Æthelgeard, also Æthelheard (fl. 950s) was a 10th-century landowner who was known to have been involved in service to the royal family, likely an official of

Eadwig Eadwig (also Edwy or Eadwig All-Fair, 1 October 959) was King of England from 23 November 955 until his death in 959. He was the elder son of Edmund I and his first wife Ælfgifu, who died in 944. Eadwig and his brother Edgar were you ...

. He is mentioned being from

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

and also owning estates in modern-day

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. However, according to the ''Liber Vitae:Register and Martyrology of New Minster and Hyde Abbey, Winchester'', his main landowning interests were in the Winchester area. According to charters dating to the 10th century from the

Winchester Archives Winchester (, ) is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of ...

, where he kept his documents, he was involved in some kind of special service to the royal family and he remained loyal to

after

Edgar the Peaceful Edgar (or Eadgar; 8 July 975), known sometimes as Edgar the Peacemaker or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Edm ...

's revolt in 957. The archives also reveal that he received grants which were heavily modified or forged by Winchester monks. He is also mentioned in the Chronicles of

Abingdon Abbey Abingdon Abbey (formally Abbey of Saint Mary) was a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Abingdon-on-Thames in the modern county of Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. Situated near to the River Thames, it was founded in 675 AD and was ...

as being a minister to Eadwig. However, after Edgar came to power in around 959, Æthelgeard ceased to be mentioned. He left a will which read "I, Æthelgeard, grant the estate at Sotwell after my death to my wife for her lifetime, and then for the need of the souls of both of us to the New Minister in Winchester, for them to use and never to alienate."

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelgeard Anglo-Saxon warriors 10th-century English landowners People from Frome People from Brightwell-cum-Sotwell

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