Person Page 506

Ælfgifu of Northampton (c. 990 – after 1040) was the first wife of King Cnut of England and Denmark, and mother of King Harold I of England (1035–40). She served as regent of Norway from 1030 to 1035.

Ælfgifu was born into an important noble family based in the Midlands (Mercia). She was a daughter of Ælfhelm, ealdorman of southern Northumbria, who was killed in 1006.[1] John of Worcester names his wife Wulfrun, but it is possible that he had her confused with the Wulfrun who was Ælfhelm's mother and possibly patron of the community at Wolverhampton.[2] Another noteworthy figure who belonged to this family was Ælfhelm's brother (hence Ælfgifu's uncle) Wulfric Spot, a wealthy nobleman and patron of Burton Abbey.[3] Her cognomen 'of Northampton' is attached to her in Manuscript D of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in order to distinguish her from Emma of Normandy, and consequently adopted by later historians such as John of Worcester. It would seem to indicate that she was a prominent landholder in the area.

Ælfgifu's date of birth is unknown. Any conjectures are largely based on the date of her father's death (1006), the approximate date of her betrothal to Cnut (1004 × 1016, see below) and the time by which she had borne him sons, whose ages are themselves difficult to establish. To remain on the safe side, it can be assumed that she was born sometime between the (mid-)980s and (mid-)990s.

[edit] Marriage to CnutIn 1013 Swein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, invaded northern England. The northern peoples, many of them of Scandinavian descent, immediately submitted to him. He then married his young son Cnut to Ælfgifu to seal their loyalty. Swein went on to conquer the whole of England and was accepted as King, but he died in February 1014 after a reign of only five weeks. Æthelred then sent an army which forced Cnut to flee back to Denmark, and in the opinion of historian Ian Howard, he left his wife and their baby son, Svein, the future King of Norway, behind with her family. They were anxious to make their peace with Æthelred, but unwilling to hand Ælfgifu and her son over to Æthelred to be murdered, so they sent the mother and child with King Swein's body to Denmark. There she became pregnant again and in 1015 or 1016 she gave birth to Harold Harefoot.[4]

In the period immediately following, she may have been given authority over some region of Denmark, perhaps that of a Danish controlled area of the Baltic coastline.[5]

Her two sons were to figure prominently in the empire which their father built in northern Europe, though not without opposition. After his conquest of England in 1016, Cnut married Emma of Normandy, the widow of King Æthelred. It was then regarded as acceptable to put aside one wife and take another, a practice which might be described as "serial monogamy".[6] The status of Cnut's two 'marriages' and their social context in England and Scandinavia has been discussed recently by Timothy Bolton.[7] Emma's sons, Edward and Ælfred by Æthelred and Harthacnut by Cnut, were also claimants to the throne of her husband. Exactly how the second marriage affected Ælfgifu's status as Cnut's first consort is unknown, but there is no evidence to suggest that she was repudiated.

[edit] Regent in Norway (1030–1035)Cnut sent Ælfgifu with their eldest son Svein to rule Norway, in 1030. Their rule was, however, so harsh that the Norwegians rebelled against them. They were driven out, in 1034 or 1035, while Svein died of wounds in Denmark shortly after, probably in 1036. In Norway, where she was known as Álfífa in Old Norse, this period entered history as 'Álfífa's time'[citation needed] (Álfífuold), remembered for her severe rule and heavy taxation. In the Norwegian Ágrip, for instance, the following verse is attributed to her contemporary, the skald Sigvatr:

Ælfgyfu’s time
long will the young man remember,
when they at home ate ox’s food,
and like the goats, ate rind;[8]
[edit] Succession crisis after the death of Cnut (1035)Cnut died at Shaftesbury in 1035. Symeon of Durham and Adam of Bremen suggest that Cnut had reserved the English throne for Harold, while the Encomium Emmae Reginae claims that he done so for Harthacnut. In any event, on Cnut's death, Ælfgifu was determined that her second son Harold should be the next English king. She had returned to England (at least) by 1036, while Emma's son Harthacnut was away in Denmark, at war with the Norwegian king Magnus I, and the Swedes under their king Anund Jacob. Emma's other sons, Ælfred and Edward, stayed in Normandy. With help from her supporters, Ælfgifu was able to secure the throne for her son. In the view of Frank Stenton, she was probably the real ruler of England for part, if not the whole, of his reign.[9]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (versions C, D and E) describes how Harold and his men forcefully laid claim on the treasury housed in Winchester, where Cnut was buried and Emma had taken up residence:

1035: Here King Cnut died, and his son Harold succeeded to the kingdom. He departed at Shaftesbury on 12 November, and he was conveyed to Winchester, and there buried. And Ælfgifu, the Lady, settled inside there [Winchester]. And Harold said that he was the son of Cnut and the Northampton Ælfgifu - although it was not true. He sent and had taken from her all the best treasures which King Cnut possessed.[10]

Manuscript E, which is known for its Godwinist sympathies, adds a number of details, including the assembly at Oxford in 1037 at which Harold was elected king of England and the mustering of support north of the Thames, where the power base of Ælfgifu's family was concentrated.

1036 [for 1035]: Here Cnut died at Shaftesbury. and he is buried in Winchester in the Old Minster. [...] And soon after his passing, there was a meeting of all the councillors at Oxford, and Earl Leofric and almost all the thegns north of the Thames, and the men of the fleet in London, chose Harold as regent of all England, for himself and his brother Harthacnut who was in Denmark, And Earl Godwine and all the foremost men in Wessex opposed it just as long as they could, but they could not contrive anything against it. And then it was decided that Ælfgifu, Harthacnut's mother, should settle in Winchester with the king her son's housecarls, and hold all Wessex in hand for him; and Earl Godwine was their most loyal man. Some men said of Harold that he was son of King Cnut and Ælfgifu, daughter of Ealdorman Ælfhelm, but to many men it seemed quite unbelievable; nevertheless he was full king over all England[11]

That Ælfgifu was such a key figure in these political machinations is spelled out in messages which reached the German court. Immo, a chaplain and cathedral canon at the court of Worms, reported to the bishop of Worms that Anglo-Saxon messengers (legati Anglorum) had come to Worms and there informed Gunhild, daughter of Cnut and Emma, about the latest developments.

Most of the sources are extremely biased in favour of Emma and her sons. While in the previously mentioned letter, which can hardly be called neutral, Ælfgifu is accused of using deception, lavish feasts and bribery in order to wheedle support, Emma's encomiast attributes to her even more seriously dishonest methods. Apart from claiming that Harold was only accepted as a temporary regent, he makes Ælfgifu an accomplice in the murder of Ælfred Ætheling by suggesting that she was responsible for sending a forged letter to Normandy inviting Ælfred to England.

Another way in which the legitimacy of Harold's succession was disputed in the wake of the succession crisis was by focusing on his and his brother's parentage. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions how Harold's claim that he was the son of Cnut and Ælfgifu is either distrusted or simply denied. In the Encomium Emmae Reginae it is heard that Harold was secretly a servant's son. John of Worcester heard tales in which the fathers of Svein and Harold were respectively a priest and a shoemaker. Adam of Bremen states that Svein and Harold were sons to Cnut and a concubina (but that Cnut nevertheless reserved England for Harold, Denmark for Harthacnut).[12]

Ælfgifu fell into obscurity after Harold's death in 1040, and the crowning of Harthacnut, the legitimate heir to Cnut and also the King of Denmark. It is unknown when she died.

Handfast wife.

Wulfric (died circa 1004), called Wulfric Spot or Spott, was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman. His will is an important document from the reign of King Æthelred the Unready. Wulfric was a patron of the Burton Abbey, around which the modern town of Burton on Trent later grew up, and may have refounded the Benedictine monastery there.

He was one of the three known children of the noblewoman Wulfrun, after whom Wolverhampton is named. Wulfric's family was linked with the Wulfric the Black to whom King Edmund granted land in Staffordshire. As much of Wulfric the Black's estate was granted to Wolverhampton by Wulfrun, and other parts, including lands around modern Abbots Bromley passed to Wulfric, it is possible that Wulfric the Black was this Wulfric's maternal grandfather. The family was related to the Wulfgeat who is a witness to charters in the reign of King Edgar and received lands in Staffordshire and Gloucestershire from the king. Of Wulfric's father and his paternal kin nothing is known.[1]

Wulfric's brother was Ælfhelm, Ealdorman of York or Northumbria from 993 until he was killed in 1006. Ælfhelm was the father of King Cnut's first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton, mother of Svein and King Harold Harefoot. He also had two sons, Wulfheah and Ufegeat, who were blinded when he was killed. Their sister was Ælfthryth whose daughter Ealdgyth married Morcar, killed in 1015 along with his brother Sigeferth on the orders of King Æthelred. Ælfthryth appears to have died before Wulfric's will was written.[2]

Wulfric's byname, Spot, while it may have the same sense as in modern English, that is that it referred to some form of mark on his face, could also indicate a short, fat person. It is not found in contemporary sources, but first appeared in the 13th century.[3]

CareerThe Burton Abbey chronicle describes Wulfric as consul ac comes Merciorum, that is consul and 'count' of the Mercians, perhaps suggesting that he was an ealdorman. More contemporary sources disagree and he is generally described as a minister, that is a thegn, although his position may have been more like that of a hold in more Scandinavianised districts of England, somewhere between that of a thegn and an ealdorman.[4]

Little is known of Wulfric's life, but his will, approved while he was still living or shortly after his death by King Æthelred, shows him to have been exceptionally wealthy. He owned lands in ten counties of the English midlands, as well as further lands in the unshired lands between the River Ribble and the River Mersey. The lands which he had owned "between Ribble and Mersey" alone were assessed as having been worth 145 pounds in 1066 by the compilers of the Domesday Book.[5]

Offspring and patronageWulfric appears to have had no sons, or none who survived him, as his will does not name any. His daughter, whose name is unknown, was left lands around Tamworth. Sawyer notes that Wulfric had special rights over these lands, "not to be subject to any service nor to any man born", rights which his daughter inherited. His god-daughter, his brother, nephews and niece were also beneficiaries of his will. King Æthelred, in line with custom, received lands, monies, weapons and horses. Large sums of money were given to the archbishops, bishops, abbots and abbesses of England. A monastery at Tamworth received land. The principal beneficiary of Wulfric's will, however, was the abbey of Byrtun, modern Burton on Trent.[6]

There was said to have been a monastic foundation at Burton in earlier times, with which the 7th-century Saint Modwenna is associated. This appears, along with many others, to have disappeared in the Viking Age, and the monastery there was probably reestablished by Wulfric. The new abbey was dedicated to Saint Benedict of Nursia and followed the Rule of Saint Benedict.[7] According to the cartulary of Burton, which may not be reliable, Wulfric left the abbey all of the lands he inherited from his father. As well as the substantial lands he left to Burton in his will, Wulfric, like many noble founders of monasteries, had written into it other clauses to ensure that the new abbey, which was to pray for his soul and for that of his mother, would be provided with powerful friends. He left additional lands to Ælfric of Abingdon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, with the understanding that Ælfric would be a friend and ally to the monks. Wulfric also sought to involve the king in his new foundation, giving over his proprietarial rights to Æthelred, who in turn agreed that he would be lord and protector of Burton Abbey.[8]

Although some late sources places Wulfric's death as late as 1010, and John of Worcester's chronicle has been read as suggesting that he died at the battle of Ringmere in that year, he probably died between 1002, when his will was begun, and 1004, when King Æthelred issued his charter approving it. He was buried in the cloister of Burton alongside his wife. In later times Burton Abbey marked the occasion of his death on 22 October.[9].