MERCIA Ealhswith

Abt 0850 - 0902  (52 years)

• Name	MERCIA Ealhswith
  Birth	Abt 0850	Mercia, England
  Gender	Female
  Death	05 Dec 0902	St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire
  Notes	Ealhswith was the daughter of Æthelred Mucel, an Ealdorman of the Gaini in Mercia, and Eadburh.[1][2] Asser describes her as being of the royal line of Mercia.[2] Her birth date is uncertain. In 868 she married the future King Alfred.[1][2] They had five children whose names are known (the order is as given in Asser's Life): Æthelflæd[1][3][4] Edward the Elder[1][3][4] Æthelgifu[1][3][4] Ælfthryth[1][3][4] Æthelweard[1][3][4] In his will, Alfred bequeathed Ealhswith estates at Edington in Wiltshire and near Ashdown in Berkshire - where he had won two major battles against the Danes - and at his birthplace, Wantage in Berkshire.[5] The bequest of three estates associated with major events in his life will have been a conscious indication of the esteem in which Alfred held his wife. In 899, probably after Alfred's death, Ealhswith became a nun and founded a convent at Winchester, known as Nunnaminster.[1][6] She died on 5 December 902 and was buried at New Minster, Winchester.[1] Her death in 902 is recorded in the Abingdon manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.[7] Sources ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Marios Costambeys for 'Ealhswith (d. 902)', print and online 2004 ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Asser. Life of King Alfred, translated by Albert S Cook, Ginn and Company, 1906, p. 17, Internet Archive ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Asser, Life of King Alfred, translated by Albert S Cook, p. 37, Internet Archive ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Charles Cawley. King Ælfred, entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 19 April 2021) ↑ Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge. Alfred the Great. Asser's Life of King Alfred and other Contemporary Sources', Penguin Books, 1983, pp. 173-178 ↑ Charles Cawley.'Ealhswith', entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 25 April 2021) ↑ Michael Swanton (translator and editor). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, new edition, Phoenix Press, 2000, p. 93 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Marios Costambeys for 'Ealhswith (d. 902', print and online 2004 Wikipedia: Ealhswith Williams, Ann; Smith, Alfred P; Kirby, D P (eds.). A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain, Seaby, 1991, p. 117, Google Books, accessed 25 April 2021
  Person ID	I58452	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	MERCIA Æthelred Mucil,   b. Abt 0830, Mercia, England d. Aft 0897, Mercia, Lincolnshire, England (Age > 68 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	MERCIA Eadburga,   b. Abt 0830, Mercia, England d. Bef 0893, England (Age < 62 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	Mercia, England
  Family ID	F26064	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	WESSEX Ælfred,   b. 0849, Wantage, Berkshire, Wessex, England d. 26 Oct 0899, Wessex, England (Age ~ 50 years)
  Marriage	0868	England
  Children	1. WESSEX Eadweard,   b. Abt 0871, Wessex, England d. 17 Jul 0924, Farndon, Cheshire, England (Age 53 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. WESSEX Ælfthryth,   b. Abt 0877, England d. 07 Jun 0929, Ghent, Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium (Age 52 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F26063	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026