Biography of Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England -902

Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England was born to Æthelred Mucel Mercia Earldorman Gaini and Eadburh of Mercia.

In 868 King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex (age 19) and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England were married at Gainsborough [Map]. She the daughter of Æthelred Mucel Mercia Earldorman Gaini and Eadburh of Mercia. He the son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburgh Queen Consort Wessex.

Assers Life of Alfred 868. 868. 29. Alfred marries.⁶⁷ In the year of our Lord's incarnation 868, which was the twentieth of King Alfred's life, the aforesaid revered King Alfred, then occupying only the rank of viceroy (secundarii), betrothed⁶⁸ and espoused a noble Mercian lady⁶⁹, daughter of [her father] Æthelred, surnamed Mucill, Ealdorman of the Gaini.⁷⁰ The mother of this lady was named [her mother] Eadburh, of the royal line of Mercia, whom I often saw with my own eyes a few years before her death. She was a venerable lady, and after the decease of her husband remained many years a chaste widow, even till her own death.

Note 67. Original.

Note 68. 'Subarravit, formed from sub and arrha, represents literally the English verb wed, which refers to the giving of security upon the engagement of marriage.... [It] is glossed by beweddian in Napier's Old English Glosses' (Stevenson).

Note 69. William of Malmesbury calls her Æthelswith.

Note 70. Of the Gaini nothing is known.

Around 870 [her daughter] Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians was born to [her husband] King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex (age 21) and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.

In 871 [her brother-in-law] King Æthelred of Wessex (age 24) was buried at Wimborne Minster, Dorset [Map]. [her husband] King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex (age 22) succeeded King of England. Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England by marriage Queen Consort England.

Around 874 [her son] King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons was born to [her husband] King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex (age 25) and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.

In or before 887 [her son-in-law] Æthelred Earldorman of Mercia and [her daughter] Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians (age 16) were married. She the daughter of [her husband] King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex (age 37) and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.

In 888 [her sister-in-law] Æthelswith Wessex Queen Consort Mercia (age 50) died at Pavia [Map].

Around 893 [her son] King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons (age 19) and [her daughter-in-law] Ecgwynn Unknown Queen Consort Anglo Saxons were married. He the son of [her husband] King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex (age 44) and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.

Around 900 [her son] King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons (age 26) and [her daughter-in-law] Aelfflaed Wiltshire Queen Anglo Saxons (age 30) were married. She the daughter of Æthelhelm Earldorman Wiltshire. He the son of [her former husband] King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 902. Collation. This year Elswitha died.

On 5th December 902 Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England died.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 903. This year died [her brother] Alderman Ethelwulf, the brother of Elhswitha, mother of King Edward; and Virgilius abbot of the Scots; and Grimbald the mass-priest; on the eighth day of July. This same year was consecrated the new minster at Winchester, on St. Judoc's advent.

In 1110 Hyde Abbey was consecrated. The bodies of [her former husband] King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex, his wife Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England, and their son [her son] King Edward "Elder" of the Anglo Saxons were carried in state through Winchester to be interred before the high altar. Their royal presence made Hyde Abbey a popular pilgrimage destination.

[her daughter] Æthelgifu Wessex Abbess Shaftesbury was born to King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.

[her son] Æthelweard Wessex was born to King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.

[her daughter] Aelfthryth Wessex Margrave Flanders was born to King Alfred "The Great" of Wessex and Æalhswith of Mercia Queen Consort of England.