelred, Lord of the Mercians, in the 890s.[7] He died in 901.[8]

    Children

    Alfred and Ealhswith had five children who survived to adulthood.[4]

    Ąthelflµd (d. 918), Lady of the Mercians, married Ąthelred, Lord of the Mercians
    Edward the Elder (d. 924), King of the Anglo-Saxons
    Ąthelgifu, made abbess of her foundation at Shaftesbury by her father
    Ąlfthryth, Countess of Flanders (d. 929), married Baldwin II, Count of Flanders
    Ąthelweard (d. c.920)

    Buried:
    at New Minster...

    Children:
    1. Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians was born in ~870 in (Wessex) England; died on 12 Jun 918 in Tamworth, Gloucester, England; was buried in St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester, England.
    2. 1472. Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons was born in ~874 in (Wantage, Berkshire) England; died on 17 Jul 924 in Farndon, Cheshire, England; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.


Generation: 13

  1. 5160.  Egbert of Wessex, King of WessexEgbert of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in 771-775 in Wessex, England (son of Ealhmund of Kent, King of Kent and unnamed spouse); died in 839; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

    Notes:

    Ecgberht (771/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, or Ecgbriht, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Ecgberht was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Ecgberht returned and took the throne.

    Little is known of the first 20 years of Ecgberht's reign, but it is thought that he was able to maintain the independence of Wessex against the kingdom of Mercia, which at that time dominated the other southern English kingdoms. In 825 Ecgberht defeated Beornwulf of Mercia, ended Mercia's supremacy at the Battle of Ellandun, and proceeded to take control of the Mercian dependencies in southeastern England. In 829 he defeated Wiglaf of Mercia and drove him out of his kingdom, temporarily ruling Mercia directly. Later that year Ecgberht received the submission of the Northumbrian king at Dore. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle subsequently described Ecgberht as a bretwalda or 'wide-ruler' of Anglo-Saxon lands.

    Ecgberht was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year Wiglaf regained the throne of Mercia. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey; these territories were given to Ecgberht's son Ąthelwulf to rule as a subking under Ecgberht. When Ecgberht died in 839, Ąthelwulf succeeded him; the southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex after Ąthelwulf's death in 858.

    King of Wessex
    Reign 802 – 839
    Predecessor Beorhtric
    Successor Ąthelwulf
    King of Kent
    Reign 825 – 839
    Predecessor Baldred
    Successor Ąthelwulf
    Born 771 or 775[1]
    Died 839 (aged 64 or 68)
    Burial Winchester
    Issue Ąthelwulf, King of Wessex
    House Wessex
    Father Ealhmund of Kent

    Family

    Historians do not agree on Ecgberht's ancestry. The earliest version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Parker Chronicle, begins with a genealogical preface tracing the ancestry of Ecgberht's son Ąthelwulf back through Ecgberht, Ealhmund (thought to be Ealhmund of Kent), and the otherwise unknown Eoppa and Eafa to Ingild, brother of King Ine of Wessex, who abdicated the throne in 726. It continues back to Cerdic, founder of the House of Wessex.[2] Ecgberht's descent from Ingild was accepted by Frank Stenton, but not the earlier genealogy back to Cerdic.[3] Heather Edwards in her Online Dictionary of National Biography article on Ecgberht argues that he was of Kentish origin, and that the West Saxon descent may have been manufactured during his reign to give him legitimacy,[4] whereas Rory Naismith considered a Kentish origin unlikely, and that it is more probable that "Ecgberht was born of good West Saxon royal stock".[5]

    Ecgberht's wife's name is unknown. A fifteenth century chronicle now held by Oxford University names Ecgberht's wife as Redburga who was supposedly a relative of Charlemagne that he married when he was banished to Francia, but this is dismissed by academic historians in view of its late date.[6] He is reputed to have had a half-sister Alburga, later to be recognised as a saint for her founding of Wilton Abbey. She was married to Wulfstan, ealdorman of Wiltshire, and on his death in 802 she became a nun, Abbess of Wilton Abbey.[7] He was believed at one time to also be the father of Saint Eadgyth of Polesworth and Ąthelstan of Kent.

    Political context and early life

    Ecgberht's name, spelled Ecgbriht, from the 827 entry in the C manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
    Offa of Mercia, who reigned from 757 to 796, was the dominant force in Anglo-Saxon England in the second half of the eighth century. The relationship between Offa and Cynewulf, who was king of Wessex from 757 to 786, is not well documented, but it seems likely that Cynewulf maintained some independence from Mercian overlordship. Evidence of the relationship between kings can come from charters, which were documents which granted land to followers or to churchmen, and which were witnessed by the kings who had power to grant the land. In some cases a king will appear on a charter as a subregulus, or "subking", making it clear that he has an overlord.[8][9] Cynewulf appears as "King of the West Saxons" on a charter of Offa's in 772;[10] and he was defeated by Offa in battle in 779 at Bensington, but there is nothing else to suggest Cynewulf was not his own master, and he is not known to have acknowledged Offa as overlord.[11] Offa did have influence in the southeast of the country: a charter of 764 shows him in the company of Heahberht of Kent, suggesting that Offa's influence helped place Heahberht on the throne.[12] The extent of Offa's control of Kent between 765 and 776 is a matter of debate amongst historians, but from 776 until about 784 it appears that the Kentish kings had substantial independence from Mercia.[12][13]

    Another Ecgberht, Ecgberht II of Kent, ruled in that kingdom throughout the 770s; he is last mentioned in 779, in a charter granting land at Rochester.[12] In 784 a new king of Kent, Ealhmund, appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to a note in the margin, "this king Ealhmund was Egbert's father [i.e. Ecgberht of Wessex], Egbert was Ąthelwulf's father." This is supported by the genealogical preface from the A text of the Chronicle, which gives Ecgberht's father's name as Ealhmund without further details. The preface probably dates from the late ninth century; the marginal note is on the F manuscript of the Chronicle, which is a Kentish version dating from about 1100.[14]

    Ealhmund does not appear to have long survived in power: there is no record of his activities after 784. There is, however, extensive evidence of Offa's domination of Kent during the late 780s, with his goals apparently going beyond overlordship to outright annexation of the kingdom,[12] and he has been described as "the rival, not the overlord, of the Kentish kings".[15] It is possible that the young Ecgberht fled to Wessex in 785 or so; it is suggestive that the Chronicle mentions in a later entry that Beorhtric, Cynewulf's successor, helped Offa to exile Ecgberht.[12]

    Cynewulf was murdered in 786. His succession was contested by Ecgberht, but he was defeated by Beorhtric, maybe with Offa's assistance.[16][17] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ecgberht spent three years in Francia before he was king, exiled by Beorhtric and Offa. The text says "iii" for three, but this may have been a scribal error, with the correct reading being "xiii", that is, thirteen years. Beorhtric's reign lasted sixteen years, and not thirteen; and all extant texts of the Chronicle agree on "iii", but many modern accounts assume that Ecgberht did indeed spend thirteen years in Francia. This requires assuming that the error in transcription is common to every manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; many historians make this assumption but others have rejected it as unlikely, given the consistency of the sources.[18] In either case Ecgberht was probably exiled in 789, when Beorhtric, his rival, married the daughter of Offa of Mercia.[19]

    At the time Ecgberht was in exile, Francia was ruled by Charlemagne, who maintained Frankish influence in Northumbria and is known to have supported Offa's enemies in the south. Another exile in Gaul at this time was Odberht, a priest, who is almost certainly the same person as Eadberht, who later became king of Kent. According to a later chronicler, William of Malmesbury, Ecgberht learned the arts of government during his time in Gaul.[20]

    Early reign

    Beorhtric's dependency on Mercia continued into the reign of Cenwulf, who became king of Mercia a few months after Offa's death.[11] Beorhtric died in 802, and Ecgberht came to the throne of Wessex, probably with the support of Charlemagne and perhaps also the papacy.[21] The Mercians continued to oppose Ecgberht: the day of his accession, the Hwicce (who had originally formed a separate kingdom, but by that time were part of Mercia) attacked, under the leadership of their ealdorman, Ąthelmund. Weohstan, a Wessex ealdorman, met him with men from Wiltshire:[14] according to a 15th-century source, Weohstan had married Alburga, Ecgberht's sister, and so was his brother-in-law.[22] The Hwicce were defeated, though Weohstan was killed as well as Ąthelmund.[14] Nothing more is recorded of Ecgberht's relations with Mercia for more than twenty years after this battle. It seems likely that Ecgberht had no influence outside his own borders, but on the other hand there is no evidence that he ever submitted to the overlordship of Cenwulf. Cenwulf did have overlordship of the rest of southern England, but in Cenwulf's charters the title of "overlord of the southern English" never appears, presumably in consequence of the independence of the kingdom of Wessex.[23]

    In 815 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ecgberht ravaged the whole of the territories of the remaining British kingdom, Dumnonia, known to the author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the West Welsh; their territory was about equivalent to what is now Cornwall.[14][24] Ten years later, a charter dated 19 August 825 indicates that Ecgberht was campaigning in Dumnonia again; this may have been related to a battle recorded in the Chronicle at Gafulford in 823, between the men of Devon and the Britons of Cornwall.[25]

    The battle of Ellandun

    A map of England during Ecgberht's reign
    It was also in 825 that one of the most important battles in Anglo-Saxon history took place, when Ecgberht defeated Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellandun—now Wroughton, near Swindon. This battle marked the end of the Mercian domination of southern England.[26] The Chronicle tells how Ecgberht followed up his victory: "Then he sent his son Ąthelwulf from the army, and Ealhstan, his bishop, and Wulfheard, his ealdorman, to Kent with a great troop." Ąthelwulf drove Baldred, the king of Kent, north over the Thames, and according to the Chronicle, the men of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex then all submitted to Ąthelwulf "because earlier they were wrongly forced away from his relatives."[14] This may refer to Offa's interventions in Kent at the time Ecgberht's father Ealhmund became king; if so, the chronicler's remark may also indicate Ealhmund had connections elsewhere in southeast England.[21]

    The Chronicle's version of events makes it appear that Baldred was driven out shortly after the battle, but this was probably not the case. A document from Kent survives which gives the date, March 826, as being in the third year of the reign of Beornwulf. This makes it likely that Beornwulf still had authority in Kent at this date, as Baldred's overlord; hence Baldred was apparently still in power.[25][27] In Essex, Ecgberht expelled King Sigered, though the date is unknown. It may have been delayed until 829, since a later chronicler associates the expulsion with a campaign of Ecgberht's in that year against the Mercians.[25]

    The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not say who was the aggressor at Ellandun, but one recent history asserts that Beornwulf was almost certainly the one who attacked. According to this view, Beornwulf may have taken advantage of the Wessex campaign in Dumnonia in the summer of 825. Beornwulf's motivation to launch an attack would have been the threat of unrest or instability in the southeast: the dynastic connections with Kent made Wessex a threat to Mercian dominance.[25]

    The consequences of Ellandun went beyond the immediate loss of Mercian power in the southeast. According to the Chronicle, the East Anglians asked for Ecgberht's protection against the Mercians in the same year, 825, though it may actually have been in the following year that the request was made. In 826 Beornwulf invaded East Anglia, presumably to recover his overlordship. He was slain, however, as was his successor, Ludeca, who invaded East Anglia in 827, evidently for the same reason. It may be that the Mercians were hoping for support from Kent: there was some reason to suppose that Wulfred, the Archbishop of Canterbury, might be discontented with West Saxon rule, as Ecgberht had terminated Wulfred's currency and had begun to mint his own, at Rochester and Canterbury,[25] and it is known that Ecgberht seized property belonging to Canterbury.[28] The outcome in East Anglia was a disaster for the Mercians which confirmed West Saxon power in the southeast.[25]

    Defeat of Mercia

    The entry for 827 in the C manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, listing the eight bretwaldas
    In 829 Ecgberht invaded Mercia and drove Wiglaf, the king of Mercia, into exile. This victory gave Ecgberht control of the London Mint, and he issued coins as King of Mercia.[25] It was after this victory that the West Saxon scribe described him as a bretwalda, meaning 'wide-ruler' or perhaps 'Britain-ruler', in a famous passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The relevant part of the annal reads, in the C manuscript of the Chronicle:[29]

    ? ¤y geare geeode Ecgbriht cing Myrcna rice ? eall ¤µt be su¤an Humbre wµs, ? he wµs eahta¤a cing se şe Bretenanwealda wµs.

    In modern English:[30]

    And the same year King Egbert conquered the kingdom of Mercia, and all that was south of the Humber, and he was the eighth king who was 'Wide-ruler'.

    The previous seven bretwaldas are also named by the Chronicler, who gives the same seven names that Bede lists as holding imperium, starting with Ąlle of Sussex and ending with Oswiu of Northumbria. The list is often thought to be incomplete, omitting as it does some dominant Mercian kings such as Penda and Offa. The exact meaning of the title has been much debated; it has been described as "a term of encomiastic poetry"[31] but there is also evidence that it implied a definite role of military leadership.[32]

    Later in 829, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ecgberht received the submission of the Northumbrians at Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield); the Northumbrian king was probably Eanred.[33] According to a later chronicler, Roger of Wendover, Ecgberht invaded Northumbria and plundered it before Eanred submitted: "When Ecgberht had obtained all the southern kingdoms, he led a large army into Northumbria, and laid waste that province with severe pillaging, and made King Eanred pay tribute." Roger of Wendover is known to have incorporated Northumbrian annals into his version; the Chronicle does not mention these events.[34] However, the nature of Eanred's submission has been questioned: one historian has suggested that it is more likely that the meeting at Dore represented a mutual recognition of sovereignty.[35]

    In 830, Ecgberht led a successful expedition against the Welsh, almost certainly with the intent of extending West Saxon influence into the Welsh lands previously within the Mercian orbit. This marked the high point of Ecgberht's influence.[25]

    Reduction in influence after 829

    Coin of King Ecgberht
    In 830, Mercia regained its independence under Wiglaf—the Chronicle merely says that Wiglaf "obtained the kingdom of Mercia again",[14] but the most likely explanation is that this was the result of a Mercian rebellion against Wessex rule.[36]

    Ecgberht's dominion over southern England came to an end with Wiglaf's recovery of power. Wiglaf's return is followed by evidence of his independence from Wessex. Charters indicate Wiglaf had authority in Middlesex and Berkshire, and in a charter of 836 Wiglaf uses the phrase "my bishops, duces, and magistrates" to describe a group that included eleven bishops from the episcopate of Canterbury, including bishops of sees in West Saxon territory.[37] It is significant that Wiglaf was still able to call together such a group of notables; the West Saxons, even if they were able to do so, held no such councils.[28][38] Wiglaf may also have brought Essex back into the Mercian orbit during the years after he recovered the throne.[25][39] In East Anglia, King Ąthelstan minted coins, possibly as early as 827, but more likely c. 830 after Ecgberht's influence was reduced with Wiglaf's return to power in Mercia. This demonstration of independence on East Anglia's part is not surprising, as it was Ąthelstan who was probably responsible for the defeat and death of both Beornwulf and Ludeca.[25]

    Both Wessex's sudden rise to power in the late 820s, and the subsequent failure to retain this dominant position, have been examined by historians looking for underlying causes. One plausible explanation for the events of these years is that Wessex's fortunes were to some degree dependent on Carolingian support. The Franks supported Eardwulf when he recovered the throne of Northumbria in 808, so it is plausible that they also supported Ecgberht's accession in 802. At Easter 839, not long before Ecgberht's death, he was in touch with Louis the Pious, king of the Franks, to arrange safe passage to Rome. Hence a continuing relationship with the Franks seems to be part of southern English politics during the first half of the ninth century.[25]

    Carolingian support may have been one of the factors that helped Ecgberht achieve the military successes of the late 820s. However, the Rhenish and Frankish commercial networks collapsed at some time in the 820s or 830s, and in addition, a rebellion broke out in February 830 against Louis the Pious—the first of a series of internal conflicts that lasted through the 830s and beyond. These distractions may have prevented Louis from supporting Ecgberht. In this view, the withdrawal of Frankish influence would have left East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex to find a balance of power not dependent on outside aid.[25]

    Despite the loss of dominance, Ecgberht's military successes fundamentally changed the political landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. Wessex retained control of the south-eastern kingdoms, with the possible exception of Essex, and Mercia did not regain control of East Anglia.[25] Ecgberht's victories marked the end of the independent existence of the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex. The conquered territories were administered as a subkingdom for a while, including Surrey and possibly Essex.[40] Although Ąthelwulf was a subking under Ecgberht, it is clear that he maintained his own royal household, with which he travelled around his kingdom. Charters issued in Kent described Ecgberht and Ąthelwulf as "kings of the West Saxons and also of the people of Kent." When Ąthelwulf died in 858 his will, in which Wessex is left to one son and the southeastern kingdom to another, makes it clear that it was not until after 858 that the kingdoms were fully integrated.[41] Mercia remained a threat, however; Ecgberht's son Ąthelwulf, established as king of Kent, gave estates to Christ Church, Canterbury, probably to counter any influence the Mercians might still have there.[25]

    In the southwest, Ecgberht was defeated in 836 at Carhampton by the Danes,[14] but in 838 he won a battle against them and their allies the West Welsh at the Battle of Hingston Down in Cornwall. The Dumnonian royal line continued after this time, but it is at this date that the independence of one of the last British kingdoms may be considered to have ended.[25] The details of Anglo-Saxon expansion into Cornwall are quite poorly recorded, but some evidence comes from place names.[42] The river Ottery, which flows east into the Tamar near Launceston, appears to be a boundary: south of the Ottery the placenames are overwhelmingly Cornish, whereas to the north they are more heavily influenced by the English newcomers.[43]

    Succession

    16th-century mortuary chest, one in a series set up by Bishop Foxe in Winchester Cathedral, which purports to contain Ecgberht's bones
    At a council at Kingston upon Thames in 838, Ecgberht and Ąthelwulf granted land to the sees of Winchester and Canterbury in return for the promise of support for Ąthelwulf's claim to the throne.[28][37][44] The archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, also accepted Ecgberht and Ąthelwulf as the lords and protectors of the monasteries under Ceolnoth's control. These agreements, along with a later charter in which Ąthelwulf confirmed church privileges, suggest that the church had recognised that Wessex was a new political power that must be dealt with.[25] Churchmen consecrated the king at coronation ceremonies, and helped to write the wills which specified the king's heir; their support had real value in establishing West Saxon control and a smooth succession for Ecgberht's line.[45] Both the record of the Council of Kingston, and another charter of that year, include the identical phrasing: that a condition of the grant is that "we ourselves and our heirs shall always hereafter have firm and unshakable friendships from Archbishop Ceolnoth and his congregation at Christ Church."[44][46][47]

    Although nothing is known of any other claimants to the throne, it is likely that there were other surviving descendants of Cerdic (the supposed progenitor of all the kings of Wessex) who might have contended for the kingdom. Ecgberht died in 839, and his will, according to the account of it found in the will of his grandson, Alfred the Great, left land only to male members of his family, so that the estates should not be lost to the royal house through marriage. Ecgberht's wealth, acquired through conquest, was no doubt one reason for his ability to purchase the support of the southeastern church establishment; the thriftiness of his will indicates he understood the importance of personal wealth to a king.[45] The kingship of Wessex had been frequently contested among different branches of the royal line, and it is a noteworthy achievement of Ecgberht's that he was able to ensure Ąthelwulf's untroubled succession.[45] In addition, Ąthelwulf's experience of kingship, in the subkingdom formed from Ecgberht's southeastern conquests, would have been valuable to him when he took the throne.[48]

    Ecgberht was buried in Winchester, as were his son, Ąthelwulf, his grandson, Alfred the Great, and his great-grandson, Edward the Elder. During the ninth century, Winchester began to show signs of urbanisation, and it is likely that the sequence of burials indicates that Winchester was held in high regard by the West Saxon royal line.[49]

    Egbert married Redburga. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 5161.  Redburga
    Children:
    1. 2580. Aethelwulf of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in (~820) in Wessex, England; died on 13 Jan 0858; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

  3. 5162.  Oslac was born in ~785 in (Isle of Wight).

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Occupation: the Royal Cupbearer; Grand Butler of England

    Notes:

    The PEDIGREE of
    Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT

    the Royal Cupbearer; Grand Butler of England
    Born: abt. 785


    HM George I's 24-Great Grandfather. HRE Ferdinand I's 21-Great Grandfather. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 27-Great Grandfather. Poss. PM Churchill's 25-Great Grandfather. Agnes Harris's 26-Great Grandfather. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 25-Great Grandfather.
    Wife/Partner: (NN), first wife
    Child: Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT
    _______ _______ _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ ____ ____
    / -- Gebolf of the JUTES
    / -- Wihtgar (King) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (? - 544?)
    | \ / -- Frithugar DEIRA of A. + ==&=> [ 220 ,,qD,&]
    | | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- daughter of Elesa
    / -- (NN) ... (NN) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
    | \ | ( many missing generations)
    | | / -- Brond of SCANDINAVIA + ==&=> [ 219 ,,qD,&]
    | | / | or: Bernic (q.v. : Brond's son)
    | | / -- Frithugar DEIRA of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- poss. sister of Cerdic
    - Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
    \
    \ -- ?


    His Grandchildren: Alfred `the Great' (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND ; Aethelred I (King) of WESSEX (& ENGLAND) ; Judith of WESSEX ; Ethelbald (King) of ENGLAND ; Ethelswith

    [ Start ]
    FabPed Genealogy Vers. 86 © Jamie, 1997-2018

    Oslac married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 5163.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 2581. Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex was born in ~810 in Wessex, England; died in ~849.

  5. 5232.  Pepin de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois was born in 815 (son of Bernard of Italy, King of the Lombards and Cunigunda of Laon); died after 848.

    Notes:

    Pepin Carolingian de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, was born 815 to Bernard of Italy (797-818) and Cunigunda of Laon (?-?) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from France, Germany, Belgium.
    Contents[show]



    Children

    Offspring of Pepin de Vermandois and unknown parent
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Bernard de Laon (c844-aft893) 844 893
    Pepin de Senlis (c846-893) 846 28 January 907
    Herbert I de Vermandois (c848-907) 848 Paris, France 907 Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, France Bertha de Morvois (c850-c907)

    Cunigunda de Vermandois (?-?)
    Gunhilde de Vermandois (?-?) Berengar I of Neustria (?-?)
    Guy de Senlis (?-?)
    Noteworthy descendants include

    Hugh Capet (c940-996)

    Pepin married unnamed spouse(France). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 5233.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 2616. Herbert de Vermandois, I, Count of Vermandois was born in 848 in Paris, France; died in 907 in Soissons, France.

  7. 2580.  Aethelwulf of Wessex, King of WessexAethelwulf of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in (~820) in Wessex, England (son of Egbert of Wessex, King of Wessex and Redburga); died on 13 Jan 0858; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

    Notes:

    Ąthelwulf (Old English for "Noble Wolf";[2] died 13 January 858) was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.[a] In 825, his father, King Egbert, defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending a long Mercian dominance over Anglo-Saxon England south of the Humber. Egbert sent Ąthelwulf with an army to Kent, where he expelled the Mercian sub-king and was himself appointed sub-king. After 830, Egbert maintained good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by Ąthelwulf when he became king in 839, the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.

    The Vikings were not a major threat to Wessex during Ąthelwulf's reign. In 843, he was defeated in a battle against the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset, but he achieved a major victory at the Battle of Aclea in 851. In 853 he joined a successful Mercian expedition to Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony, and in the same year his daughter Ąthelswith married King Burgred of Mercia. In 855 Ąthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. In preparation he gave a "decimation", donating a tenth of his personal property to his subjects; he appointed his eldest surviving son Ąthelbald to act as King of Wessex in his absence, and his next son Ąthelberht to rule Kent and the south-east. Ąthelwulf spent a year in Rome, and on his way back he married Judith, the daughter of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald.

    When Ąthelwulf returned to England, Ąthelbald refused to surrender the West Saxon throne, and Ąthelwulf agreed to divide the kingdom, taking the east and leaving the west in Ąthelbald's hands. On Ąthelwulf's death in 858 he left Wessex to Ąthelbald and Kent to Ąthelberht, but Ąthelbald's death only two years later led to the reunification of the kingdom.

    In the 20th century Ąthelwulf's reputation among historians was poor: he was seen as excessively pious and impractical, and his pilgrimage was viewed as a desertion of his duties. Historians in the 21st century see him very differently, as a king who consolidated and extended the power of his dynasty, commanded respect on the continent, and dealt more effectively than most of his contemporaries with Viking attacks. He is regarded as one of the most successful West Saxon kings, who laid the foundations for the success of his son, Alfred the Great.

    King of Wessex
    Reign 839–858
    Predecessor Egbert
    Successor Ąthelbald
    Died 13 January 858
    Burial Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral[1]
    Spouse Osburh
    Judith
    Issue Ąthelstan, King of Kent
    Ąthelswith, Queen of Mercia
    Ąthelbald, King of Wessex
    Ąthelberht, King of Wessex
    Ąthelred, King of Wessex
    Alfred, King of Wessex
    House House of Wessex
    Father Egbert

    Background

    Southern British Isles 9th century
    Southern Britain in the middle of the ninth century
    At the beginning of the 9th century, England was almost completely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons, with Mercia and Wessex the most important southern kingdoms. Mercia was dominant until the 820s, and it exercised overlordship over East Anglia and Kent, but Wessex was able to maintain its independence from its more powerful neighbour. Offa, King of Mercia from 757 to 796, was the dominant figure of the second half of the 8th century. King Beorhtric of Wessex (786–802), married Offa's daughter in 789. Beorhtric and Offa drove Ąthelwulf's father Egbert into exile, and he spent several years at the court of Charlemagne in Francia. Egbert was the son of Ealhmund, who had briefly been King of Kent in 784. Following Offa's death, King Coenwulf of Mercia (796–821) maintained Mercian dominance, but it is uncertain whether Beorhtric ever accepted political subordination, and when he died in 802 Egbert became king, perhaps with the support of Charlemagne.[5] For two hundred years three kindreds had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. Egbert's best claim was that he was the great-great-grandson of Ingild, brother of King Ine (688–726), and in 802 it would have seemed very unlikely that he would establish a lasting dynasty.[6]

    Almost nothing is recorded of the first twenty years of Egbert's reign, apart from campaigns against the Cornish in the 810s.[7] The historian Richard Abels argues that the silence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was probably intentional, concealing Egbert's purge of Beorhtric's magnates and suppression of rival royal lines.[8] Relations between Mercian kings and their Kentish subjects were distant. Kentish ealdormen did not attend the court of King Coenwulf, who quarrelled with Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury (805–832) over the control of Kentish monasteries; Coenwulf's primary concern seems to have been to gain access to the wealth of Kent. His successors Ceolwulf I (821–23) and Beornwulf (823–26) restored relations with Archbishop Wulfred, and Beornwulf appointed a sub-king of Kent, Baldred.[9]

    England had suffered Viking raids in the late 8th century, but no attacks are recorded between 794 and 835, when the Isle of Sheppey in Kent was ravaged.[10] In 836 Egbert was defeated by the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset,[7] but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.[11]

    Family

    Ąthelwulf was the son of Egbert, King of Wessex from 802 to 839. His mother's name is unknown, and he had no recorded siblings. He is known to have had two wives in succession, and so far as is known, Osburh, the senior of the two, was the mother of all his children. She was the daughter of Oslac, described by Asser, biographer of their son Alfred the Great, as "King Ąthelwulf's famous butler",[b] a man who was descended from Jutes who had ruled the Isle of Wight.[13][14] Ąthelwulf had six known children. His eldest son, Ąthelstan, was old enough to be appointed King of Kent in 839, so he must have been born by the early 820s, and he died in the early 850s.[c] The second son, Ąthelbald, is first recorded as a charter witness in 841, and if, like Alfred, he began to attest when he was around six, he would have been born around 835; he was King of Wessex from 858 to 860. Ąthelwulf's third son, Ąthelberht, was probably born around 839 and was king from 860 to 865. The only daughter, Ąthelswith, married Burgred, King of Mercia, in 853.[16] The other two sons were much younger: Ąthelred was born around 848 and was king from 865 to 871, and Alfred was born around 849 and was king from 871 to 899.[17] In 856 Ąthelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia and future Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Ermentrude. Osburh had probably died, although it is possible that she had been repudiated.[d] There were no children from Ąthelwulf's marriage to Judith, and after his death she married his eldest surviving son and successor, Ąthelbald.[13]

    Early life

    Ąthelwulf was first recorded in 825, when Egbert won the crucial Battle of Ellandun against King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending the long Mercian ascendancy over southern England. Egbert followed it up by sending Ąthelwulf with Eahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Wulfheard, Ealdorman of Hampshire, with a large army into Kent to expel sub-king Baldred.[e] Ąthelwulf was descended from kings of Kent, and he was sub-king of Kent, and of Surrey, Sussex and Essex, which were then included in the sub-kingdom, until he inherited the throne of Wessex in 839.[22] His sub-kingship is recorded in charters, in some of which King Egbert acted with his son's permission,[13] such as a grant in 838 to Bishop Beornmod of Rochester, and Ąthelwulf himself issued a charter as King of Kent in the same year.[23] Unlike their Mercian predecessors, who alienated the Kentish people by ruling from a distance, Ąthelwulf and his father successfully cultivated local support by governing through Kentish ealdormen and promoting their interests.[24] In Abels' view, Egbert and Ąthelwulf rewarded their friends and purged Mercian supporters.[25][f] Historians take differing views on the attitude of the new regime to the Kentish church. At Canterbury in 828 Egbert granted privileges to the bishopric of Rochester, and according to the historian of Anglo-Saxon England Simon Keynes, Egbert and Ąthelwulf took steps to secure the support of Archbishop Wulfred.[27] However, the medievalist Nicholas Brooks argues that Wulfred's Mercian origin and connections proved a liability. Ąthelwulf seized an estate in East Malling from the Canterbury church on the ground that it had only been granted by Baldred when he was in flight from the West Saxon forces; the issue of archiepiscopal coinage was suspended for several years; and the only estate Wulfred was granted after 825 he received from King Wiglaf of Mercia.[28]

    In 829 Egbert conquered Mercia, only for Wiglaf to recover his kingdom a year later.[29] The scholar D. P. Kirby sees Wiglaf's restoration in 830 as a dramatic reversal for Egbert, which was probably followed by his loss of control of the London mint and the Mercian recovery of Essex and Berkshire,[30] and the historian Heather Edwards states that his "immense conquest could not be maintained".[7] However, in the view of Keynes:

    It is interesting ... that both Egbert and his son Ąthelwulf appear to have respected the separate identity of Kent and its associated provinces, as if there appears to have been no plan at this stage to absorb the southeast into an enlarged kingdom stretching across the whole of southern England. Nor does it seem to have been the intention of Egbert and his successors to maintain supremacy of any kind over the kingdom of Mercia ... It is quite possible that Egbert had relinquished Mercia of his own volition; and there is no suggestion that any residual antagonism affected relations between the rulers of Wessex and Mercia thereafter.[31]

    In 838 King Egbert held an assembly at Kingston in Surrey, where Ąthelwulf may have been consecrated as king by the archbishop. Egbert restored the East Malling estate to Wulfred's successor as Archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, in return for a promise of "firm and unbroken friendship" for himself and Ąthelwulf and their heirs, and the same condition is specified in a grant to the see of Winchester. Egbert thus ensured support for Ąthelwulf, who became the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.[32] At the same meeting Kentish monasteries chose Ąthelwulf as their lord, and he undertook that, after his death, they would have freedom to elect their heads. Wulfred had devoted his archiepiscopate to fighting against secular power over Kentish monasteries, but Ceolnoth now surrendered effective control to Ąthelwulf, whose offer of freedom from control after his death was unlikely to be honoured by his successors. Kentish ecclesiastics and laymen now looked for protection against Viking attacks to West Saxon rather than Mercian royal power. [33]

    Egbert's conquests brought him wealth far greater than his predecessors had enjoyed, and enabled him to purchase the support which secured the West Saxon throne for his descendants.[34] The stability brought by the dynastic succession of Egbert and Ąthelwulf led to an expansion of commercial and agrarian resources, and to an expansion of royal income.[35] The wealth of the West Saxon kings was also increased by the agreement in 838–39 with Archbishop Ceolnoth for the previously independent West Saxon minsters to accept the king as their secular lord in return for his protection.[36] However, there was no certainty that the hegemony of Wessex would prove more permanent than that of Mercia.[37]

    King of Wessex

    13th century depiction of Ąthelwulf
    Depiction of Ąthelwulf in the late-13th-century Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings
    When Ąthelwulf succeeded to the throne of Wessex in 839, his experience as sub-king of Kent had given him valuable training in kingship, and he in turn made his own sons sub-kings.[38] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, on his accession "he gave to his son Ąthelstan the kingdom of the people of Kent, and the kingdom of the East Saxons [Essex] and of the people of Surrey and of the South Saxons [Sussex]". However, Ąthelwulf did not give Ąthelstan the same power as his father had given him, and although Ąthelstan attested his father's charters[g] as king, he does not appear to have been given the power to issue his own charters. Ąthelwulf exercised authority in the south-east and made regular visits there. He governed Wessex and Kent as separate spheres, and assemblies in each kingdom were only attended by the nobility of that country. The historian Janet Nelson says that "Ąthelwulf ran a Carolingian-style family firm of plural realms, held together by his own authority as father-king, and by the consent of distinct âelites." He maintained his father's policy of governing Kent through ealdormen appointed from the local nobility and advancing their interests, but gave less support to the church.[39] In 843 Ąthelwulf granted ten hides at Little Chart to Ąthelmod, the brother of the leading Kentish ealdorman Ealhere, and Ąthelmod succeeded to the post on his brother's death in 853.[40] In 844 Ąthelwulf granted land at Horton in Kent to Ealdorman Eadred, with permission to transfer parts of it to local landowners; in a culture of reciprocity, this created a network of mutual friendships and obligations between the beneficiaries and the king.[41] Archbishops of Canterbury were firmly in the West Saxon king's sphere. His ealdormen enjoyed a high status, and were sometimes placed higher than the king's sons in lists of witnesses to charters.[42] His reign is the first for which there is evidence of royal priests,[43] and Malmesbury Abbey regarded him as an important benefactor, who is said to have been the donor of a shrine for the relics of Saint Aldhelm.[44]

    After 830, Egbert had followed a policy of maintaining good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by Ąthelwulf when he became king. London was traditionally a Mercian town, but in the 830s it was under West Saxon control; soon after Ąthelwulf's accession it reverted to Mercian control.[45] King Wiglaf of Mercia died in 839 and his successor, Berhtwulf, revived the Mercian mint in London; the two kingdoms appear to have struck a joint issue in the mid-840s, possibly indicating West Saxon help in reviving Mercian coinage, and showing the friendly relations between the two powers. Berkshire was still Mercian in 844, but by 849 it was part of Wessex, as Alfred was born in that year at the West Saxon royal estate in Wantage, then in Berkshire.[46][h] However, the local Mercian ealdorman, also called Ąthelwulf, retained his position under the West Saxon kings.[48] Berhtwulf died in 852 and cooperation with Wessex continued under Burgred, his successor as King of Mercia, who married Ąthelwulf's daughter Ąthelswith in 853. In the same year Ąthelwulf assisted Burgred in a successful attack on Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony over the Welsh.[49]

    In 9th-century Mercia and Kent, royal charters were produced by religious houses, each with its own style, but in Wessex there was a single royal diplomatic tradition, probably by a single agency acting for the king. This may have originated in Egbert's reign, and it becomes clear in the 840s, when Ąthelwulf had a Frankish secretary called Felix.[50] There were strong contacts between the West Saxon and Carolingian courts. The Annals of St Bertin took particular interest in Viking attacks on Britain, and in 852 Lupus, the Abbot of Ferriáeres and a protâegâe of Charles the Bald, wrote to Ąthelwulf congratulating him on his victory over the Vikings and requesting a gift of lead to cover his church roof. Lupus also wrote to his "most beloved friend" Felix, asking him to manage the transport of the lead.[51] Unlike Canterbury and the south-east, Wessex did not see a sharp decline in the standard of Latin in charters in the mid-9th century, and this may have been partly due to Felix and his continental contacts.[52] Lupus thought that Felix had great influence over the King.[13] Charters were mainly issued from royal estates in counties which were the heartland of ancient Wessex, namely Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, with a few in Kent.[53]

    An ancient division between east and west Wessex continued to be important in the 9th century; the boundary was Selwood Forest on the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. The two bishoprics of Wessex were Selborne in the west and Winchester in the east. Ąthelwulf's family connections seem to have been west of Selwood, but his patronage was concentrated further east, particularly on Winchester, where his father was buried, and where he appointed Swithun to succeed Helmstan as bishop in 852–853. However, he made a grant of land in Somerset to his leading ealdorman, Eanwulf, and on 26 December 846 he granted a large estate to himself in South Hams in west Devon. He thus changed it from royal demesne, which he was obliged to pass on to his successor as king, to bookland, which could be transferred as the owner pleased, so he could make land grants to followers to improve security in a frontier zone.[54]

    Viking threat

    Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and in 843 Ąthelwulf was defeated by the companies of 35 Danish ships at Carhampton in Somerset. In 850 sub-king Ąthelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere of Kent won a naval victory over a large Viking fleet off Sandwich in Kent, capturing nine ships and driving off the rest. Ąthelwulf granted Ealhhere a large estate in Kent, but Ąthelstan is not heard of again, and probably died soon afterwards. The following year the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records five different attacks on southern England. A Danish fleet of 350 Viking ships took London and Canterbury, and when King Berhtwulf of Mercia went to their relief he was defeated. The Vikings then moved on to Surrey, where they were defeated by Ąthelwulf and his son Ąthelbald at the Battle of Aclea. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the West Saxon levies "there made the greatest slaughter of a heathen that we have heard tell of up to the present day". The Chronicle frequently reported victories during Ąthelwulf's reign won by levies led by ealdormen, unlike the 870s when royal command was emphasised, reflecting a more consensual style of leadership in the earlier period.[55]

    In 850 a Danish army wintered on Thanet, and in 853 ealdormen Ealhhere of Kent and Huda of Surrey were killed in a battle against the Vikings, also on Thanet. In 855 Danish Vikings stayed over the winter on Sheppey, before carrying on their pillaging of eastern England.[56] However, during Ąthelwulf's reign Viking attacks were contained and did not present a major threat.[57]

    Coinage

    Coin of King Ąthelwulf
    Coin of King Ąthelwulf: "EŁELVVLF REX", moneyer Manna, Canterbury[58]
    The silver penny was almost the only coin used in middle and later Anglo-Saxon England. Ąthelwulf's coinage came from a main mint in Canterbury and a secondary one at Rochester; both had been used by Egbert for his own coinage after he gained control of Kent. During Ąthelwulf's reign, there were four main phases of the coinage distinguishable at both mints, though they are not exactly parallel and it is uncertain when the transitions took place. The first issue at Canterbury carried a design known as Saxoniorum, which had been used by Egbert for one of his own issues. This was replaced by a portrait design in about 843, which can be subdivided further; the earliest coins have cruder designs than the later ones. At the Rochester mint the sequence was reversed, with an initial portrait design replaced, also in about 843, by a non-portrait design carrying a cross-and-wedges pattern on the obverse.[13][59]

    In about 848 both mints switched to a common design known as DorŻbŻ/Cant – the characters "DorŻbŻ" on the obverse of these coins indicate either Dorobernia (Canterbury) or Dorobrevia (Rochester), and "Cant", referring to Kent, appeared on the reverse. It is possible that the Canterbury mint continued to produce portrait coins at the same time. The Canterbury issue seems to have been ended in 850–851 by Viking raids, though it is possible that Rochester was spared, and the issue may have continued there. The final issue, again at both mints, was introduced in about 852; it has an inscribed cross on the reverse and a portrait on the obverse. Ąthelwulf's coinage became debased by the end of his reign, and though the problem became worse after his death it is possible that the debasement prompted the changes in coin type from as early as 850.[60]

    Ąthelwulf's first Rochester coinage may have begun when he was still sub-king of Kent, under Egbert. A hoard of coins deposited at the beginning of Ąthelwulf's reign in about 840, found in the Middle Temple in London, contained 22 coins from Rochester and two from Canterbury of the first issue of each mint. Some numismatists argue that the high proportion of Rochester coins means that the issue must have commenced before Egbert's death, but an alternative explanation is that whoever hoarded the coins simply happened to have access to more Rochester coins. No coins were issued by Ąthelwulf's sons during his reign.[61]

    Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury throughout Ąthelwulf's reign, also minted coins of his own at Canterbury: there were three different portrait designs, thought to be contemporary with each of the first three of Ąthelwulf's Canterbury issues. These were followed by an inscribed cross design that was uniform with Ąthelwulf's final coinage. At Rochester, Bishop Beornmod produced only one issue, a cross-and-wedges design which was contemporary with Ąthelwulf's Saxoniorum issue.[62]

    In the view of the numismatists Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn, the mints of Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia were not greatly affected by changes in political control: "the remarkable continuity of moneyers which can be seen at each of these mints suggests that the actual mint organisation was largely independent of the royal administration and was founded in the stable trading communities of each city".[63]

    Decimation Charters
    Charter of King Ąthelwulf
    Charter S 316 dated 855, in which Ąthelwulf granted land at Ulaham in Kent to his minister Ealdhere.[64]
    The early 20th-century historian W. H. Stevenson observed that: "Few things in our early history have led to so much discussion" as Ąthelwulf's Decimation Charters;[65] a hundred years later the charter expert Susan Kelly described them as "one of the most controversial groups of Anglo-Saxon diplomas".[66] Both Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say that Ąthelwulf gave a decimation,[i] in 855, shortly before leaving on pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Chronicle "King Ąthelwulf conveyed by charter the tenth part of his land throughout all his kingdom to the praise of God and to his own eternal salvation". However, Asser states that "Ąthelwulf, the esteemed king, freed the tenth part of his whole kingdom from royal service and tribute, and as an everlasting inheritance he made it over on the cross of Christ to the triune God, for the redemption of his soul and those of his predecessors."[68] According to Keynes, Asser's version may just be a "loose translation" of the Chronicle, and his implication that Ąthelwulf released a tenth of all land from secular burdens was probably not intended. All land could be regarded as the king's land, so the Chronicle reference to "his land" does not necessarily refer to royal property, and since the booking of land – conveying it by charter – was always regarded as a pious act, Asser's statement that he made it over to God does not necessarily mean that the charters were in favour of the church.[69]

    The Decimation Charters are divided by Susan Kelly into four groups:

    Two dated at Winchester on 5 November 844. In a charter in the Malmesbury archive, Ąthelwulf refers in the proem to the perilous state of his kingdom as the result of the assaults of pagans and barbarians. For the sake of his soul and in return for masses for the king and ealdormen each Wednesday, "I have decided to give in perpetual liberty some portion of hereditary lands to all those ranks previously in possession, both to God's servants and handmaidens serving God and to laymen, always the tenth hide, and where it is less, then the tenth part."[j]
    Six dated at Wilton on Easter Day, 22 April 854. In the common text of these charters, Ąthelwulf states that "for the sake of his soul and the prosperity of the kingdom and [the salvation of] the people assigned to him by God, he has acted upon the advice given to him by his bishops, comites, and all his nobles. He has granted the tenth part of the lands throughout his kingdom, not only to the churches, but also to his thegns. The land is granted in perpetual liberty, so that it will remain free of royal services and all secular burdens. In return there will be liturgical commemoration of the king and of his bishops and ealdormen."[k]
    Five from Old Minster, Winchester, connected with the Wilton meeting but generally considered spurious.[l]
    One from Kent dated 855, the only one to have the same date as the decimation according to Chronicle and Asser. The king grants to his thegn Dunn property in Rochester "on account of the decimation of lands which by God's gift I have decided to do". Dunn left the land to his wife with reversion to Rochester Cathedral.[m][72]
    None of the charters are original, and Stevenson dismissed all of them as fraudulent apart from the Kentish one of 855. Stevenson saw the decimation as a donation of royal demesne to churches and laymen, with those grants which were made to laymen being on the understanding that there would be reversion to a religious institution.[73] Up to the 1990s, his view on the authenticity of the charters was generally accepted by scholars, with the exception of the historian H. P. R. Finberg, who argued in 1964 that most are based on authentic diplomas. Finberg coined the terms the 'First Decimation' of 844, which he saw as the removal of public dues on a tenth of all bookland, and the 'Second Decimation' of 854, the donation of a tenth of "the private domain of the royal house" to the churches. He considered it unlikely that the First Decimation had been carried into effect, probably due to the threat from the Vikings. Finberg's terminology has been adopted, but his defence of the First Decimation generally rejected. In 1994 Keynes defended the Wilton charters in group 2, and his arguments have been widely accepted.[74]

    Historians have been divided on how to interpret the Second Decimation, and in 1994 Keynes described it as "one of the most perplexing problems" in the study of 9th-century charters. He set out three alternatives:

    It conveyed a tenth of the royal demesne – the lands of the crown as opposed to the personal property of the sovereign – into the hands of churches, ecclesiastics and laymen. In Anglo-Saxon England property was either folkland or bookland. The transmission of folkland was governed by the customary rights of kinsmen, subject to the king's approval, whereas bookland was established by the grant of a royal charter, and could be disposed of freely by the owner. Booking land thus converted it by charter from folkland to bookland. The royal demesne was the crown's folkland, whereas the king's bookland was his own personal property which he could leave by will as he chose. In the decimation Ąthelwulf may have conveyed royal folkland by charter to become bookland, in some cases to laymen who already leased the land.[75]
    It was the booking of a tenth of folkland to its owners, who would then be free to convey it to a church.[76]
    It was a reduction of one tenth in the secular burdens on lands already in the possession of landowners.[76] The secular burdens would have included the provision of supplies for the king and his officials, and payment of various taxes.[77]
    Some scholars, for example Frank Stenton, author of the standard history of Anglo-Saxon England, along with Keynes and Abels, see the Second Decimation as a donation of royal demesne. In Abels' view Ąthelwulf sought loyalty from the aristocracy and church during the king's forthcoming absence from Wessex, and displayed a sense of dynastic insecurity also evident in his father's generosity towards the Kentish church in 838, and in an "avid attention" in this period to compiling and revising royal genealogies.[78] Keynes suggests that "Ąthelwulf's purpose was presumably to earn divine assistance in his struggles against the Vikings",[79] and the mid-20th-century historian Eric John observes that "a lifetime of medieval studies teaches one that an early medieval king was never so political as when he was on his knees".[80] The view that the decimation was a donation of the king's own personal estate is supported by the Anglo-Saxonist Alfred Smyth, who argues that these were the only lands the king was entitled to alienate by book.[81][n] The historian Martin Ryan prefers the view that Ąthelwulf freed a tenth part of land owned by laymen from secular obligations, who could now endow churches under their own patronage. Ryan sees it as part of a campaign of religious devotion.[84] According to the historian David Pratt, it "is best interpreted as a strategic 'tax cut', designed to encourage cooperation in defensive measures through a partial remission of royal dues".[85] Nelson states that the decimation took place in two phases, in Wessex in 854 and Kent in 855, reflecting that they remained separate kingdoms.[86]

    Kelly argues that most charters were based on genuine originals, including the First Decimation of 844. She says: "Commentators have been unkind [and] the 844 version has not been given the benefit of the doubt". In her view Ąthelwulf then gave a 10% tax reduction on bookland, and ten years later he took the more generous step of "a widespread distribution of royal lands". Unlike Finberg, she believes that both decimations were carried out, although the second one may not have been completed due to opposition from Ąthelwulf's son Ąthelbald. She thinks that the grants of bookland to laymen in the Second Decimation were unconditional, not with reversion to religious houses as Stevenson had argued.[87] However, Keynes is not convinced by Kelly's arguments, and thinks that the First Decimation charters were 11th or early 12th century fabrications.[88]

    Pilgrimage to Rome and later life

    In the early 850s Ąthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. According to Abels: "Ąthelwulf was at the height of his power and prestige. It was a propitious time for the West Saxon king to claim a place of honour among the kings and emperors of christendom."[89] His eldest surviving sons Ąthelbald and Ąthelberht were then adults, while Ąthelred and Alfred were still young children. In 853 Ąthelwulf sent his younger sons to Rome, perhaps accompanying envoys in connection with his own forthcoming visit. Alfred, and possibly Ąthelred as well, were invested with the "belt of consulship". Ąthelred's part in the journey is only known from a contemporary record in the liber vitae of San Salvatore, Brescia, as later records such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were only interested in recording the honour paid to Alfred.[13] Abels sees the embassy as paving the way for Ąthelwulf's pilgrimage, and the presence of Alfred, his youngest and therefore most expendable son, as a gesture of goodwill to the papacy; confirmation by Pope Leo IV made Alfred his spiritual son, and thus created a spiritual link between the two "fathers".[90][o] Kirby argues that the journey may indicate that Alfred was intended for the church,[92] while Nelson on the contrary sees Ąthelwulf's purpose as affirming his younger sons' throneworthiness, thus protecting them against being tonsured by their elder brothers, which would have rendered them ineligible for kingship.[93]

    Ąthelwulf set out for Rome in the spring of 855, accompanied by Alfred and a large retinue.[94] The King left Wessex in the care of his oldest surviving son, Ąthelbald, and the sub-kingdom of Kent to the rule of Ąthelberht, and thereby confirmed that they were to succeed to the two kingdoms.[25] On the way the party stayed with Charles the Bald in Francia, where there were the usual banquets and exchange of gifts. Ąthelwulf stayed a year in Rome,[95] and his gifts to the Diocese of Rome included a gold crown weighing 4 pounds (1.8 kg), two gold goblets, a sword bound with gold, four silver-gilt bowls, two silk tunics and two gold-interwoven veils. He also gave gold to the clergy and leading men and silver to the people of Rome. According to the historian Joanna Story, his gifts rivalled those of Carolingian donors and the Byzantine emperor and "were clearly chosen to reflect the personal generosity and spiritual wealth of the West Saxon king; here was no Germanic 'hillbilly' from the backwoods of the Christian world but, rather, a sophisticated, wealthy and utterly contemporary monarch".[96] According to the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury, he helped to pay for the restoration of the Saxon quarter, which had recently been destroyed by fire, for English pilgrims.[97]

    The pilgrimage puzzles historians and Kelly comments that "it is extraordinary that an early medieval king could consider his position safe enough to abandon his kingdom in a time of extreme crisis". She suggests that Ąthelwulf may have been motivated by a personal religious impulse.[98] Ryan sees it as an attempt to placate the divine wrath displayed by Viking attacks,[84] whereas Nelson thinks he aimed to enhance his prestige in dealing with the demands of his adult sons.[99] In Kirby's view:

    Ąthelwulf's journey to Rome is of great interest for it did not signify abdication and a retreat from the world as their journeys to Rome had for Cµdwalla and Ine and other Anglo-Saxon kings. It was more a display of the king's international standing and a demonstration of the prestige his dynasty enjoyed in Frankish and papal circles.[100]

    On his way back from Rome Ąthelwulf again stayed with King Charles the Bald, and may have joined him on a campaign against a Viking warband.[101] On 1 October 856 Ąthelwulf married Charles's daughter, Judith, aged 12 or 13, at Verberie. The marriage was considered extraordinary by contemporaries and by modern historians. Carolingian princesses rarely married and were usually sent to nunneries, and it was almost unknown for them to marry foreigners. Judith was crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims. Although empresses had been anointed before, this is the first definitely known anointing of a Carolingian queen. In addition West Saxon custom, described by Asser as "perverse and detestable", was that the wife of a king of Wessex could not be called queen or sit on the throne with her husband – she was just the king's wife.[102]

    Ąthelwulf returned to Wessex to face a revolt by Ąthelbald, who attempted to prevent his father from recovering his throne. Historians give varying explanations for both the rebellion and the marriage. In Nelson's view, Ąthelwulf's marriage to Judith added the West Saxon king to the family of kings and princely allies which Charles was creating.[103] Charles was under attack both from Vikings and from a rising among his own nobility, and Ąthelwulf had great prestige due to his victories over the Vikings; some historians such as Kirby and Pauline Stafford see the marriage as sealing an anti-Viking alliance. The marriage gave Ąthelwulf a share in Carolingian prestige, and Kirby describes the anointing of Judith as "a charismatic sanctification which enhanced her status, blessed her womb and conferred additional throne-worthiness on her male offspring." These marks of a special status implied that a son of hers would succeed to at least part of Ąthelwulf's kingdom, and explain Ąthelbald's decision to rebel.[104] The historian Michael Enright denies that an anti-Viking alliance between two such distant kingdoms could serve any useful purpose, and argues that the marriage was Ąthelwulf's response to news that his son was planning to rebel; his son by an anointed Carolingian queen would be in a strong position to succeed as king of Wessex instead of the rebellious Ąthelbald.[105] Abels suggests that Ąthelwulf sought Judith's hand because he needed her father's money and support to overcome his son's rebellion,[106] but Kirby and Smyth argue that it is extremely unlikely that Charles the Bald would have agreed to marry his daughter to a ruler who was known to be in serious political difficulty.[107] Ąthelbald may also have acted out of resentment at the loss of patrimony he suffered as a result of the decimation.[98]

    Ąthelbald's rebellion was supported by Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Eanwulf, ealdorman of Somerset, even though they appear to have been two of the king's most trusted advisers.[108] According to Asser, the plot was concerted "in the western part of Selwood", and western nobles may have backed Ąthelbald because they resented the patronage Ąthelwulf gave to eastern Wessex.[109] Asser also stated that Ąthelwulf agreed to give up the western part of his kingdom in order to avoid a civil war. Some historians such as Keynes and Abels think that his rule was then confined to the south-east,[110] while others such as Kirby think it is more likely that it was Wessex itself which was divided, with Ąthelbald keeping Wessex west of Selwood, Ąthelwulf holding the centre and east, and Ąthelberht keeping the south-east.[111] Ąthelwulf insisted that Judith should sit beside him on the throne until the end of his life, and according to Asser this was "without any disagreement or dissatisfaction on the part of his nobles".[112]

    King Ąthelwulf's ring
    King Ąthelwulf's ring was found in a cart rut in Laverstock in Wiltshire in about August 1780 by one William Petty, who sold it to a silversmith in Salisbury. The silversmith sold it to the Earl of Radnor, and the earl's son, William, donated it to the British Museum in 1829. The ring, together with a similar ring of Ąthelwulf's daughter Ąthelswith, is one of two key examples of nielloed 9th-century metalwork. They appear to represent the emergence of a "court style" of West Saxon metalwork, characterised by an unusual Christian iconography, such as a pair of peacocks at the Fountain of Life on the Ąthelwulf ring, associated with Christian immortality. The ring is inscribed "Ąthelwulf Rex", firmly associating it with the King, and the inscription forms part of the design, so it cannot have been added later. Many of its features are typical of 9th-century metalwork, such as the design of two birds, beaded and speckled borders, and a saltire with arrow-like terminals on the back. It was probably manufactured in Wessex, but was typical of the uniformity of animal ornament in England in the 9th century. In the view of Leslie Webster, an expert on medieval art: "Its fine Trewhiddle style ornament would certainly fit a mid ninth-century date."[113] In Nelson's view, "it was surely made to be a gift from this royal lord to a brawny follower: the sign of a successful ninth-century kingship".[13] The art historian David Wilson sees it as a survival of the pagan tradition of the generous king as the "ring-giver".[114]

    Ąthelwulf's will

    King Alfred's will
    A page from King Alfred's will
    Ąthelwulf's will has not survived, but Alfred's has and it provides some information about his father's intentions. The kingdom was to be divided between the two oldest surviving sons, with Ąthelbald getting Wessex and Ąthelberht Kent and the south-east. The survivor of Ąthelbald, Ąthelred and Alfred was to inherit their father's bookland – his personal property as opposed to the royal lands which went with the kingship – and Abels and Yorke argue that this probably means that the survivor was to inherit the throne of Wessex as well.[115] Other historians disagree. Nelson states that the provision regarding the personal property had nothing to do with the kingship,[13] and Kirby comments: "Such an arrangement would have led to fratricidal strife. With three older brothers, Alfred's chances of reaching adulthood would, one feels, have been minimal."[116] Ąthelwulf's moveable wealth, such as gold and silver, was to be divided between "children, nobles and the needs of the king's soul".[13] For the latter, he left one tenth of his hereditary land to be set aside to feed the poor, and he ordered that three hundred mancuses be sent to Rome each year, one hundred to be spent on lighting the lamps in St Peter's at Easter, one hundred for the lights of St Paul's, and one hundred for the pope.[117]

    Death and succession

    Ąthelwulf died on 13 January 858. According to the Annals of St Neots, he was buried at Steyning in Sussex, but his body was later transferred to Winchester, probably by Alfred.[118] Ąthelwulf was succeeded by Ąthelbald in Wessex and Ąthelberht in Kent and the south-east. The prestige conferred by a Frankish marriage was so great that Ąthelbald then wedded his step-mother Judith, to Asser's retrospective horror; he described the marriage as a "great disgrace", and "against God's prohibition and Christian dignity".[13] When Ąthelbald died only two years later, Ąthelberht became King of Wessex as well as Kent, and Ąthelwulf's intention of dividing his kingdoms between his sons was thus set aside. In the view of Yorke and Abels this was because Ąthelred and Alfred were too young to rule, and Ąthelberht agreed in return that his younger brothers would inherit the whole kingdom on his death,[119] whereas Kirby and Nelson think that Ąthelberht just became the trustee for his younger brothers' share of the bookland.[120]

    After Ąthelbald's death Judith sold her possessions and returned to her father, but two years later she eloped with Baldwin, Count of Flanders. In the 890s their son, also called Baldwin, married Ąthelwulf's granddaughter Ąlfthryth.[13]

    Historiography

    Ąthelwulf's reputation among historians was poor in the twentieth century. In 1935 the historian R. H. Hodgkin attributed his pilgrimage to Rome to "the unpractical piety which had led him to desert his kingdom at a time of great danger", and described his marriage to Judith as "the folly of a man senile before his time".[121] To Stenton in the 1960s he was "a religious and unambitious man, for whom engagement in war and politics was an unwelcome consequence of rank".[122] One dissenter was Finberg, who in 1964 described him as "a king whose valour in war and princely munificence recalled the figures of the heroic age",[123] but in 1979 Enright said: "More than anything else he appears to have been an impractical religious enthusiast."[124] Early medieval writers, especially Asser, emphasise his religiosity and his preference for consensus, seen in the concessions made to avert a civil war on his return from Rome.[p] In Story's view "his legacy has been clouded by accusations of excessive piety which (to modern sensibilities at least) has seemed at odds with the demands of early medieval kingship". In 839 an unnamed Anglo-Saxon king wrote to the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious asking for permission to travel through his territory on the way to Rome, and relating an English priest's dream which foretold disaster unless Christians abandoned their sins. This is now believed to have been an unrealised project of Egbert at the end of his life, but it was formerly attributed to Ąthelwulf, and seen as exhibiting what Story calls his reputation for "dramatic piety", and irresponsibility for planning to abandon his kingdom at the beginning of his reign.[126]

    In the twenty-first century he is seen very differently by historians. Ąthelwulf is not listed in the index of Peter Hunter Blair's An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, first published in 1956, but in a new introduction to the 2003 edition Keynes listed him among people "who have not always been accorded the attention they might be thought to deserve ... for it was he, more than any other, who secured the political fortune of his people in the ninth century, and who opened up channels of communication which led through Frankish realms and across the Alps to Rome".[127] According to Story: "Ąthelwulf acquired and cultivated a reputation both in Francia and Rome which is unparalleled in the sources since the height of Offa's and Coenwulf's power at the turn of the ninth century".[128]

    Nelson describes him as "one of the great underrated among Anglo-Saxons", and complains that she was only allowed 2,500 words for him in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, compared with 15,000 for Edward II and 35,000 for Elizabeth I.[129] She says:

    Ąthelwulf's reign has been relatively under-appreciated in modern scholarship. Yet he laid the foundations for Alfred's success. To the perennial problems of husbanding the kingdom's resources, containing conflicts within the royal family, and managing relations with neighbouring kingdoms, Ąthelwulf found new as well as traditional answers. He consolidated old Wessex, and extended his reach over what is now Devon and Cornwall. He ruled Kent, working with the grain of its political community. He borrowed ideological props from Mercians and Franks alike, and went to Rome, not to die there, like his predecessor Ine, ... but to return, as Charlemagne had, with enhanced prestige. Ąthelwulf coped more effectively with Scandinavian attacks than did most contemporary rulers.[13]

    Buried:
    Steyning then Old Minster, Winchester; remains may now be in Winchester Cathedral

    Aethelwulf married Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex. Osburga (daughter of Oslac and unnamed spouse) was born in ~810 in Wessex, England; died in ~849. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 2581.  Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex was born in ~810 in Wessex, England (daughter of Oslac and unnamed spouse); died in ~849.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Birth: ~831, (Wessex) England
    • Alt Death: ~854

    Notes:

    Osburh or Osburga was the first wife of King Ąthelwulf of Wessex and mother of Alfred the Great. Alfred's biographer, Asser, described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth".[1]

    Osburh's existence is known only from Asser's Life of King Alfred. She is not named as witness to any charters, nor is her death reported in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. So far as is known, she was the mother of all Ąthelwulf's children, his five sons Ąthelstan, Ąthelbald, Ąthelberht, Ąthelred and Alfred the Great, and his daughter Ąthelswith, wife of King Burgred of Mercia.

    The Boyhood of Alfred the Great (1913).jpg
    She is best known for Asser's story about a book of Saxon songs which she showed to Alfred and his brothers, offering to give the book to whoever could first memorise it, a challenge which Alfred took up and won. This exhibits the interest of high status ninth-century women in books, and their role in educating their children.[2]

    Osburh was the daughter of Oslac (who is also only known from Asser's Life), King Ąthelwulf's pincerna (butler), an important figure in the royal court and household.[3] Oslac is described as a descendant of King Cerdic's Jutish nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar, who conquered the Isle of Wight.[4] and, by this, is also ascribed Geatish/Gothic ancestry.

    Queen consort of Wessex
    Tenure c. 839 – c. 854
    Spouse Ąthelwulf, King of Wessex
    Issue Ąthelstan of Wessex
    Ąthelswith, Queen of Mercia
    Ąthelbald, King of Wessex
    Ąthelbert, King of Wessex
    Ąthelred, King of Wessex
    Alfred, King of Wessex
    House House of Wessex (by marriage)
    Father Oslac

    Issue[edit]
    Name Birth Death Notes
    Ąthelstan 851–855
    Ąthelswith 888 Married, Burgred of Mercia; no issue
    Ąthelbald 20 December 860 Married, Judith
    Ąthelbert Autumn 865
    Ąthelred c.847 23 April 871 Had issue
    Alfred 849 26 October 899 Married 868, Ealhswith; had issue

    See also

    House of Wessex family tree; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex#House_of_Wessex_family_tree

    Notes

    Jump up ^ Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge eds, Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources, London, Penguin Classics, 1983, p. 68
    Jump up ^ Janet L. Nelson, Osburh, 2004, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography In Nelson's view, Osburh may have been dead by 856 or may have been repudiated.
    Jump up ^ Keynes and Lapidge, pp. 68, 229.
    Jump up ^ Asser states that Oslac was a Goth, but this is regarded by historians as an error as Stuf and Wightgar were Jutes. Keynes and Lapidge pp. 229-30 and Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford, Oxford UP, 3rd edition 1971, p. 23-4

    References

    Asser's Life of King Alfred; http://omacl.org/KingAlfred/

    Lees, Clare A. & Gillian R. Overing (eds), Double Agents: Women and Clerical Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2001. ISBN 0-8122-3628-9

    end of biography

    The PEDIGREE of
    Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT

    (1st wife); (Osburh Osburgh; of JUTIE)
    Born: abt. 810 Died: aft. 876


    HM George I's 23-Great Grandmother. HRE Ferdinand I's 20-Great Grandmother. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 26-Great Grandmother. Poss. PM Churchill's 24-Great Grandmother. Wm. von Bismarck's 28-Great Grandmother. Agnes Harris's 25-Great Grandmother. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 24-Great Grandmother.
    Husband/Partner: Ethelwulf (2nd King) of ENGLAND
    Children: Alfred `the Great' (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND ; Aethelred I (King) of WESSEX (& ENGLAND) ; Judith of WESSEX ; Ethelbald (King) of ENGLAND ; Ethelswith ; Ethelbert (King) ; Athelstan (King)
    _______ _______ _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ ____ ____
    / -- Gebolf of the JUTES
    / -- Wihtgar (King) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (? - 544?)
    | \ / -- Freawine of ANCIENT S. + ==&=> [ 221 ,,qD,&]
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- daughter of Elesa
    / -- (NN) ... (NN) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
    | \ | ( many missing generations)
    | | / -- Frithugar DEIRA of A. + ==&=> [ 220 ,,qD,&]
    | | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- poss. sister of Cerdic
    / -- Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (785? - ?)
    /
    - Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT
    \
    \ -- (NN), first wife


    Her (poss.) Grandchildren: Elgiva of WESSEX [alt ped] ; Edward (I) `the Elder' (King) of ENGLAND ; Aefthryth (Elfrida) of WESSEX ; Aethelflaed (Lady) of MERCIA ; Aethelweald (King) of NORTHUMBRIA ; Aethelhelm (Earldorman) of WILTSHIRE ; Elgiva of WESSEX ; Henry `with the Golden Wagon' of ALTDORF

    [ Start ]
    FabPed Genealogy Vers. 85 © Jamie, 1997-2018

    Children:
    1. Aethelstan, King of the East Angles was born in ~838 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died in 890.
    2. Aethelred of Wessex, King of Mercia was born in ~847 in Wessex, England; died in 911; was buried in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England.
    3. 2944. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex was born on 23 Apr 849 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died on 26 Oct 899 in Winchester, Hampshire, England; was buried in Hyde Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire, England.


Generation: 14

  1. 10320.  Ealhmund of Kent, King of Kent was born in (~750) in Kent, England; died in (~790) in (Kent, England).

    Notes:

    Ealhmund was King of Kent in 784. He is reputed to be the father of King Egbert who was King of Wessex and, later, King of Kent.

    Biography

    He is not known to have struck any coins,[1] and the only contemporary evidence of him is an abstract of a charter dated 784, in which Ealhmund granted land to the Abbot of Reculver.[2] By the following year Offa of Mercia seems to have been ruling directly, as he issued a charter [3] without any mention of a local king.

    General consensus among historians is this is the same Ealhmund found in two pedigrees in the Winchester (Parker) Chronicle, compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great.[4] The genealogical preface to this manuscript, as well as the annual entry (covering years 855–859) describing the death of Ąthelwulf, both make King Egbert of Wessex the son of an Ealhmund, who was son of Eafa, grandson of Eoppa, and great-grandson of Ingild, the brother of King Ine of Wessex, and descendant of founder Cerdic,[5] and therefore a member of the House of Wessex (see House of Wessex family tree). A further entry has been added in a later hand to the 784 annal, reporting Ealhmund's reign in Kent.

    Finally, in the Canterbury Bilingual Epitome, originally compiled after the Norman conquest of England, a later scribe has likewise added to the 784 annal not only Ealhmund's reign in Kent, but his explicit identification with the father of Egbert.[6] Based on this reconstruction, in which a Wessex scion became King of Kent, his own Kentish name and that of his son, Egbert, it has been suggested that his mother derived from the royal house of Kent,[7] a connection dismissed by a recent critical review.[4] Historian Heather Edwards has suggested that Ealhmund was probably a Kentish royal scion, whose pedigree was forged to give his son Egbert the descent from Cerdic requisite to reigning in Wessex.[8]

    See also

    List of monarchs of Kent; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Kent

    end of commentary

    After Cheddar Man: How the mongrel English found their home during the Dark Ages

    An early Anglo-Saxon Christian burial site in Trumpington and another burial site in Derbyshire with Great Viking Army remains are two great clues to our history.

    Two archaeological finds caught my eye recently, for they seemed to shed light on what we often call the “Dark Ages”. This was the period between the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain in the early 400s AD and the Norman Conquest in 1066. Obscure though it may be, it was an important era, as a multiplicity of independent kingdoms eventually merged together to form one country, England, with its mongrel people, the English.

    As Robert Tombs puts it in The English and Their History, the England that emerged from the Dark Ages had a population of more than 1.5 million, which was densest in the eastern and southern shires. An export trade in wool, an economic mainstay for centuries to come, was being established. Roads, bridges and harbours were publicly maintained under royal authority. Investment had accumulated. There were some 6,000 water mills, the most complex machinery of the time.

    Anything that illuminated that period would be valuable. The first finding I mentioned was the discovery of an early Anglo-Saxon Christian burial site in Trumpington outside Cambridge. In the grave were the remains of a teenage girl from the mid 7th century AD. There was a gold and garnet cross on her chest; this had probably been sewn into her clothing. She had been placed on an ornamental bed. Archaeologists believe the grave was dug between 650 and 680 AD.

    The second was final confirmation that a burial site in Derbyshire first uncovered in the 1980s does indeed contain remains from a Great Viking Army. In 873 or 874, a Great Viking Army overwintered at Repton, one of only a few places in England where a winter camp has been located. Excavations from 1974 to 1988 found their D-shaped earthwork on the riverbank and identified a mass grave of some 250 individuals, covered by the kerb stone of its former cairn. Now inconsistencies in the radiocarbon dating have been resolved.

    We are thus dealing with two of the four large-scale invasions of England that took place in the first millennium AD. It starts with the Romans, then the Anglo-Saxons, who were followed by the Vikings and, finally, the Normans. That Britain had these uninvited visitors is not surprising, for England’s wealth was well known to its neighbours. As soon as the armed Roman presence disappeared, England was vulnerable.

    A historian who has written well about these events is Peter Heather in his book, Empires and Barbarians, which has also been translated into French. Heather is Professor of Medieval History at Kings College, London. He tackled the once widely held idea that the Anglo-Saxons engaged in ethnic cleansing and pushed the Romano-British population of Celtic origin westwards into Wales, Devon and Cornwall or across the sea to Brittany. I don’t remember if I was taught this story at school, but it is roughly what I thought had happened.

    Apart from anything else, according to Professor Heather, the population of late Roman Britain was in fact extremely large, between some 3 to 7 million people. The idea that such a large group could be driven westwards by newcomers doesn’t make sense. Furthermore, unlike the Vikings, who were invaders, albeit without a master plan, the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons was a migration, in other words, a flow of people across the North Sea during the 400s and 500s AD – with Anglo-Saxon kings following a little later. Of course, the Anglo-Saxons came prepared to engage in whatever fighting was necessary to establish themselves. They rewarded themselves by diverting Roman taxes into their own pockets and by dividing up the deserted Roman estates once run from Roman villas.

    As a result, the bulk of the Romano-British population remained in place and massively outnumbered the immigrants, but over time, absorbed the latter’s material and non-material culture until immigrant and native became indistinguishable. At first glance this is a surprising process. But the newcomers must have applied just enough pressure to hasten integration.

    Now what adds interest to the discovery of the Christian burial site is that Heather emphasises that by 600 AD the region’s Latin speaking Christian âelite had been replaced by Germanic speaking non-Christians. In fact, the teenager’s grave also contained other items – an iron knife and a chain that would have hung from the waist along with some glass beads, which seemed to have been kept in a purse on the end of the chain.

    Dr Sam Lucy, a specialist in Anglo-Saxon burial from Newnham College, Cambridge, said: “The custom of grave goods was long established in the pagan period, but it doesn’t mean that the burials at Trumpington weren’t Christian." Dr Lucy added: “The church never issued any edicts against the use of grave goods, but it’s something that does seem to fade away by the 8th century, just at the point where Christianity was becoming the dominant religion. There is, though, a time through the second half of the 7th century, where clearly Christian people were still making use of a limited range of goods within their burials, and these often carried explicitly Christian symbolism, such as the cross here…The Trumpington burial does seem to belong at that transition between the two religions."

    By now Christianity was spreading across northern Europe. Ireland was the first, in the fifth and sixth centuries; there followed Pictish Scotland, England and central Germany in the seventh century, Saxony by force after Charlemagne’s conquests in the eighth, Bulgaria, Croatia and Moravia in the ninth, Bohemia in the tenth, Norway, Iceland and Hungary in the years around 1000, Sweden more slowly across the eleventh century.

    In England, the kings of Kent were the first to convert to Christianity, thanks to a mission from Rome. This took place in 597. Another missionary converted the kings of Wessex (ie, Hampshire and Berkshire) in the 630s. The Northumbrian kings in the north were finally converted from Ireland at the same time. However, after 670, a new archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, a Byzantine appointed by the Pope, united all the bishops of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into a single hierarchy. The Anglo-Saxon church was, from then on, fully integrated into that of the rest of western Europe, and increasingly resembled it.

    In the 800s and 900s, Europe was attacked by the Vikings (or Danes or Northmen) from the north and the west. The Vikings, or we should more appropriately call them, the “Scandinavians”, active between 800 and 1000 AD, could scarcely have been more different from the Anglo-Saxons. They were a waterborne force that exploded out of the Baltic Sea. They didn’t pause when they reached a coastline, but they travelled many miles up navigable rivers. They hunted for material wealth wherever they could find it. Essentially they were pirates.

    In most cases, Scandinavian settlement in a given locality was preceded by a lengthy period during which that same place was targeted for moveable wealth. There was a huge amount to be made by raiding. Viking assaults on ninth century France extracted 340kg of gold and 20,000kg of silver. Raiding produced loot of all kinds, including slaves.

    One of the Vikings’ favourite targets was a rich monastery. In western Europe, for instance, Viking raiding began with the sacking of the famous island monastery of Lindisfarne off the Northumbrian coast in 793. Between 786 and 802, three Viking ships landed at Portland on the south coast of Britain.

    In his book, Viking Britain, Thomas Williams quotes the account given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: “There came for the first time three ships of Northmen…” and they “landed in the island which is called Portland”. The King’s reeve, who was then in a town called Dorchester, “leapt on his horse, sped to the harbour with a few men (for he thought they were merchants rather than marauders), and admonishing them (the Northmen) in an authoritative manner, gave order that they should be driven to the royal town. And he and his companions were killed by them on the spot.”

    Monasteries within Ireland, so long as they could be reached by river, became subject to attack for the first time in 836. Ten years later, a Viking leader led his followers up the Seine as far as Paris itself. They were aiming at the Abbey of St Germain des Prâes on the left bank. It was probably the richest monastic foundation of western Europe.

    The monks, however, notes Professor Heather, had shifted their treasures up river for safety. And the abbey church of St Germain still stands, with its clock tower dating back to Viking times, the oldest church in Paris.

    Now the Great Viking Army was a coalition of warriors, primarily originating from Denmark but with elements from Sweden and Norway, who came together under a unified command to invade the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that constituted England in AD 865. This wasn’t to be a flow of people across the seas to Britain, the purpose of the Great Viking Army was to conquer.

    In 867 units of the Viking army broke into York and attacked Northumbria. They conquered East Anglia in the 870s, and eventually achieved a further victory over Mercia in 874. King Alfred, however, repulsed the Viking Army from Wessex with a famous victory at Edington, Wiltshire, in 878.

    In a crucial turn in the whole story, the Viking leader, Guthrum, accepted Christian baptism and then retreated into East Anglia. There was formed so-called Danelaw, an area in which the laws of the Danes led sway. It comprised York, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, Cambridge, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford and Hertford together with parts of the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk and Middlesex.

    Heather analyses Danelaw as follows: the basic migration unit was the individual Great Army contingent of up to a thousand men, whose leaders organised the allocations of lands to those who were ready to settle. The new dominant Norse class lived much more cheek by jowl with their Anglo Saxon peasant labourers than the Normans who were to follow. Norse became the prevalent language. And many Norse words have remained in spoken English, such as ransack, window, slaughter, aloft, husband, blunder, happy, heathen, scales (for weighing).

    There were kings in Danelaw after 878, but never a king of Danelaw. The centre of Lincoln, for instance, probably saw some Viking construction; outside the town, settlement seems to have come in two forms. Some of the estates were received intact by leading Vikings. Other Anglo-Saxon estates were broken up and parcelled out in individual holdings to Vikings of lesser but still free status. Such landed estates were taken from secular owners who had been killed or exiled or from Church institutions.

    Meanwhile in England, Alfred, having fortified the major West Saxon towns, occupied the non-Scandinavian controlled southern half of Mercia. This was the basis for his son Edward “the Elder” and daughter Ąthelflµd (who ruled Mercia) to conquer the Scandinavian kingdoms of southern England in the 910s, and for his grandson, notably Ą?thelstan (924-39) to push north as well. By 954 Northumbria was in their hands, except for the autonomous earldom of Bamburgh in the far north. This West Saxon conquest unified, indeed created, England for the first time; already Alfred called himself “King of the Anglo-Saxons” and the term “England” slowly began to be used from now on. A mongrel people had at last secured a safe place in which to live.

    More about: Cheddar Man Romans Dark Ages Vikings celtics Anglo-Saxon England

    end of report

    Ealhmund married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 10321.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 5160. Egbert of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in 771-775 in Wessex, England; died in 839; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

  3. 10464.  Bernard of Italy, King of the Lombards was born in 797 in Vermandois, France (son of Pepin of Italy, King of Italy and Ingeltrude); died on 17 Apr 0818 in Milano, Italy.

    Bernard married Cunigunda of Laon. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 10465.  Cunigunda of Laon
    Children:
    1. 5232. Pepin de Vermandois, Count of Vermandois was born in 815; died after 848.

  5. 5160.  Egbert of Wessex, King of WessexEgbert of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in 771-775 in Wessex, England (son of Ealhmund of Kent, King of Kent and unnamed spouse); died in 839; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

    Notes:

    Ecgberht (771/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, or Ecgbriht, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Ecgberht was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Ecgberht returned and took the throne.

    Little is known of the first 20 years of Ecgberht's reign, but it is thought that he was able to maintain the independence of Wessex against the kingdom of Mercia, which at that time dominated the other southern English kingdoms. In 825 Ecgberht defeated Beornwulf of Mercia, ended Mercia's supremacy at the Battle of Ellandun, and proceeded to take control of the Mercian dependencies in southeastern England. In 829 he defeated Wiglaf of Mercia and drove him out of his kingdom, temporarily ruling Mercia directly. Later that year Ecgberht received the submission of the Northumbrian king at Dore. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle subsequently described Ecgberht as a bretwalda or 'wide-ruler' of Anglo-Saxon lands.

    Ecgberht was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year Wiglaf regained the throne of Mercia. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey; these territories were given to Ecgberht's son Ąthelwulf to rule as a subking under Ecgberht. When Ecgberht died in 839, Ąthelwulf succeeded him; the southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex after Ąthelwulf's death in 858.

    King of Wessex
    Reign 802 – 839
    Predecessor Beorhtric
    Successor Ąthelwulf
    King of Kent
    Reign 825 – 839
    Predecessor Baldred
    Successor Ąthelwulf
    Born 771 or 775[1]
    Died 839 (aged 64 or 68)
    Burial Winchester
    Issue Ąthelwulf, King of Wessex
    House Wessex
    Father Ealhmund of Kent

    Family

    Historians do not agree on Ecgberht's ancestry. The earliest version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Parker Chronicle, begins with a genealogical preface tracing the ancestry of Ecgberht's son Ąthelwulf back through Ecgberht, Ealhmund (thought to be Ealhmund of Kent), and the otherwise unknown Eoppa and Eafa to Ingild, brother of King Ine of Wessex, who abdicated the throne in 726. It continues back to Cerdic, founder of the House of Wessex.[2] Ecgberht's descent from Ingild was accepted by Frank Stenton, but not the earlier genealogy back to Cerdic.[3] Heather Edwards in her Online Dictionary of National Biography article on Ecgberht argues that he was of Kentish origin, and that the West Saxon descent may have been manufactured during his reign to give him legitimacy,[4] whereas Rory Naismith considered a Kentish origin unlikely, and that it is more probable that "Ecgberht was born of good West Saxon royal stock".[5]

    Ecgberht's wife's name is unknown. A fifteenth century chronicle now held by Oxford University names Ecgberht's wife as Redburga who was supposedly a relative of Charlemagne that he married when he was banished to Francia, but this is dismissed by academic historians in view of its late date.[6] He is reputed to have had a half-sister Alburga, later to be recognised as a saint for her founding of Wilton Abbey. She was married to Wulfstan, ealdorman of Wiltshire, and on his death in 802 she became a nun, Abbess of Wilton Abbey.[7] He was believed at one time to also be the father of Saint Eadgyth of Polesworth and Ąthelstan of Kent.

    Political context and early life

    Ecgberht's name, spelled Ecgbriht, from the 827 entry in the C manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
    Offa of Mercia, who reigned from 757 to 796, was the dominant force in Anglo-Saxon England in the second half of the eighth century. The relationship between Offa and Cynewulf, who was king of Wessex from 757 to 786, is not well documented, but it seems likely that Cynewulf maintained some independence from Mercian overlordship. Evidence of the relationship between kings can come from charters, which were documents which granted land to followers or to churchmen, and which were witnessed by the kings who had power to grant the land. In some cases a king will appear on a charter as a subregulus, or "subking", making it clear that he has an overlord.[8][9] Cynewulf appears as "King of the West Saxons" on a charter of Offa's in 772;[10] and he was defeated by Offa in battle in 779 at Bensington, but there is nothing else to suggest Cynewulf was not his own master, and he is not known to have acknowledged Offa as overlord.[11] Offa did have influence in the southeast of the country: a charter of 764 shows him in the company of Heahberht of Kent, suggesting that Offa's influence helped place Heahberht on the throne.[12] The extent of Offa's control of Kent between 765 and 776 is a matter of debate amongst historians, but from 776 until about 784 it appears that the Kentish kings had substantial independence from Mercia.[12][13]

    Another Ecgberht, Ecgberht II of Kent, ruled in that kingdom throughout the 770s; he is last mentioned in 779, in a charter granting land at Rochester.[12] In 784 a new king of Kent, Ealhmund, appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to a note in the margin, "this king Ealhmund was Egbert's father [i.e. Ecgberht of Wessex], Egbert was Ąthelwulf's father." This is supported by the genealogical preface from the A text of the Chronicle, which gives Ecgberht's father's name as Ealhmund without further details. The preface probably dates from the late ninth century; the marginal note is on the F manuscript of the Chronicle, which is a Kentish version dating from about 1100.[14]

    Ealhmund does not appear to have long survived in power: there is no record of his activities after 784. There is, however, extensive evidence of Offa's domination of Kent during the late 780s, with his goals apparently going beyond overlordship to outright annexation of the kingdom,[12] and he has been described as "the rival, not the overlord, of the Kentish kings".[15] It is possible that the young Ecgberht fled to Wessex in 785 or so; it is suggestive that the Chronicle mentions in a later entry that Beorhtric, Cynewulf's successor, helped Offa to exile Ecgberht.[12]

    Cynewulf was murdered in 786. His succession was contested by Ecgberht, but he was defeated by Beorhtric, maybe with Offa's assistance.[16][17] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ecgberht spent three years in Francia before he was king, exiled by Beorhtric and Offa. The text says "iii" for three, but this may have been a scribal error, with the correct reading being "xiii", that is, thirteen years. Beorhtric's reign lasted sixteen years, and not thirteen; and all extant texts of the Chronicle agree on "iii", but many modern accounts assume that Ecgberht did indeed spend thirteen years in Francia. This requires assuming that the error in transcription is common to every manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; many historians make this assumption but others have rejected it as unlikely, given the consistency of the sources.[18] In either case Ecgberht was probably exiled in 789, when Beorhtric, his rival, married the daughter of Offa of Mercia.[19]

    At the time Ecgberht was in exile, Francia was ruled by Charlemagne, who maintained Frankish influence in Northumbria and is known to have supported Offa's enemies in the south. Another exile in Gaul at this time was Odberht, a priest, who is almost certainly the same person as Eadberht, who later became king of Kent. According to a later chronicler, William of Malmesbury, Ecgberht learned the arts of government during his time in Gaul.[20]

    Early reign

    Beorhtric's dependency on Mercia continued into the reign of Cenwulf, who became king of Mercia a few months after Offa's death.[11] Beorhtric died in 802, and Ecgberht came to the throne of Wessex, probably with the support of Charlemagne and perhaps also the papacy.[21] The Mercians continued to oppose Ecgberht: the day of his accession, the Hwicce (who had originally formed a separate kingdom, but by that time were part of Mercia) attacked, under the leadership of their ealdorman, Ąthelmund. Weohstan, a Wessex ealdorman, met him with men from Wiltshire:[14] according to a 15th-century source, Weohstan had married Alburga, Ecgberht's sister, and so was his brother-in-law.[22] The Hwicce were defeated, though Weohstan was killed as well as Ąthelmund.[14] Nothing more is recorded of Ecgberht's relations with Mercia for more than twenty years after this battle. It seems likely that Ecgberht had no influence outside his own borders, but on the other hand there is no evidence that he ever submitted to the overlordship of Cenwulf. Cenwulf did have overlordship of the rest of southern England, but in Cenwulf's charters the title of "overlord of the southern English" never appears, presumably in consequence of the independence of the kingdom of Wessex.[23]

    In 815 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ecgberht ravaged the whole of the territories of the remaining British kingdom, Dumnonia, known to the author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the West Welsh; their territory was about equivalent to what is now Cornwall.[14][24] Ten years later, a charter dated 19 August 825 indicates that Ecgberht was campaigning in Dumnonia again; this may have been related to a battle recorded in the Chronicle at Gafulford in 823, between the men of Devon and the Britons of Cornwall.[25]

    The battle of Ellandun

    A map of England during Ecgberht's reign
    It was also in 825 that one of the most important battles in Anglo-Saxon history took place, when Ecgberht defeated Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellandun—now Wroughton, near Swindon. This battle marked the end of the Mercian domination of southern England.[26] The Chronicle tells how Ecgberht followed up his victory: "Then he sent his son Ąthelwulf from the army, and Ealhstan, his bishop, and Wulfheard, his ealdorman, to Kent with a great troop." Ąthelwulf drove Baldred, the king of Kent, north over the Thames, and according to the Chronicle, the men of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex then all submitted to Ąthelwulf "because earlier they were wrongly forced away from his relatives."[14] This may refer to Offa's interventions in Kent at the time Ecgberht's father Ealhmund became king; if so, the chronicler's remark may also indicate Ealhmund had connections elsewhere in southeast England.[21]

    The Chronicle's version of events makes it appear that Baldred was driven out shortly after the battle, but this was probably not the case. A document from Kent survives which gives the date, March 826, as being in the third year of the reign of Beornwulf. This makes it likely that Beornwulf still had authority in Kent at this date, as Baldred's overlord; hence Baldred was apparently still in power.[25][27] In Essex, Ecgberht expelled King Sigered, though the date is unknown. It may have been delayed until 829, since a later chronicler associates the expulsion with a campaign of Ecgberht's in that year against the Mercians.[25]

    The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not say who was the aggressor at Ellandun, but one recent history asserts that Beornwulf was almost certainly the one who attacked. According to this view, Beornwulf may have taken advantage of the Wessex campaign in Dumnonia in the summer of 825. Beornwulf's motivation to launch an attack would have been the threat of unrest or instability in the southeast: the dynastic connections with Kent made Wessex a threat to Mercian dominance.[25]

    The consequences of Ellandun went beyond the immediate loss of Mercian power in the southeast. According to the Chronicle, the East Anglians asked for Ecgberht's protection against the Mercians in the same year, 825, though it may actually have been in the following year that the request was made. In 826 Beornwulf invaded East Anglia, presumably to recover his overlordship. He was slain, however, as was his successor, Ludeca, who invaded East Anglia in 827, evidently for the same reason. It may be that the Mercians were hoping for support from Kent: there was some reason to suppose that Wulfred, the Archbishop of Canterbury, might be discontented with West Saxon rule, as Ecgberht had terminated Wulfred's currency and had begun to mint his own, at Rochester and Canterbury,[25] and it is known that Ecgberht seized property belonging to Canterbury.[28] The outcome in East Anglia was a disaster for the Mercians which confirmed West Saxon power in the southeast.[25]

    Defeat of Mercia

    The entry for 827 in the C manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, listing the eight bretwaldas
    In 829 Ecgberht invaded Mercia and drove Wiglaf, the king of Mercia, into exile. This victory gave Ecgberht control of the London Mint, and he issued coins as King of Mercia.[25] It was after this victory that the West Saxon scribe described him as a bretwalda, meaning 'wide-ruler' or perhaps 'Britain-ruler', in a famous passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The relevant part of the annal reads, in the C manuscript of the Chronicle:[29]

    ? ¤y geare geeode Ecgbriht cing Myrcna rice ? eall ¤µt be su¤an Humbre wµs, ? he wµs eahta¤a cing se şe Bretenanwealda wµs.

    In modern English:[30]

    And the same year King Egbert conquered the kingdom of Mercia, and all that was south of the Humber, and he was the eighth king who was 'Wide-ruler'.

    The previous seven bretwaldas are also named by the Chronicler, who gives the same seven names that Bede lists as holding imperium, starting with Ąlle of Sussex and ending with Oswiu of Northumbria. The list is often thought to be incomplete, omitting as it does some dominant Mercian kings such as Penda and Offa. The exact meaning of the title has been much debated; it has been described as "a term of encomiastic poetry"[31] but there is also evidence that it implied a definite role of military leadership.[32]

    Later in 829, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ecgberht received the submission of the Northumbrians at Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield); the Northumbrian king was probably Eanred.[33] According to a later chronicler, Roger of Wendover, Ecgberht invaded Northumbria and plundered it before Eanred submitted: "When Ecgberht had obtained all the southern kingdoms, he led a large army into Northumbria, and laid waste that province with severe pillaging, and made King Eanred pay tribute." Roger of Wendover is known to have incorporated Northumbrian annals into his version; the Chronicle does not mention these events.[34] However, the nature of Eanred's submission has been questioned: one historian has suggested that it is more likely that the meeting at Dore represented a mutual recognition of sovereignty.[35]

    In 830, Ecgberht led a successful expedition against the Welsh, almost certainly with the intent of extending West Saxon influence into the Welsh lands previously within the Mercian orbit. This marked the high point of Ecgberht's influence.[25]

    Reduction in influence after 829

    Coin of King Ecgberht
    In 830, Mercia regained its independence under Wiglaf—the Chronicle merely says that Wiglaf "obtained the kingdom of Mercia again",[14] but the most likely explanation is that this was the result of a Mercian rebellion against Wessex rule.[36]

    Ecgberht's dominion over southern England came to an end with Wiglaf's recovery of power. Wiglaf's return is followed by evidence of his independence from Wessex. Charters indicate Wiglaf had authority in Middlesex and Berkshire, and in a charter of 836 Wiglaf uses the phrase "my bishops, duces, and magistrates" to describe a group that included eleven bishops from the episcopate of Canterbury, including bishops of sees in West Saxon territory.[37] It is significant that Wiglaf was still able to call together such a group of notables; the West Saxons, even if they were able to do so, held no such councils.[28][38] Wiglaf may also have brought Essex back into the Mercian orbit during the years after he recovered the throne.[25][39] In East Anglia, King Ąthelstan minted coins, possibly as early as 827, but more likely c. 830 after Ecgberht's influence was reduced with Wiglaf's return to power in Mercia. This demonstration of independence on East Anglia's part is not surprising, as it was Ąthelstan who was probably responsible for the defeat and death of both Beornwulf and Ludeca.[25]

    Both Wessex's sudden rise to power in the late 820s, and the subsequent failure to retain this dominant position, have been examined by historians looking for underlying causes. One plausible explanation for the events of these years is that Wessex's fortunes were to some degree dependent on Carolingian support. The Franks supported Eardwulf when he recovered the throne of Northumbria in 808, so it is plausible that they also supported Ecgberht's accession in 802. At Easter 839, not long before Ecgberht's death, he was in touch with Louis the Pious, king of the Franks, to arrange safe passage to Rome. Hence a continuing relationship with the Franks seems to be part of southern English politics during the first half of the ninth century.[25]

    Carolingian support may have been one of the factors that helped Ecgberht achieve the military successes of the late 820s. However, the Rhenish and Frankish commercial networks collapsed at some time in the 820s or 830s, and in addition, a rebellion broke out in February 830 against Louis the Pious—the first of a series of internal conflicts that lasted through the 830s and beyond. These distractions may have prevented Louis from supporting Ecgberht. In this view, the withdrawal of Frankish influence would have left East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex to find a balance of power not dependent on outside aid.[25]

    Despite the loss of dominance, Ecgberht's military successes fundamentally changed the political landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. Wessex retained control of the south-eastern kingdoms, with the possible exception of Essex, and Mercia did not regain control of East Anglia.[25] Ecgberht's victories marked the end of the independent existence of the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex. The conquered territories were administered as a subkingdom for a while, including Surrey and possibly Essex.[40] Although Ąthelwulf was a subking under Ecgberht, it is clear that he maintained his own royal household, with which he travelled around his kingdom. Charters issued in Kent described Ecgberht and Ąthelwulf as "kings of the West Saxons and also of the people of Kent." When Ąthelwulf died in 858 his will, in which Wessex is left to one son and the southeastern kingdom to another, makes it clear that it was not until after 858 that the kingdoms were fully integrated.[41] Mercia remained a threat, however; Ecgberht's son Ąthelwulf, established as king of Kent, gave estates to Christ Church, Canterbury, probably to counter any influence the Mercians might still have there.[25]

    In the southwest, Ecgberht was defeated in 836 at Carhampton by the Danes,[14] but in 838 he won a battle against them and their allies the West Welsh at the Battle of Hingston Down in Cornwall. The Dumnonian royal line continued after this time, but it is at this date that the independence of one of the last British kingdoms may be considered to have ended.[25] The details of Anglo-Saxon expansion into Cornwall are quite poorly recorded, but some evidence comes from place names.[42] The river Ottery, which flows east into the Tamar near Launceston, appears to be a boundary: south of the Ottery the placenames are overwhelmingly Cornish, whereas to the north they are more heavily influenced by the English newcomers.[43]

    Succession

    16th-century mortuary chest, one in a series set up by Bishop Foxe in Winchester Cathedral, which purports to contain Ecgberht's bones
    At a council at Kingston upon Thames in 838, Ecgberht and Ąthelwulf granted land to the sees of Winchester and Canterbury in return for the promise of support for Ąthelwulf's claim to the throne.[28][37][44] The archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, also accepted Ecgberht and Ąthelwulf as the lords and protectors of the monasteries under Ceolnoth's control. These agreements, along with a later charter in which Ąthelwulf confirmed church privileges, suggest that the church had recognised that Wessex was a new political power that must be dealt with.[25] Churchmen consecrated the king at coronation ceremonies, and helped to write the wills which specified the king's heir; their support had real value in establishing West Saxon control and a smooth succession for Ecgberht's line.[45] Both the record of the Council of Kingston, and another charter of that year, include the identical phrasing: that a condition of the grant is that "we ourselves and our heirs shall always hereafter have firm and unshakable friendships from Archbishop Ceolnoth and his congregation at Christ Church."[44][46][47]

    Although nothing is known of any other claimants to the throne, it is likely that there were other surviving descendants of Cerdic (the supposed progenitor of all the kings of Wessex) who might have contended for the kingdom. Ecgberht died in 839, and his will, according to the account of it found in the will of his grandson, Alfred the Great, left land only to male members of his family, so that the estates should not be lost to the royal house through marriage. Ecgberht's wealth, acquired through conquest, was no doubt one reason for his ability to purchase the support of the southeastern church establishment; the thriftiness of his will indicates he understood the importance of personal wealth to a king.[45] The kingship of Wessex had been frequently contested among different branches of the royal line, and it is a noteworthy achievement of Ecgberht's that he was able to ensure Ąthelwulf's untroubled succession.[45] In addition, Ąthelwulf's experience of kingship, in the subkingdom formed from Ecgberht's southeastern conquests, would have been valuable to him when he took the throne.[48]

    Ecgberht was buried in Winchester, as were his son, Ąthelwulf, his grandson, Alfred the Great, and his great-grandson, Edward the Elder. During the ninth century, Winchester began to show signs of urbanisation, and it is likely that the sequence of burials indicates that Winchester was held in high regard by the West Saxon royal line.[49]

    Egbert married Redburga. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  6. 5161.  Redburga
    Children:
    1. 2580. Aethelwulf of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in (~820) in Wessex, England; died on 13 Jan 0858; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.

  7. 5162.  Oslac was born in ~785 in (Isle of Wight).

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Occupation: the Royal Cupbearer; Grand Butler of England

    Notes:

    The PEDIGREE of
    Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT

    the Royal Cupbearer; Grand Butler of England
    Born: abt. 785


    HM George I's 24-Great Grandfather. HRE Ferdinand I's 21-Great Grandfather. U.S. President [WASHINGTON]'s 27-Great Grandfather. Poss. PM Churchill's 25-Great Grandfather. Agnes Harris's 26-Great Grandfather. Poss. `Osawatomie' Brown's 25-Great Grandfather.
    Wife/Partner: (NN), first wife
    Child: Osburga OSLACING of ISLE OF WIGHT
    _______ _______ _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _____ ____ ____
    / -- Gebolf of the JUTES
    / -- Wihtgar (King) of the ISLE OF WIGHT (? - 544?)
    | \ / -- Frithugar DEIRA of A. + ==&=> [ 220 ,,qD,&]
    | | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- daughter of Elesa
    / -- (NN) ... (NN) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
    | \ | ( many missing generations)
    | | / -- Brond of SCANDINAVIA + ==&=> [ 219 ,,qD,&]
    | | / | or: Bernic (q.v. : Brond's son)
    | | / -- Frithugar DEIRA of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Freawine (Freovin) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | (skip this generation?)
    | | / -- Wig (Uvigg Wigga) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- poss. Gewis (Gewisch) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / | or: poss. Eafa (Effa) I of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | / -- Esla (Esle) of ANCIENT SAXONY (411? - ?)
    | | / | or: Effa II (Esla's son)
    | | / -- poss. Elesa (Elistus) of ANCIENT SAXONY
    | | | \ / -- Gevar (Sea-King) in DENMARK
    | | / \ -- poss. daughter of Gevar
    / \ -- poss. sister of Cerdic
    - Oslac (Thane) of the ISLE OF WIGHT
    \
    \ -- ?


    His Grandchildren: Alfred `the Great' (1st/3rd King) of ENGLAND ; Aethelred I (King) of WESSEX (& ENGLAND) ; Judith of WESSEX ; Ethelbald (King) of ENGLAND ; Ethelswith

    [ Start ]
    FabPed Genealogy Vers. 86 © Jamie, 1997-2018

    Oslac married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  8. 5163.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 2581. Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex was born in ~810 in Wessex, England; died in ~849.


Generation: 15

  1. 20928.  Pepin of Italy, King of Italy was born in 773 in Vermandois, France (son of Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor and Hildegard); died on 8 Jul 0810 in Milano, Italy.

    Notes:

    Pepin Carolingian of Italy, King of the Lombards, was born 773 in Vermandois, Normandy, France to Charlemagne (747-814) and Hildegard (758-783) and died 8 July 810 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy of unspecified causes. He married Bertha of Gellone (?-?) . Notable ancestors include Charlemagne (747-814). Ancestors are from Germany, Belgium, France.
    Contents[show]



    Children

    Offspring of Pepin I of Italy and Bertha of Gellone (?-?)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Adelaide of Italy (?-?) Lambert I de Nantes (-c836)

    Adula of Italy (?-?)
    Goundrade of Italy (?-?)
    Berthe of Italy (?-?)
    Theodrade of Italy (?-?) Lambert II de Nantes (-852)

    Offspring of Pepin I of Italy and Ingeltrude (?-?)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Bernard of Italy (797-818) 797 Vermandois 17 April 818 Milan Cunigunda of Laon (?-?)

    Namesakes of Pepin of Italy (773-810)

    Birth place
    Death place
    Father
    Mother
    Joined with
    Pepin de Senlis (c846-893) Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848)
    Pepin of Italy (773-810) Vermandois, Normandy, France Milan, Lombardy, Italy Charlemagne (747-814) Hildegard (758-783) Bertha of Gellone (?-?)+Ingeltrude (?-?)
    Pippin (873-874) Charles the Bald (823-877) Richildis de Provence (c845-910)
    Pepin de Vermandois (c815-aft848) Bernard of Italy (797-818) Cunigunda of Laon (?-?)
    Pepin II of Senlis (876-922) Pepin de Senlis (c846-893)
    Pippin the Hunchback (c769-811) Prčum Charlemagne (747-814) Himiltrude (c742-c780)
    Pepin II of Aquitaine (823-aft864) Senlis Pepin I of Aquitaine (797-838) Ingeltrude de Madrie (808-876)
    Pepin I of Aquitaine (797-838) Louis the Pious (778-840) Ermengarde of Hesbaye (c778-818) Ingeltrude de Madrie (808-876)

    Pepin married Ingeltrude. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 20929.  Ingeltrude
    Children:
    1. 10464. Bernard of Italy, King of the Lombards was born in 797 in Vermandois, France; died on 17 Apr 0818 in Milano, Italy.

  3. 10320.  Ealhmund of Kent, King of Kent was born in (~750) in Kent, England; died in (~790) in (Kent, England).

    Notes:

    Ealhmund was King of Kent in 784. He is reputed to be the father of King Egbert who was King of Wessex and, later, King of Kent.

    Biography

    He is not known to have struck any coins,[1] and the only contemporary evidence of him is an abstract of a charter dated 784, in which Ealhmund granted land to the Abbot of Reculver.[2] By the following year Offa of Mercia seems to have been ruling directly, as he issued a charter [3] without any mention of a local king.

    General consensus among historians is this is the same Ealhmund found in two pedigrees in the Winchester (Parker) Chronicle, compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great.[4] The genealogical preface to this manuscript, as well as the annual entry (covering years 855–859) describing the death of Ąthelwulf, both make King Egbert of Wessex the son of an Ealhmund, who was son of Eafa, grandson of Eoppa, and great-grandson of Ingild, the brother of King Ine of Wessex, and descendant of founder Cerdic,[5] and therefore a member of the House of Wessex (see House of Wessex family tree). A further entry has been added in a later hand to the 784 annal, reporting Ealhmund's reign in Kent.

    Finally, in the Canterbury Bilingual Epitome, originally compiled after the Norman conquest of England, a later scribe has likewise added to the 784 annal not only Ealhmund's reign in Kent, but his explicit identification with the father of Egbert.[6] Based on this reconstruction, in which a Wessex scion became King of Kent, his own Kentish name and that of his son, Egbert, it has been suggested that his mother derived from the royal house of Kent,[7] a connection dismissed by a recent critical review.[4] Historian Heather Edwards has suggested that Ealhmund was probably a Kentish royal scion, whose pedigree was forged to give his son Egbert the descent from Cerdic requisite to reigning in Wessex.[8]

    See also

    List of monarchs of Kent; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_Kent

    end of commentary

    After Cheddar Man: How the mongrel English found their home during the Dark Ages

    An early Anglo-Saxon Christian burial site in Trumpington and another burial site in Derbyshire with Great Viking Army remains are two great clues to our history.

    Two archaeological finds caught my eye recently, for they seemed to shed light on what we often call the “Dark Ages”. This was the period between the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain in the early 400s AD and the Norman Conquest in 1066. Obscure though it may be, it was an important era, as a multiplicity of independent kingdoms eventually merged together to form one country, England, with its mongrel people, the English.

    As Robert Tombs puts it in The English and Their History, the England that emerged from the Dark Ages had a population of more than 1.5 million, which was densest in the eastern and southern shires. An export trade in wool, an economic mainstay for centuries to come, was being established. Roads, bridges and harbours were publicly maintained under royal authority. Investment had accumulated. There were some 6,000 water mills, the most complex machinery of the time.

    Anything that illuminated that period would be valuable. The first finding I mentioned was the discovery of an early Anglo-Saxon Christian burial site in Trumpington outside Cambridge. In the grave were the remains of a teenage girl from the mid 7th century AD. There was a gold and garnet cross on her chest; this had probably been sewn into her clothing. She had been placed on an ornamental bed. Archaeologists believe the grave was dug between 650 and 680 AD.

    The second was final confirmation that a burial site in Derbyshire first uncovered in the 1980s does indeed contain remains from a Great Viking Army. In 873 or 874, a Great Viking Army overwintered at Repton, one of only a few places in England where a winter camp has been located. Excavations from 1974 to 1988 found their D-shaped earthwork on the riverbank and identified a mass grave of some 250 individuals, covered by the kerb stone of its former cairn. Now inconsistencies in the radiocarbon dating have been resolved.

    We are thus dealing with two of the four large-scale invasions of England that took place in the first millennium AD. It starts with the Romans, then the Anglo-Saxons, who were followed by the Vikings and, finally, the Normans. That Britain had these uninvited visitors is not surprising, for England’s wealth was well known to its neighbours. As soon as the armed Roman presence disappeared, England was vulnerable.

    A historian who has written well about these events is Peter Heather in his book, Empires and Barbarians, which has also been translated into French. Heather is Professor of Medieval History at Kings College, London. He tackled the once widely held idea that the Anglo-Saxons engaged in ethnic cleansing and pushed the Romano-British population of Celtic origin westwards into Wales, Devon and Cornwall or across the sea to Brittany. I don’t remember if I was taught this story at school, but it is roughly what I thought had happened.

    Apart from anything else, according to Professor Heather, the population of late Roman Britain was in fact extremely large, between some 3 to 7 million people. The idea that such a large group could be driven westwards by newcomers doesn’t make sense. Furthermore, unlike the Vikings, who were invaders, albeit without a master plan, the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons was a migration, in other words, a flow of people across the North Sea during the 400s and 500s AD – with Anglo-Saxon kings following a little later. Of course, the Anglo-Saxons came prepared to engage in whatever fighting was necessary to establish themselves. They rewarded themselves by diverting Roman taxes into their own pockets and by dividing up the deserted Roman estates once run from Roman villas.

    As a result, the bulk of the Romano-British population remained in place and massively outnumbered the immigrants, but over time, absorbed the latter’s material and non-material culture until immigrant and native became indistinguishable. At first glance this is a surprising process. But the newcomers must have applied just enough pressure to hasten integration.

    Now what adds interest to the discovery of the Christian burial site is that Heather emphasises that by 600 AD the region’s Latin speaking Christian âelite had been replaced by Germanic speaking non-Christians. In fact, the teenager’s grave also contained other items – an iron knife and a chain that would have hung from the waist along with some glass beads, which seemed to have been kept in a purse on the end of the chain.

    Dr Sam Lucy, a specialist in Anglo-Saxon burial from Newnham College, Cambridge, said: “The custom of grave goods was long established in the pagan period, but it doesn’t mean that the burials at Trumpington weren’t Christian." Dr Lucy added: “The church never issued any edicts against the use of grave goods, but it’s something that does seem to fade away by the 8th century, just at the point where Christianity was becoming the dominant religion. There is, though, a time through the second half of the 7th century, where clearly Christian people were still making use of a limited range of goods within their burials, and these often carried explicitly Christian symbolism, such as the cross here…The Trumpington burial does seem to belong at that transition between the two religions."

    By now Christianity was spreading across northern Europe. Ireland was the first, in the fifth and sixth centuries; there followed Pictish Scotland, England and central Germany in the seventh century, Saxony by force after Charlemagne’s conquests in the eighth, Bulgaria, Croatia and Moravia in the ninth, Bohemia in the tenth, Norway, Iceland and Hungary in the years around 1000, Sweden more slowly across the eleventh century.

    In England, the kings of Kent were the first to convert to Christianity, thanks to a mission from Rome. This took place in 597. Another missionary converted the kings of Wessex (ie, Hampshire and Berkshire) in the 630s. The Northumbrian kings in the north were finally converted from Ireland at the same time. However, after 670, a new archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, a Byzantine appointed by the Pope, united all the bishops of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms into a single hierarchy. The Anglo-Saxon church was, from then on, fully integrated into that of the rest of western Europe, and increasingly resembled it.

    In the 800s and 900s, Europe was attacked by the Vikings (or Danes or Northmen) from the north and the west. The Vikings, or we should more appropriately call them, the “Scandinavians”, active between 800 and 1000 AD, could scarcely have been more different from the Anglo-Saxons. They were a waterborne force that exploded out of the Baltic Sea. They didn’t pause when they reached a coastline, but they travelled many miles up navigable rivers. They hunted for material wealth wherever they could find it. Essentially they were pirates.

    In most cases, Scandinavian settlement in a given locality was preceded by a lengthy period during which that same place was targeted for moveable wealth. There was a huge amount to be made by raiding. Viking assaults on ninth century France extracted 340kg of gold and 20,000kg of silver. Raiding produced loot of all kinds, including slaves.

    One of the Vikings’ favourite targets was a rich monastery. In western Europe, for instance, Viking raiding began with the sacking of the famous island monastery of Lindisfarne off the Northumbrian coast in 793. Between 786 and 802, three Viking ships landed at Portland on the south coast of Britain.

    In his book, Viking Britain, Thomas Williams quotes the account given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: “There came for the first time three ships of Northmen…” and they “landed in the island which is called Portland”. The King’s reeve, who was then in a town called Dorchester, “leapt on his horse, sped to the harbour with a few men (for he thought they were merchants rather than marauders), and admonishing them (the Northmen) in an authoritative manner, gave order that they should be driven to the royal town. And he and his companions were killed by them on the spot.”

    Monasteries within Ireland, so long as they could be reached by river, became subject to attack for the first time in 836. Ten years later, a Viking leader led his followers up the Seine as far as Paris itself. They were aiming at the Abbey of St Germain des Prâes on the left bank. It was probably the richest monastic foundation of western Europe.

    The monks, however, notes Professor Heather, had shifted their treasures up river for safety. And the abbey church of St Germain still stands, with its clock tower dating back to Viking times, the oldest church in Paris.

    Now the Great Viking Army was a coalition of warriors, primarily originating from Denmark but with elements from Sweden and Norway, who came together under a unified command to invade the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that constituted England in AD 865. This wasn’t to be a flow of people across the seas to Britain, the purpose of the Great Viking Army was to conquer.

    In 867 units of the Viking army broke into York and attacked Northumbria. They conquered East Anglia in the 870s, and eventually achieved a further victory over Mercia in 874. King Alfred, however, repulsed the Viking Army from Wessex with a famous victory at Edington, Wiltshire, in 878.

    In a crucial turn in the whole story, the Viking leader, Guthrum, accepted Christian baptism and then retreated into East Anglia. There was formed so-called Danelaw, an area in which the laws of the Danes led sway. It comprised York, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, Cambridge, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford and Hertford together with parts of the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk and Middlesex.

    Heather analyses Danelaw as follows: the basic migration unit was the individual Great Army contingent of up to a thousand men, whose leaders organised the allocations of lands to those who were ready to settle. The new dominant Norse class lived much more cheek by jowl with their Anglo Saxon peasant labourers than the Normans who were to follow. Norse became the prevalent language. And many Norse words have remained in spoken English, such as ransack, window, slaughter, aloft, husband, blunder, happy, heathen, scales (for weighing).

    There were kings in Danelaw after 878, but never a king of Danelaw. The centre of Lincoln, for instance, probably saw some Viking construction; outside the town, settlement seems to have come in two forms. Some of the estates were received intact by leading Vikings. Other Anglo-Saxon estates were broken up and parcelled out in individual holdings to Vikings of lesser but still free status. Such landed estates were taken from secular owners who had been killed or exiled or from Church institutions.

    Meanwhile in England, Alfred, having fortified the major West Saxon towns, occupied the non-Scandinavian controlled southern half of Mercia. This was the basis for his son Edward “the Elder” and daughter Ąthelflµd (who ruled Mercia) to conquer the Scandinavian kingdoms of southern England in the 910s, and for his grandson, notably Ą?thelstan (924-39) to push north as well. By 954 Northumbria was in their hands, except for the autonomous earldom of Bamburgh in the far north. This West Saxon conquest unified, indeed created, England for the first time; already Alfred called himself “King of the Anglo-Saxons” and the term “England” slowly began to be used from now on. A mongrel people had at last secured a safe place in which to live.

    More about: Cheddar Man Romans Dark Ages Vikings celtics Anglo-Saxon England

    end of report

    Ealhmund married unnamed spouse. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 10321.  unnamed spouse
    Children:
    1. 5160. Egbert of Wessex, King of Wessex was born in 771-775 in Wessex, England; died in 839; was buried in Winchester, Hampshire, England.


Generation: 16

  1. 41856.  Charlemagne, Holy Roman EmperorCharlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor was born on 2 Apr 742 in France; died on 28 Jan 814 in Aachen, Germany; was buried in Aachen Cathedral, Aachen, Germany.

    Other Events and Attributes:

    • Alt Birth: 747, Herstal, Belgium

    Notes:

    Charlemagne Carolingian, Duke of Bavaria, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, Holy Roman Emperor, was born 747 in Herstal, Belgium to Pepin the Short (714-768) and Bertrada of Laon (720-783) and died 28 January 814 in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany of unspecified causes. He married Himiltrude (c742-c780) . He married Gerperga 768 JL . He married Hildegard (758-783) 771 JL . He married Fastrada (?-794) . He married Luitgard (?-800) . Ancestors are from France, Belgium, Germany.

    CharlemagneStatue
    Siblings

    Offspring of Pepin the Short Carolingian and Bertrada of Laon (720-783)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Charlemagne (747-814) 747 Herstal, Belgium 28 January 814 Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Himiltrude (c742-c780)
    Gerperga
    Hildegard (758-783)
    Gersuinda (?-?)
    Madelgard (?-?)
    Fastrada (?-794)
    Luitgard (?-800)
    Amaltrud of Vienne (?-?)
    Regina (c780-?)
    Ethelind (?-?)

    Carloman (751-771) 28 June 751 4 December 771 Samoussy Gerberga

    Gisela (757-810) 757 810

    Introduction

    Charlemagne (Latin: Carolus Magnus, meaning Charles the Great) was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) from 800 to his death. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 which temporarily made him a rival of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of France, Germany (where he is known as Karl der GroĎe), and the Holy Roman Empire.

    The son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, he succeeded his father and co-ruled with his brother Carloman I. The latter got on badly with Charlemagne, but war was prevented by the sudden death of Carloman in 771. Charlemagne continued the policy of his father towards the papacy and became its protector, removing the Lombards from power in Italy, and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain, to which he was invited by the Muslim governor of Barcelona. Charlemagne was promised several Iberian cities in return for giving military aid to the governor, however, the deal was withdrawn. Subsequently, Charlemagne's retreating army experienced its worst defeat at the hands of the Basques, at the Battle of Roncesvalles (778) memorialised, although heavily fictionalised, in the Song of Roland. He also campaigned against the peoples to his east, especially the Saxons, and after a protracted war subjected them to his rule. By forcibly converting them to Christianity, he integrated them into his realm and thus paved the way for the later Ottonian dynasty.

    Today he is regarded not only as the founding father of both French and German monarchies, but also as the father of Europe: his empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans, and the Carolingian renaissance encouraged the formation of a common European identity.[1]

    Family
    Charlemagne had at least twenty children over the course of his life time with three wives and five concubines. He had five wives but no offspring with his second and his last.

    Details of his children
    See the children subpage for details of his children, including notes about disagreements among published writers.

    Grandchildren and beyond
    Only five or six of his children had children of their own, producing about 26 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren, and 60 great-great-grandchildren. In that 5th generation, lines first reconnect, with Wipert de Nantes (860-) the first double descendant of Charlemagne, and the brothers Hildebert I de Limoges (865-916) and Ranulphe I d'Aubusson (872-926), who are the first double descendants of mixed generation (5 and 6). The numbers of Charlemagne's descendants per generation do not grow as fast as one might expect, partly because of intermarriage, but also because of intense rivalry (including murder). To reduce such rivalry, many descendants were clergy.



    Children

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Himiltrude (c742-c780)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Pippin the Hunchback (c769-811) 769 811 Prčum
    Amaudru (c770-)

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Hildegard (758-783)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Rotrude (775-810) 770 6 June 810 Rorgon of Maine (c770-839)

    Charles the Younger (c772-811) 772 4 December 811 Bavaria
    Adelaide (c773-774) 774 Pavie, Lombardy, Italy Error: Invalid time. Italy
    Pepin of Italy (773-810) 773 Vermandois, Normandy, France 8 July 810 Milan, Lombardy, Italy Bertha of Gellone (?-?)
    Ingeltrude (?-?)

    Louis the Pious (778-840) 778 Chasseneuil, France 20 June 840 Ingelheim am Rhein Theodelinde of Sens (?-?)
    Ermengarde of Hesbaye (c778-818)
    Judith of Bavaria (795-843)

    Lothair (778-c779) Error: Invalid time. Casseneuil, Lot-et-Garonne, France 779
    Bertha (779-823) 779 823 Angilbert (c750-814)

    Gisela (781-808) 781 Milan 808
    Hildegarde (783-783) Error: Invalid time. Thionville, France Error: Invalid time.

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Gersuinda (?-?)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Adaltrude (774-) 774

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Madelgard (?-?)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Ruodhaid (c775-852) 775 24 March 852 France

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Fastrada (?-794)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Theodrada (784-) 784 9 January 849 Argenteuil
    Hiltrude (787-) 787

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Amaltrud of Vienne (?-?)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Alpaida (794-) 794 Begon de Paris (c757-816)

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Regina (c780-)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Drogo of Metz (801-855) 17 June 801 8 December 855 Luxeuil
    Hugh (802-844) 802 844

    Offspring of Charlemagne and Ethelind (?-?)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Richbod (805-844) 805 844
    Theodoric (807-819) 807 819

    More biography & life of Charlemagne ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne

    Alt Birth:
    Charlemagne Picture Gallery: https://www.thoughtco.com/charlemagne-picture-gallery-4122735

    More images of Charlemagne:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=charlemagne+picture&rlz=1C1KMZB_enUS591US591&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjr-e6uu5vZAhWIv1MKHQ6NBsAQ7AkITA&biw=1440&bih=809

    Buried:
    One of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, it was constructed by order of the emperor Charlemagne, who was buried there in 814. From 936 to 1531, the Palatine Chapel saw the coronation of thirty-one German kings and twelve queens. The church has been the mother church of the Diocese of Aachen since 1802.

    Photos ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen_Cathedral

    Charlemagne married Hildegard. Hildegard was born in 758; died on 30 Apr 783 in Thionville, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 41857.  Hildegard was born in 758; died on 30 Apr 783 in Thionville, France.

    Notes:

    Hildegard was born 758 to Gerold of Vinzgouw (c725-799) and Emma of Alamannia (730-789) and died 30 April 783 in Thionville of unspecified causes. She married Charlemagne (747-814) 771 JL . Ancestors are from Germany.
    Contents[show]



    Children

    Offspring of Hildegard and Charlemagne (747-814)
    Name Birth Death Joined with
    Rotrude (770-810) 770 6 June 810 Rorgon of Maine (c770-839)

    Charles the Younger (c772-811) 772 4 December 811 Bavaria
    Adelaide (c773-774) 774 Pavie, Lombardy, Italy Error: Invalid time. Italy
    Pepin, King of Italy (773-810) 773 Vermandois, Normandy, France 8 July 810 Milan, Lombardy, Italy Bertha of Gellone (?-?)
    Ingeltrude (?-?)

    Louis the Pious (778-840) 778 Chasseneuil, France 20 June 840 Ingelheim am Rhein Theodelinde of Sens (?-?)
    Ermengarde of Hesbaye (c778-818)
    Judith of Bavaria (795-843)

    Lothair (778-c779) Error: Invalid time. Casseneuil, Lot-et-Garonne, France 779
    Bertha (779-823) 779 823 Angilbert (c750-814)

    Gisela (781-808) 781 Milan 808
    Hildegarde (782-783) Error: Invalid time. Thionville, France Error: Invalid time.

    Children:
    1. 20928. Pepin of Italy, King of Italy was born in 773 in Vermandois, France; died on 8 Jul 0810 in Milano, Italy.
    2. Louis the Pious, King of Aquitaine was born in 778 in Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, France; died on 20 Jun 840 in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany.