Ealdgyth (Unknown) of Mercia (abt. 990)

Wife of Edmund (Wessex) of England — married Aug 1015 (to 30 Nov 1016) in Malmesbury, Wiltshire

Descendants

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Biography

Ældgyth (Unknown) of Mercia is a member of the House of Wessex.

Ældgyth's parents and birthdate are unknown.^[1][2] See Research Notes below for discussion of her name.

Ældgyth married twice. Her first husband was Sigeferth,^[2] who was murdered, along with his brother Morcar, in 1015.^[3]

Æthelred the Unready subsequently arranged for Ældgyth to be held at Malmesbury. His son Edmund Ironside secured the lands of Sigeferth and Morcar, and, against the wishes of his father Æthelred, made Ældgyth his wife.^[4] Ældgyth and Edmund had two children, who may have been twins given the dates of the marriage and Edmund Ironside's death:^[5]

• Edmund^[2][6][5][7]
• Edward^{[2][6][5][7][8]}

Edmund Ironside died in 1016.^[6] There is no record of Ældgyth after that.^[5]

Research Notes

Name and Origins

There are no contemporary sources for Ældgyth's name. According to the Henry Project entry for Ældgyth,^[2] there is some doubt about her name, the entry stating that

• her brother-in-law Morcar had a wife of the same name according to the will of Wulfric (Wulfric Spott): this is confirmed by a translation in Volume I of English Historical Documents;^[9]
• the name was uncommon, making it unlikely that the two brothers Sigeferth and Morcar would have wives of the same name: it was actually quite a common female name for Anglo-Saxon women of this period, with a variety of spellings.

Simeon of Durham names her as "Algitha".^[10] John of Worcester, in the Chronicle formerly attributed to Florence of Worcester, calls her "Aldgith" in Joseph Stevenson's translation.^[11]

P H Sawyer, an expert on Anglo-Saxon charters, believed that both Sigeferth and Morcar had wives called Ealdgyth.^[12]

An unsourced pedigree drawn up in the 19th century alleges that her name was Edelfleda and that she was the daughter of Edwin, Earl of Mercia.^[13] There is no good evidence for this: Edwin has previously been shown as her father but has been detached.

According to the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey Gaimar, Edmund Ironside married a sister of a Welsh king.^[2] There is no good source for this.

Alleged Third Marriage

The same 19th century pedigree alleges that, after the death of Edmund Ironside, she married Grono ap Owain and that they had children Edwin and Howel.^[13] Again there is no good source. Grono has previously been shown on WikiTree as a husband of Ældgyth, and Edwin as a child: they have been detached. There is discussion of Edwin's family on the Ancient Wales Studies website.^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ Charles Cawley. EADMUND, son of ÆTHELRED II, entry in "Medieval Lands" database, accessed 15 May 2021
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Stewart Baldwin. 'Ealdgyth (Aldgitha) Wife of Eadmund Ironside, king of England', 2010, The Henry Project, accessed 15 May 2021
3. ↑ Charles Cawley. Sigeferth, entry in "Medieval Lands" database, accessed 15 May 2021
4. ↑ Michael Swanton, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, pp. 145-153
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Charles Cawley. EADMUND, son of ÆTHELRED II, entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 15 May 2021)
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by M K Lawson for 'Edmund II [known as Edmund Ironside]', print and online 2004
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by M K Lawson for 'Edward Ætheling [called Edward the Exile]', print and online 2004
8. ↑ Michael Swanton, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, pp. 187-188
9. ↑ Dorothy Whitelock (ed.). English Historical Documents, Vol. I, c. 500-1042, 2nd edition, 1979, pp. 587-588
10. ↑ Joseph Stevenson (trans. and ed.). The Church Historians of England, Vol. III, part II, The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham, Seeleys, 1855, p. 521, Internet Archive
11. ↑ Joseph Stevenson (trans. and ed.). The Church Historians of England, Vol. II, part I, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, Seeleys, 1853, p. 263, Internet Archive
12. ↑ Pedigree in The Charters of Burton Abbey, Oxford University Press/British Academy, 1989, as used by Hubert Grills in The Life and Times of Godwine Earl of Wessex, Anglo-Saxon Books, 2009, p. 35, genealogical chart for the family of Sigeferth and Morcar
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Pedigree of Owen Llunllo and Bettwys etc, in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, 2nd series, Vol. II, Mitchell and Hughes, 1888,p. 365, Google Books
14. ↑ Darrell Wolcott. The Ancestry of Edwin of Tegeingl, Ancient Wales Studies website, accessed 15 May 2021

• Baldwin, Stewart. 'Ealdgyth (Aldgitha) Wife of Eadmund Ironside, king of England', 2010, the Henry Project, accessed 15 May 2021
• Wikipedia: Ealdgyth (floruit 1015–1016)