by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019
Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia
Emma of Normandy was the queen consort of two Kings of England and the mother of two Kings of England. Born in Normandy around 985, she was the eldest daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and his second wife Gunnora de Crêpon. Richard and Gunnora met shortly after the death of his childless first wife. Gunnora was living with her sister Seinfreda and her husband, the local forester. Richard had heard how beautiful Seinfreda was and stopped by her home while hunting. He ordered Seinfreda to come to his bed but she substituted her unmarried sister Gunnora. Richard was pleased with Gunnora and the couple went on to have three sons and three daughters. The Dukes of Normandy recognized marriage by cohabitation. However, Richard was prevented from nominating his son Robert as Archbishop of Rouen because, in the eyes of the Church, his children were illegitimate, and so the couple married.
Emma had five siblings:
- Richard II, Duke of Normandy (died 1026), married (1) Judith of Brittany, had six children including Robert I, Duke of Normandy who was the father of William I the Conqueror, King of England (2) Poppa of Envermeu, had two children
- Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, Count of Evreux (died 1037), married Herlevea, had three children
- Mauger, Count of Corbeil, married Germaine de Corbeil
- Maud of Normandy (died 1006), married Odo II, Count of Blois, no children
- Hawise of Normandy (died 1034) married Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany, had four children
Æthelred II, King of the English; Credit – Wikipedia
Shortly after the death of his first wife, Æthelred II, King of the English sent an emissary to Normandy to ask for Emma’s hand in marriage. The marriage would benefit both Æthelred and Emma’s brother Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Viking raids on England were often based in Normandy and Æthelred hoped to quell the Viking threat. Richard hoped to improve relations with the English in the wake of the recent conflict. This marriage would also prove important in the future because it gave Richard II’s grandson, William the Conqueror, the basis of his claim to the throne of England.
During Lent 1002, Emma and her entourage arrived in England. It is probable that she married Æthelred sometime after Easter, most likely in April. Emma was given the Anglo-Saxon name of Ælfgifu, to be used for formal and official matters, and became Queen of England.
Emma with her sons Edward and Alfred; Credit – Wikipedia
Emma and Æthelred had three children:
- Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England (circa 1003 – 1066), married Edith of Wessex, no children
- Godgifu of England (1004 – circa 1047), married (1) Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Véxin, had three children (2) Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, no children
- Alfred Ætheling (circa 1005 – 1036), unmarried
Emma also became the stepmother to Æthelred’s children from his first marriage to Ælfgifu of York. All of Æthelred’s sons were named after Æthelred’s predecessors. Ætheling was used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.
- Æthelstan Ætheling (died 1014)
- Ecgberht Ætheling (died circa 1005)
- Edmund Ironside, King of the English (died 1016), married Ealdgyth, had two sons
- Eadred Ætheling (died before 1013)
- Eadwig Ætheling (died 1017)
- Edgar Ætheling (died circa 1008)
- Eadgyth, married Eadric Streona
- Ælfgifu, married Uhtred the Bold, Ealdorman of Northumbria
- Wulfhilda, married Ulfcytel Snillingr
- Name unknown, Abbess of Wherwell Abbey
In 1013, Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark and Norway launched an invasion with the goal of also becoming King of England. As Sweyn’s forces approached southern England, Emma and her children were sent to the Isle of Wight for safety. Æthelred soon followed them to the Isle of Wight and in August 1013, he sent Emma and their children to safety in Normandy. By the end of 1013, English resistance had collapsed and Sweyn had conquered the country, became King of England, and forced Æthelred into exile in Normandy.
Sweyn Forkbeard’s reign did not last long as he died on February 3, 1014. The Danes in England swore their allegiance to Sweyn’s son Cnut the Great but leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred to negotiate his restoration to the throne. Æthelred launched an attack against Cnut and his allies. However, Cnut’s army had not completed its preparations and in April 1014, he decided to withdraw from England without a fight. Æthelred returned to England and reigned until his death in London on April 23, 1016.
Æthelred was succeeded by his eldest surviving son from his first marriage Edmund II (Ironside). After Æthelred’s death, Cnut attacked London and demanded a large sum of money for Emma’s ransom. London held out and Cnut was forced to retreat from London but he did not leave England. Edmund fought five battles against the Danes, ending in his defeat on October 18, 1016, at the Battle of Assandun. Edmund and Cnut agreed to divide the Kingdom of England with Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest. However, Edmund died on November 30, 1016, leaving two young sons. Cnut became the king of all England and exiled the remaining members of Edmund’s family.
Emma and Cnut; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1017, Cnut thought it would be expedient to marry Æthelred’s widow and sent for Emma. It is unclear whether Emma married Cnut by force or if she chose to accept Cnut’s proposal but she returned to England and married Cnut. Her children by Æthelred remained in exile in Normandy.
Emma and Cnut had two children:
- Harthacnut, King of Denmark and England (circa 1018 – 1042), unmarried
- Gunhilda of Denmark (circa 1020 – 1038), married Heinrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, had one daughter
Emma and Cnut’s marriage had begun as a loveless, political strategy but Emma’s importance in the affairs of the kingdom grew. Chroniclers often mentioned that Emma was alongside her husband as if they were inseparable from the other one. Cnut became King of Denmark in 1019 and King of Norway in 1028. It was often necessary for Cnut to be absent from England and Emma assumed a form of regency during those periods with the main nobles of the kingdom and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway; Credit – Wikipedia
Cnut died in 1035 and was succeeded in England by Harold Harefoot, his son from his first marriage to Ælfgifu of Northampton, and in Denmark by Harthacnut, his son from his second marriage to Emma. In 1036, Edward the Confessor and Alfred Ætheling, Emma’s sons from her marriage to Æthelred, returned to England from their exile in Normandy to visit their mother. As they made their way to London, they were betrayed. Alfred Ætheling was blinded with a hot iron to his eyes and died soon afterward. Edward escaped the attack and returned to Normandy. It is unclear exactly who was behind the attack on Alfred Ætheling. Some historians claim Harold Harefoot was behind the attack so he could rid himself of two more potential claimants to the English throne by killing Edward and Alfred. Other historians argue that Godwin, Earl of Wessex, who was traveling with Alfred and Edward as their protector, could have been the instigator of the attack.
When Harold Harefoot died in 1040, Harthacnut, King of Denmark also became King of England. Harthacnut lived only two more years and upon his death in 1042, Emma’s surviving son from the marriage to Æthelred, Edward the Confessor, became King of England. Harthacnut’s throne in Denmark was inherited by Magnus I, King of Norway. Emma was present at Edward’s coronation on Easter, April 3, 1043, at the Old Minster in Winchester, England.
Emma died on March 6, 1052, at St. Mary’s Abbey in Winchester, England, aged 66-67. She was buried at the Old Minster in Winchester beside her second husband Cnut and their son Harthacnut. When the Old Minster was demolished in 1093, Emma’s remains were moved to Winchester Cathedral. They were among the remains in the labeled mortuary chests that rest on top of the choir screen. During the English Civil War, Winchester Cathedral was ransacked and the remains were scattered. The remains were returned to the mortuary chests but were mixed up. In 2012, an examination of the remains in the chests began. The examination included DNA testing, reassembly of the skeletons, and analysis to determine the sex, age, and other characteristics of the remains. In May 2019, it was announced that Emma’s remains were found in several chests.
Mortuary chest from Winchester Cathedral that claims to contain the remains of Cnut and Emma; Credit – Wikipedia
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England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty
- Unofficial Royalty: House of Denmark Index
- Unofficial Royalty: House of Wessex Index
- Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites: House of Wessex
- Unofficial Royalty: Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)
Works Cited
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- Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
- En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Cnut the Great. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnut_the_Great [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
- En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Emma of Normandy. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_of_Normandy [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
- Flantzer, S. (2015). Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/aethelred-ii-the-unready-king-of-the-english/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
- Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.
