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Queen Consort of King Edgar the Peaceable


Dates:  945 - 1000

Occupation:  queen - married to King Edgar "the Peaceable," stepmother of Edward "the Martyr" and mother of King Ethelred (Aethelred) II "the Unready"

Also known as:  Elfrida, Elfthryth

About Aelfthryth:

Her father was Earl of Devon, Ordgar. She married Edgar who died in 975, and was his second wife. Aelfthryth is sometimes credited with organizing, or being part of, a 978 assassination of her stepson Edward "the Martyr" so that her 10-year-old son Ethelred II "the Unready" could succeed.

Her daughter, Aethelfleda or Ethelfleda, was abbess at Romsey.

Another woman by the name of Aelfthryth was the daughter of King Alfred "the Great" and wife of Baldwin II, Count of Flanders and Artois. That Aelfthryth lived from about 877-929.

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