Ecgwynn of Wessex
872 – 901 · Generation II · House of Wessex
Ecgwynn of Wessex (872–901). Married Edward the Elder in 893. One of their children is recorded in this archive. Almost nothing certain is known of her: no contemporary record names her, and she surfaces only after the Norman Conquest, in the history of William of Malmesbury. He dated her son Æthelstan’s birth to about 894, implying a marriage around 893, and he also credited her with a daughter who married Sitric Cáech, Norse king of Dublin and Northumbria, at Tamworth in 926. By 901 Edward had taken a second wife, Ælfflæd; whether Ecgwynn had died or been set aside is unknown. Her standing became a weapon in the succession struggle after 924, when opponents branded Æthelstan a concubine’s son. William rejected the slur and called her a distinguished woman, though a tenth-century poet writing in praise of Ælfflæd’s daughter and her descendants ranked her lower in birth.
One of 22 people of House of Wessex (until 1093) in this archive. Alfred’s line: kings of Wessex who became the first kings of all England.
Partners
- Married King Edward The Elder (874 – 924) in 893 — one child together
Children
- King Athelstan (Aethelstan) (894 – 939)
Life
- 872 — Born
- 893 — Married Edward the Elder
- 901 — Died