Eadburh

Daughter of Offa of Mercia

Overview

One of the stories of women that has survived is that of Eadburh, daughter of Offa of Mercia. What historians know of her life can be found in Asser’s Life of King Alfred and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. As one of Offa’s many daughters, Eadburh was used to bring Wessex under her father’s influence by marrying Beorhtric, the newly crowned king of Wessex, and becoming queen in 789.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle provides two records of her marriage, under the years 787 [789]* and 836 [839]*.

They read:

787 – Here Beorhtric took as wife King Offa’s daughter, Eadburh.

836 – Here Ecgbert passed away; and earlier, before he was king, Offa, king of Mercia, and Beorhtric, king of Wessex, put him to flight from the land of the English to the land of the Franks for three years; and Beorhtric helped Offa because he had his daughter as his queen.

Although the records offer little insight into her actual life, they provide a glimpse into the political dynamics of the time, as Offa gained a new ally and substantial influence over Wessex. Following the accidental death of her husband, Eadburh’s life is more clearly documented, albeit through a highly critical account penned by Asser, Bishop of Sherborne and biographer of Alfred the Great, around 893. Asser portrays Eadburh as tyrannical and manipulative, recounting her descent into poverty and disgrace in Pavia, Italy. Asser even records that he met individuals who had witnessed Eadburh during her final years. He writes:

There was in Mercia not long ago a powerful king named Offa, who terrified all the neighboring kings and provinces around him. He had a great dyke built between Wales and Mercia, stretching from sea to sea. Beorhtric, king of the West Saxons, married Offa’s daughter, Eadburh. As soon as she gained the king’s favor and power throughout almost the entire kingdom, she began to behave tyrannically like her father. She despised every man whom Beorhtric liked, did things hateful to God and men, denounced anyone she could before the king, and through trickery deprived them of either life or power. If she couldn’t achieve her ends with the king’s compliance, she killed them with poison. This is known to have happened with a certain young man very dear to the king, whom she poisoned when she couldn’t denounce him before the king. It is said that King Beorhtric himself unknowingly took some of that poison: she had intended it for the young man, but the king took it first, and both of them died as a result.

When King Beorhtric died, Eadburh, unable to stay any longer among the Saxons, sailed overseas with countless treasures and went to Charlemagne, the famous king of the Franks. As she stood before the throne, bearing many gifts for the king, Charlemagne said to her, “Choose, Eadburh, whom you wish between me and my son, who is standing with me on this throne.” Foolishly, without thinking, she replied, “If the choice is left to me, I choose your son, as he is younger than you.” Charlemagne smiled and replied, “Had you chosen me, you would have had my son; but because you have chosen my son, you will have neither him nor me.” He did, however, give her a large convent of nuns, where she put aside secular clothing and took up that of nuns, serving as abbess for a few years. Just as she is said to have lived recklessly in her own country, she lived even more recklessly among a foreign people. Eventually, she was publicly caught in debauchery with a man of her own race and was ejected from the nunnery on Charlemagne’s orders. She shamefully spent her life in poverty and misery until her death, so much so that in the end, accompanied by a single slave boy (as I have heard from many who saw her), she died a miserable death in Pavia, begging every day.

Despite Asser’s detailed account of Eadburh’s life, the convent where she resided is unknown to scholars. Her life, marked by ambition and ruthless behavior, reflects the complex and often brutal nature of Anglo-Saxon political and personal dynamics. As the daughter of Offa, one of Mercia’s most formidable kings, and the queen of Beorhtric of Wessex, Eadburh wielded significant influence. Her subsequent flight to Charlemagne’s court and eventual disgrace in a foreign land underscore a life that began with power and privilege but ended in poverty and ignominy.

* The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a compilation of multiple manuscripts, each offering different dates for events. Scholars have since determined the accurate years for these events.