Ecgwynn or Ecgwynna (Old English ''Eċġwynn'', lit. "sword joy"; ''fl''. 890s), was the first consort of

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (17 July 924) 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 ...

, later King of the English (reigned 899–924), by whom she bore the future

King Æthelstan King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

(r. 924–939), and a daughter who married Sihtric Cáech, Norse king of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, and

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

. Extremely little is known about her background and life. Not even her name is given in any sources until after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

. The first to record it is

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...

, who presents it in Latinised guise as ''Egwinna ''and who is in fact the principal source for her existence.William of Malmesbury, ''Gesta regum'' II ch. 126.

Life as consort

According to

, Æthelstan was thirty years old when he became king in 924, which would mean that he was born around 894 and Ecgwynn's marriage to Edward the Elder took place in about 893.William of Malmesbury, ''Gesta regum'' II ch. 133.Yorke, “Edward as ætheling.” p. 33. By this time, Edward had reached

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterThe date coincides roughly with Edward's first recorded military achievement (893) and with the first charter witnessed by him
S 348
(AD 892). Miller, "Edward the Elder."; Yorke, “Edward as ætheling.” p. 33. No sources report what became of Ecgwynn afterwards, though two events are directly relevant. First, William writes that on King Alfred's instigation, Æthelstan was sent to be raised at the

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , y ...

n court of his aunt Æthelflæd.William of Malmesbury, ''Gesta regum'' II ch. 125 and 133. Second, it is known that by 901, Edward had taken to wife

Ælfflæd Ælfflæd is a name of Anglo-Saxon England meaning Ælf (Elf) and flæd (beauty). It may refer to: * Saint Ælfflæd of Whitby (654–714) * Ælfflæd of Mercia, daughter of Offa, wife of King Æthelred I of Northumbria * Ælfflæd, wife of Edward ...

, a daughter of

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 ...

Æthelhelm.Miller, “Edward the Elder.” The reason for this decision is unclear. It may have simply been that Ecgwynn was no longer alive in 899 and that it was therefore only natural that Edward looked for another bride. It is also possible that Edward's first marriage was thought to lack the political import that was needed to buttress his position as king of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

.Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. p. 70. Alfred may have been responsible for arranging the first marriage and so his death in 899 would have afforded Edward and his counsellors room to follow a different course.Nelson, “Reconstructing a royal family.” p. 64 and 64 note 89.

An anonymous daughter

The ''

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 A ...

'' records that King Æthelstan married his sister to Sihtric Cáech (died 927), king of

, and that the

nuptials A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage ...

were celebrated at the

n royal centre at Tamworth on 30 January 926.''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (MSS B and B, Mercian register) 924; (D) 924-5 for 925-6. William notes that she was Ecgwynn's daughter, but was unable to discover her name in any of the sources available to him. It is only later sources which offer suggestions, whose value remains uncertain.

Roger of Wendover Roger of Wendover (died 6 May 1236), probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century. At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell o ...

(died 1236) and

Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...

(died 1259) thought that she was the St Edith (''Eadgyth'') who according to the Old English saints' list known as ''

Secgan ''On the Resting-Places of the Saints'' is a heading given to two early medieval pieces of writing, also known as ''Þá hálgan'' and the ''Secgan'', which exist in various manuscript forms in both Old English and Latin, the earliest surviving m ...

'', was buried at the nunnery of

Polesworth Polesworth is a large village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Polesworth is situated close to the northern tip of Warwickshire, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire. It is east of Tamworth, an ...

(Warwickshire), not far from Tamworth.Yorke, ''Nunneries and the Anglo-Saxon royal houses''. pp. 77-8; Hudson, ''Viking Pirates and Christian Princes''. pp. 28-9. Another late source drawing upon earlier material, the early 13th-century

Chronicle of John of Wallingford John of Wallingford (died 1258) was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of St Albans, who served as the abbey's infirmarer at some time between c.1246-7 and his death in 1258. He is now mostly known through a manuscript containing a miscellaneous ...

, names Sihtric's wife ''Orgiue'', possibly for Eadgifu or Eadgyth,Hudson, “Óláf Sihtricson.” The same name was also borne by another of Edward's daughters; Hudson, ''Viking pirates and Christian princes''. p. 29. and claims that their son was Olaf king of Northumbria, i.e.

Amlaíb Cuarán Amlaíb mac Sitric (d. 980; non, Óláfr Sigtryggsson ), commonly called Amlaíb Cuarán (O.N.: ), was a 10th-century Norse-Gael who was King of Northumbria and Dublin. His byname, ''cuarán'', is usually translated as "sandal". His name ap ...

.Hudson, ''Viking pirates and Christian princes''. p. 28. These data have garnered a mixed response from modern historians. Some scholars favour Roger's identification or at least the possibility that her name was Eadgyth,Thacker, “Dynastic monasteries.” pp. 257-8; Miller, “Edward the Elder.” Hudson, ''Viking pirates and Christian princes'', p. 29, considers it possible that her name was Eadgyth (and hence also a source for confusion with namesakes). while Barbara Yorke argues that the name Eadgyth is unlikely to belong to two of Edward's daughters, the other being a daughter by Ælfflæd, and prefers to identify Edith of Polesworth with an earlier namesake.Yorke, ''Nunneries and the Anglo-Saxon royal houses''. pp. 77-8.

Family background

Ecgwynn's own family background and social status cannot be identified with any certainty. What little evidence there is appears in the main to be coloured by a controversy which surrounded Æthelstan's succession, contested as it probably was by supporters of Edward's sons by Ælfflæd.

Succession

William of Malmesbury claims that Alfred had intended the throne to go to Æthelstan, and to give ceremonial expression to his grandson's status as successor, personally invested him with a cloak, belt and sword. Moreover, Alfred is said to have ensured his education at the

n court of his aunt

Æthelflæd Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ( 870 – 12 June 918) 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. Æthe ...

. A Latin

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the F ...

poem, possibly contemporary (''c''. 893/4 x 899), in which a young Æthelstan appears to be addressed as future ruler, would seem to lend credence to the idea that Æthelstan's eligibility for kingship was already acknowledged in the 890s.Lapidge, “Some poems as evidence for the reign of Athelstan.” 68-9; Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. p. 70. However, Edward may have entertained other plans when his second wife Ælfflaed had borne him sons. While his intentions are unknown, it appears to have been Ælfweard, Edward's eldest son by Ælfflæd, who on 17 July 924 succeeded his late father in

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

, while the Mercians chose Æthelstan for their king. By some mishap, Ælfweard died within a month and Wessex was ceded to Æthelstan, who thereby obtained his father's entire kingdom. His accession in Wessex, however, met with considerable resistance. One indication of this is that his coronation at

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

was delayed until 4 December the following year (925).Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. p. 71. William notes explicitly that "a certain Ælfred" at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

opposed the succession on grounds that Æthelstan was a concubine's son and hence an illegitimate son.William of Malmesbury, ''Gesta regum'' II ch. 131. Such allegations seem to have served the interests of a royal contender, especially

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (die ...

, Ælfflæd's eldest surviving son. In a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

for a

thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...

(''minister'') called Ælfred, Edwin subscribes as ''cliton'' "

ætheling Ætheling (; also spelt aetheling, atheling or etheling) was an Old English term (''æþeling'') used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship. The term is an Old English and Old Saxon ...

", witnessing after Æthelstan, which implies that he was recognised as his heir to the throne.S 1417
(AD 924 x 933); Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. p. 72. The circumstances of his death in 933 suggest that any peaceful understanding which may have existed between the half-brothers had come to an end. The ''

Annals of St. Bertin ''Annales Bertiniani'' (''Annals of Saint Bertin'') are late Carolingian, Frankish annals that were found in the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer, France, after which they are named. Their account is taken to cover the period 830-82, thus continu ...

'' compiled by Folcuin the Deacon note laconically that Edwin, "driven by some disturbance in his kingdom," attempted to sail to the continent, but was caught in a storm and drowned.Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'' no. 26, pp. 346–7.

Status

The written and oral sources consulted by William of Malmesbury for his accounts of Æthelstan's parentage seem to reflect the political stances which polarised during these

succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

struggle(s).Yorke, “Edward as ætheling.” p. 33; Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. p. 70. To begin with, there is the account favoured by William himself. Possibly paraphrasing from a non-contemporary

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

poem in praise of Æthelstan, he describes Ecgwynn as “a distinguished woman” (''illustris femina'') and

John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is usually held to be the author of the ''Chronicon ex chronicis''. ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' The ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' is a world wi ...

follows suit, giving the similar description "a very noble woman" (''mulier nobilissima'').William of Malmesbury, ''Gesta regum'' II ch. 126; John of Worcester, ''Chronicon'' AD 901; Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. p. 69. William was also aware of rumours (though he rejected them) that Æthelstan's mother was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

, as propagated by “a certain Ælfred” who headed a group opposed to the succession. By the early 12th century, such rumours had given rise to fully-fledged popular traditions which reduced her to a low-born mistress, if still one of noble appearance. William cites an anecdote about Æthelstan's conception which he overheard from popular song (''cantilena'') and to which he gave only little credence himself. One day, when out of old affection, Edward the Elder visited his former nurse (''nutrix''), a reeve's wife, he met a beautiful shepherd's daughter who had been raised like a noblewoman. Edward slept with the unnamed girl, who bore him the future king called Æthelstan.William of Malmesbury, ''Gesta regum'' II ch. 139. These slurs may represent a later development of stories in favour of Ælfflæd's sons, but there is evidence to suggest that the status difference between Edward's first two wives had been an issue at an earlier stage.Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. p. 69. A distant but near-contemporary poet writing in the 960s,

Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim Hrotsvitha (c. 935–973) was a secular canoness who wrote drama and Christian poetry under the Ottonian dynasty. She was born in Bad Gandersheim to Saxon nobles and entered Gandersheim Abbey as a canoness. She is considered the first female writ ...

, tells that Æthelstan's mother was lower in status (''generis satis inferioris'') than Ælfflæd, whose daughter Eadgyth married

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

.Hrotsvitha, ''Gesta Ottonis'' II, 75-97: pp. 206-7. Note that neither Ecgwynn nor Ælfflæd are mentioned by name. Since she wrote her ''Life'' in praise of Otto I, Eadgyth and their descendants, presumably based on sources sympathetic to the latter, not a small degree of bias may be assumed. On the other hand, if Ecgwynn had been set aside in favour of Ælfflæd, then the political importance of the latter's family may have played a large part. Further near-contemporary evidence comes only indirectly by inference from later kinsmen whose precise connectedness is impossible to specify. According to his first biographer, Dunstan was related to a certain Æthelflæd, a lady of royal rank who was herself a niece of King Æthelstan, to Bishop Ælfheah of Winchester, to Bishop

Cynesige of Lichfield __NOTOC__ Cynesige (died 963) was a medieval Bishop of Lichfield. Cynesige was consecrated between 946 and 949 and died between 963 and 964.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 218 He was a relative of Dunstan and left the king' ...

, and to various men at court (including his brother Wulfric).Brooks, “The Career of St Dunstan.” pp. 5-7; B, ''Vita S. Dunstani'' § 10. Dunstan's father Heorstan, who lived near the “royal island” of

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

, cannot be shown to have been a prominent figure in the kingdom, although sources for Edward's reign are notoriously scanty.Brooks, “The Career of St Dunstan.” pp. 5-7. Since Æthelstan, Dunstan and Heorstan all share the rare

onomastic Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An '' orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, ...

element -''stan'', it has been tentatively suggested that they derived their kinship through Ecgwynn.Yorke, ''Bishop Æthelwold''. pp. 66-7.

Notes

References

Primary sources

*''

'', ed. D. Dumville and S. Keynes, ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Collaborative Edition''. 8 vols. Cambridge, 1983 **Tr. Michael J. Swanton, ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles''. 2nd ed. London, 2000 *Author 'B.', ''Vita S. Dunstani'', ed. W. Stubbs, ''Memorials of St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury''. (Rolls Series.) London, 1874; pp. 3–52. *

, ''Gesta Ottonis'', ed. P. von Winterfeld, ''Hrotsvithae opera''. (Monumenta Germanica Historica; Scriptores rerum Germanicarum; 34.) Berlin, 1902
Available from the Digital MGH
*

, ''

Gesta regum Anglorum The ''Gesta Regum Anglorum'' ( Latin for "Deeds of the Kings of the English"), originally titled ("On the Deeds of the Kings of the English") and also anglicized as or , is an early-12th-century history of the kings of England by William of Ma ...

'', 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''. (Oxford Medieval Texts.) 2 vols.; vol 1. Oxford, 1998.

Secondary sources

*Brooks, Nicholas. “The Career of St Dunstan” in: ''St Dunstan; His Life, Times and Cult'', ed. N. Ramsay et al. Woodbridge, 1992. *Hudson, Benjamin T. "Óláf Sihtricson (''c''. 926–981).
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''

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 ...

, 2004. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. *Hudson, Benjamin T.
Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: dynasty, religion, and empire in the North Atlantic
'. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005 {{ISBN, 0-19-516237-4. *Miller, Sean. "Edward dward the Elder(870s?–924).
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed: 2008-7-22. See als
Sean Miller's article at anglo-saxons.net
*Nelson, J. L. “Reconstructing a Royal Family: reflections on Alfred” in: ''People and Places in Northern Europe, 500-1600: essays in honour of

Peter Hayes Sawyer Peter Hayes Sawyer (25 June 1928 – 7 July 2018) was a British historian. His work on the Vikings was highly influential, as was his scholarship on Medieval England. Sawyer's early work ''The Age of the Vikings'' argued that the Vikings were "t ...

'', ed. I. Wood and N. Lund. Woodbridge, 1991; pp. 47–66. *Thacker, Alan. “Dynastic Monasteries and Family Cults: Edward the Elder's sainted kindred” in: ''Edward the Elder, 899-924'', ed. N. J. Higham and David Hill. London: Routledge, 2001. 248–63. *Yorke, Barbara. ''Bishop Æthelwold; his Career and Influence''. Woodbridge, 1988. *Yorke, Barbara. "Edward as Ætheling" in: ''Edward the Elder, 899-924'', ed. N. J. Higham and David Hill. London: Routledge, 2001; pp. 25–39.