Osthryth (died 697), queen of the Mercians, was the wife of King Æthelred and daughter of King Oswiu of Northumbria and his second wife Eanflæd. She probably married Æthelred before 679 and was murdered by the nobles of Mercia.[1]
Osthryth was not the first of her family to become a Mercian queen. Her sister Alhflæd had married Peada, King of South Mercia 654–656.[2] After the death of Peada, who was allegedly murdered with Alhflæd's connivance, and possibly Osthryth's as well, she retreated to Fladbury in Worcestershire, to judge both from the place-name, which means "stronghold of Flæde", and from its subsequent history:[3] sometime in the 690s Æthelred granted Fladbury to Oftfor, Bishop of Worcester, to re-establish monastic life there;[4] however, this grant was later contested by Æthelheard, son of Oshere, who maintained that Æthelred had no right to give Fladbury away, as it had been the property of Osthryth. Æthelheard claimed it as her kinsman and heir.[5]
Æthelred and Osthryth loved and favoured Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire. Osthryth placed there the bones of her uncle Oswald of Northumbria, who was venerated as a saint. It is clear from this story that Osthryth played a part in promoting the cult of St Oswald.[6] Many years later she persuaded Oswald's widow Cyneburh to take the veil.[7]
Osthryth had to contend with major conflicts of loyalty. In 679 her brother Ecgfrith of Northumbria fought a battle against Æthelred, in which Ecgfrith's brother Ælfwine was killed. Bede tells us that he was "a young man of about eighteen years of age and much beloved in both kingdoms, for King Æthelred had married his sister."[8]
The murder of Osthryth in 697 by Mercian nobles is unexplained in the sources that mention it.[9] Ann Williams attributes it to the hostility between the Mercians and the Northumbrians,[10] while D. P. Kirby suggests that it may have been revenge for her sister's alleged involvement in Peada's murder.[11] H. P. R. Finberg speculates that she and her kinsman Oshere were suspected of trying to detach the kingdom of the Hwicce from Mercian overlordship.[12]
Osthryth was buried at Bardney Abbey.[1]
Osthryth was probably the mother of Æthelred's son, Ceolred, king of Mercia from 709 to 716.[1]
^ abcKelly, F. E. (2004). "Osthryth (d. 697)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20909. Retrieved 20 May 2012. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (1994), 144.
^Hooke, in The Anglo-Saxon Landscape: The Kingdom of the Hwicce (1985), p. 11, argues that Fladbury could have belonged to another sister of Osthryth, Ælflæda, Abbess of Whitby, but she had no known connection with Mercia and died in 713, after Osthryth, so Osthryth could not have inherited Fladbury from her.
^S76 Anglo-Saxons.net: Æthelred's grant of Fladbury
^H. P. R. Finberg, The Early Charters of the West Midlands (Leicester 1961), p.170.
^Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People ed. J. McClure and R. Collins (1994), 126.
^H.P.R.Finberg, The Early Charters of the West Midlands (Leicester 1961), p.165.
^Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People ed. J. McClure and R. Collins (1994), 207.
^Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People ed. J. McClure and R. Collins (1994), 292; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
^Ann Williams, 'Osthryth', in Ann Williams et al, eds, A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain, Seaby, 1991
^D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, Routledge, 1991, p. 127
^H.P.R. Finberg, The Early Charters of the West Midlands (Leicester 1961), pp. 176-7.
Osthryth (died 697), queen of the Mercians, was the wife of King Æthelred and daughter of King Oswiu of Northumbria and his second wife Eanflæd. She probably...
to the island of Heligoland in the North Sea (approximate date). Queen Osthryth of Mercia is murdered by her own noblemen. She is buried at Bardney Abbey...
sons were Ecgfrith (644/645–685) and Ælfwine (c. 660–679), the daughters Osthryth (died 697) and Ælfflæd (c. 654–714). The Irish princess Fín was the mother...
deduce that Eanhere married Osthryth, daughter of Oswiu of Northumbria, and had sons by her named Osric, Oswald and Oshere. Osthryth is recorded as the wife...
previous King of the Hwicce, by Osthryth, daughter of Oswiu of Northumbria. The only marriage recorded for Osthryth is that to Æthelred of Mercia, but...
forced into a monastery. Ceolred was Æthelred's son, but his mother was not Osthryth, Æthelred's only recorded wife. He may have still been young at the time...
Hilda of Whitby Hyglac Iwig of Wilton John of Beverley Osana of Howden Osthryth of Bardney Oswald of Northumbria Oswine of Northumbria Sicgred of Ripon...
may have been a son of Eanhere, by Osthryth, daughter of Oswiu of Northumbria. The only marriage recorded for Osthryth is that to Æthelred of Mercia, but...
how Oswald was regarded in conquered lands: years later, when his niece Osthryth moved his bones to Bardney Abbey in Lindsey, its inmates initially refused...
King of Mercia ?-656 r.655–656 Æthelred I King of Mercia ?-704 r.675–704 Osthryth ?-697 Ealdfriht King of Northumbria ?-704 r.685–704 Cuthburh ?-718 Ingild...
Hilda of Whitby Hyglac Iwig of Wilton John of Beverley Osana of Howden Osthryth of Bardney Oswald of Northumbria Oswine of Northumbria Sicgred of Ripon...
ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. King Æthelred of Mercia marries Princess Osthryth, sister of King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (approximate date). Nuun Ujol Chaak...
Hilda of Whitby Hyglac Iwig of Wilton John of Beverley Osana of Howden Osthryth of Bardney Oswald of Northumbria Oswine of Northumbria Sicgred of Ripon...
under Wulfhere's brother Æthelred who was married to Ecgfrith's sister Osthryth, at the Battle of the Trent. Ecgfrith's own brother Ælfwine was killed...
Hilda of Whitby Hyglac Iwig of Wilton John of Beverley Osana of Howden Osthryth of Bardney Oswald of Northumbria Oswine of Northumbria Sicgred of Ripon...
Hilda of Whitby Hyglac Iwig of Wilton John of Beverley Osana of Howden Osthryth of Bardney Oswald of Northumbria Oswine of Northumbria Sicgred of Ripon...
translation of the relics of Oswald of Northumbria to Bardney Abbey by Osthryth between 675 and 679, Wilfrid, along with Hexham Abbey, began to encourage...
to the island of Heligoland in the North Sea (approximate date). Queen Osthryth of Mercia is murdered by her own noblemen. She is buried at Bardney Abbey...
relates that Bardney Abbey (which he called Beardaneu) was greatly loved by Osthryth, queen of Mercia, and in about 679 she sought to move the bones of her...
Hilda of Whitby Hyglac Iwig of Wilton John of Beverley Osana of Howden Osthryth of Bardney Oswald of Northumbria Oswine of Northumbria Sicgred of Ripon...
ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. King Æthelred of Mercia marries Princess Osthryth, sister of King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (approximate date). Nuun Ujol Chaak...
and added that, if true, it would mean that Oshere was a nephew of Queen Osthryth, wife of King Æthelred of Mercia. Historians have felt on firmer ground...