Ælfflæd of Mercia
Queen consort of Northumbria / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people with the same name, see Ælfflæd.
Ælfflæd was a daughter of Offa of Mercia and Cynethryth.
Quick Facts Queen consort of Northumbria, Tenure ...
Ælfflæd | |
---|---|
Queen consort of Northumbria | |
Tenure | 792–796 |
Spouse | Æthelred I of Northumbria (m. 792) |
Father | Offa of Mercia |
Mother | Cynethryth |
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She may have witnessed a charter with her father, mother, and brother Ecgfrith in the 770s. She certainly witnessed a charter in 787 with her mother, father, brother, and two sisters; here she is described as virgo—unmarried.[1]
It is possible that she was the daughter of Offa whose proposed marriage to Charles the Younger caused a dispute between Charlemagne and Offa in around 789–790.
In 792 she married Æthelred I of Northumbria at Catterick. Here she is described as "queen", which has suggested to some historians that she had been previously married, and to a king, perhaps to one of Æthelred's predecessors.