Waltheof was

high-reeve High-reeve ( ang, hēahgerēfa) was a title taken by some English magnates during the 10th and 11th centuries, and is particularly associated with the rulers of Bamburgh. It was not however only used by rulers of Bamburgh; many other places used ...

ealdorman Ealdorman (, ) was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king. It evolved in meaning and in the eighth century was sometimes applied ...

Bamburgh Bamburgh ( ) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census. The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat o ...

(

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

994). He was probably the son of Ealdred, and the grandson of Osulf I''De Northumbria post Britannos'' says that Osulf had a son named Ealdred, father of Waltheof of Bamburgh, father of Uhtred of Northumbria; see McGuigan, ′Ælla and the descendants of Ivar′, pp. 25, 33. and was father of

Uhtred the Bold Uhtred of Bamburgh (sometimes Uchtred); died c. 1016), was ruler of Bamburgh and from 1006 to 1016 the ealdorman of Northumbria. He was the son of Waltheof I, ruler of Bamburgh (Bebbanburg), whose family the Eadwulfings had ruled the surroun ...

Ealdorman of Northumbria Earl of Northumbria or Ealdorman of Northumbria was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Scandinavian and early Anglo-Norman period in England. The ealdordom was a successor of the Norse Kingdom of York. In the seventh century, the Anglo-Saxon ...

. His name is Scandinavian which may imply that he had Viking ancestors. The name 'Waltheof' remained in his family when Earl Siward married his great-granddaughter and named his son Waltheof. This son of Siward became

Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria ( enm, Wallef, on, Valþjóf) (died 31 May 1076) was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I. Early life Waltheof was the second son of Siw ...

, and one of his descendants being Saint Waltheof of Melrose. Additionally, another branch of the family would use the Waltheof name including:

Waltheof of Allerdale Waltheof of Allerdale was an 11th- and 12th-century Anglo-Saxon noble, lord of Allerdale in modern Cumbria. Brother of Dolfin of Carlisle and Gospatric of Dunbar, Waltheof was son of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria.Hamilton, ''Mighty Subjects'', ...

who was son of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria. Waltheof of Inverkeithing and Dalmeny was son of Cospatric, and grandson of

. Another descendant of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria was

Waltheof, Earl of Dunbar Waltheof (died 1182), Earl of Lothian or "Dunbar" and lord of Beanley, was a 12th-century Anglo-Scottish noble. He was the eldest son of Gospatric III, Earl of Lothian by his Scottish wife Deirdre. Waltheof's grandfather Gospatric II died at the ...

. In 1006

Malcolm II of Scotland Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ( gd, Maol Chaluim mac Choinnich, label=Modern Scottish Gaelic; anglicized Malcolm II; c. 954 – 25 November 1034) was King of Scots from 1005 until his death. He was a son of King Kenneth II; but the name of his mot ...

invaded Northumbria and besieged the newly founded episcopal city of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. At that time the Danes were raiding southern England and King Æthelred was unable to send help to the Northumbrians. Ealdorman Waltheof was too old to fight and remained in his castle at

. Ealdorman Ælfhelm of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

also took no action. Waltheof's son Uhtred, acting for his father, called together an army from Bernicia and Yorkshire and led it against the Scots. The result was a decisive victory for Uhtred. Local women washed the severed heads of the Scots, receiving a payment of a cow for each, and the heads were fixed on stakes to Durham's walls. Uhtred was rewarded by King Æthelred II with the ealdormanry of Bamburgh even though his father was still alive.

Issue

Waltheof has been identified as the father of two sons, their mother is unknown: *

(also spelled Uchtred), Ealdorman of Northumbria; married several times including Ælfgifu, daughter of King

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

Eadwulf Cudel Eadwulf III of Bamburgh or Eadwulf Cudel or Cutel (meaning cuttlefish) (died early 1020s) was ruler of Bamburgh for some period in the early eleventh century. Following the successful takeover of York by the Vikings in 866/7, southern Northumbria be ...

, Ealdorman of Bamburgh

References

Sources

* Stenton, Sir Frank M. ''Anglo-Saxon England''; 3rd edition.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 1971.

External links

* Anglo-Saxon warriors Rulers of Bamburgh 10th-century English people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{europe-noble-stub