Ælfgifu of Northampton facts for kids

Ælfgifu of Northampton (born around 990 – died after 1036) was an important English noblewoman. She was the first wife of Cnut the Great, who was King of England and Denmark. Ælfgifu was also the mother of Harold Harefoot, who later became King of England. From 1030 to 1035, she served as a regent (a ruler for a king who is too young or absent) in Norway.

Who Was Ælfgifu?

Her Family and Early Life

Ælfgifu came from a powerful noble family in the Midlands region of England. Her father was Ælfhelm, a leader in southern Northumbria. Her mother was Wulfrun.

Sadly, her father Ælfhelm was killed in 1006. This was likely ordered by King Æthelred the Unready. Her brothers, Ufegeat and Wulfheah, were also harmed. Later, during an invasion by Swein Forkbeard, the King of Denmark, her family faced more trouble. Some family members were accused of disloyalty and killed.

Marriage to King Cnut

When King Swein Forkbeard invaded England, many people in the north supported him. To secure their loyalty, Swein arranged for his young son, Cnut, to marry Ælfgifu. This marriage helped create a strong bond between Cnut and the English nobles.

Swein conquered England and became king. However, he died just five weeks later in 1014. Cnut had to flee back to Denmark. Historians believe he left Ælfgifu and their baby son, Svein, in England. To make peace with the new English king, Æthelred, Ælfgifu's family sent her and Svein to Denmark with King Swein's body.

In Denmark, Ælfgifu became pregnant again. Around 1015 or 1016, she gave birth to her second son, Harold Harefoot.

After Cnut conquered England in 1016, he married Emma of Normandy. Emma was the widow of the previous King Æthelred. In those times, it was sometimes acceptable for kings to have more than one "marriage" or to set aside one wife for political reasons. This was especially true if the first marriage was not a Christian church ceremony. Even though Cnut married Emma, there is no sign that Ælfgifu was completely pushed aside.

Ruling Norway

In 1030, King Cnut sent Ælfgifu and their eldest son, Svein, to rule Norway. This happened after the defeat of Olaf II of Norway, who was killed by forces loyal to Cnut.

However, Ælfgifu and Svein's rule in Norway was very strict. The Norwegians were unhappy with their heavy taxes and harsh laws. This period became known as 'Álfífa's time' in Norway. People remembered it for its severe rule.

A famous poem from that time, by the poet Sigvatr, describes it:

Ælfgyfu's time

long will the young man remember,

when they at home ate ox's food,

and like the goats, ate rind;

Because of their unpopular rule, the Norwegians rebelled. Ælfgifu and Svein were forced out of Norway in 1034 or 1035. Svein died shortly after, probably in 1036.

The Fight for the English Throne

King Cnut died in 1035. There was a disagreement about who should be the next King of England. Some believed Cnut wanted Harold, Ælfgifu's son, to be king. Others thought he wanted Harthacnut, his son with Emma.

Ælfgifu was determined that her son Harold should rule England. She returned to England around 1036. At this time, Emma's son Harthacnut was in Denmark, fighting wars. Emma's other sons, Edward and Ælfred, were in Normandy.

With the help of her supporters, Ælfgifu worked hard to make Harold king. Many historians believe she was the true power behind the throne for much of Harold's reign.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record, describes how Harold and his men took control of the royal treasury in Winchester. This was where King Cnut was buried and where Emma lived.

The Chronicle states:

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.

Another version of the Chronicle adds that in 1037, Harold was chosen as king at a meeting in Oxford. Ælfgifu's family had strong support in the north of England, which helped Harold. It was decided that Ælfgifu would live in Winchester and manage Wessex for her son.

The Encomium Emmae Reginae, a book written to support Emma, claimed that Harold was not Cnut's son. However, Harold became the full king of England.

Ælfgifu is not mentioned in records after 1036. Her exact death date is unknown.

Family tree

Sources

Primary sources

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, MSS C, D and E, ed. D. Dumville and S. Keynes, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Collaborative Edition. Cambridge, 1983; tr. M.J. Swanton, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. 2nd ed. London, 2000.
• Encomium Emmae Reginae, ed. and tr. Alistair Campbell, Encomium Emmae Reginae. Cambridge, 1998.
• Letter of Immo, chaplain at the court of Worms, to Bishop Azeko of Worms, preserved in the Lorsch manuscript, Codex Palatinus Latinus 930 (Vatican Library), ed. W. Bulst, Die ältere Wormser Briefsammlung. MGH Epistolae. Die Briefe der deutschen Kaiserzeit 3. Weimar, 1949. 20–22 (no. 5). Available from the Digital MGH.
• William of Malmesbury, Gesta regum Anglorum, 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. OMT. 2 vols: vol 1. Oxford, 1998.
• Symeon of Durham, Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia, ed. T. Arnold, 2 vols. London, 1885.
• John of Worcester, Chronicle (of Chronicles), ed. Benjamin Thorpe, Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis. 2 vols. London, 1848–9.
• Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum §§ 27, 32, 35, ed. and tr. M.J. Driscoll, Ágrip af Nóregskonungasǫgum. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series 10. 2nd ed. 2008 (1995). Available online from the Viking Society for Northern Research
• Theodoricus monachus, Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium, chapter 21, tr. David and Ian McDougall. The Ancient History of the Norwegian Kings. Viking Society for Northern Research, 1998.
• Legendary Óláfs saga helga, ch. 71
• Morkinskinna, ed. Finnur Jónsson. Morkinskinna. Copenhagen: Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur, 1932.
• Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum.
• The Chronicle of Hugh Candidus

Secondary sources

• Ælfgifu 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
• Ælfhelm 17 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
• Wulfrun 3 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
• Wulfric 52 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
• Campbell, M.W. "Queen Emma and Ælfgifu of Northampton. Canute the Great's women". Medieval Scandinavia, 4 (1971): 60–79.
• Rognoni, L. (2004). "Presenza e azione di Ælfgifu di Northampton, regina madre e reggente nell'Impero del Nord di Canuto il Grande (1013–1040)" (in Italian) [1]

(subscription or UK public library membership required)

• Stenton, Frank. Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford, 1971. 397–8.
• Stevenson, W.H. "An alleged son of King Harold Harefoot". English Historical Review, 28 (1913): 112–7.