Queen Emma de Normandie

At the turn of the 11th century, England was known to be a wealthy country and, after a few turbulent years of unrest, was also a stable in its leadership. However, because of this wealth, England was prone to invasions from the Vikings, invasions which Normandy allowed. King Æthelred needed to ensure the security of his realm and, when his wife, Ælfgifu of York, died in 1002, he looked past English shores for a new match.

By the end of 1001 Emma was 16 years old and King Æthelred was nearing 40. He proposed a marital alliance to Emma in an attempt to ensure security against the constant Viking attacks. As his own wife was still alive at this point, it is possible that he was proposing a match for one of his many sons instead of himself. Nevertheless, by Spring 1002, Emma was married to King Æthelred of England. She was crowned soon after this, possibly at the insistence of her mother or brother when drawing up their alliance with the English King; this was the step taken by Judith de Francia's father, to ensure her security as Queen, 100 years prior. This coronation would also ensure that Emma's children with Æthelred would take precedence in succession matters over his existing children. Most likely to the annoyance of his surviving sons, Æthelred himself made every attempt to ensure his new wife was treated as a true Queen.

At the time of her marriage, Emma was bestowed the Anglo-Saxon name of Ælfgifu, which was to be used for all official matters. She was also given several properties, likely her dower, in Winchester, Rutland, Devonshire, Suffolk, Oxfordshire, as well the entire city of Exeter.

However, Æthelred's gifts to Emma were most likely entirely political. His previous wife had only just died, likely in childbirth, and as discussed in Ælfgifu of York's story, Æthelred and Ælfgifu were very close and likely love had developed between the pair. The fact that Æthelred married Emma so very soon after Ælfgifu's death is less an indication of his uncaring attitude towards his late wife, nor his strong desires to wed the young Emma de Normandie; it is most probable that this speedy marriage between Æthelred and Emma was an indication of just how dire the situation in England had become due to the Viking invasions. Æthelred's insistence on Emma being treated as a Queen by his subjects, as well as all of the gifts bestowed upon her, were likely for the benefit of Emma's brother, Duke Richard II, to maintain the goodwill of Normandy. It is possible that the Anglo-Saxon name given to her when she became Queen of England was Æthelred's attempt at keeping the peace with his own people in England, who had never taken kindly to foreign Queens. The last foreign Queen was Judith de Francia, who had not taken an English name, and her time as Queen of England was turbulent at best. Judith's Kingly husband had found England in rebellion against him over his anointed foreigner bride and Æthelred, 100 years later, had no desire to fight his own people for his crown. Despite his efforts, however, Emma would never be popular in England, as the nation believed her to have Danish sympathies; while this was most likely true, it is unlikely that Emma would have chosen to side with the Vikings if they chose to attack a Kingdom that she was now the Queen of.

Regardless of this, she remained unpopular and in 1003, after her own city of Exeter was destroyed in another Viking raid, records indicate that Emma's own reeve gave them access into the city, so Emma received the blame for the attack.

Emma was never close to her husband either. Her marriage lasted for 14 years and during that time she only had three children early into the marriage; Ælfred around late 1002, Edward around 1003 and a daughter, Godgifu, around 1004. When it is considered that Æthelred's previous marriage had produced at least nine children, and Emma herself came from a very large family, it does not seem to be a fertility issue on either side, especially when one considers the close birth years of Emma's children with Æthelred, all of whom were born within the first 3-4 years of her marriage. The most likely scenario is that the couple were simply not well-matched. Once Æthelred had his heir and a spare or two from Emma, it is possible that the couple did not resume marital relations.

In addition to the above, Emma was not based at court, with her husband, but had her own household at Winchester, so it was perhaps her own choice not to engage in sexual relations with her husband after the birth of her daughter.

As Queen, Emma played little role in politics, though she did witness at least four charters. The early part of her time as Queen was spent largely in childbirth and it is likely that her duties lay more with raising her children, as well as her step-children from Æthelred's previous marriage, some of whom were close to her own age.