Read Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy Online

Authors: Alison Weir

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Royalty, #History, #General, #Historical, #Reference, #Genealogy & Heraldry, #Non Fiction

Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (9 page)

ETHELRED II

Known as ‘the Unraed’ or ‘the Redeless’ (both of which mean ‘without counsel’), he was born in
c
.966/9. He succeeded his half-brother Edward as King of England on 18 March, 978, and was crowned on 4 April, 978 (or 4 May, 979), at Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. He abdicated in favour of King Sweyn in the autumn of 1013, and fled to
Normandy, but was restored to the throne after Sweyn’s death on 3 February, 1014.

Ethelred II married firstly
, in
c
.980/85 (although no record exists as to where):

Elgiva

Alternatively known as Elfleda, she was the daughter either of Ealdorman Ethelbert, or of Thored, Ealdorman of York, by his wife Hilda. She was born in
c
.963, and died in February, 1002, at Winchester.

Issue of marriage:

1
Athelstan

He was born in
c
.986, and was killed in battle, fighting the Danes, in
c.
1012/15. One writer, Thietmar of Merseberg, states that Athelstan was alive late in 1016, but he is an unreliable source, and it is thought that Athelstan was almost certainly dead by the end of 1015.

2
Edmund II
(
see here
).

3
Edgar

He died in 1012/15 (or, less probably, in
c
.1008).

4
Edred

He died in 1012/15.

5
Edric
(?)

He has perhaps been confused with his brother Edred, and may not have existed. No dates are recorded.

6
Edward
(?)

He is said to have died by
c.
1004. The evidence for his existence is very slender; charters said to have been attested by him have been proved spurious.

7
Edwy

He was murdered in 1017 on the orders of King Canute, and was buried in Tavistock Abbey, Devon.

8
Egbert

He died in
c
.1005.

9
Edith

She married Edric Streona, Ealdorman of Mercia (who was executed in 1017), in
c.
1007/9, and had issue:

1 Son; name not known (born before 1009).

Edith perhaps married secondly Thurcytel Thorgils Havi, a Danish Earl in England (who was killed in 1039), and perhaps had issue:

2 Harold, who married Gunhilda of Wendland, a granddaughter of King Sweyn. Harold died in 1042.

10
Elgiva

She married Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria (who was killed in 1016 or 1018), and had issue:

1 Edith (
see here
, under Malcolm II, King of Scotland). She married Maldred of Scotland, Lord of Allerdale, and had issue.

11
Wulfhilda

She married Ulfcytel Snylling, Ealdorman of East Anglia (who was killed in 1016).

12
Daughter

Her name is not known. She married one Athelstan (who was killed in 1010).

13
Daughter

Her name is not known. She became Abbess of Wherwell, and died after 1051.

Ethelred II married secondly
, on 5 April, 1002, at Winchester Cathedral:

Emma

She was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, by his wife Gunnora, and she was born in
c.
985/7 in Normandy. In 1017, after the death of Ethelred II, she married secondly King Canute, and had issue (

see here
, under King Canute). She died on 14 March, 1052, probably at Winchester, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Her bones now lie in one of the mortuary chests there.

Issue of marriage:

1
King Edward the Confessor
(
see here
).

2
Alfred

Born before 1012, he was styled ‘Atheling’. He was brutally murdered on 5 February, 1037 (or, less probably, 1036), at Ely, Cambridgeshire, probably on the orders of Earl Godwine (
see here
, under Harold II). He was buried in Ely Cathedral.

3
Goda

Alternatively known as Godgifu, she was born between 1004 and 1014. She married firstly Drogo (or Dreux), Count of Mantes and the Vexin (
d.
1035), and had issue:

1 Ralph, Earl of Hereford (
d
.1057), who married Gytha, perhaps the daughter of Osgood Clapa, and had issue.

2 Walter III, Count of Mantes and the Vexin (
d.
after 1063), who married Biota, daughter of Herbert, Count of Maine.

3 Fulk, Bishop of Amiens (1030–1058).

Goda married secondly Eustace II, Count of Boulogne (
d.
1093), in
c
.1036. It is possible that there was a child of this union, probably a daughter who married and had issue. The only evidence pointing to this is the fact that Eustace of Boulogne had a grandson who was given as hostage to William I in 1067.