User:Rmkooist/Ealhswith

rmkooist/Ealhswith

Ealhswith or Ealswitha was queen consort of England and wife of King Alfred the Great. She was among one of the most powerful noble women in early medieval England during the time of the Vikings. She was mother to King Edward the Elder who proceeded his father on the Anglo-Saxon throne. 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 of the Mercian royal family and her lineage would be one of the primary reasons for Alfred taking Ealhswith as his Wife. Her legacy would persist her after her death in the nunnery she founded and in the estates left to her by Alfred. Ealhswith is commemorated as a saint in the Christian East and the West on 20 July.

Descent

A charter of 897 (S 1442) discusses the responsibilities of Ealhswith's brother Æthelwulf towards the monastery of Winchcombe, and Barbara Yorke argues that as this monastery was claimed as a possession by the family of Ceolwulf and Coenwulf, brothers who were both kings of Mercia, Ealhswith was a member of this family. Richard Abels goes further, stating that she was descended from King Coenwulf.

This decent from Mercian Kings was what Alfred used to justify his marriage with Ealhswith. During the time of King Alfred’s reign, he was given Wessex by his late father, King Æthelwulf, and the genealogies of both Aethelwulf, and Alfred’s mother, Osburh, were used to justify his rule over England. His marriage with Ealhswith was seen as an alliance and a merging of other kingdoms within England. Ealhswith’s genealogy and descent from ancient Mercian Kings was used to grant Alfred the right to rule over the enlarged kingdoms of England. These Mercians kings resided on her mother’s, Eadburh, side of the family, something Asser discussed when referring to Ealhswith in Alfred’s biography.

Life

The Anglo-Saxon period of the Middle Ages ranged from about 450 to 1066, with Ealhswith rule falling toward the later Middle Ages. There is very little material existing from this time so information about people, especially Ealhswith is slim. The only primary sources that reveals her name is in King Alfred’s Will. Within this will, she is the last beneficiary listed. Alfred grants her estates at Lambourn, Wantage, and Edington, along with one hundred pounds of gold. However, Alfred does not mention his three daughters by name or his youngest son, with Edward, his eldest son, being the only child named.

Asser details her parentage and the date of their marriage, in “Life of King Alfred”. Asser writes about the genealogies of both Ealhswith and her mother, Eadburh. However, Asser only mentions Eadburh by name and does not call Ealhswith by her own name. Instead, he refers to her as “a noble Mercian Lady” and that she would be a “chaste widow” after the death of Alfred. It is unknown why Asser omitted Ealhswith's name from the text, but chose to include her mother's.

In recent history, authors have cited Ealhswith by name more frequently and acknowledged her accomplishments. In Alex Traves, Genealogy and royal women in Asser’s Life of King Alfred: politics, prestige, and maternal kinship in early medieval England, he highlights her significance to Alfred and that she was an ideal bride for him in terms of the lineage tied to her. Her importance to Alfred was showcased by Traves, giving her credit for being one of the contributing factors to Alfred taking the throne. Unlike authors like Asser who neglected to mention her by name, Traves and other modern authors give her the proper recognition for her contributions to the English throne.

Stories like Ealhswith's can be easily overlooked by modern historians due to the lack of primary source material offered to them. However, she was the Queen Consort of England during the time of King Alfred and she did not sit ideally by while he did all of the work. Modern historians show her importance to the English through their articles, journals, and books, signifying that she was a key figure in early medieval England.

She was married to Alfred in 868 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. His elder brother Æthelred was then king, and Alfred was regarded as heir apparent. The Danes occupied the Mercian town of Nottingham in that year. and her marriage to King Alfred was seen as political leverage. This marriage was what Alfred utilized to justify his control of merging English kingdoms.[2 Alfred became king on his brother's death in 871 and Ealhswith was granted the title of queen-consort. As per ninth century West Saxon customs, she was not granted the title of queen. Alfred’s own mother, Osburh, was also not granted the title of queen when she was on the throne. This custom comes from King Alfred himself, claiming that a former queen of West Saxon, Eadburh, is the reason for the denial of the title of queen. As the story told by King Alfred goes, Eadburh allegedly poisoned her husband, King Beorhtric in 802.[1] Due to Eadburh’s actions, later wives of Anglo-Saxon kings, like Ealhswith, would pay for the consequences of her actions. This custom had only been practiced for two generations, but Alfred felt it important to uphold and deny Ealhswith the full title of Queen.

Ealhswith would have five children that would survive to adulthood. Royal women, like Ealhswith, in the Middle Ages took a secondary role when tending for their children. Wet nurses would breast-feed Ealhswith own children for her, as opposed to Ealhswith doing it herself.[4] This was not uncommon as royal women lived busy lives and the wet nurses aided in raising Alfred and Ealhswith’s young. However, since Ealhswith descended from Mercian royalty, she played an active role in her children’s education.[5] Ealhswith passed down knowledge she had learned from her family to her children, so she became an active role in her children’s lives later in life.

There is no evidence citing that she witnessed any known charters during the reign of her husband. While later in life she would play a more prominent role in the lives of her children, she was never involved with her husbands’ charters.

After Alfred's death, in 901, Ealhswith did witness one charter during the reign of her son King Edward in which she is identified as "Ealhswið mater regis", Ealhswith mother of the king. Her name is subscribed immediately after King Edward, and before Edward's wife Ælfflæd.

Alfred left his wife three important symbolic estates in his will, Edington in Wiltshire, the site of one important victory over the Vikings, Lambourn in Berkshire, which was near another, and Wantage, his birthplace. These were all part of his bookland, and they stayed in royal possession after her death.

Ealhswith died on 5 December 902, and was buried in her son Edward's new Benedictine abbey, the New Minster, Winchester. Edward also had his father, Alfred, moved to New Minster, Winchester to be with Ealhswith in death. She is commemorated in two early tenth century manuscripts as "the true and dear lady of the English".

Patron

Middle Aged Anglo-Saxons followed Christianity at the time of Ealhswith’s rule. Their branch of Christianity hailed from the belief that Eve was made from one of Adam’s ribs and was therefore, an extension of him. It also gave tribute to the idea that Eve was the one who brought sin into the world through her act of eating the forbidden fruit. [1]

A common practice of royal women during the Anglo-Saxon Middle Ages was the founding of nunneries. These nunneries were often where royal or noble women would retire upon the death of their husband. Kings often sent their wives to nunneries to keep them away from political criticism that could follow their passing and to ensure that their wives did not do anything that would tarnish their legacy.[2]

Ealhswith both founded a nunnery and retired to one after the passing of King Alfred in 899. Prior to her death, Ealhswith founded Nunnaminster, with the exact date of erection being unknown.[3] Nunnaminster would later be known as the abbey of St.Mary and Ealhswith’s son, Edward the Elder, would send his own daughter, Eadburh, there to become a nun.[4] After Alfred’s death in 899, Edward had Ealhswith move to his nunnery in New Minster, where she would live out the rest of her days. Ealhswith would make contributions and be a patron to Nunnaminster until her death in 902.[5]

Children

Alfred and Ealhswith had five children who survived to adulthood.

• Æthelflæd (d. 918), Lady of the Mercians, married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians
• Edward the Elder (d. 924), King of the Anglo-Saxons
• Æthelgifu, made abbess of her foundation at Shaftesbury by her father
• Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders (d. 929), married Baldwin II, Count of Flanders
• Æthelweard (d. c. 920).

Citations

• Higham, Nicholas J.; Ryan, Martin J. (2013), The Anglo-Saxon World, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-12534-4