WESSEX Ælfthryth

Abt 0877 - 0929  (52 years)

• Name	WESSEX Ælfthryth
  Birth	Abt 0877	England
  Gender	Female
  Death	07 Jun 0929	Ghent, Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium
  Notes	Birth, Parents and Early Life Ælfthryth was the daughter of King Alfred the Great and Ealhswith.[1][2][3] Her birth date is uncertain but may have been about 877.[3] She was brought up at her father's court. Asser says that she and her brother Edward the Elder "received great attention from their tutors and nurses," learning the Psalms and also some poems in Old English.[2] Marriage and Children Ælfthryth married Baudouin II, count of Flanders.[3][4] This marriage marked the start of close relations between Wessex and Flanders, which had a shared interest in protecting their coasts against Viking raids.[3] She and Baudouin had at least four children: Arnoul, who succeeded his father as Count of Flanders[4][5] Adalolf[4][5] Ealswid[4][5] Ermentrud[4][5] These four children are all named by the 10th-century chronicler Æthelweard.[4] Ælfthryth and Baudouin may have had a fifth child, but this is uncertain.[5] Baudouin died in 918.[4][5][6] Lands Ælfthryth received Wellow, Ashton and Chippenham in Wiltshire under her father's will.[7] In 918 she and her sons gave Lewisham with its dependencies, Greenwich and Woolwich, to the abbey of St. Peter of Ghent, for the soul of her husband.[4][3] Death Charles Cawley gives her death date as 7 June 929, citing the Annales Blandinienses, which gives the year, and a memorial of a daughter which gives the day and month. She was buried at the Abbey of St Peter of Ghent, according to a charter containing the final wishes of her son Arnoul.[3] Douglas Richardson concurs with the death date and burial place.[6] The Henry Project gives gives 7 June 929 as possibly her death date.[4] Research Notes Previously-shown children The following children have previously been attached on WikiTree, but there is no evidence for the relationship, so they have been detached: Englebert Adele, now merged into Flandre-49 Sources ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Patrick Wormald for 'Alfred [Ælfred] (848/9–899)', print and online 2004, revised online 2006 ↑ 2.0 2.1 Asser. Life of King Alfred, translated by Albert S Cook, Ginn and Company, 1906, pp. 37-38, Internet Archive ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Charles Cawley. ÆLFTHRYTH of Wessex (c877-7 Jun 929, entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 28 May 2021) ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 The Henry Project, entry for Ælfthryth (Ælfðryð, Elftrude) ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Charles Cawley. BAUDOUIN (865/67-c.10 Sep 918, entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 28 May 2021) ↑ 6.0 6.1 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. V, p. 495 ↑ Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge. Alfred the Great. Asser's Life of King Alfred and other Contemporary Sources', pp. 173-178 The Henry Project, entry for Ælfthryth (Ælfðryð, Elftrude) Wikipedia: Aelfthryth Countess of Flanders
  Person ID	I58604	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	WESSEX Ælfred,   b. 0849, Wantage, Berkshire, Wessex, England d. 26 Oct 0899, Wessex, England (Age ~ 50 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	MERCIA Ealhswith,   b. Abt 0850, Mercia, England d. 05 Dec 0902, St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire (Age 52 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	0868	England
  Family ID	F26063	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	FLANDRE Baudouin,   b. Abt 0864, Flanders, Nord, France d. 10 Sep 0918, Ghent, Flanders, Belgium (Age 54 years)
  Marriage	0893
  Children	1. FLANDRE Arnoul,   b. 12 Dec 0889, Ghent, Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium d. 27 Mar 0965, Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Age 75 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. FLANDRE Adalolf,   b. Abt 0890   d. 13 Nov 0933 (Age 43 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F26115	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026