One of the most perplexing ‘mistakes’ in the Liber Eliensis is the claim that St Hild’s sister Hereswitha was the mother of St Æthelthryth. Bede makes it very clear that this is not the case and we know that the author of the Liber Eliensis leaned heavily on Bede. The heavenly pedigree leans on other [...]
Archive for the ‘Medieval Women’ Category
14 Aug
Maternal Naming Among the Picts
I was reading in Tim Clarkson’s The Picts: A History today. Clarkson was discussing how the Pictish kings have a very small number of names, even though they all have different fathers and are from apparently different patrilinear families. Clarkson supports the traditional matrilinear succession.
He discusses various ideas about why there is such a small [...]
7 Aug
King Oswald’s Female Fans
A comment on The Naked Philologist on why women (and girls) like medieval heroes quite a while ago, here, reminded me that women have always been attracted to some early medieval heroes. I left a comment on her blog that King Oswald has always been promoted by women, and I thought I would expand upon [...]
28 May
PW: Queen Cynewise of Mercia
Queen Cynewise is one of the few early Mercian queens that we have any information on at all. The only direct mention of her name is after Penda’s fall when Bede notes that Ecgfrith was not at the battle of Winwaed because he was a hostage in the care of Queen Cynewise (HE III.24). He [...]
23 Mar
St Geretrud and the Irish
I’ve been browsing through Paul Foracre and Richard Gerberding’s Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography 640-720 (Manchester, 1996) this Easter break and I came across a curious account in the Life of St Geretrud.
Geretrud was the daughter of Peppin I and his wife Itta, born in about 621, and the first solidly saintly ancestor of [...]
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