Lady Ecgwynn

Lady Ecgwynn, first wife of King Edweard the Elder, is another Queen Consort of which we know lamentably little.

 

No details of Ecgwynn's life or background survive, so we have no knowledge of who she was or where she was from. However, some sources have given us a small glimpse into her background, though they differ wildly. For instance, Florence of Worcester called Ecgwynn "a woman of very noble birth" and while William of Malmesbury agreed that Ecgwynn was "an illustrious lady," he also stated that she was a mere shepherd's daughter.

Neither of these accounts are contemporary, with Florence writing in the late 11th /early 12th centuries and William of Malmesbury being a prominent historian of the 12th century. Therefore, neither account can be attributed as fact and can easily be disputed. This is especially the case with William of Malmesbury's account, as though he refers to Ecgwynn as "a girl of exquisite beauty," most of what he says after this can be attributed to slander of her character.

 

Ecgwynn's marriage to Edweard took place before 893, but we do not have a date for it. She is sometimes referred to as a concubine and not actually Edweard's wife, but they were indeed married. Marriage was not formalised in the 9th/10th centuries and repudiation was common. As such, it was easy for both chroniclers and contemporaries to misinterpret, whether maliciously or mistakenly, a relationship. The slander of Lady Ecgwynn is considered by modern historians to have been a deliberate attempt to debase her son, Æthelstan's, later claim to the throne. The challenges Æthelstan faced when he succeeded to the throne are evidence that this type of debasement had some effect.

Nevertheless, the marriage was considered valid and legitimate at the time by King Ælfred the Great and he delighted in his grandchildren.

 

Æthelstan was not the eldest son of Lady Ecgwynn. Her first son, Ælfred, named after the King, was possibly born by the turn of the century, as his name appears on a charter in 901. Soon after this charter, however, he disappears from all records and it is assumed that he died young. Ecgwynn also had a daughter, Eadgyth, who has been identified as St. Edith of Polesworth and Tamworth. Eadgyth became the Queen of York after her marriage to King Sihtric, but when her husband died in 927 she retired to a Mercian nunnery; she later became the Abbess of the nunnery and was consecrated after death, as a saint, with the feast day of 15th July.

 

It is believed that Lady Ecgwynn had little to no participation in her children's upbringing. The reason for this is that Æthelstan, as a child, was knighted by his grandfather, King Ælfred the Great, and was sent to live in Mercia with his aunt, Queen Æthelflæda. Æthelflæda raised Æthelstan and it possible that she also raised Ecgwynn's daughter, Eadgyth, too; the fact that Eadgyth chose to retire to a nunnery in Mercia is the suggested evidence for this.

 

As with Lady Ecgwynn's life, her ultimate fate is unknown to us. It is likely she was repudiated by Edweard prior to his becoming King in October 899, and was therefore never his consort. It is also possible that she died young, as she played no role in the reign of her son, Æthelstan, and there is no record of her during this time.

 

I wish I could offer more on Lady Ecgwynn's life, but alas, I'm afraid this is all the knowledge I could find on her.