Ælfgifu Of Northampton
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Ælfgifu of Northampton (; 990 – after 1036) was the first wife of
Cnut the Great Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...
, King of
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, and mother of
Harold Harefoot Harold Harefoot or Harold I (died 17 March 1040) was regent of Kingdom of England, England from 1035 to 1037 and King of the English from 1037 to 1040. Harold's nickname "Harefoot" is first recorded as "Harefoh" or "Harefah" in the twelfth cen ...
, King of England. She was
regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
of
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
from 1030 to 1035.


Biography


Family background

Ælfgifu was born into an important noble family based in the
Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...
(
Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
). She was a daughter of Ælfhelm, ealdorman of southern Northumbria, and his wife Wulfrun. Ælfhelm was killed in 1006, probably at the command of King
Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II (,Different spellings of this king's name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern dialect word . ; ; 966 ...
, and Ælfgifu's brothers, Ufegeat and Wulfheah, were blinded. Wulfric Spot, a wealthy nobleman and patron of Burton Abbey, was the brother of Ælfhelm or Wulfrun. The family again came under suspicion during the invasion of England by Swein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, in 1013–14, and further members were charged with treachery and killed. It is possible that Ælfgifu was a kinswoman of the wife of
Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia Ælfgar (died ) was the son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, by his famous wife Godgifu ( Lady Godiva). He succeeded to his father's title, Earl of Mercia, and responsibilities on the latter's death in 1057. He gained the additional title of Earl of E ...
, also called Ælfgifu.


Marriage to Cnut

When Swein invaded, northern peoples, some of them of Scandinavian descent, immediately submitted to him. He then married his young son Cnut to Ælfgifu to seal their loyalty. Swein went on to conquer the whole of England and was accepted as King, but he died in February 1014 after a reign of only five weeks. Æthelred then sent an army which forced Cnut to flee back to Denmark, and in the opinion of historian Ian Howard, he left his wife and their baby son, Svein, the future King of Norway, behind with her family. They were anxious to make their peace with Æthelred, but unwilling to hand Ælfgifu and her son over to Æthelred to be killed, so they sent the mother and child with King Swein's body to Denmark. There she became pregnant again, and in 1015 or 1016 she gave birth to
Harold Harefoot Harold Harefoot or Harold I (died 17 March 1040) was regent of Kingdom of England, England from 1035 to 1037 and King of the English from 1037 to 1040. Harold's nickname "Harefoot" is first recorded as "Harefoh" or "Harefah" in the twelfth cen ...
. In the period immediately following, she may have been given authority over some region of Denmark, perhaps that of a Danish-controlled area of the Baltic coastline. Her two sons were to figure prominently in the empire which their father built in northern Europe, though not without opposition. After his conquest of England in 1016, Cnut married Emma of Normandy, the widow of King Æthelred. It was then regarded as acceptable to put aside one wife and take another if the first wife was acquired through the non-Christian pagan ceremony of "
handfasting Handfasting is a traditional practice that, depending on the term's usage, may define an unofficiated wedding (in which a couple marries without an officiant, usually with the intent of later undergoing a second wedding with an officiant), a ...
" and nearly always for reasons of political advantage, a practice which might be described as "serial monogamy"; this was the case with the marriage of Ælfgifu to Cnut. The status of Cnut's two marriages and their social context in England and Scandinavia has been discussed recently by Timothy Bolton. Emma's sons,
Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
and Ælfred by Æthelred and
Harthacnut Harthacnut (; "Tough-knot";  – 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042. Harthacnut was the son of King Cnut the Great (wh ...
by Cnut, were also claimants to the throne of her husband. Exactly how the second marriage affected Ælfgifu's status as Cnut's first consort is unknown, but there is no evidence to suggest that she was repudiated.


Regent in Norway (1030–35)

After the defeat and death of
Olaf II of Norway Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was List of Norwegian monarchs, King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he w ...
by forces loyal to Cnut, Cnut sent Ælfgifu with their eldest son Svein to rule
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, in 1030. Their rule was, however, so harsh that the Norwegians rebelled against them. They were driven out, in 1034 or 1035, while Svein died of wounds in Denmark shortly after, probably in 1036. In Norway, where she was known as ''Álfífa'' in Old Norse, this period entered history as 'Álfífa's time' (''Álfífuǫld''), remembered for her severe rule and heavy taxation. In the Norwegian ''Ágrip'', for instance, the following verse is attributed to her contemporary, the skald Sigvatr: :Ælfgyfu's time :long will the young man remember, :when they at home ate ox's food, :and like the goats, ate rind;


Succession crisis after the death of Cnut (1035)

Cnut died at Shaftesbury in 1035.
Symeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (fl. c.1090 to c. 1128 ) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon was a Benedictine monk at Durham Cathedral at the end of the eleventh century. He may have been one of 23 mo ...
and Adam of Bremen suggest that Cnut had reserved the English throne for Harold, while the '' Encomium Emmae Reginae'', written to defend Harthacnut's mother, Emma, claims that he had done so for Harthacnut. Ælfgifu was determined that her second son Harold should be the next English king. She had returned to England (at least) by 1036, while Emma's son
Harthacnut Harthacnut (; "Tough-knot";  – 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042. Harthacnut was the son of King Cnut the Great (wh ...
was away in Denmark, at war with the Norwegian king Magnus I, and the Swedes under their king Anund Jacob. Emma's other sons, Ælfred and Edward, stayed in Normandy. With help from her supporters, Ælfgifu was able to secure the throne for her son. In the view of
Frank Stenton Sir Frank Merry Stenton FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of Anglo-Saxon England, a professor of history at the University of Reading (1926–1946), president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945), Readi ...
, she was probably the real ruler of England for part, if not the whole, of his reign. The ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
'' (versions C, D and E) describes how Harold and his men forcefully laid claim on the treasury housed in
Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
, where Cnut was buried and Emma (whom the Anglo-Saxons also referred to as "Ælfgifu" the queen) had taken up residence: Manuscript E, which is known for its Godwinist sympathies, adds a number of details, including the assembly at Oxford in 1037 at which Harold was elected king of England and the mustering of support north of the Thames, where the power base of Ælfgifu's family was concentrated. During 1036, opinion in England moved towards Harold. By August a report had reached Emma's daughter, Gunnhild, at the German court that her "unhappy and unjust step-mother" (i.e. Ælfgifu) was working to deprive Gunnhild's brother, Harthacnut, of the kingdom by holding great feasts, and trying by argument and gifts to persuade the leading nobles to give their fealty to Harold.Stevenson (1913), cited in Pauline Stafford, ''Queen Emma & Queen Edith'', Blackwell, 1001, p. 238 Emma's encomiast attributes to her even more seriously dishonest methods. She makes Ælfgifu an accomplice in the murder of Emma's youngest son,
Alfred Aetheling Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...
, by suggesting that she was responsible for sending a forged letter to Normandy inviting Alfred to England. The ''Encomium Emmae Reginae'' also claimed that Ælfgifu's son Harold was a servant's son. Ælfgifu is not recorded after 1036, apart from a possible reference to her as the "lady", and it is not known when she died.Stafford, Ælfgifu


Family tree


Notes


Sources


Primary sources

* ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
'', MSS C, D and E, ed. D. Dumville and S. Keynes, ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Collaborative Edition''. Cambridge, 1983; tr. M.J. Swanton, ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles''. 2nd ed. London, 2000. * '' Encomium Emmae Reginae'', ed. and tr. Alistair Campbell, ''Encomium Emmae Reginae''. Cambridge, 1998. * Letter of Immo, chaplain at the court of
Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
, to Bishop Azeko of Worms, preserved in the Lorsch manuscript, Codex Palatinus Latinus 930 (
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
), ed. W. Bulst, ''Die ältere Wormser Briefsammlung''. MGH Epistolae. Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit 3. Weimar, 1949. 20–22 (no. 5). Available from th
Digital MGH
*
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...
, ''Gesta regum Anglorum'', ed. and tr. R.A.B. Mynors, R.M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom, ''William of Malmesbury. Gesta Regum Anglorum. The History of the English Kings''. OMT. 2 vols: vol 1. Oxford, 1998. *
Symeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (fl. c.1090 to c. 1128 ) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon was a Benedictine monk at Durham Cathedral at the end of the eleventh century. He may have been one of 23 mo ...
, ''Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia'', ed. T. Arnold, 2 vols. London, 1885. *
John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is now usually held to be the author of the . Works John of Worcester's principal work was the (Latin for "Chronicle from Chronicles") or ...
, ''Chronicle (of Chronicles)'', ed.
Benjamin Thorpe Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Old English language, Anglo-Saxon literature. Biography In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated hi ...
, ''Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis''. 2 vols. London, 1848–9. * '' Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum'' §§ 27, 32, 35, ed. and tr. M.J. Driscoll, ''Ágrip af Nóregskonungasǫgum''. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series 10. 2nd ed. 2008 (1995)
Available online from the Viking Society for Northern Research
*
Theodoricus monachus Theodoric the Monk (; also ''Tjodrik munk''; in Old Norse his name was most likely ''Þórir'') was a 12th-century Norwegian Benedictine monk, perhaps at the Nidarholm Abbey. He may be identical with either Bishop Tore of the Diocese of Hamar ...
, ''Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium'', chapter 21, tr. David and Ian McDougall. ''The Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings''. Viking Society for Northern Research, 1998. * Legendary ''Óláfs saga helga'', ch. 71 * '' Morkinskinna'', ed. Finnur Jónsson. ''Morkinskinna''. Copenhagen: Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 1932. * Adam of Bremen, ''
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (Medieval Latin for "Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg") is a historical treatise written between 1073 and 1076 by Adam of Bremen, who made additions (''scholia'') to the text until his death (possibly 1081; before 1085). It is one of the most ...
''. * The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus


Secondary sources

* * * * * Campbell, M.W. "Queen Emma and Ælfgifu of Northampton. Canute the Great's women". ''Medieval Scandinavia'', 4 (1971): 60–79. * Rognoni, L. (2004). "Presenza e azione di Ælfgifu di Northampton, regina madre e reggente nell'Impero del Nord di Canuto il Grande (1013–1040)" (in Italian

* * Frank Stenton, Stenton, Frank. ''Anglo-Saxon England''. Oxford, 1971. 397–8. * Stevenson, W.H. "An alleged son of King Harold Harefoot". '' English Historical Review'', 28 (1913): 112–7. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aelfgifu Of Northampton 990s births 1040s deaths 11th-century Norwegian monarchs Anglo-Saxon royal consorts Cnut 11th-century English nobility 11th-century women regents Regents of Norway House of Knýtlinga 11th-century regents Mothers of Norwegian monarchs Mothers of English monarchs