Æthelflæd of Damerham was Queen of the English as the second wife of King

Edmund I Edmund I or Eadmund I (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death in 946. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. Af ...

from their marriage 944 until Edmund died in 946. Æthelflæd was a daughter of

ealdorman Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...

Ælfgar, probably the ealdorman of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Her mother's name is not recorded. She had at least one brother and at least one sister, Ælfflæd (died ). Ælfflæd was married to

Byrhtnoth Byrhtnoth (), Ealdorman of Essex ( 931 - 11 August 991), died at the Battle of Maldon. His name is composed of the Old English language, Old English ''beorht'' (bright) and ''nōþ'' (courage). He is the subject of ''The Battle of Maldon'', an O ...

, who probably succeeded her father as ealdorman of

. Byrhtnoth was killed at the

Battle of Maldon The Battle of Maldon took place on 10 or 11 August 991 AD near Maldon, Essex, Maldon beside the River Blackwater, Essex, River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the En ...

in 991. Æthelflæd and Ælfflæd were Ælfgar's heirs at his death, some time between 946 and 951 based on the dating of his will
S1483
Æthelflæd married Edmund following the death in 944 of his first wife Ælfgifu, mother of the future kings

Eadwig Eadwig (also Edwy or Eadwig All-Fair, 1 October 959) was King of England from 23 November 955 until his death in 959. He was the elder son of Edmund I and his first wife Ælfgifu, who died in 944. Eadwig and his brother Edgar were you ...

and

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

. She and Edmund are not known to have had any children, and Edmund was killed in 946, leaving Æthelflæd as a wealthy widow. Records of

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...

, to which she, her sister, and her brother-in-law, were generous benefactors, say that she then married ealdorman Æthelstan, probably Æthelstan Rota. However, the suggestion that she remarried has been disputed. Æthelflæd's will survives
S1494
and her will, and thus her death, is dated to between 962, and more probably 975, and 991. In addition to gifts to Ely, the will endowed

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, Bury, and the

family monastery A house monastery, family monastery or dynastic monastery () is a Christian monastery that has a particular relationship with a noble family. Often, but not always, what subsequently became the house monastery was founded by the noble family in q ...

of Stoke-by-Nayland.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelflaed of Damerham 10th-century births 10th-century deaths Anglo-Saxon royal consorts 10th-century English people 10th-century English women House of Wessex English royal consorts Remarried queens consort

References

Further reading

External links