Alfred the Great’s Wife

Ealhswith was the daughter of Æthelred Mucel, (Ealdormen of the Gaini in Mercia) and Eahburh (likely a Mercian Princess). She married Alfred, who was the heir to the West Saxon throne in 868, thus strengthening ties between Wessex and Mercia. She was Alfred’s consort from 871 until his death in 899.

Importantly at the time, Wessex did not always have Queens, so Ealhswith was never the Queen of Wessex, she was only ever ‘the King’s wife’. This may have meant to some her son, Edward was less legitimate, than his cousin Æthelwold, as his father, King Æthelred was Alfred’s elder brother and his mother, Wulfryn, was the Queen of Wessex.

Ealhswith activities is not recorded in any contemporary narrative sources, or at any of Alfred’s councils. Her political role was likely very limited.

Ealhswith is of course the mother to two greats in early English history. Her eldest child Æthelflæd, became Lady of Mercia, her marriage to the Lord of Mercia was key in the formation of the Alfredian kingdom. She also played a crucial role in the war against the Danes and the Norse. Ealhswith’s eldest son, Edward succeeded Alfred as king of the Anglo-Saxons in 899, and led one of the most successful military campaigns in British history, against the Danes from 912 – 920, becoming the first king to permanently unite the Southern English kingdoms, after which him brought peace to Northern Britain.

Ealhswith remains as descendant of the current royal family via her son Edward and her daughter, Ælfthryth, who married Count Baldwin of Flanders.

In Alfred’s will, he left Ealhswith estates at Edington, Lambourne and Wantage. She later founded a nunnery, Nunminster at Winchester and died shortly after in 902. She was buried at New Minster next to her husband.

Alfred (David Dawson) and Ealhswith (Eliza Butterworth) in The Last Kingdom