Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (11 page)

Read Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy Online

Authors: Alison Weir

Tags: #Biography & Autobiography, #Royalty, #History, #General, #Historical, #Reference, #Genealogy & Heraldry, #Non Fiction

M
OTHER
:
Elgiva
(

see here
, under
Ethelred II
).

S
IBLINGS
: (

see here
, under
Ethelred II
).

EDMUND II

Known as ‘Ironside’, he was born between
c.
988 and 993. He succeeded his father as King of England on 23 April, 1016, and was crowned during the same month at Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Edmund II married
, in late summer (August?), 1015, at Malmesbury, Wiltshire:

Edith

Her origins are unknown. She married firstly Sigeferth (son of Earngrim), a Thane in East Anglia (he was murdered in 1015). The date of her death is not known.

Issue of marriage
(who may have been twins):

1
Edward

He was born in 1016: he was aged 41 at his death. He was styled ‘Atheling’, but spent the greater part of his youth in exile in Hungary. He died in 1057, in London, where he was buried in Old St Paul’s Cathedral.

Edward married (no record exists of the date), in Hungary:

Agatha

She was probably the daughter of Bruno, Bishop of Augsburg, and brother of Henry III, Emperor of Germany. With less probability, she was the daughter of Stephen, King of Hungary, by Gisela, daughter of Conrad II, Emperor of Germany, and sister of the Emperor Henry III. She is described as ‘a kinswoman’ of the Emperor Henry III. Upon reaching old age, she became a nun at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, probably after the death of her daughter, Queen Margaret of Scotland, in 1093.

Issue of marriage:

(i)

Edgar

He was born in
c.
1053 (certainly by 1058) in Hungary, and was styled ‘Atheling’. In October, 1066, the Witan in London elected him King of England upon hearing of the death of Harold II at Hastings. He was not crowned, and by December, 1066, he had submitted to William I and abandoned all claims to the throne. He died after 1125, perhaps in 1130 (?).

(ii)

Margaret

(
see here
, under Malcolm III, King of Scotland).

(iii)

Christina

Born in Hungary, she became a nun, firstly – according to some authorities – at Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire, and then, in
c
.1086, at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire. She is sometimes called Abbess of Romsey, but only on very slender evidence. She died before 1102 (?).

2
Edmund

He was born either in 1016, or in 1017. He was taken to Hungary by his family in childhood, where he later died. Some sources state that he died young, but he must have lived at least into his teens.

Edmund married (no record exists of the date) in Hungary:

Hedwig

She was either the daughter of Stephen I, King of Hungary, by Gisela, daughter of Conrad II, Emperor of Germany, or the daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria.

After Edmund’s death, she married secondly Eppo, Count of Nellenburg.

EDMUND II

He died on 30 November, 1016, in Oxford or in London, and was buried in Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset.

He was succeeded by Canute, son of King Sweyn, who claimed the throne by right of conquest.

King Canute

F
ATHER
:
King Sweyn
(

see here
).

M
OTHER
:
Gunhilda of Poland
(

see here
, under
King Sweyn
).

S
IBLINGS
: (

see here
, under
King Sweyn
).

KING CANUTE

Alternatively called Cnut or Knud, and known as ‘the Great’, he was born in
c.
995 in Denmark. He succeeded Edmund II as King of England on 30 November, 1016, claiming the throne by right of conquest, and is said to have been crowned on 6 January (?), 1017, at Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London, although there is no contemporary evidence for this. He succeeded his brother Harold as King of Denmark in 1018/19, and became King of Norway by right of conquest in 1028.

Canute married
, on 2 July, 1017 (although no record exists as to where):

Emma

She was the widow of Ethelred II (

see here
, under Ethelred II).

Issue of marriage: