NORTHUMBRIA, Edith of

Other Events and Attributes:

• Web Address: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Northumbria-6
• Name: Ælfgifu (Ealdgyth) "Algiva, Edith" of Dunbar

Notes:

Birth:
(aka the Kingdom of Northumbria)

Died:
(aka the Kingdom of Northumbria)

Edith married DUNKELD, Lord Maldred in 1040. Maldred (son of DUNKELD, Crínán of and MACALPIN, Princess Bethóc) was born about 1003 in Carlisle, Cumberland, England; died after 1051 in Winlaton, Durham, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. DUNBAR, Earl Gospatrick I was born about 1040 in Northumberland, England; died on 15 Dec 1074 in Norham, Northumberland, England.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Books About: The Saxon Tales series of 6 books by Bernard Cornwell (who is also an ancestor of Uhtred the Bold)
• Royalty & Nobility: Earl (Ealdorman) of Northumbria
• Web Address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uhtred_of_Bamburgh
• Web Address: https://screenrant.com/last-kingdom-things-uthred-accurate-and-arent/
• Web Address: https://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/saxon_40.html
• Web Address: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Northumbria-2
• Name: Uhtred the Bold also Uhtred the Bold, Ealdorman of Northumbria

Notes:

The Last Kingdom is a TV series that was based on Bernard Cornwall's novel series The Saxon Stories. In the TV series Uhtred of Bebbanburg is partially based on the real-life Uhtred the Bold, but there are historical inaccuracies in his characterization.

----

Uhtred of Bamburgh, also known as Uhtred the Bold, was a significant historical figure in early 11th-century Northumbria. Born into the Eadwulfing family, who had ruled Bamburgh for over a century, Uhtred was the son of Waltheof I, the ruler of Bamburgh.

In 995, Uhtred played a crucial role in clearing the site for the new cathedral in Durham, a project initiated by Bishop Aldhun. Around this time, he married Aldhun's daughter, Ecgfrida, and received several estates as part of the marriage.

Uhtred's military prowess became evident in 1006 when Malcolm II of Scotland invaded Northumbria and besieged Durham. With the English King Ethelred unable to assist and his father too old to fight, Uhtred gathered an army from Bernicia and Yorkshire, leading them to a decisive victory against the Scots. This victory earned him the ealdormanry of Bamburgh, even while his father was alive.

Ethelred, seeking a trustworthy Anglo-Saxon leader in southern Northumbria, had Ælfhelm of York murdered and allowed Uhtred to take his place. This move united northern and southern Northumbria under Uhtred's leadership.

Uhtred's personal life was marked by strategic alliances. After gaining power, he divorced Ecgfrida and married Sige, daughter of Styr, a wealthy citizen of York. This marriage was likely an attempt to build alliances with the Danes in Deira. With Sige, Uhtred had two children, Eadulf and Gospatric.

In 1013, when Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England, Uhtred submitted to him but switched allegiance back to Ethelred upon his return. Around this time, Uhtred married Ethelred's daughter Ælfgifu (we are descended from this marriage).

Uhtred's life ended in 1016 when, after campaigning with Ethelred's son Edmund Ironside, he was summoned to a peace meeting by Sweyn's son, Cnut. En route, Uhtred and forty of his men were assassinated by Thurbrand the Hold, with Cnut's involvement. Uhtred's death marked the beginning of a long-standing blood feud and he was succeeded in Bernicia by his brother Eadwulf Cudel.

Uhtred's legacy continued through his children from his three marriages. His first son, Ealdred, became Earl of Northumbria, followed by Eadulf, his son with Sige. His daughter Ealdgyth, from his marriage to Ælfgifu, married Maldred and was the ancestress of the Earls of Dunbar.

Uhtred's story, marked by political maneuvering, military leadership, and personal alliances, played a significant role in the turbulent history of early 11th-century Northumbria.

Birth:
Kingdom of Northumbria

Died:
Uhtred and forty of his men were assassinated by Thurbrand the Hold, with Cnut's involvement

Uhtred + Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Royalty & Nobility: Earl of Northumbria, Ealdorman of Bamburgh

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Æthelred has been credited with the formation of a local investigative body made up of twelve thegns who were charged with publishing the names of any notorious or wicked men in their respective districts. Because the members of these bodies were under solemn oath to act in accordance with the law and their own good consciences, they have been seen by some legal historians as the prototype for the English Grand Jury.
• Relation to Me: 32 GGF
• Name: Æthelred the Unready, King Æthelred the II
• Royalty & Nobility: 18 Mar 978-1013, 1014-23 Apr 1016; King of the English

Notes:

Later perspectives of Æthelred have been less than flattering. Numerous legends and anecdotes have sprung up to explain his shortcomings, often elaborating abusively on his character and failures. One such anecdote is given by William of Malmesbury (lived c. 1080-c. 1143), who reports that Æthelred had defecated in the baptismal font as a child, which led St. Dunstan to prophesy that the English monarchy would be overthrown during his reign. This story is, however, a fabrication, and a similar story is told of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Copronymus, another mediaeval monarch who was unpopular among certain of his subjects.

Efforts to rehabilitate Æthelred's reputation have gained momentum since about 1980. Chief among the rehabilitators has been Simon Keynes, who has often argued that our poor impression of Æthelred is almost entirely based upon after-the-fact accounts of, and later accretions to, the narrative of events during Æthelred's long and complex reign.

II + YORK, Elfgifu of. Elfgifu was born in 970; died in 1002. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 32 GGM
• Royalty & Nobility: Queen Consort of England

Other Events and Attributes:

• Differentiator: Some see Edgar's death as the beginning of the end of Anglo-Saxon England, followed as it was by three successful 11th century conquests — two Danish and one Norman.
• Relation to Me: 33 GGF
• Name: Edgar the Peaceful or the Peaceable
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 959 and 975; King of England

Notes:

Edgar was crowned at Bath and anointed with his wife Ælfthryth, setting a precedent for a coronation of a queen in England itself. Edgar's coronation did not happen until 973, in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign (a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy). This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, forms the basis of the present-day British coronation ceremony.

Known as a reformer. Edgar oversaw realignment of county boundaries that woudl endure for more than 1000 years (until 1974) and also reformed weights and measures and the coinage.

I + AELFTHRYTH. (daughter of ORDGAR) was born in 945; died in 1000. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Relation to Me: 33 GGM
• Name: Ælfthryth
• Royalty & Nobility: Between 965 and 975; Queen Consort of England

Notes:

The first king's wife known to have been crowned and anointed as Queen of the Kingdom of England. Mother of King Æthelred the Unready, she was a powerful political figure. She was linked to the murder of her stepson King Edward the Martyr and appeared as a stereotypical bad queen and evil stepmother in many medieval histories.

King Edgar organised a second coronation on 11 May 973 at Bath, perhaps to bolster his claim to be ruler of all of Britain. Here Ælfthryth was also crowned and anointed, granting her a status higher than any recent queen.The only model of a queen's coronation was that of Judith of Flanders, but this had taken place outside England. In the new rite, the emphasis lay on her role as protector of religion and the nunneries in the realm. She took a close interest in the well-being of several abbeys, and as overseer of Barking Abbey she deposed and later reinstated the abbess.

Ælfthryth played a large role as forespeca, or advocate, in at least seven legal cases. As such, she formed a key part of the Anglo-Saxon legal system as a mediator between the individual and the crown, which was increasingly viewing its role in the courts as a symbol of its authority as protector of its subjects. Ælfthryth's actions as forespeca were largely for the benefit of female litigants, and her role as a mediator shows the possibilities for women to have legal and political power in late Anglo-Saxon England.