Will of Ælfgifu
Overview
Ælfgifu, the wife of King Eadwig (955-959), made a notable will that provides valuable insights into the social, religious, and legal aspects of 10th-century Anglo-Saxon England. The will of Ælfgifu is significant for several reasons, reflecting the period’s ecclesiastical developments and her relationship with Eadwig. Her marriage to the king was annulled by Archbishop Oda of Canterbury due to their close blood relation. Another theory for the annulment is that it was a political move to support Edgar as heir to the throne of England rather than a child produced by Ælfgifu and King Eadwig. Despite the annulment, it appears that Ælfgifu remained close to Eadwig.
During Eadwig’s reign, a monastic reform movement, spearheaded by influential figures such as Dunstan and Æthelwold, aimed to revive and reform monastic life by emphasizing stricter adherence to the Benedictine Rule, which prescribed a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Ælfgifu’s will reflects her support for this reform, as she granted the estate of Tæafersceat to Bishop Æthelwold.
This is Ælfgifu’s request of her royal lord; she prays for the love of God and for the sake of his royal dignity, that she may be entitled to make her will.
Then she makes known to you, Sire, by your permission what she wishes to give to God’s church for you and your soul. First, she grants to the Old Minster, where she intends her body to be buried, the estate at Risborough just as it stands, except that, with your permission, she wishes that at each village every penally enslaved man who was subject to her shall be freed, and two hundred mancuses of gold to that minster and her shrine with her relics. And she grants to the New Minster the estate at Bledlow, and a hundred to Abingdon, and Wickham to Bath.
And I grant to my royal lord the estates at Wing, Linslade, Haversham, Hatfield, Masworth, and Gussage, and two armbands, each worth a hundred and twenty mancuses, and a drinking cup and six horses and as many shields and spears. And to the Ætheling, the estate at Newnham and an armband worth thirty mancuses. And to the queen, a necklace worth a hundred and twenty mancuses and an armband worth thirty mancuses, and a drinking cup.
And I grant to Bishop Æthelwold the estate at Tæafersceat, and I pray that he will always intercede for my mother and for me. And with my lord’s permission, I grant the estates at Mongewell and Berkhampstead to Ælfweard, Æthelweard, and Ælfwaru in common for their lifetime, and after their death, to the Old Minster for my royal lord and for me. And they are to pay a two-day’s food-rent every year to the two minsters, as long as they possess the estates.
And to my sister Ælfwaru, I grant all that I have lent to her; and to my brother’s wife Æthelflæd, the headband which I have lent her.
And to each abbot, five pounds of pence for the repair of their minster. And, Sire, with your permission, that I may entrust the excess to the Bishop and Abbot for the repair of the foundation, and for them to distribute for me among poor men as it seems fit to them, most profitable for me in God’s sight. And I beseech my royal lord for the love of God, that he will not abandon my men who seek his protection and who are worthy of him. And I grant to Ælfweard a drinking cup and to Æthelweard an ornamented drinking horn.
Further Research & Sources
Biography of Ælfgifu – Berkhamsted Castle
Whitelock, Dorothy, ed. Anglo-Saxon Wills. Cambridge University Press, 1930.