Biography of Æthelswith Wessex Queen Consort Mercia 838-888
Paternal Family Tree: Wessex
In or before 838 [her father] King Æthelwulf of Wessex and [her mother] Osburgh Queen Consort Wessex were married. She by marriage Queen Consort Wessex. He the son of [her grandfather] King Egbert of Wessex (age 64).
Around 838 Æthelswith Wessex Queen Consort Mercia was born to King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburgh Queen Consort Wessex.
In 839 [her grandfather] King Egbert of Wessex (age 66) died. His son [her father] King Æthelwulf of Wessex succeeded King Wessex.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 853. This year [her future husband] Burhred, King of Mercia, with his council, besought [her father] King Ethelwulf to assist him to subdue North-Wales. He did so; and with an army marched over Mercia into North-Wales, and made all the inhabitants subject to him. The same year King Ethelwulf sent his son [her brother] Alfred to Rome (age 4); and Leo, who was then pope, consecrated him king, and adopted him as his spiritual son. The same year also Elchere with the men of Kent, and Huda with the men of Surrey, fought in the Isle of Thanet [Map] with the heathen army, and soon obtained the victory; but there were many men slain and drowned on either hand, and both the aldermen killed. Burhred, the Mercian king, about this time received in marriage the daughter (age 15) of Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons.
Assers Life of Alfred 853. 853. 9. Other Events of 853.24 That same year also, Ealdorman Ealhere with the men of Kent, and Huda with the men of Surrey, fought bravely and resolutely against an army of the heathen in the island which is called Tenet [Map]25 in the Saxon tongue, but Ruim in the Welsh language. At first the Christians were victorious. The battle lasted a long time; many fell on both sides, and were drowned in the water; and both the ealdormen were there slain. In the same year also, after Easter, [her father] Æthelwulf, King of the West Saxons, gave his daughter (age 15) to [her future husband] Burgred, King of the Mercians, as his queen, and the marriage was celebrated in princely wise at the royal vill of Chippenham [Map].
Note 24. Based upon the Chronicle.
Around May 853 King Burgred of Mercia and Æthelswith Wessex Queen Consort Mercia (age 15) were married at Chippenham, Wiltshire [Map]. She by marriage Queen Consort Mercia. She the daughter of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburgh Queen Consort Wessex.
In 856 [her father] King Æthelwulf of Wessex and [her step-mother] Judith Carolingian Queen Consort Wessex (age 12) were married. She by marriage Queen Consort Wessex. She the daughter of Charles "Bald" I King West Francia (age 32) and Ermentrude Orléans Queen Consort West Francia. He the son of [her grandfather] King Egbert of Wessex.
On 13 Jan 858 [her father] King Æthelwulf of Wessex died. His son [her brother] King Æthelbald of Wessex succeeded King Wessex.
Around 875 [her husband] King Burgred of Mercia died.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 888. This year Alderman Beeke conducted the alms of the West-Saxons and of King Alfred to Rome; but Queen Ethelswith (age 50), who was the sister of King Alfred, died on the way to Rome; and her body lies at Pavia [Map]. The same year also Ethered, Archbishop of Canterbury and Alderman Ethelwold, died in one month.
Kings Wessex: Daughter of King Æthelwulf of Wessex
Great x 4 Grandfather: Ingild Wessex
Great x 3 Grandfather: Eoppa Wessex
Great x 2 Grandfather: Eafa Wessex
Great x 1 Grandfather: Ealmund King of Kent
GrandFather: King Egbert of Wessex
Father: King Æthelwulf of Wessex
Æthelswith Wessex Queen Consort Mercia
GrandFather: Oslac
Mother: Osburgh Queen Consort Wessex