11th-century Queen of England, Denmark, and Norway
Emma of Normandy
Emma receiving the Encomium, in The Encomium of Queen Emma, c. 1050, British Library MS 33241
Queen consort of the English[1]
Tenure
1002 – summer 1013
3 February 1014 – 23 April 1016
July 1017 – 12 November 1035
Queen consort of Denmark
Tenure
1018 – 12 November 1035
Queen consort of Norway
Tenure
1028 – 12 November 1035
Born
c. 984[2] Normandy, France
Died
6 March 1052 (aged c. 68) Winchester, Hampshire, England
Burial
Old Minster, Winchester. Bones now in Winchester Cathedral
Spouses
Æthelred the Unready
(m. 1002; died 1016)
Cnut the Great
(m. 1017; died 1035)
Issue
Edward the Confessor, King of the English
Godgifu, Countess of the Vexin and Boulogne
Alfred Ætheling
Harthacnut
Gunhilda, Queen of the Germans
House
Normandy
Father
Richard the Fearless
Mother
Gunnor
Emma of Normandy (referred to as Ælfgifu in royal documents;[3] c. 984 – 6 March 1052) was a Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian queen through her marriages to the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred the Unready and the Danish king Cnut the Great. A daughter of the Norman ruler Richard the Fearless and Gunnor, she was Queen of the English during her marriage to King Æthelred from 1002 to 1016, except during a brief interruption in 1013–14 when the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard occupied the English throne. Æthelred died in 1016, and Emma married Sweyn's son Cnut. As Cnut's wife, she was Queen of England[1] from their marriage in 1017, Queen of Denmark from 1018, and Queen of Norway from 1028 until Cnut died in 1035.
After Cnut's death, Emma continued to participate in politics during the reigns of her sons by each husband, Harthacnut and Edward the Confessor. In 1035 when her second husband Cnut died and was succeeded by their son Harthacnut, who was in Denmark at the time, Emma was designated to act as his regent until his return,[4] which she did in rivalry with Harold Harefoot. Emma is the central figure within the Encomium Emmae Reginae, a critical source for the history of early-11th-century English politics. As Catherine Karkov notes, Emma is one of the most visually represented early medieval queens.[5]
^ abThe Anglo-Saxon kings such as Emma's first husband Æthelred the Unready were titled "king of the English". Emma's second husband, Cnut the Great, used the title "king of all England". See Norman Cantor, The Civilisation of the Middle Ages (1995), p. 166.
^Strachan 2004, p. 15.
^Encomium Emmae Reginae, p. 40 digitallibraryindia accessed 21 December 2020
^Philip J. Potter:Gothic Kings of Britain: The Lives of 31 Medieval Rulers, 1016-1399
EmmaofNormandy (referred to as Ælfgifu in royal documents; c. 984 – 6 March 1052) was a Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian...
Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux Mauger, Count of Corbeil another son EmmaofNormandy, wife of two kings of England, mother of two kings of England...
1127–1128), son of Robert Curthose, great-grandson of Baldwin V, designated by Louis VI of France Richard I had a daughter, EmmaofNormandy, who was Queen...
sons by EmmaofNormandy went under the protection of their relatives in the Duchy ofNormandy. In July 1017, Cnut wed Queen Emma, the widow of Æthelred...
England) and EmmaofNormandy. When Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father's possessions. Magnus I took control of Norway, but Harthacnut...
between England and Normandy. In an effort to improve matters, King Æthelred the Unready took Emma, sister of Richard II, Duke ofNormandy, as his second wife...
death of Edward the Confessor), Harald Hardrada (King of Norway who claimed to be the rightful heir of Harthacnut) and Duke William II ofNormandy (vassal...
last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 until his death in 1066. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and EmmaofNormandy. He succeeded...
were sons of Æthelred's second wife Emma of Normandy. King Canute became their stepfather when he married Emma. Ælfred and his brother were caught up in...
known for her role as EmmaofNormandy in the Netflix original series Vikings: Valhalla, which premiered in 2022. At the age of 15, Laura Berlin was discovered...
queen of West Francia EmmaofNormandy (c. 988–1052), queen of England, Denmark and Norway Queen Emma (Hawaii) (1836–1885), queen of Hawaii Emma Forsayth...
Carolina Emma, West Virginia Emmaof Austrasia (fl. 7th century), daughter of Theudebert II and possibly wife of Eadbald of Kent EmmaofNormandy (c. 985–1052)...
Sybilla ofNormandy (c. 1092 – 12 or 13 July 1122) was Queen of Scotland as the wife of Alexander I. Sybilla was the first child of Henry I of England...
encomium in honour of the English queen EmmaofNormandy. It was written in 1041 or 1042, probably by a monk of Saint-Omer, Normandy. Until 2008, it was...
Duke of Normandy; Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux;, Mauger, Count of Corbeil; Robert Danus; EmmaofNormandy and Hawise ofNormandy. Maud was...
thus been no consorts of England since that date. In 1066, the Duke ofNormandy, William, killed Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and overthrew...
Global Information