Frithugyth (

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

737) was the wife of King

Æthelheard of Wessex Æthelheard (meaning roughly "Noble Stern"), also spelled Ethelheard, Edelard or Æþelheard, was King of Wessex from 726 to 740. There is an unreliable record of Æthelheard having been the brother-in-law of his predecessor, Ine, but his ancest ...

(died 740). Frithugyth married Æthelheard at some point in 729 or before for she is identified as "Queen Frithugyth" in Æthelheard's charter dated 729.Queen Frithugyth is identified in a charter of Æthelheard, king of Wessex, dated 729 indicating that they were at that time married, Charter S25

/ref> Like her predecessor as Queen of Wessex, Æthelburg of Wessex, Æthelburg, wife of

Ine of Wessex Ine, also rendered Ini or Ina, ( la, Inus; c. AD 670 – after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecesso ...

, Frithugyth is recorded in surviving charters, not merely witnessing her husband's donations of land to the church, but also making donations in her own right. Although the reliability of many of these charters is questionable, historian

Barbara Yorke Barbara Yorke FRHistS FSA (born 1951, Barbara Anne Elizabeth Troubridge) is a historian of Anglo-Saxon England, specialising in many subtopics, including 19th-century Anglo-Saxonism. She is currently emeritus professor of early Medieval histor ...

notes that "Queen Frithugyth would be an unlikely choice as donor in a completely fictitious" charter. The principal donation attributed to Frithugyth is a sizable estate at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, given to

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

in 737. This was expanded by later Kings of Wessex and England, including Æthelwulf,

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his fir ...

, and

Eadred Eadred (c. 923 – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed try ...

, who refer to Frithugyth's earlier donation. Frithugyth is reported by the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' to have made a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 737 along with

Forthhere __NOTOC__ Forthhere (or Fordhere) was a medieval Bishop of Sherborne. Forthhere was consecrated in 709. He died about 737, possibly resigning before he died.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 222 The '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' f ...

Bishop of Sherborne The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name from the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The see of Sherborne was established in around 705 by St Aldhelm, the Abbot of Malmesbury. This see was the mother diocese of ...

. The ''Chronicle'' offers no further information. No descendants of Æthelheard and Frithugyth are known. Frithugyth's husband Æthelheard died in 740 and was succeeded by

Cuthred Cuthred is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Cuthred of Kent, ninth-century monarch *Cuthred of Wessex, eighth-century monarch *Cuthred son of Cwichelm of Wessex Cwichelm (died 636) was an Anglo-Saxon king of the Gewisse, a pe ...

. It is not known if Frithugyth survived her husband.

References

* * Yorke, Barbara, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxons England.'' London: Seaby, 1990 * Yorke, Barbara, ''Wessex in the Early Middle Ages.'' Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1995.

External links

* {{PASE, 6913, Frithugyth 1 8th-century English people Anglo-Saxon royal consorts 8th-century deaths Year of birth unknown House of Wessex 8th-century English women Medieval landowners