The royal consorts of Wessex were the wives of the reigning monarchs of the

Kingdom of Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

. History has not always recorded whether each king of Wessex was married or not. In Wessex it was not customary for kings' wives to be queens but Judith was crowned queen following her marriage to Æthelwulf.Janet L. Nelson, ''Æthelwulf'', Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
/ref>Williams et al., ''A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain'' Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, from AD 519 until England was unified by

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 ...

(who never married) in AD 927. There have thus been no consorts of an independent Wessex since that date and the following consorts have been those of the monarch of England. {, width=90% class="wikitable" !Picture !Name !Parents !Birth !Marriage !Became Consort !Ceased to be Consort !Death !Spouse , - , align="center", , align="center", Seaxburh (possibly) , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", – , align="center", no earlier than c. 642 , align="center", 645 , align="center", c. 674 , align="center", Cenwalh , - , align="center", , align="center", Cynewise (possibly) , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", – , align="center", no earlier than 645 , align="center", no later than 648 , align="center", – , align="center",

Penda Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theor ...

, - , align="center", , align="center", Seaxburh , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", – , align="center", no earlier than 648 , align="center", 672
Thereafter ruled in her own right , align="center", c. 674 , align="center", Cenwalh , - , align="center", , align="center", Not reliably recorded. Possibly a sister of Queen Iurminburh. , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", – , align="center", no earlier than c. 676 , align="center", no later than c. 686 , align="center", – , align="center", Centwine , - , align="center", , align="center", Cynethryth , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", – , align="center", no earlier than 685 , align="center", no later than 688 , align="center", – , align="center", Cædwalla , - , align="center", , align="center", Æthelburg , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", – , align="center", c. 688 , align="center", 726 , align="center", – , align="center",

Ine INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional Elec ...

, - , align="center", , align="center", Frithugyth , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", – , align="center", no earlier than 726 , align="center", no later than 740 , align="center", – , align="center", Æthelheard , - , align="center", , align="center", Eadburh , align="center", Father, King Offa of Mercia
Mother, Queen

Cynethryth Cynethryth (''Cyneðryð''; died after AD 798) was a Queen of Mercia, wife of King Offa of Mercia and mother of King Ecgfrith of Mercia. Cynethryth is the only Anglo-Saxon queen consort in whose name coinage was definitely issued. Biography Ori ...

, align=center, before 788 , align="center", – , align=center, no earlier than 786 , align="center", 802 , align="center", – , align="center", Beorhtric , - , align="center", , align="center", Unknown
Late recording as ''Redburga'' but name is of doubtful historicity , align="center", – , align=center, – , align="center", – , align=center, no earlier than 802 , align="center", no later than 839 , align="center", – , align="center",

Egbert Egbert is a name that derives from old Germanic words meaning "bright edge", such as that of a blade. Anglo-Saxon variant spellings include Ecgberht () and Ecgbert. German variant spellings include Ekbert and Ecbert. People with the first name Mid ...

, - , align="center", Queen Osburga reads for her son, Alfred

, align="center",

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 ...

, align="center", Father, Oslac , align=center, – , align="center", before 839 , align=center, 839 , align="center", no later than 856 , align="center", – , align="center" rowspan=2, Æthelwulf , - , align="center" rowspan=2, Judith of Flanders in the Flandria illustrata

Judith of Flanders in the Flandria illustrata

, align="center" rowspan=2, Judith , align="center" rowspan=2, Father,

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ...

Mother,

Ermentrude of Orléans Ermentrude of Orléans (27 September 823 – 6 October 869) was the Queen of the Franks by her marriage to Charles II. Queenship The traditional historiography on queenship has created an image of a queen who a king's "helpmate" and provid ...

, align=center rowspan=2, October 844 , align="center" colspan=2, 1 October 856 , align="center", 13 January 858
''Husband's death'' , align="center" rowspan=2, after 870 , - , align="center" colspan=2, 858 , align="center", 860
, align="center", Æthelbald , - , align="center", , align="center", Wulfthryth , align="center", – , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", Period 865 to 868 , align="center", not after 871 , align="center", – , align="center", Ethelred I , - , align="center", Queen Ealhswith

, align="center",

Ealhswith Ealhswith or Ealswitha (died 5 December 902) was the wife of King Alfred the Great. Her father was a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini, which is thought to be an old Mercian tribal group. Her mother was Eadburh, a member o ...

, align="center", Father, Æthelred Mucil.
Mother, Eadburh
, align="center", , align="center", 868 , align=center, 23 April 871 , align="center", 26 October 899 , align="center", 5 December 905 , align="center", Alfred the Great , - , align="center", , align="center", Ælfflæd , align="center", Father, Æthelhelm , align=center, – , align="center" colspan=2, circa 901 , align="center", late 910s , align="center", after 910 , align="center" rowspan=2,

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 ...

, - , align="center", Picture of Queen Ediva in Canterbury Cathedral (detail)

, align="center", Eadgifu , align="center", Father, Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent , align="center", before 904 , align="center" colspan=2, circa 919 , align="center", 17 July 924 , align="center", after 965

References

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

Consorts __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

Wessex, List of royal consorts of

See also

References