Cynethryth (''Cyneðryð''; died after AD 798) was a Queen 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= , y ...

, wife of King

Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æth ...

and mother of King Ecgfrith of Mercia. Cynethryth is the only

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

queen consort in whose name

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order ...

age was definitely issued.

Biography

Origins

Nothing certain is known of Cynethryth's origins. Her name recalls the wife and daughters of King Penda—Cynewise, Cyneburh, and Cyneswith—which may indicate that she was a descendant of Penda. A tradition related by the 13th century '' Vitae duorum Offarum'' tells that she was of Frankish origin, and that for her crimes she was condemned by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

's justice system to be set adrift at sea in an open boat. The boat eventually stranded on the Welsh coast where she was taken to Offa. She pleaded that she had been cruelly persecuted and was of the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...

royal house. Offa left Drida, as she was called, in the charge of Marcellina, his mother. Offa would fall in love with and marry her, at which point she adopted the name Quindrida, but she continued in her iniquitous ways before being murdered by robbers. This seems to relate to a brief mention of Offa's sinful but reformed wife, Thritha, that appears in ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...

'', but also has aspects similar to a story told of the wife of

Offa of Angel Offa (nickname for Wulf) is a semi-legendary king of the Angles in the genealogy of the kings of Mercia presented in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. He is the son of Wermund and the father of Angeltheow. His name is also mentioned in the Old ...

, a Yorkshire girl set adrift by her father.''Klaeber's Beowulf, and the Fight at Finnsburg'', 4th ed., R.D. Fulk, Robert E. Bjork and John D. Niles, eds., University of Toronto Press, 2008, pp. 222-226. Unlike the relations of Offa's predecessor Æthelbald, which had been condemned by the church, the marriage of Offa and Cynethryth was entirely conventional and met with the approval of the church hierarchy. In a letter to Cynethryth and Offa's son Ecgfrith,

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...

advises him to follow the example of his parents, including his mother's piety. Elsewhere Alcuin refers to Cynethryth as "controller of the Royal household".

Queen of the Mercians

The date of Offa and Cynethryth's marriage is not known, but it was not until after the birth of

Ecgfrith Ecgfrith ( ang, Ecgfrið) was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings in England, including: * Ecgfrith of Northumbria, died 685 * Ecgfrith of Mercia Ecgfrith was king of Mercia from 29 July to December 796. He was the son of Offa, one of the m ...

that Cynethryth began to witness

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

s. She first witnessed a charter dated 770, along with Ecgfrith and

Ælfflæd Ælfflæd is a name of Anglo-Saxon England meaning Ælf (Elf) and flæd (beauty). It may refer to: * Saint Ælfflæd of Whitby (654–714) * Ælfflæd of Mercia, daughter of Offa, wife of King Æthelred I of Northumbria * Ælfflæd, wife of Edward ...

. By 780 she is ''Cyneðryð Dei gratia regina Merciorum'' ("Cynethryth,

by the Grace of God By the Grace of God ( la, Dei Gratia, abbreviated D.G.) is a formulaic phrase used especially in Christian monarchies as an introductory part of the full styles of a monarch. For example in England and later the United Kingdom, the phrase was f ...

, Queen of the Mercians"). It has been suggested that Cynethryth's

age was in emulation of the

Byzantine Empress This is a list of Roman and Byzantine empresses. A Roman empress was a woman who was the wife of a Roman emperor, the ruler of the Roman Empire. The Romans had no single term for the position: Latin and Greek titles such as '' augusta'' (Gre ...

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United State ...

, who ruled during this time through her son

Constantine VI Constantine VI ( gr, Κωνσταντῖνος, ''Kōnstantinos''; 14 January 771 – before 805Cutler & Hollingsworth (1991), pp. 501–502) was Byzantine emperor from 780 to 797. The only child of Emperor Leo IV, Constantine was named co-emp ...

. The imagery employed, however, does not follow that on Irene's coinage, but that used on coins of late Roman empresses, just as the image used on Offa's coins show him as a late Roman emperor. It has been suggested that the coins were minted for donations by Cynethryth to the Church, but their similarity to the general issues suggests otherwise. This coinage is unique in Anglo-Saxon England, and indeed in Western Europe in this period. Cynethryth is associated with her husband in

charters A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

and is said to have been a patron of

Chertsey Abbey Chertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey. It was founded in 666 AD by Saint Erkenwald who was the first abbot, and from 675 AD the Bishop of London. At the same time ...

Pope Adrian I Pope Adrian I ( la, Hadrianus I; died 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 to his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman. Adrian and his predecessors had to contend with periodic ...

, when elevating Higbert's Bishopric of Lichfield to an Archbishopric, wrote to Offa and Cynethryth jointly.

Allegations regarding the death of St Æthelberht of East Anglia

Æthelberht II, King of East Anglia (died 20 May 794) – who was later canonised as Saint Ethelbert the King – is widely believed to have been assassinated, on Offa's orders. Some later chroniclers, such as

Roger of Wendover Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236), probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century. At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell o ...

, have alleged that Cynethryth was either personally responsible for the assassination of Æthelberht, or to have incited Offa to kill him.

Later entry into religious order

After Offa's death in 796, Cynethryth entered a

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious pract ...

. She became

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

of the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Cookham Cookham is a historic River Thames, Thames-side village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north-eastern edge of Berkshire, England, north-north-east of Maidenhead and opposite the village of Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, Bourne ...

and also had charge of the church at

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...

, where Offa was interred. It is thought that she may be buried at

, and ongoing archaeological research at the site by the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

is studying this possibility. Cynethryth was alive as late as 798, when a dispute over church lands with

Æthelhard Æthelhard (died 12 May 805) was a Bishop of Winchester then an Archbishop of Canterbury in medieval England. Appointed by King Offa of Mercia, Æthelhard had difficulties with both the Kentish monarchs and with a rival archiepiscopate in sou ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

, was settled at the Synod of Clofesho, at an uncertain location.

Family

King Offa had at least five children, and it is thought that they were all Cynethryth's as well; they were: *

(died 796) - King of Mercia, died after a reign of only 141 days. *

Eadburh Eadburh ( ang, Ēadburh), also spelled Eadburg, ( fl. 787–802) was the daughter of King Offa of Mercia and Queen Cynethryth. She was the wife of King Beorhtric of Wessex, and according to Asser's ''Life of Alfred the Great'' she killed her ...

- Queen of Wessex, wife of

Beorhtric of Wessex Beorhtric (meaning "magnificent ruler"; also spelled Brihtric) (died 802) was the King of Wessex from 786 to 802, succeeding Cynewulf. During his rule, however, his wife and father-in-law had most of the power. Early life The names of his pa ...

. *

- Queen of Northumbria, wife of Æthelred I of Northumbria. *Æthelburh - An

. *Æthelswith - possibly Ælfthryth of Crowland.

Recent discoveries

In August 2021, archaeologists headed by Gabor Thomas from the

announced the discovery of a

dated back to the reign of Queen Cynethryth in the grounds of Holy Trinity Church in the village of

in Berkshire. According to Gabor Thomas, items including food remains, pottery vessels used for cooking and eating, a fine bronze bracelet and a dress pin will help to make a detailed impression of how the monks and nuns ate, dressed, worked and lived here.

References

Bibliography

* * Dümmler, Ernst, ''Epistolae Karolini aevi, Tomus II.'' (

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empir ...

, Epistolarum, Tomus IV) Berlin: Weidmann, 1895. (Available a
dMGH
* * Keynes, Simon, "Cynethryth" in M. Lapidge et al. (eds), ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.'' Blackwell, London, 1999. * * * Stafford, Pauline, "Political Women in Mercia, Eighth to Early Tenth Centuries" in

Michelle P. Brown Michelle P. Brown is Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She was previously (1986–2004) Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library. She has been a historical c ...

& Carol A. Farr (eds), ''Mercia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe.'' Leicester: Leicester University Press, 2001. * Thacker, Alan, "Kings, Saints and Monasteries in pre-Viking Mercia" in ''Midland History'', volume 10 (1985). ISSN 0047-729X * Williams, Gareth, "Mercian Coinage and Authority" in Michelle P. Brown & Carol A. Farr (eds), ''Mercia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe.'' Leicester: Leicester University Press, 2001. * Yorke, Barbara, "The Origins of Mercia" in Michelle P. Brown & Carol A. Farr (eds), ''Mercia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe.'' Leicester: Leicester University Press, 2001.

External links

* {{PASE, 3911, Cynethryth 2
New excavations at an 8th-century monastery once ruled by a royal abbess, Queen Cynethryth
Artnet News, August 20, 2021 8th-century English people 8th-century English women Anglo-Saxon royal consorts Mercian people House of Icel