Osthryth (died 697), queen of the Mercians, was the wife of King

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 daughter of King

Oswiu of Northumbria Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig ( ang, Ōswīg; c. 612 – 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the ch ...

and his second wife

Eanflæd Eanflæd (19 April 626 – after 685, also known as Enfleda) was a Deiran princess, queen of Northumbria and later, the abbess of an influential Christian monastery in Whitby, England. She was the daughter of King Edwin of Northumbria and Æth ...

. She probably married Æthelred before 679 and was murdered by the nobles of

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

. Osthryth was not the first of her family to become a Mercian queen. Her sister Alhflæd had married

Peada Peada (died 656), a son of Penda, was briefly King of southern Mercia after his father's death in November 655The year could be pushed back to 654 if a revised interpretation of Bede's dates is used. and until his own death in the spring of the n ...

, King of South Mercia 654–656. After the death of Peada, who was allegedly murdered with Alhflæd's connivance, and possibly Osthryth's as well, she retreated to

Fladbury Fladbury is a traditional English village located in rural Worcestershire, England. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book, almost 1,000 years ago. It is sited on the banks of the River Avon, with many interesting and original buildin ...

in Worcestershire, to judge both from the place-name, which means "stronghold of Flæde", and from its subsequent history: sometime in the 690s Æthelred granted Fladbury to

Oftfor __NOTOC__ Oftfor was a medieval Bishop of Worcester. He was consecrated in 691. He died after April 693.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 223 Citations References * External links * Bishops of Worcester ...

Bishop of Worcester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, to re-establish monastic life there; however, this grant was later contested by Æthelheard, son of Oshere, who maintained that Æthelred had no right to give Fladbury away, as it had been the property of Osthryth. Æthelheard claimed it as her kinsman and heir. Æthelred and Osthryth loved and favoured Bardney Abbey in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. Osthryth placed there the bones of her uncle

Oswald of Northumbria Oswald (; c 604 – 5 August 641/642Bede gives the year of Oswald's death as 642, however there is some question as to whether what Bede considered 642 is the same as what would now be considered 642. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology an ...

, who was venerated as a saint. It is clear from this story that Osthryth played a part in promoting the cult of St Oswald. Many years later she persuaded Oswald's widow Cyneburh to take the veil. Osthryth had to contend with major conflicts of loyalty. In 679 her brother

Ecgfrith of Northumbria Ecgfrith (; ang, Ecgfrið ; 64520 May 685) was the King of Deira from 664 until 670, and then King of Northumbria from 670 until his death in 685. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a dis ...

fought a battle against Æthelred, in which Ecgfrith's brother

Ælfwine Ælfwine (also ''Aelfwine'', ''Elfwine'') is an Old English personal name. It is composed of the elements ''ælf'' "elf" and ''wine'' "friend", continuing a hypothetical Common Germanic given name ''*albi- winiz'' which is also continued in Old Hig ...

was killed. Bede tells us that he was "a young man of about eighteen years of age and much beloved in both kingdoms, for King Æthelred had married his sister." The murder of Osthryth in 697 by Mercian nobles is unexplained in the sources that mention it. Ann Williams attributes it to the hostility between the Mercians and the Northumbrians, while D. P. Kirby suggests that it may have been revenge for her sister's alleged involvement in Peada's murder.

H. P. R. Finberg Herbert Patrick Reginald Finberg (1900–1974) was an English historian, typographer and publisher. After working at several publishing companies and founding his own (Alcuin Press), he joined the faculty of Leicester University in 1952. He became ...

speculates that she and her kinsman Oshere were suspected of trying to detach the kingdom of the Hwicce from Mercian overlordship.H.P.R. Finberg, ''The Early Charters of the West Midlands'' (Leicester 1961), pp. 176-7. Osthryth was buried at Bardney Abbey. Osthryth was probably the mother of Æthelred's son,

Ceolred Ceolred (died 716) was King of Mercia from 709 to 716. Mercia at the end of the 7th century By the end of the 7th century, England was almost entirely divided into kingdoms ruled by the Anglo-Saxons, who had come to Britain two hundred years ...

, king of Mercia from 709 to 716.

References

External links

* {{Anglo-Saxon saints

Osthryth Osthryth (died 697), queen of the Mercians, was the wife of King Æthelred and daughter of King Oswiu of Northumbria and his second wife Eanflæd. She probably married Æthelred before 679 and was murdered by the nobles of Mercia. Osthryth was ...

Anglo-Saxon royal consorts

7th-century English people Year of birth unknown Royal House of Northumbria 7th-century English women Violence against women in England