Æthelswith(c. 838–888) was the only known daughter of KingÆthelwulf of Wessex.She married KingBurgred of Merciain 853. The couple had no known issue.
Her marriage probably signaled the subordination of Burgred to his father-in-law and the Saxon kingdom at a time when both Wessex andMerciawere suffering Danish (Viking) raids. Burgred also had ongoing problems with theKingdom of Powyson his western border and in 853 Æthelwulf subjugated the Welsh state on Burgred's behalf.
Although it is unclear to what extent, Æthelswith wielded some power as a queen in her own right. In 868 she witnessed a West Saxon charter and made a grant of fifteenhidesof land in her own name inBerkshire,rare for a queen of the period to do so.[1][2]One item that is believed to have been hers, a gold ring inlaid withniello,inscribed with the wordsÆthelswith Regina,survives in the British Museum. Given the large size of the ring, it is more likely that she was the giver of the ring, rather than the wearer.
Repeated Danish incursions over the years gradually weakened Mercia militarily and in 868 Burgred was forced to call upon Æthelswith's brother KingÆthelred of Wessexto assist him in confronting an entrenched Danish army at Nottingham. This was the last time the Saxons came to the aid of the Mercians and is also notable as the occasion on whichAlfred the Great,another brother of Æthelswith's, married his Mercian wifeEalhswith.
Burgred's reign lasted until 874 when theVikingsdrove him from the kingdom and he fled to Rome with Æthelswith. He died shortly after. Æthelswith lived on in Italy for another decade, before dying while on a pilgrimage inPaviain 888[3]and was buried in themonastery of San Felice.[4]
References
edit- ^Stafford, Pauline (2003)."Succession and inheritance: a gendered perspective on Alfred's family history".In Reuter, Timothy (ed.).Alfred the Great.Routledge.doi:10.4324/9781315262932.ISBN978-1-315-26293-2.Retrieved18 October2021.
- ^Whitehead, Annie (30 May 2020).Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England.Pen and Sword History.ISBN978-1-5267-4814-0.
- ^Simon Keynes&Michael Lapidgeeds, Alfred the Great,Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources(Penguin Classics). London: Penguin, 1983, pp. 69, 113, 232, 281.
- ^"Pavia, S. Felice".Codice diplomatico della Lombardia medieval (secoli VIII- XII).Retrieved5 August2022.
Further reading
editOn Æthelswith's ring see:
- Webster, Leslie(1991). "The Age of Alfred: Metalwork, wood and bone". InWebster, Leslie;Backhouse, Janet(eds.).The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900.London, UK: The Trustees of the British Museum.ISBN0-7141-0555-4(Exhibition catalogue)
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: postscript (link) - Wilson, David M.(1964).Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700-1100 in the British Museum.London, UK: The Trustees of the British Museum.OCLC183495.
External links
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