Related Research Articles
Edward, often called the Martyr, was King of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar, but was not his father's acknowledged heir. On Edgar's death, the leadership of England was contested, with some supporting Edward's claim to be king and others supporting his younger half-brother Æthelred, recognised as a legitimate son of Edgar. Edward was chosen as king and was crowned by his main clerical supporters, the archbishops Dunstan of Canterbury and Oswald of York.
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith.
Eanflæd was a Deiran princess, queen of Northumbria and later, the abbess of an influential Christian monastery in Whitby, England. She was the daughter of King Edwin of Northumbria and Æthelburg, who in turn was the daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent. In or shortly after 642 Eanflæd became the second wife of King Oswiu of Northumbria. After Oswiu's death in 670, she retired to Whitby Abbey, which had been founded by Hilda of Whitby. Eanflæd became the abbess around 680 and remained there until her death. The monastery had strong association with members of the Northumbrian royal family and played an important role in the establishment of Roman Christianity in England.
Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians became ruler of English Mercia shortly after the death or disappearance of its last king, Ceolwulf II in 879. Æthelred's rule was confined to the western half, as eastern Mercia was then part of the Viking-ruled Danelaw. His ancestry is unknown. He was probably the leader of an unsuccessful Mercian invasion of Wales in 881, and soon afterwards he acknowledged the lordship of King Alfred the Great of Wessex. This alliance was cemented by the marriage of Æthelred to Alfred's daughter Æthelflæd.
Ealhswith or Ealswitha was the wife of King Alfred the Great. 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. Ealhswith is commemorated as a saint in the Christian East and the West on 20 July.
Osgyth was a Mercian noblewoman and prioress, venerated as an English saint since the 8th century, from soon after her death. She is primarily commemorated in the village of St Osyth, in Essex, near Colchester. Alternative spellings of her name include Sythe, Othith and Ositha. Born of a noble family, she became a nun and founded a priory near Chich which was later named after her.
Ælfwynn was the ruler of Mercia as the 'Second Lady of the Mercians' for a few months in 918, following her mother's death on 12 June 918. She was the daughter of Æthelred and Æthelflæd, the rulers of Mercia. Her accession was the only example of rule passing from one woman to another in the early medieval period in the British Isles. Manuscript C of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states: "Here also the daughter of Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, was deprived of all control in Mercia, and was led into Wessex three weeks before Christmas; she was called Ælfwynn." ASC C dates Æthelflæd's death as 12 June 918 and Ælfwynn's deposition to December 919, but most historians revise the deposition to 918. George Molyneux gives the period of Ælfwynn's power as "six or eighteen months". ASC C is the only version of the Chronicle to mention Ælfwynn. Other versions reflect a West Saxon view point and ASC A states that Edward took power in Mercia immediately after Æthelflæd's death, but ASC C includes entries from a lost version called the 'Mercian Chronicle'.
Æthelwold or Æthelwald was the younger of two known sons of Æthelred I, King of Wessex from 865 to 871. Æthelwold and his brother Æthelhelm were still infants when their father the king died while fighting a Danish Viking invasion. The throne passed to the king's younger brother Alfred the Great, who carried on the war against the Vikings and won a crucial victory at the Battle of Edington in 878.
Although the name Buckinghamshire is Anglo Saxon in origin meaning The district (scire) of Bucca's home the name has only been recorded since about the 12th century. The historic county itself has been in existence since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of Wessex in the 10th century. It was formed out of about 200 communities that could between them fund a castle in Buckingham, to defend against invading Danes.
Æthelhelm or Æþelhelm was the elder of two known sons of Æthelred I, King of Wessex from 865 to 871, and Queen Wulfthryth.
Sitric Cáech or Sihtric Cáech or Sigtrygg Gále, was a Hiberno-Scandinavian Viking leader who ruled Dublin and then Viking Northumbria in the early 10th century. He was a grandson of Ímar and a member of the Uí Ímair. Sitric was most probably among those Vikings expelled from Dublin in 902, whereafter he may have ruled territory in the eastern Danelaw in England. In 917, he and his kinsman Ragnall ua Ímair sailed separate fleets to Ireland where they won several battles against local kings. Sitric successfully recaptured Dublin and established himself as king, while Ragnall returned to England to become King of Northumbria. In 919, Sitric won a victory at the Battle of Islandbridge over a coalition of local Irish kings who aimed to expel the Uí Ímair from Ireland. Six Irish kings were killed in the battle, including Niall Glúndub, overking of the Northern Uí Néill and High King of Ireland.
Edward the Elder was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æthelwold, who had a strong claim to the throne as the son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor, Æthelred I.
Saint Edith of Polesworth is an obscure Anglo-Saxon abbess associated with Polesworth (Warwickshire) and Tamworth (Staffordshire) in Mercia. Her historical identity and floruit are uncertain. Some late sources make her a daughter of King Edward the Elder, while other sources claim she is the daughter of Egbert of Wessex. Her feast day is 15 July.
Edwin was the younger son of King Edward the Elder and Ælfflæd, his second wife. He drowned at sea in circumstances which are unclear. Edward the Elder died in 924, leaving five sons by three marriages. Of these, Edmund and Eadred were infants and thus excluded from the succession. Edward's careful work of expansion was undone when the Mercians chose Edward's oldest son Æthelstan – probably raised in Mercia at the court of Æthelflæd – to be their king while the West Saxons picked Ælfweard, elder son of Edward's second wife Ælfflæd, who was perhaps Edward's own choice as successor. Ælfweard's "sudden and convenient" death followed 16 days after that of his father, but Æthelstan appears not to have been recognised as king by the West Saxons until a year after his father's death, suggesting that there was considerable resistance to him and perhaps also support for Edwin.
Modwenna, or Modwen, was a nun and saint in England, who founded Burton Abbey in Staffordshire in the 7th century.
Ecgwynn or Ecgwynna, was the first consort of Edward the Elder, later King of the English, by whom she bore the future King Æthelstan, and a daughter who married Sihtric Cáech, Norse king of Dublin, Ireland, and Northumbria. Almost nothing is known about her background and life. Not even her name is given in any sources until after the Norman Conquest. The first to record it is William of Malmesbury, who presents it in Latinised guise as Egwinna and who is in fact the principal source for her existence.
Ælfflæd was the second wife of the English king Edward the Elder.
St. Mary's Abbey, also known as the Nunnaminster, was a Benedictine nunnery in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded between 899 and 902 by Alfred the Great's widow Ealhswith, who was described as the 'builder' of the Nunnaminster in the New Minster Liber Vitae. The first buildings were completed by their son, Edward the Elder. Among the house's early members was Edward's daughter Edburga.
Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury was the first wife of King Edmund I. She was Queen of the English from her marriage in around 939 until her death in 944. Ælfgifu and Edmund were the parents of two future English kings, Eadwig and Edgar. Like her mother Wynflaed, Ælfgifu had a close and special if unknown connection with the royal nunnery of Shaftesbury (Dorset), founded by King Alfred, where she was buried and soon revered as a saint. According to a pre-Conquest tradition from Winchester, her feast day is 18 May.
Harald Sigtryggsson was a Viking leader who ruled Limerick in the early 10th century. He was the son of Sitric Cáech and great-grandson of Ímar, making him one of the Uí Ímair. He was installed as king of Limerick following the capture of the previous king Olaf Scabby-head by Harald's cousin Olaf Guthfrithson, king of Dublin, during a battle at Lough Ree in 937. Harald died in 940 and was ultimately succeeded by Ivar of Limerick.
References
- ↑ Oxford Dictionary of Saints, [ page needed ]
- ↑ Yorke, Barbara (2003). Nunneries and the Anglo-Saxon Royal Houses. London. p. 22
- ↑ Thacker, Alan (2001). "Dynastic monasteries and family cults: Edward the Elder's sainted kindred". In N. J. Higham and D. H. Hill. Edward the Elder 899–924. London: Routledge. p. 257. ISBN 0-415-21497-1
- ↑ Stowe MS 944, British Library
- ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle manuscript C (1046).
- ↑ Williams, T., "Origins and First Growth of Christianity in Bucks", Records of Buckinghamshire, Or, Papers and Notes on the History, Antiquities, and Architecture of the County, Together with the Proceedings of the Architectural and Archaeological Society for the County of Buckingham, Vol. 7, J. Pickburn, 1897, p. 358
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain . - ↑ Thacker, Alan (2001). "Dynastic monasteries and family cults: Edward the Elder's sainted kindred". In N. J. Higham and D. H. Hill. Edward the Elder 899–924. (Routledge, 2001). p257.
- ↑ Robert Bartlett, Geoffrey of Burton. Life and miracles of Modwenna (Clarendon, 2002) pp. xviii-xix.
 | This article about a saint is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |