Æthelburh OF KENT Queen of Northumbria 1792
- Born: 601, Kent, , Kent, England 1792
- Marriage (1): Eadwine King of Northumbria in 625 in , , Deira, Anglo Saxon Britain 1795
- Died: 8 September 647, Lyminge, , Kent, Anglo Saxon Britain at age 46 1792
- Buried: 647, Lyminge, , Kent, Anglo Saxon Britain 1792
Another name for Æthelburh was Ethelburga.
FamilySearch ID: GB15-WDB
General Notes:
LifeSketch
Wikipedia
Æthelburh of Kent (born 601,[1] sometimes spelled Æthelburg, Ethelburga, Æthelburga; Old English: Æþelburh, Æðelburh, Æðilburh, also known as Tate or Tata),[2][3] was an early Anglo-Saxon queen consort of Northumbria, the second wife of King Edwin. As she was a Christian from Kent, their marriage triggered the initial phase of the conversion of the pagan north of England to Christianity.
Early life and marriage
Æthelburh would have been born in the late 6th century, as the daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent (sometimes spelled Aethelberht) and his queen Bertha, and sister of Eadbald. In 625, she married Edwin of Northumbria as his second wife. A condition of their marriage was Edwin's conversion to Christianity and the acceptance of Paulinus's mission to convert the Northumbrians.[4][5]
Æthelburh's children with Edwin were: Eanflæd, Ethelhun, Wuscfrea and Edwen.
Her daughter Eanflæd grew up under the protection of her uncle, King Eadbald of Kent. Bede, Ecclesiastical History (2.20) states that Æthelburh did not trust her brother, or Edwin's sainted successor Oswald, with the lives of Edwin's male descendants whom she sent to the court of King Dagobert I (her mother's cousin).
Christianity and founding of monastery
Saxon church at Lyminge founded by Æthelburh in 633, excavated in 2019
Stone in Lyminge Church marking the burial site of the founder
King Edwin's conversion was due to his marriage to Æthelburh, who brought her bishop Paulinus with her. Both Æthelburh and her mother, Bertha, received letters from popes Gregory and Boniface respectively, urging them to do their Christian duty by converting their pagan husbands. Their daughter Eanflaed was one of the first to be baptized in Northumbria.[6] After King Edwin was wounded, Æthelburh's alarm caused an early onset of childbirth. Both the mother, as well as the infant, appeared to be in danger. The prayers of Paulinus were offered for the queen and child. After they recovered, 12 of the royal households, as well as the baby, were baptized by Edwin's permission and request.[7]
According to the Kentish Royal Legend, after Edwin's death at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633, she returned to Kent. She then established one of the first Benedictine nunneries in England, at Lyminge, near Folkestone, which she led until her death in 647, and where her remains were later venerated.[5]
Modern research has shown that the buildings at Lyminge were designed to contain a convent of monks as well as of nuns. The church is built from Roman masonry, and was possibly built out of the fragments of a villa, which was customary practice by Anglo-Saxons, or it may have been a Roman basilica.[1]
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Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
King Eadwine & his second wife, Aethelburh, had four children:
3. EANFLÆD (Easter Sunday 626-after 680, bur Whitby Abbey). Bede records the birth of "filiam regi…Æanfled" on "nocte sacrosancta dominici paschae", the same day as the assassination attempt on her father, adding that she was baptised "die sancto pentecostes prima de gente Nordanhymbrorum" with eleven other family members[816]. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the baptism of "Eanfled, daughter of king Edwin" on "the holy eve of Whit Sunday" in 626, adding (in manuscript E) that King Eadwine "promised … to give his daughter to God" if he defeated Cwichelm King of Wessex in revenge for this attempt on his life[817]. Bede records that, after their father was killed, "duce Basso milite regis Æduini" took "Eanfledam filiam et Uuscfrean filium Æduini, necnon et Yffi filium Osfridi filius eius" to Kent, from where their mother, fearing "Eadbaldi et Osualdi regum", sent them "in Galliam" to her friend "regi Daegberecto" but that both children died and were buried there[818]. The Historia Brittonum of Nennius records that "Oswy had two wives, Riemmelth, the daughter of Royth, son of Rum, and Eanfled, the daughter of Edwin, son of Alla"[819]. Bede records that "filiam…Æduini regis Eanfledam", who had been taken to Kent after her father was killed, was brought back by "presbyter…Utta" to marry "regi Osuio"[820]. The Vita Wilfridi names "reginam regis Oswiu nomine Eanfled"[821]. She succeeded Hilda as second abbess of Whitby 680. Bede records that "rex Osuiu…filiam suam Aelffledam…pater eius Osuiu et mater eius Aeanfled et pater matris eius Aeduini" were buried "in ecclesia sancti apostolic Petri" [later Whitby Abbey][822]. m (before 645[823]) as his second wife, OSWIU King of Northumbria, son of ÆTHELFRITH King of Bernicia [Northumbria] & his wife Ucha of Deira [Northumbria] ([610/11] -15 Feb 670, bur Whitby Abbey).
4. ÆTHELHUN ([627/29]-young, bur York). Bede records that "alii liberi eius [Eadwine] de Aedilberga regina…Aedilhun et Aedilthryd filia et alter filius Uuscfrea" were baptised, but that the first two died as infants and were buried "Eburaci in ecclesia"[824].
5. ÆTHELDRITH ([628/31]-young, bur York). Bede records that "alii liberi eius [Eadwine] de Aedilberga regina…Aedilhun et Aedilthryd filia et alter filius Uuscfrea" were baptised, but that the first two died as infants and were buried "Eburaci in ecclesia"[825].
6. WUSCFREA ([632/33]-in France after 633, bur France). Bede records that "alii liberi eius [Eadwine] de Aedilberga regina…Aedilhun et Aedilthryd filia et alter filius Uuscfrea" were baptised[826]. Bede records that, after their father was killed, "duce Basso milite regis Æduini" took "Eanfledam filiam et Uuscfrean filium Æduini, necnon et Yffi filium Osfridi filius eius" to Kent, from where their mother, fearing "Eadbaldi et Osualdi regum", sent them "in Galliam" to her friend "regi Daegberecto" but that both children died and were buried there[827].
Noted events in her life were:
1. Title of Nobility: Princess of Kent,,. 1795
2. She worked as a Founder and Abbess of Lyminge Church between 633 and 647 in Lyminge, , Kent, Anglo Saxon Britain. 1795
3. She was Roman Catholic. 1795
4. Title of Nobility: Queen of Northumbria,,. 1795
Æthelburh married Eadwine King of Northumbria in 625 in , , Deira, Anglo Saxon Britain.1795 (Eadwine King of Northumbria was born in 565 in , , Northumberland, England 1795, christened on 12 April 627 in York, , Northumbria, Anglo Saxon Britain,1795 died on 12 October 633 in Hatfield Chase, , Northumbria, Anglo Saxon Britain 1795 and was buried in 633 in York, , Northumbria, Anglo Saxon Britain 1795.)
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