Osferth or Osferd or Osfrith (fl. c. 885 to c. 934) was described by
Alfred the Great in his will as a "kinsman". Osferth witnessed royal charters from 898 to 934, as an
ealdorman between 926 and 934. In a charter of
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...
, he was described as a brother of the king. Therefore,
Janet Nelson
Dame Janet Laughland Nelson (born 1942), also known as Jinty Nelson, is a British historian. She is Emerita Professor of Medieval History at King's College London.
Early life
Born on 28 March 1942 in Blackpool, Nelson was educated at Keswic ...
argues that he was probably an illegitimate son of Alfred.
Simon Keynes
Simon Douglas Keynes, ( ; born 23 September 1952) is a British author who is Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon emeritus in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at Cambridge University, and a Fellow of Trinity Colleg ...
and
Michael Lapidge Michael Lapidge, FBA (born 8 February 1942) is a scholar in the field of Medieval Latin literature, particularly that composed in Anglo-Saxon England during the period 600–1100 AD; he is an emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow ...
suggest that he may have been a relative of Alfred's mother
Osburh
Osburh or Osburga (also Osburga Oslacsdotter) was the first wife of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and mother of King Alfred the Great. Alfred's biographer, Asser, described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth".
S ...
, or a son of Oswald ''filius regis'' (king's son), who in turn may have been a son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor as king,
Æthelred I
Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to:
Anglo-Saxon England
* Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary pri ...
.
Life
Osferth is first recorded in the will of
Alfred the Great,
King of the Anglo-Saxons
This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Kingdom of Wessex, Wessex, one of the heptarchy, seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled ...
, which probably dates to the mid-880s. Alfred bequeathed "to my kinsman Osferth" estates at
Beckley,
Rotherfield,
Ditchling
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling.
...
,
Sutton
Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
England
In alphabetical order by county:
* Sutton, Bedfordshire
* Sutton, Berkshire, a location
* Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire
* ...
,
Lyminster
Lyminster is a village that is the main settlement of Lyminster and Crossbush civil parish, in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It borders, to the south, Littlehampton, which has its town centre away.
Landmarks Church
The Church of E ...
,
Angmering
Angmering is a village and civil parish between Littlehampton and Worthing in West Sussex on the southern edge of the South Downs National Park, England; about two-thirds of the parish (mostly north of the A27 road) fall within the Park. It is ...
and
Felpham
Felpham (, sometimes pronounced locally as ''Felf-fm'') is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and civil parish in ...
. Ditchling and Lyminster were substantial royal estates, and all the properties are in
Sussex.
Janet Nelson
Dame Janet Laughland Nelson (born 1942), also known as Jinty Nelson, is a British historian. She is Emerita Professor of Medieval History at King's College London.
Early life
Born on 28 March 1942 in Blackpool, Nelson was educated at Keswic ...
suggests that they may have been "the core of a South Saxon subkingdom". The bequest was more generous than that to
Æthelwold Æthelwold was a common Anglo Saxon name. It may refer to: Royalty and nobility
*King Æthelwold of Deira, King of Deira, d. 655
*King Æthelwold of East Anglia, King of East Anglia, d. 664
*King Æthelwold Moll of Northumbria, King of Northumbria ...
, who was the younger son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor,
Æthelred
Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to:
Anglo-Saxon England
* Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary prin ...
, and more compact than that to Æthelred's elder son,
Æthelhelm
Æthelhelm or ''Æþelhelm'' (fl. 880s) was the elder of two known sons of Æthelred I, King of Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wes ...
. In a royal charter of 898 Osferth witnessed second in the list of ''ministri'' (king's
thegn
In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...
s). Alfred died in 899, and in a charter of 901 he witnessed without a title second after King Edward, and in 903 again without title immediately after Edward's brother
Æthelweard. In a charter of 904 he witnessed above
Plegmund
Plegmund (or Plegemund; died 2 August either 914 or 923) was a medieval English Archbishop of Canterbury. He may have been a hermit before he became archbishop in 890. As archbishop, he reorganised the Diocese of Winchester, creating four ne ...
,
Archbishop of Canterbury, and next after "Æthelweard ''filius regis''" (king's son) as "Osferd ''frater regis''" (king's brother). In a doubtful charter of 909 he is listed straight after Edward's son
Ælfweard as ''propinquus regis'' (king's kinsman). Osferth witnesses as ''dux'' (
ealdorman) in two dubious charters of 909, but there are no surviving charters for the last fifteen years of Edward's reign, and Osferth appears from 926 to 934 at or near the top of lay witnesses as an
ealdorman. At an unknown date, probably early in Edward's reign, he was a signatory to the settlement of the dispute outlined in the
Fonthill Letter. Nelson comments: "Clearly Osferth held an exceptionally prominent position at the courts of three successive kings. It is a sobering thought that none of the narrative sources mention him at all."
Parentage
According to Keynes and Lapidge, Osferth was described as Edward's brother "mistakenly" (in Nelson's view "with a briskness worthy of the late
Dorothy Whitelock
Dorothy Whitelock, (11 November 1901 – 14 August 1982) was an English historian. From 1957 to 1969, she was the Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Cambridge. Her best-known work is '' English Historica ...
herself"). They say: "Osferth's relationship to Alfred is uncertain. He may have belonged to his mother Osburh's family, or he may have been a son of the Oswald ''filius regis'' who occurs in
oyal chartersS 340, 1201 and 1203 and was perhaps a son of Alfred's brother Æthelred." However, in Nelson's view, it is very unlikely that Oswald was Æthelred's son. She points out that in the introduction to Alfred's will he says that on his succession to the throne there were complaints about his treatment of Æthelred's sons, "the older and the younger", meaning Æthelhelm and Æthelwold. This suggests that only two sons were alive in 871, but Oswald witnessed in 875. She argues that in view of Osferth's place in Alfred's will and his high position in witness lists in Edward's and Æthelstan's reigns, he may have been Alfred's illegitimate son. In the ninth century moralists were increasingly condemning sex outside marriage, and Alfred suffered such anxiety over his sexuality that he prayed for an illness that would inhibit lust. Nelson argues that the existence of an illegitimate son would explain the depth of his concern:
Asser
Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his ...
's failure to mention Osferth in his ''Life'' of Alfred is not surprising as he aimed to portray Alfred as a faithful husband. In his biography of Alfred,
Richard Abels Richard Abels FRHistS (born 1951) is professor emeritus of history at the United States Naval Academy. Abels is a specialist in the military and political institutions of Anglo-Saxon England. He was Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society ( ...
points out that the 'Os-' prefix was common in Alfred's maternal ancestry, and suggests that Osferth belonged to that side of the family, but also mentioned Nelson's view favourably in a footnote.
[Abels, pp. 48, 97 n.27, 272]
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Osferth
880s births
930s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
9th-century English people
10th-century English people
Anglo-Saxon people
House of Wessex