Ordgar

157. Some people try to identify blemishes in [Edgar's] immensely distinguished record, saying that in his early years he was cruel to his subjects and lecherous with young women. For instance, they give as an example of the former a certain Æthelwold, a leading noble in his day and one of his confidants. The king had given him a task respecting Ælfthryth, daughter of Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon, whose beauty had beguiled the eyes of all those who brought news of it, until through them its praises reached the king’s ears—it was she whom Æthelwold, as I was saying, had been commissioned to go and inspect, with a view to arranging marriage if the reality squared with the reports. Hastening on his way, he found nothing contrary to the public opinion of her and, concealing the purpose of his mission from her parents, he diverted the young lady to his own personal advantage. Returning to the king, he reported what would suit his own views: she was a girl of ordinary everyday appearance, and unworthy of his most excellent Majesty. The king took his mind off her; but while he was pursuing other loves, he heard through informers of the cunning by which Æthelwold had cleaned him out. Driving out nail with nail, undermining (that is) one fraud with another, the king greeted the ealdorman with unruffled composure, and as though it was a joke, fixed the day when he would visit this woman of whom he had heard so much. Aghast at this terrifying pleasantry, Æthelwold hastened on ahead to see his wife, begging her to think of his own survival and to dress herself to look as ugly as she could; it was then for the first time that he told her what he had done and why. But is anything beyond a woman’s ambition? She found the heart to break faith with her wretched lover and her first husband, and sat down at the mirror to paint her face, leaving nothing undone that might excite the lust of a young man and a man of power. All happened as she intended. He fell in love with her at first sight so passionately that, concealing his resentment, he sent for the ealdorman to come hunting in the forest of Wherwell, and there pierced him with a javelin. When the bastard son of the dead man approached familiarly, and the king asked him how he liked this kind of hunting, he is said to have replied: ‘I like it well, your Majesty; what pleases you ought not to displease me.’ These words so calmed the king’s anger that thereafter he had as much affection for the young man as for anyone in his whole life, lightening the guilt of his despotic action against the father by his kingly care for the son. To expiate the crime a monastery was built on the spot by Ælfthryth, which is still inhabited by a large community of nuns.

162. Meanwhile King Edward treated his brother, who was still a boy, and his stepmother with proper warmth of feeling, keeping the royal title for himself alone, but allowing them all other privileges. He followed in the footsteps of his father’s religious activity; he listened to good advice and took it to heart. The woman however, with a stepmother’s hatred and a viper’s guile, in her anxiety that her son should also enjoy the title of king, laid plots against her stepson’s life, which she carried out as follows. He was coming back tired from hunting, breathless and thirsty from his exertions; his companions were following the hounds where chance had led each one; and hearing that they were quartered in a neighbouring village, the young man spurred his horse and hastened to join them, all by himself, too innocent to have any fears and no doubt judging other people by himself. On his arrival, his stepmother, with a woman’s wiles, distracted his attention, and with a kiss of welcome offered him a drink. As he greedily drank it, she had him pierced with a dagger by one of her servants. Wounded mortally by the blow, he summoned up what breath he had left, and spurred his horse to join the rest of the party; but one foot slipped, and he was dragged through byways by the other, leaving streams of blood as a clear indication of his death to those who looked for him. At the time they ordered him to be buried without honour at Wareham, grudging him consecrated ground when he was dead, as they had grudged him the royal title while he was alive. So they enjoyed a public festival of rejoicing, as though they had buried his memory along with his corpse. But the divine Serenity acknowledged him, and did honour to the innocent victim with the glory of miracles: so far do Heaven’s judgements outweigh those of men. There lights shone in the sky, there a lame man walked, there a dumb man regained the use of his tongue, there every kind of sickness gave way to health. The story spread through all England, and made the martyr’s merits well known. Aroused by this, the murderess planned a journey to the place; she had already mounted her horse and was spurring him on, when she felt the manifest anger of God. Her familiar palfrey on which she had been used to ride, and which had before been swift as air and could outstrip the very winds, then by the will of God stood motionless. The grooms set about it with whips and shouting, to make it carry its powerful mistress with its wonted eagerness; their labour was spent in vain. She changed her mount, but with the same result. At length, though slowly, her unfeeling heart understood the purport of the portent, and what she did not deserve to do herself she agreed to get done by another hand. Ælfhere, the man I have already blamed for the destruction of monasteries, regretting his rash actions and heaving deep sighs of penitence, took up the saint’s body from its lowly resting-place and gave it its due with a splendid funeral at Shaftesbury. Even so he did not escape, but a year later was consumed by the worms which we call lice. And since an unruly spirit is its own torment, and an anxious mind suffers its own evil genius even in this present world, Ælfthryth fell from her pride of royalty into a dire repentance, such that for many years at Wherwell she clad her delicately-nurtured limbs in haircloth and at night slept stretched on the ground without her pillow, besides inventing all the tortures she could for her body, a beautiful woman and finely faithful to her husband but worthy of punishment for the great crime she committed. It is believed, and a widely popular view, that it was through her cruelty to Edward that the whole country, for a long time after, groaned under the barbarian yoke.

ÆLFTHRVTH, or in Latin ELFRIDA (945?-1000), was the daughter of Ordgar, the ealdorman of Devon. Her first husband was Æthelwald, the ealdorman of the East Anglians, who died about 962. Two years after his death she married King Eadgar. On the death of Eadgar and the accession of Eadward, the stepson of Ælfthryth, the ealdorman Ælfweard [q. v.] headed a reaction against the revived monasticism of Dunstan. As Ælfthryth was by her first marriage sister-in-law of Æthelwine, the head ofthe monastic party, and was also probably opposed to the election of her stepson Eadward, she no doubt upheld the cause of the monks. Eadward was slain at Corfe, and Æthelred, the son of Ælfthryth, made king in his stead. Osbern, writing in the latter part of the eleventh century, was the first who attributed the death of Eadward to his stepmother. His statement gains additional weight by the confirmation of Florence of Worcester. The fact that the contemporary chronicler does not mention the names of the murderers of Eadward, and his statement that his kinsmen would not avenge his death, is consistent with the assertion of the guilt of Ælfthryth. And as Ælfhere, the champion of the secular clergy, joined with Dunstan in the translation of the body of Eadward, the death of the king may probably be set down to personal rather than political motives. Ælfthryth was alive in 999, but had died by 1002, as in that year her son Æthelred granted lands to the monastery of Wherwell for the good of her soul. She is represented in a new light—as a kindly grandmother to one of her son’s children—in the will of Æthelstan, a son of Æthelred, who left his bequests for ecclesiastical purposes ‘for the soul of Ælfthryth, my grandmother who afed me.’ This is all that is really known about her. She is the subject of a romance told by William of Malmesbury, and improved on by later writers. The growth of this romance has been discussed in an essay by Mr. Freeman, who believes the story to contain germs of truth, and infers from it that Ethelwald in some way met with a violent death, and that there was some canonical impediment to the second marriage of Ælfthryth with Eadgar.
[AS. Chron.; Florence of Worcester; Osbern, Vita Dunstani, see Introd, by Dr. Stubbs in Memorials of Dunstan, Rolls Series; Wharton’s Anglia Sacra, ii. 113; William of Malmesbury, ii. 165; Gaimar, 3605; Bromton, ap. Twysden, Dec. Script., 865; Codex Dipl. iii. 314, 322, 364; Freeman’s Historical Essays, i. 15.] W. H.

In 964 Eadgar took to wife Ælfthryth, the daughter of Ordgar, ealdorman of the western shires. Ælfthryth’s first husband, Æthelwold, the son and successor of Æthelstan of East Anglia, died in 962. There is no reason to attribute his death to Eadgar as William of Malmesbury and later writers do; indeed it is absurd to imagine that the king would have thus injured the family in which he found his mightiest and most trusted adherents. Ælfthryth bore him Eadmund, who died in 971 or 972, and Æthelred (Ethelred the Unready), who afterwards came to the throne. Second marriages were uncanonical, and in the tenth century priests were forbidden to bless them. The name of Ælfthryth became odious, as she was held to be guilty of the murder of her stepson Eadward. These two facts are perhaps enough to account for the scandalous tales that later writers tell about this marriage. It took place just seven years before Eadgar’s coronation, and in the account given of the ceremony at Bath by the anonymous author of St. Oswald’s life there is a curious passage which seems as though the coronation was followed by some public recognition of it (p. 438). It seems possible, therefore, that we have here the key to the legend of the seven years’ penance said to have been imposed in consequence of the violation of the ‘veiled lady’ of Wilton. Although we must reject the story of laying aside the crown, Dunstan may have imposed a penance, possibly of seven years’ length, on the king for contracting a union which was uncanonical, and probably lacked the blessing of the church. Eadgar may have atoned for his sin by the foundation of a religious house, for he founded many, and the coronation at Bath may well have been accompanied by the removal of ecclesiastical censure, and, as the ‘Life of St. Oswald’ implies, by the recognition of the marriage (‘peractis egregiis nuptiis regalis thori,’ &c.)

Queen Ælfthryth
Ælfthryth, the third lady in Edgar’s life, is much more generously documented. She was first married to Æthelwold, eldest son of Æthelstan ‘Half-King’. Hart suggests this took place in 956, and that they had a son, Leofric, before Æthelwo1d died in 962.⁸⁶ According to a charter of 964 she was married to the king in that year,⁸⁷ although the ‘D’ and ‘F’ versions of the Chronicle place the marriage in 965.⁸⁸ That she was a consecrated queen can be beyond any doubt, although the date and the place are the subject of much conjecture and debate.⁸⁹ She was an active and visible queen, witnessing charters, attending witenagemots,⁹⁰ supervising nunneries, which were placed specifically under the queen’s care by the Regularis Concordia. She was an active contributor to the monastic reform, working diligently in conjunction with Bishop Æthelwold. She founded, refounded and supported monasteries and nunneries, both in her own right and in association with the king. Her landed wealth was extensive,⁹¹ although most of her business activities seem to have been related to religious houses. This could be the result of the nature of the extant sources, but may also reflect the traditional view of the appropriate concerns for a queen. The opportunity to expand the sphere of her queenly concerns came with the accession of her twelve-year-old son, Æthelred, in 978. She seems to have assumed at least some of the roles of a regent: Meyer points out that she continued Edgar’s policy of monastic benefactions as a means of controlling the kingdom.⁹² She founded nunneries at Ramsbury, Winchester, and Amesbury.⁹³ She overshadowed Ælfgifu, Æthelred’s first wife, perhaps even raising her chi1dren.⁹⁴ In charters of Edgar’s reign Ælfthryth’s signum usually appears between the bishops and the duces, while in the years from 978 to 984 she attests either after the king or the archbishop. From 984, the time of Bishop Æthelwold’s death, to 993, Ælfthryth virtually disappears from the sources. Keynes explores the reasons for her eclipse,⁹⁵ and it is interesting to note that without the support of the bishop and the acquiescence of her son, her position among the king’s councillors was no longer realisable. She reappeared at court around 993, and witnessed her last document in 997.⁹⁶ She died 17 November, 1002,⁹⁷ and in the same year, Æthelred donated land to her foundation at Wherwell for the benefit of her soul.⁹⁸
⁸⁶C. Hart, ‘Æthelstan "Half-King" and his Family’, in ASE, 2 (1973), p.130.
⁸⁷B.1143/S725.
^88‘D’ Her on issum geare Eadgar cyning genam Ælfðryðe him to cwene, heo waes Ordgares dohtor ealdormannes
‘F’: ... Ælfðryðe him to gebeodan
⁸⁹The subject of her consecration will be dealt with below.
⁹⁰She attests a charter, B.1220/S.806 issued at the witenagemot at Cheddar, Somerset, in 968, and another B.1266/S.779 at Walmer, Kent, in 970.
⁹¹See Hart, Early Charters of Northern England and the North Midlands, p.273, for the transactions involving this queen.
⁹²Meyer, ‘Women and the Tenth Century English Monastic Reform’.
⁹³ibid., p.55.
⁹⁴Stafford, Queens, Concubines and Dowagers, p.112.
⁹⁵S. Keynes, The Diplomas of King Æthelred ‘the Unready’ 978-1016 (Cambridge, 1980), especially pp.177, 181, 187.
⁹⁶K.698/S.891; C. Hart, Early Charters of Northern England and the North Midlands, p.205.
⁹⁷Wherwell Cartulary, London BL Egerton MS.2104, f.43.
⁹⁸K.707/S.904.

An eleventh century calendar gives her date of death as 17 November ["[17 Nov.] Obitusque Ælfþryð matris Æþelredi regis." Lib. Vit. Hyde, 272]. She was still living in 999, when she witnessed one of Æthelred's charters ["Ego Ælfðryð mater eiusdem regis fautrix extiti." Codex Dipl. Sax. 3: 314 (#703)], but was deceased in 1002 when Æthelred made a donation for her soul ["... ego Æðelred ... pro remedio animae patris mei Eadgari et matris meae Ælfðryð ..." Codex Dip;. Sax. 3: 323 (#707)].
Both of Ælfthryth's marriages are mentioned by the Vita Sancti Oswaldi, which however confuses her with Eadgar's first wife ["Athelwoldus vero satis digniter principatum Orientalis regni acquisivit a rege, tenuitque magna virtute; qui accipiens filiam Ormeri ducis Occidentalium Anglorum, perduxit secum ad suum regnum, quæ vocitata erat Ælfritha; quam post mortem ejus rex Eadgar præpotentissimus accepit, ex qua duos habuit filios, quorum unus Eadwerd est dictus, alter vero Æthelredus." Vita Sancti Oswaldi, Hist. Ch. York, 1: 428-9]. The two marriages are also given by John of Worcester ["Rex Anglorum pacificus Eadgarus Ordgari ducis Domnaniæ filiam, Ælfthrytham nomine, post mortem viri sui Æthelwoldi, gloriosi ducis Orientalium Anglorum, in matrimonium accepit; ex qua duos filios, Eadmundum et Æthelredum, suscepit." John Worc. s.a. 964 (1: 140)].
Bibliography
ASC = Charles Plummer, Two of the Saxon Chronicles parallel, based on the earlier edition by John Earle, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1892-9). ASC(A) indicates the "A" manuscript of the chronicle, and similarly for the other manuscripts.
Chron. Rams. = W. Dunn Macray, ed., Chronicon Abbatiæ Rameseiensis (Rolls Series 83, London, 1886).
Codex Dipl. Sax. = John M. Kemble, ed., Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, 6 vols. (London, 1839-48).
DNB = Dictionary of National Biography.
Gaimar = Thomas Duffus Hardy & Charles Trice Martin, ed. & trans., Lestorie des Engles solum la translacion Maistre Geffrei Gaimar, 2 vols. (London 1888-9).
Hart (1973) = Cyril Hart, "Athelstan 'Half King' and his family", Anglo-Saxon England 2 (1973): 115-144.
Hist. Ch. York = James Raine, ed., The Historians of the Church of York, and its Archbishops, 3 vols. (Rolls Series 71, London, 1879-86).
John Worc. = Benjamin Thorpe, ed., Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis, 2 vols., (London, 1848-9). (The work formerly attributed to Florence of Worcester is now generally attributed to John of Worcester.)
Lib. Vit. Hyde = Walter de Gray Birch, Liber Vitae: Register and Martyrology of New Minister and Hyde Abbey Winchester (London, 1892).
Liber Eliensis = E. O. Blake, Liber Eliensis (Camden 3rd. ser. 92, London, 1962).

Ordgar

ORDGAR or ORGAR (d, 971), ealdorman of Devon, was the son of an ealdorman, and was a landowner in every village from Exeter to Frome. He married an unknown lady of royal birth, by whom he had a daugbter Ælfthryth [q. v.] When King Eadgar sent a messenger to woo Ælfthryth, he found her and her father, whom she completely controlled, playing at chess, which they had learned from the Danes (GAIMAR, II. 3605-3725). Between 965 and 968 his signature as ‘Ordgar dux’ occurs in many charters (KEMBLE, Codex Dipl. Nos. 518, 1270, &c.) According to the ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,’ Ordgar founded the monastery of Tavistock in 961, but under the year 997 it is called Ordulf’s minster, and, according to the ‘Register of Tavistock’ (Mon. Angl. ii. 494), it was founded by Ordulf, Ordgar’s son. The ‘Register’ says it was large enough to hold a thousand persons; that it was begun in the reign of Eadgar, and finished in 981. Ordgar had another son, Edulf, who was of gigantic strength and stature (Gesta Pontiff. pp. 202-3). Ordgar died in 971, and, according to William of Malmcsbury, was buried with his son Edulf at Tavistock. Florence of Worcester (s. a.) says he was buried at Exeter (Anglo-Saxon Chron,; FLOR. WIG. Chron. loc. cit.; WILL. MALM. Gesta Pontificum, ed. Hamilton; GAIMAR, ed. Hardy and Martin).

Ordgar
Ealdorman of Devon.
Ordgar appears as minister in a charter of king Eadwig dated 958 ["Ego Ordgar Minister" Cart. Sax. 3: 239 (#1035); Codex Dipl. Sax. 5: 398 (#1214)], and he appears under that title in several charters through 963 [Cart. Sax. 3: 359 (#1121); Codex Dipl. Sax. 6: 61 (#1247)]. In 964, king Eadgar married his daughter Ælfthryth [ASC(D) s.a. 965; John Worc. s.a. 964 (1: 140); see the pages of Eadgar and Ælfthryth]. Ordgar was still a minister when he witnessed the grant of land in Easton or Aston-Tirrel, co. Berks by the king to his wife in 964 [Cart. Sax. 3: 394 (#1143); Codex Dipl. Sax. 6: 69 (#1252)], but he appears as ealdorman ("dux") in the same year ["Ego Ordgar dux" Cart. Sax. 3: 393 (#1142); Codex Dipl. Sax. 6: 71 (#1253)]. According to John of Worcester, he was "dux Domnaniæ", that is ealdorman of Devon (and perhaps also of Cornwall) [see below]. He appears in charters as "dux" through 970 [Cart. Sax. 3: 565 (#1269); Codex Dipl. Sax. 6: 99 (#1270)], and he died in 971 [see below]. [For a list of the charters in which Ordgar appears, and an account of his family, see Finberg (1943).]
Bibliography
ASC = Charles Plummer, Two of the Saxon Chronicles parallel, based on the earlier edition by John Earle, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1892-9). ASC(A) indicates the "A" manuscript of the chronicle, and similarly for the other manuscripts.
Cart. Sax. = Walter de Gray Birch, ed., Cartularium Saxonicum, 4 vols. (1885-99).
Codex Dipl. Sax. = John M. Kemble, ed., Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, 6 vols. (London, 1839-48).
Finberg (1943) = H. P. R. Finberg, "The House of Ordgar and the Foundation of Tavistock Abbey", English Historical Review 58 (1943): 190-201.
Gaimar = Thomas Duffus Hardy & Charles Trice Martin, ed. & trans., Lestorie des Engles solum la translacion Maistre Geffrei Gaimar, 2 vols. (London 1888-9).
John Worc. = Benjamin Thorpe, ed., Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis, 2 vols., (London, 1848-9). (The work formerly attributed to Florence of Worcester is now generally attributed to John of Worcester.)
Onom. Anglo-Sax. = William George Searle, Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum (Cambridge, 1897).
Searle (1899) = William George Searle, Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles (Cambridge, 1899).
Warren (1883) = F. E. Warren, ed., The Leofric Missal (Oxford, 1883).

Ordgar Family

Ælfthryth

Ordgar