Aelgifu of Northampton
Encyclopedia
Ælfgifu of Northampton was the first wife of King Cnut
of England and Denmark, and mother of King Harold I
of England (1035–40). She served as regent of Norway
from 1030 to 1035.
(Mercia
). She was a daughter of Ælfhelm, ealdorman of southern Northumbria, who was killed in 1006. John of Worcester
names his wife Wulfrun, but it is possible that he had her confused with the Wulfrun
who was Ælfhelm's mother and possibly patron of the community at Wolverhampton. Another noteworthy figure who belonged to this family was Ælfhelm's brother (hence Ælfgifu's uncle) Wulfric Spot
, a wealthy nobleman and patron of Burton Abbey. Her cognomen
'of Northampton
' is attached to her in Manuscript D of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
in order to distinguish her from Emma of Normandy
, and consequently adopted by later historians such as John of Worcester. It would seem to indicate that she was a prominent landholder in the area.
Ælfgifu's date of birth is unknown. Any conjectures are largely based on the date of her father's death (1006), the approximate date of her betrothal to Cnut (1004 × 1016, see below) and the time by which she had borne him sons, whose ages are themselves difficult to establish. To remain on the safe side, it can be assumed that she was born sometime between the (mid-)980s and (mid-)990s.
.
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, a practice which might be described as "serial monogamy". 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
and Ælfred
by Æthelred and Harthacnut 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.
, 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
:
and Adam of Bremen
suggest that Cnut had reserved the English throne for Harold, while the Encomium Emmae Reginae claims that he done so for Harthacnut. In any event, on Cnut's death, 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 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
, she was probably the real ruler of England for part, if not the whole, of his reign.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
(versions C, D and E) describes how Harold and his men forcefully laid claim on the treasury housed in Winchester
, where Cnut was buried and Emma 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. Emma's encomiast attributes to her even more seriously dishonest methods. He makes Ælfgifu an accomplice in the murder of Emma's youngest son, Alfred
, by suggesting that she was responsible for sending a forged letter to Normandy inviting Alfred to England.
Another way in which the legitimacy of Harold's succession was disputed in the wake of the succession crisis was by focusing on his and his brother's parentage. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions how Harold's claim that he was the son of Cnut and Ælfgifu is either distrusted or simply denied. In the Encomium Emmae Reginae it is heard that Harold was secretly a servant's son. John of Worcester heard tales in which the fathers of Svein and Harold were respectively a priest and a shoemaker. Adam of Bremen
states that Svein and Harold were sons to Cnut and a concubina (but that Cnut nevertheless reserved England for Harold, Denmark for Harthacnut).
Ælfgifu fell into obscurity after Harold's death in 1040, and the crowning of Harthacnut, the legitimate heir to Cnut and also the King of Denmark. It is unknown when she died.
Gytha was the daughter of Thorgils Spregaleag (last king of Scania (Ohlmarks) & Sigrid. Thorgils was the son of Styrbjorn The Strong (son of Olaf, King of Sweden) & Thyra Haraldsdottir (the daughter of Harald Bluetooth).
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
of England and Denmark, and mother of King Harold I
Harold Harefoot
Harold Harefoot was King of England from 1037 to 1040. His cognomen "Harefoot" referred to his speed, and the skill of his huntsmanship. He was the son of Cnut the Great, king of England, Denmark, and Norway by Ælfgifu of Northampton...
of England (1035–40). She served as regent of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
from 1030 to 1035.
Family background
Ælfgifu was born into an important noble family based in the MidlandsEnglish Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
(Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
). She was a daughter of Ælfhelm, ealdorman of southern Northumbria, who was killed in 1006. John of Worcester
John of Worcester
John of Worcester was an English monk and chronicler. He is usually held to be the author of the Chronicon ex chronicis.-Chronicon ex chronicis:...
names his wife Wulfrun, but it is possible that he had her confused with the Wulfrun
Wulfrun
Wulfrun was an Anglo-Saxon noble woman and landowner, who established a landed estate at Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England in 985. Contemporary knowledge of her comes from several text sources:...
who was Ælfhelm's mother and possibly patron of the community at Wolverhampton. Another noteworthy figure who belonged to this family was Ælfhelm's brother (hence Ælfgifu's uncle) Wulfric Spot
Wulfric Spot
Wulfric , called Wulfric Spot or Spott, was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman. His will is an important document from the reign of King Æthelred the Unready...
, a wealthy nobleman and patron of Burton Abbey. Her cognomen
Cognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
'of Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
' is attached to her in Manuscript D of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
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 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
in order to distinguish her from Emma of Normandy
Emma of Normandy
Emma , was a daughter of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy, by his second wife Gunnora. She was Queen consort of England twice, by successive marriages: first as second wife to Æthelred the Unready of England ; and then second wife to Cnut the Great of Denmark...
, and consequently adopted by later historians such as John of Worcester. It would seem to indicate that she was a prominent landholder in the area.
Ælfgifu's date of birth is unknown. Any conjectures are largely based on the date of her father's death (1006), the approximate date of her betrothal to Cnut (1004 × 1016, see below) and the time by which she had borne him sons, whose ages are themselves difficult to establish. To remain on the safe side, it can be assumed that she was born sometime between the (mid-)980s and (mid-)990s.
Marriage to Cnut
In 1013 Swein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, invaded northern England. The northern peoples, many 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 murdered, 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 HarefootHarold Harefoot
Harold Harefoot was King of England from 1037 to 1040. His cognomen "Harefoot" referred to his speed, and the skill of his huntsmanship. He was the son of Cnut the Great, king of England, Denmark, and Norway by Ælfgifu of Northampton...
.
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
Emma of Normandy
Emma , was a daughter of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy, by his second wife Gunnora. She was Queen consort of England twice, by successive marriages: first as second wife to Æthelred the Unready of England ; and then second wife to Cnut the Great of Denmark...
, the widow of King Æthelred. It was then regarded as acceptable to put aside one wife and take another, a practice which might be described as "serial monogamy". 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 the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
and Ælfred
Alfred Atheling
Alfred Atheling or Aetheling was the son of Aethelred II and his second wife Emma of Normandy. He was a brother of Edward the Confessor. King Canute became their stepfather when he married Aethelred's widow...
by Æthelred and Harthacnut 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 (1030–1035)
Cnut sent Ælfgifu with their eldest son Svein to rule NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, 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
Sigvatr Þórðarson
Sigvatr Þórðarson or Sigvat the Skald was an Icelandic skald. He was a court poet to King Olaf II of Norway, as well as Canute the Great, Magnus the Good and Anund Jacob, by whose reigns his floruit can be dated to the earlier eleventh century.Sigvatr was the best known of the court skalds of...
:
- 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 DurhamSymeon of Durham
Symeon of Durham was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. When William of Saint-Calais returned from his Norman exile in 1091, Symeon was probably in his company...
and Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
suggest that Cnut had reserved the English throne for Harold, while the Encomium Emmae Reginae claims that he done so for Harthacnut. In any event, on Cnut's death, 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 was away in Denmark, at war with the Norwegian king Magnus I
Magnus I of Norway
Magnus I , known as the Good or the Noble, was the King of Norway from 1035 to 1047 and the King of Denmark from 1042 to 1047. He was an illegitimate son of king Olaf II of Norway, but fled with his mother in 1028 when his father was dethroned. In 1035 he returned to Norway and was crowned king at...
, 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
Frank Stenton
Sir Frank Merry Stenton was a 20th century historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society . He was the author of Anglo-Saxon England, a volume of the Oxford History of England, first published in 1943 and widely considered a classic history of the period...
, she was probably the real ruler of England for part, if not the whole, of his reign.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
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 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
(versions C, D and E) describes how Harold and his men forcefully laid claim on the treasury housed in Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, where Cnut was buried and Emma 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
Gunhilda of Denmark
Gunhilda of Denmark was the first spouse of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor.-Biography:Gunhilda was a daughter of Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy. Her maternal grandparents were Richard I of Normandy and his second wife Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy.She was a sister of Harthacanute. She was a...
, 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. Emma's encomiast attributes to her even more seriously dishonest methods. He makes Ælfgifu an accomplice in the murder of Emma's youngest son, Alfred
Alfred Atheling
Alfred Atheling or Aetheling was the son of Aethelred II and his second wife Emma of Normandy. He was a brother of Edward the Confessor. King Canute became their stepfather when he married Aethelred's widow...
, by suggesting that she was responsible for sending a forged letter to Normandy inviting Alfred to England.
Another way in which the legitimacy of Harold's succession was disputed in the wake of the succession crisis was by focusing on his and his brother's parentage. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions how Harold's claim that he was the son of Cnut and Ælfgifu is either distrusted or simply denied. In the Encomium Emmae Reginae it is heard that Harold was secretly a servant's son. John of Worcester heard tales in which the fathers of Svein and Harold were respectively a priest and a shoemaker. Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
states that Svein and Harold were sons to Cnut and a concubina (but that Cnut nevertheless reserved England for Harold, Denmark for Harthacnut).
Ælfgifu fell into obscurity after Harold's death in 1040, and the crowning of Harthacnut, the legitimate heir to Cnut and also the King of Denmark. It is unknown when she died.
Family tree
Gytha was the daughter of Thorgils Spregaleag (last king of Scania (Ohlmarks) & Sigrid. Thorgils was the son of Styrbjorn The Strong (son of Olaf, King of Sweden) & Thyra Haraldsdottir (the daughter of Harald Bluetooth).
Primary sources
- Anglo-Saxon ChronicleAnglo-Saxon ChronicleThe 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 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, MSS C, D and E, ed. D. Dumville and S. Keynes, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Colloborative 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 WormsWorms, GermanyWorms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
, to Bishop Azeko of Worms, preserved in the Lorsch manuscript, Codex Palatinus Latinus 930 (Vatican LibraryVatican LibraryThe Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
), ed. W. Bulst, Die ältere Wormser Briefsammlung. MGH Epistolae. Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit 3. Weimar, 1949. 20–2 (no. 5.). Available from the Digital MGH. - William of MalmesburyWilliam of MalmesburyWilliam of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
, 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 DurhamSymeon of DurhamSymeon of Durham was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. When William of Saint-Calais returned from his Norman exile in 1091, Symeon was probably in his company...
, ed. T. Arnold, Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia. 2 vols. London, 1885. - John of WorcesterJohn of WorcesterJohn of Worcester was an English monk and chronicler. He is usually held to be the author of the Chronicon ex chronicis.-Chronicon ex chronicis:...
, Chronicle (of Chronicles), ed. Benjamin ThorpeBenjamin ThorpeBenjamin Thorpe was an English scholar of Anglo-Saxon.-Biography:After studying for four years at Copenhagen University, under the Danish philologist Rasmus Christian Rask, he returned to England in 1830, and in 1832 published an English version of Caedmon's metrical paraphrase of portions of the...
, Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis. 2 vols. London, 1848–9. - Ágrip af NóregskonungasögumÁgrip af NóregskonungasögumÁgrip af Nóregskonungasögum or Ágrip is a synoptic history of the kings of Norway, written in Old Norse. The preserved text starts with the death of Hálfdan svarti and ends with the accession of Ingi krókhryggr but the original is thought to have covered a longer period, probably up to the reign of...
§§ 27, 32, 35, ed. and tr. M.J. Driscoll, . Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series 10. 2nd ed. 2008 (1995). Available online from the Viking Society for Northern Research - Theodoricus monachus, 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 helgaLegendary Saga of St. OlafThe Legendary Saga of St. Olaf or Helgisaga Óláfs konungs Haraldssonar is one of the kings' sagas, a 13th century biography of the 11th century Saint Olaf II of Norway. It is based heavily on the largely lost Oldest Saga of St. Olaf. The composition is primitive and clumsy and the saga essentially...
ch. 71 - MorkinskinnaMorkinskinnaMorkinskinna is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275....
, ed. Finnur JónssonFinnur JónssonFinnur Jónsson was an Icelandic philologist who made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature.Finnur graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in 1878 and went to Denmark for further studies at the University of Copenhagen. He received a doctorate in philology in 1884 with a...
. Morkinskinna. Copenhagen: Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 1932. - Adam of BremenAdam of BremenAdam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificumGesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificumGesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. It covers the period from 788 to the time it was written. The treatise consist of:*Liber I...
. - The Chronicle of Hugh CandidusHugh CandidusHugh Candidus was a monk of the Benedictine monastery at Peterborough, who wrote a Medieval Latin account of its history, from its foundation as Medeshamstede in the mid 7th century up to the mid 12th century.-Life:...
Secondary literature
- 'Ælfgifu 1', 'Ælfhelm 17', 'Wulfrun', 'Wulfric 52', Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
- Campbell, M.W. "Queen Emma and Ælfgifu of Northampton. Canute the Great's women." Medieval Scandinavia 4 (1971): 60–79.
- Rognoni, L., "Presenza e azione di Ælfgifu di Northampton, regina madre e reggente nell'Impero del Nord di Canuto il Grande (1013–1040)" (in Italian) http://www.tesionline.it/default/tesi.asp?idt=9666
- 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.