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Ælfgifu of Northampton (c. 990 – after 1040) was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who became the first consort of King Cnut of England and Denmark, and mother of King Harold I of England (1035–1040). She served as regent of Norway from 1030 to 1035. She is not to be confused with her rival, Emma of Normandy, whose name could be rendered as Ælfgifu in Old English, nor with King Æthelred's first wife, who seems to have borne the same name.

Family background

Whatever one makes of later political slander, there is little doubt that 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 x 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-)980's and (mid-)990's.

Marriage to Cnut

In late 1013 King Ethelred fled to Normandy as a result of an invasion by Swein Forkbeard, King of Denmark, and Swein was accepted as King, but he died in February 1014 after a reign of only five weeks. Ethelred was then recalled, but in 1016 Swein's son Cnut returned to become King of England. At some point between 1013 and 1016 Cnut married Ælfgifu. Its primary political significance probably lay in the Danes' expectation that the alliance thus established with a prominent Mercian family would help them consolidate their power base.^[4]

She bore him two sons, Svein and Harold Harefoot, named after Cnut's father and grandfather. They 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. Her 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.

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' (Álfífuǫld), 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:

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.^[6]

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:

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.

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:

Porro autem nec illud vos latere volo, quod legati Anglorum nostrae iuniori dominae, nuper infirmae, nunc autem, Deo gratias! valenti, missi sunt. Qui vero dixerunt sibi haec: ‘Infelix ergo,’ inquiunt, ‘et iniusta noverca vestra, Arduichenut germano vestro regnum fraude subripere cupiens universis primatibus nostris convivia maxima celebravit et nunc eos prece, nunc pretio corrumpere satagens, iuramentis sibi suoque nato subiugare temptavit. Qui vero non solum ei in aliquo huiusmodi non consenserunt, verum etiam nuntios prefato germano vestro, quatenus ad eos cito redeat, unanimes transmiserunt.’ Sed illi quidem talia.^[7]

It is unfortunate that most of the sources are extremely biased in favour of Emma and her sons. While in the previous 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:

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (cited above): Harold's claim that he was the son of Cnut and Ælfgifu is either distrusted or simply denied.

Encomium Emmae Reginae: 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).^[8]

Death

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.

Family tree

+Said to have been a great-granddaughter of Canute's grandfather Harald Bluetooth, but this was probably a fiction intended to give her a royal bloodline.

Gytha was the daughter of Thorgils Spregaleag (last king of Scania (Ohlmarks) & Sigrid. Thorgils was the son of Styrbjorn The Strong (son of Olaf, King of Sweden) & Thyra Haraldsdottir (the daughter of Harald Bluetooth).

Notes

Primary sources

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, MSS C, D and E, ed. D. Dumville and S. Keynes, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Colloborative 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. 20–2 (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, ed. T. Arnold, Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia. 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 literature

• 'Ælfgifu 1', 'Ælfhelm 17', 'Wulfrun', 'Wulfric 52', 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., "Presenza e azione di Ælfgifu di Northampton, regina madre e reggente nell'Impero del Nord di Canuto il Grande (1013–1040)" (in Italian) [1]
• 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.