Britain's Royal Families

see here).

2   Alfred

Born before 1012, he was styled ‘Atheling’. He was brutally murdered on 5 February, 1037 (or, less probably, 1036), at Ely, Cambridgeshire, probably on the orders of Earl Godwine ( see here, under Harold II). He was buried in Ely Cathedral.

3   Goda

Alternatively known as Godgifu, she was born between 1004 and 1014. She married firstly Drogo (or Dreux), Count of Mantes and the Vexin ( d.1035), and had issue:

1  Ralph, Earl of Hereford ( d.1057), who married Gytha, perhaps the daughter of Osgood Clapa, and had issue.

2  Walter III, Count of Mantes and the Vexin ( d.after 1063), who married Biota, daughter of Herbert, Count of Maine.

3  Fulk, Bishop of Amiens (1030–1058).

Goda married secondly Eustace II, Count of Boulogne ( d.1093), in c.1036. It is possible that there was a child of this union, probably a daughter who married and had issue. The only evidence pointing to this is the fact that Eustace of Boulogne had a grandson who was given as hostage to William I in 1067.

Goda was dead by 1049.

ETHELRED II

He died on 23 April, 1016, in London, and was buried in Old St Paul’s Cathedral, London. His tomb was lost in the Great Fire of 1666.

He was succeeded by his son Edmund.

King Sweyn

FATHER: Harold Bluetooth, King of Denmark.

MOTHER: Gunhilda, first wife of Harold, or Cyrid, his second wife, or Aesa, his concubine.

SIBLINGS:

Thyra

She married Thorgils Sprakalegg, and had issue:

1 Gytha, mother of Harold II( see here).

KING SWEYN

Known as ‘Forkbeard’, he was born in c.960 in Denmark. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 1 November, 986. He is said by some sources to have been deposed in 987 and restored in 1000. He usurped the throne of England in the autumn of 1013, having defeated and deposed Ethelred II; he claimed the throne by right of conquest, but had no dynastic claim to it. He was never crowned.

Sweyn married firstly, in c.990 (although no record exists as to where):

Gunhilda

She was probably the daughter of Mjeczislas I, Duke of Poland, by Dubrawka, daughter of Boleslaw I, Duke of Bohemia, or, less probably, the daughter of Boleslaw, King of Wendland. Sweyn later divorced her, probably before 1000. She died in c.1015. One source gives the date of her death as 992, but this must be wrong.

Issue of marriage:

1   Harold

He was born in c.994 in Denmark. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 3 February, 1014, and died in 1018/19.

2   King Canute( see here).

The following were possibly the children of Gunhilda, although they may have been the issue of Sweyn by his second wife ( below):

3   Gytha

She married Erik Hakonson, a Danish Earl in England, and Earl of Hlathir in Norway in 1013, and had issue:

1  Haakon, Earl of Worcester ( d.1029/30), who married Gunhilda, daughter of Wytgeorn, King of Wendland ( below).

4   Santslaue

Alternatively called Svantoslava, she was born and died in Denmark. No dates are recorded.

5   Thyra

She is said to have been born in c.993 in Denmark – probably the eldest child of Sweyn and Gunhilda, although this is open to doubt. She married Godwine, later Earl of Wessex ( see here, under Harold II), and had issue, but no details of them are recorded. She died in 1018.

6   Daughter

Her name is not known. She married Wytgeorn, King of Wendland, and had issue:

1  Gunhilda; she married firstly Haakon, Earl of Worcester ( d.1029/30) ( above), and secondly, Harold ( d.1042), son of Edith, the daughter of Ethelred II.

Sweyn married secondly, probably before 1000 (although no record exists as to where):

Sigrid

Alternatively known as Sigrith or Syritha, and called ‘the Haughty’, she was the daughter of Skogul Toste of Sweden, and was born in Sweden. She married firstly Eric VI, King of Sweden ( d.995), and had issue:

1  Olaf Svenski, King of Sweden ( d.1022), who married a lady called Astrid, and had issue.

One source gives the date of Sigrid’s death as 995, but this is impossible. It is likely that she died before 1013, as she has never been referred to as Queen of England.

Issue of marriage:

1   Astrid

Alternatively called Estrith, or Margaret. She married either Richard II, Duke of Normandy ( d.1027), or Robert II, Duke of Normandy ( see here, under William I), between 1017 and 1027. If her husband was Robert, then he repudiated her shortly after the marriage took place. She married secondly Ulf Thorgilson, a Danish Earl in England ( d.1035; he was the brother of Gytha, mother of Harold II), and had issue:

1  Sweyn Estrithson, King of Denmark ( d.1074/6), who married a lady called Gunhilda. He left illegitimate issue only.

2  Beorn, Earl of Danish Mercia. He was murdered in 1049.

3  Osbeorn ( d.1086?).

Sigrid may also have been the mother of Sweyn’s four other daughters ( above).

KING SWEYN

He died on 3 February, 1014, at Gainsborough, Lincs., and was buried in England (location unknown). His remains were later moved to Roeskild Cathedral, Denmark.

He was succeeded by Ethelred II ( preceding chapter), who was in turn succeeded by Edmund, the son of Ethelred.

Edmund II

FATHER: Ethelred II( see here).

MOTHER: Elgiva( see here, under Ethelred II).

SIBLINGS: ( 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: