On today's post, we turn our eyes towards one of the Anglo-Saxons queens that is not often discussed where British consorts are concerned in general history. Her name was Emma and she came from a house that not only descended from the famous viking Rollo, whom we have previously discussed on this blog, but was also the ancestry of the British kings such as was the case of William the Conqueror. Emma of Normandy was also the first recorded Queen mother of history, and it was she the mother of the famous saint king, Edward the Confessor and the consort of another conqueror, Cnut the Great, whom we also have already written about.
Emma was born around the year of 985, the daughter of Richard the Fearless, duke of Normandy, and his second wife, Gunnora, whom some sources claim to be his former mistress. It is also briefly mentioned she had other siblings, being the eldest also named Richard and who would inherite the Norman duchy as Richard II. Other than that there is no informating regarding Emma's education and her life in Normandy, which might led us to assume that she had an education as young woman of her status had.
When she reached the age of 13, Emma was betrothed to the King of English, Aethelred II who was by his people known as "Unready" due to his accending to the throne. Apparently, his mother, the former queen, had Edmund, who was Athelred's father first born from his first marriage, killed in order to have Aethelred crowned. His weakness as ruler did not increase his reputation either and to worse matters, England's shores were under Vikings attack. Willing to prevent them, Aethelred is advised to remarry. He was previously married to Aelfgifu of York, by whom he had several children, the oldest being the infamous Edmund the Ironside.
As we can see below:
It appears the relationship between Cnut and Emma have developed to an affection one and soon she gave him two children: Harthacnut, future King of England, and Gunhilda, Holy Roman Empress. As for the children of her former marriage, such as Alfred and Edward, they were left in Normandy, at her brother's court, where they were raised probably alongside the future William the Conqueror.
She appears also to have been more active as Cnut's consort rather than Aethelred's, often donating to church as it's patroness, befriending the clergy and witnessing charts with the king, who, is said, was seven years younger than her. Emma also
It was also said that "on approaching Southampton, the elder of these, Edward, found the town up in arms against him, unwilling to accept any son of the weak and hated Ethelred. Edward had little choice but to return to Normandy."
Whether was the case, Emma worked to have Harthacnut crowned as King of England upon the death of Harald and it was said that Harthacnut hated his paternal half-brother, inviting back to England his maternal half-brother Edward, whom was named his heir and was treated with much more kindness. What we know also of Emma during this period is that "to help promote the interests of her sons, Harthacnut and Edward (who became 'the Confessor'), she commissioned an exaggeratedly flattering biography of Cnut and herself around the time of Harthacnut's succession (1040)".
This 'flattering biography' of Emma and her second husband was apparently a manuscript named "The Encomium of Queen Emma", a form of propaganda that would also shape her rule as the first Queen mother documented in Britain's history, though it is rather unsure whether she was acknowledged as such in her lifetime. This document also suggests she was more powerful than we are led to believe, but to what extent we cannot be certain, except that it can be told that she was extremely rich by 1042, when Harthacnut died and was succeeded by Edward, the Confessor.
With him, she did not, at first, have good relations. The new king deprived his mother of her estates, apparently because he resented the treatment she gave him when he was a child, left in Normandy most of his lifetime. Eventually, he changed his mind and they reconciled, though Emma was no more the powerful Queen of her days, replaced by other's of King Edward's trust.
Unfortunately for us, we don't know anything else about her death, except she died in 1052. The legacy Emma left as Queen for a realm she adopted to herself, as many queens in her position did throughout the queenship of Middle Ages, was not only a close relationship with the church, but the most important was the house of Normandy that conquered all England, being succeeded by Henry II, the first Plantagenet in the 12th century.
Bibliography:
Emma was born around the year of 985, the daughter of Richard the Fearless, duke of Normandy, and his second wife, Gunnora, whom some sources claim to be his former mistress. It is also briefly mentioned she had other siblings, being the eldest also named Richard and who would inherite the Norman duchy as Richard II. Other than that there is no informating regarding Emma's education and her life in Normandy, which might led us to assume that she had an education as young woman of her status had.
When she reached the age of 13, Emma was betrothed to the King of English, Aethelred II who was by his people known as "Unready" due to his accending to the throne. Apparently, his mother, the former queen, had Edmund, who was Athelred's father first born from his first marriage, killed in order to have Aethelred crowned. His weakness as ruler did not increase his reputation either and to worse matters, England's shores were under Vikings attack. Willing to prevent them, Aethelred is advised to remarry. He was previously married to Aelfgifu of York, by whom he had several children, the oldest being the infamous Edmund the Ironside.
As we can see below:
"King Aethelred of England married Emma in 1002. Vikings raids on England were often based in Normandy in the late 10th century, and this marriage was intended to unite against the Viking threat. Upon their marriage, Emma was given the Anglo-Saxon name of Aelfgifu, which was used for formal and official matters, and became Queen of England. She received properties of her own in Winchester, Rutland, Devonshire, Suffolk and Oxfordshire, as well as the city of Exeter.Also:
"King Aethelred met his young bride to be and escorted her to Canterbury, where they were married and she was consecrated Queen. The kingdom over which she was set to rule, was, once again, under heavy Viking attack. Following the victory of King Alfred the Great and the dominance of Wessex, the Vikings raids had abated but a resurgence of these raids was disrupting the life of the population. Instead of growing food they were growing armies and defenses, their settled existence was under threat."As a result of the marriage, three children were born: Edward, who would later be known in history as the saint-king Edward the Confessor, Alfred the Aetheling and Goda, countess of Boulogne. But the match did not put an end to the Vikings' attack to England. Being a poorly advised king, Aethelred demanded to have the Danes established at East Anglia to be slaughtered in an event that was regarded as the St Brice day's Massacre, which occurred in 13 November 1002. Consequently, this decision of having all the Danes that had settled throughout England brought another wave of invasions, this time from Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark.
"These [invasions] continued particularly after Aethelred made an ill advised decision to massacre all the Danes in his country. In revenge, the Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard and his son Cnut invaded England. In 1013, Aethelred and Emma were forced to flee to Normandy. However when Sven died the next year, the English nobles invited Aethelred back to England "as long as he ruled more justly than he had before. Two years later, in 1016, Aethelred was dead and his eldest son by his first wife, Edmund Ironside, battled with Cnut over the throne."In the between of these turbulent events, Aethelred lost his heir, Athelstan, and Emma hoped to have their son, Edward, acknowledged as his heir instead with the support of Eadric Streona, ealdorman of Mercia and main adviser of Aethelred. However, the eldest of the surviving children by Aethelred's first marriage, Edmund Ironside, opposed fiercely to this idea and rose a rebellion against his father. Following the acknowledgement of Edmund as heir to the crown instead of 10 year old Edward, Cnut of Denmark, the second son of Sweyn Forkberd, invaded England. The next events, Emma was a mere viewer, since there was little she could do when Cnut and Edmund battled for England. Eventually,
"following a series of engagements with Edmund, Canute defeated him at Ashington, Essex. A treaty was drawn up, partitioning the country which would remain in force until the death of one of the participants to the treaty, at which time all lands would revert to the survivor. Edmund II died a month later in November of 1016 and Canute was proclaimed King of England."The Anglo-Saxons Chronicles describe the event with more precision, mentioning that "before the calends of August the king gave an order to fetch him the widow of the other king, Ethelred, the daughter of Richard, to wife." As we have discussed in our post about Cnut the Great, by marrying the former king's consort was one of his ways to have himself as king recognized as the sovereign of all England. And this would prove to be a wise decision, since Emma's relationship with the Church would help to shape Cnut's image as a pious and good king to his subjects.
It appears the relationship between Cnut and Emma have developed to an affection one and soon she gave him two children: Harthacnut, future King of England, and Gunhilda, Holy Roman Empress. As for the children of her former marriage, such as Alfred and Edward, they were left in Normandy, at her brother's court, where they were raised probably alongside the future William the Conqueror.
She appears also to have been more active as Cnut's consort rather than Aethelred's, often donating to church as it's patroness, befriending the clergy and witnessing charts with the king, who, is said, was seven years younger than her. Emma also
"developed a close relationship with Aelfsige of Peterborough, who advised her on many spiritual matters throughout her life. Her close relationship with clergy and the church strengthened her husband's claim to the throne as Christian king."
She was, as "writes Stafford, [...] 'the richest woman in England... and held extensive lands in the East Midlands and Wessex'. Emma's authority was not simply tied to landholdings-which fluctuated greatly from 1036 to 1043-she also wielded significant sway over the ecclesiastical offices of England."What else is mentioned in the "Chronicles" about Emma is seen below:
"[...] there on the third day came the Lady Emma with her royal son Hardacnute; and they all with much majesty, and bliss, and songs of praise, carried the holy archbishop into Canterbury, and so brought him gloriously into the church, on the third day before the ideas of June. Afterwards, on the eight day, the seventeenth before the calends of July, Archbishop Ethelnoth, and Bishop Elfsy, and Bishop Britwine, and all they that were with them, lodged the holy corpse of Saint Elphege on the north side of the altar of Christ; to the praise of of God, and to the glory of the archbishop, and to the everlasting salvation of all those who there his holy body daily seek with earnest heart and all humility. May God Almighty have mercy on All Christian men through the holy intercession of Elphege."However, after a brief period of peace, Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark and parts of Sweden died in 1035. This would leave Emma in another complicated situation, as Cnut had already a son by his first wife, a noblewoman from an Anglo-Saxon House whom he 'dismissed' in order to marry Emma, and who soon claimed the English throne. His name was Harald Harefoot, and he'd reign as Cnut's heir instead of Harthacnut, in spite of Emma's attempt to protect her son's interests and be the regent of his behalf. She had also invited Alfred and Edward back to England, but this would have disastrous consequences. Alfred the Aetheling was blinded by the supporters of Harald Harefoot, dying in consequence of these tragic actions and Edward fleed back to Normandy without setting foot in English soil.
It was also said that "on approaching Southampton, the elder of these, Edward, found the town up in arms against him, unwilling to accept any son of the weak and hated Ethelred. Edward had little choice but to return to Normandy."
Whether was the case, Emma worked to have Harthacnut crowned as King of England upon the death of Harald and it was said that Harthacnut hated his paternal half-brother, inviting back to England his maternal half-brother Edward, whom was named his heir and was treated with much more kindness. What we know also of Emma during this period is that "to help promote the interests of her sons, Harthacnut and Edward (who became 'the Confessor'), she commissioned an exaggeratedly flattering biography of Cnut and herself around the time of Harthacnut's succession (1040)".
This 'flattering biography' of Emma and her second husband was apparently a manuscript named "The Encomium of Queen Emma", a form of propaganda that would also shape her rule as the first Queen mother documented in Britain's history, though it is rather unsure whether she was acknowledged as such in her lifetime. This document also suggests she was more powerful than we are led to believe, but to what extent we cannot be certain, except that it can be told that she was extremely rich by 1042, when Harthacnut died and was succeeded by Edward, the Confessor.
With him, she did not, at first, have good relations. The new king deprived his mother of her estates, apparently because he resented the treatment she gave him when he was a child, left in Normandy most of his lifetime. Eventually, he changed his mind and they reconciled, though Emma was no more the powerful Queen of her days, replaced by other's of King Edward's trust.
Unfortunately for us, we don't know anything else about her death, except she died in 1052. The legacy Emma left as Queen for a realm she adopted to herself, as many queens in her position did throughout the queenship of Middle Ages, was not only a close relationship with the church, but the most important was the house of Normandy that conquered all England, being succeeded by Henry II, the first Plantagenet in the 12th century.
Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_of_Normandy
http://www.intriguing-history.com/emma-of-normandy/
https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2012/05/02/emma-of-normandy-queen-of-england-by-susan-abernethy/
http://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/emma-of-normandy/emma-normandy-twice-queen-england/
http://spartacus-educational.com/MEDemma.htm
http://haylingu3a.org.uk/emma-of-normandy/
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/illmanus/other/011add000033241u00001000.html
http://omacl.org/Anglo/part3.html
http://omacl.org/Anglo/part4.html
http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/vikings_7.html
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