Alboynus son of King Harold

[mike]

hi

Has anyone heard of Alboynus a son of Harold II of England? It sounds
like a norman name rather than saxon. I came across it in a french
guide about the Abbey of Conques in south west france, which says he
visited it on the way back as a pilgrim and helped restore its
property. The only reference was to an author called Desjardins, 15,
p19. I thought that Harolds children became pirates and perished
miserably. Did he perhaps have other illegitimate children from when he
was captured in Normandy or Aquitaine?

Mike

[Jwc...@aol.com]

Dear Mike,
I have a Genealogical Chart of the Kings and Queens of
Great Britain produced in 1976 by John Bartholomew and Son, Ltd. and by Crown
Publishing of New York for Anne Taute , John Brooke-Little MVO MA FSA Richmond
Herald of Arms and drawn by Don -Pottinger MA (HONS) DA Unicorn Pursuiavant of
Arms. I am guessing Anne Taute was responsible for making sense of which names
went where. At any rate, 7 children are listed for King Harold II, 6 by his
mistress Edith (Eadgyth) Swan neck, who ultimately identified his body, these
being Godwine, Eadmund, Magnus, Ulf, Gytha (who is shown with a ? on the chart,
is said to have married Vladimir II Monomachos, Prince of Kief, and been
mother of some of his children including Mstislav I, who recieved (? Roman)
baptism with the name Harold. another daughter Gunnhild who was a nun at Wilton. by
his wife Edith, daughter of Aelfgar, Earl of Mercia and his wfe Aelfgifu
(Alfgiva). Aelfgar, Earl of Mercia is said to be the son of Earl Leofric of Mercia
and the famous Godgifu (Godiva) Edith and Harold II had one son Harold who
didn`t survive long.
Sincerely,
James W Cummings
Dixmont, Maine USA

[WJho...@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/4/06 3:13:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Jwc...@aol.com
writes:

<< Gytha (who is shown with a ? on the chart,
is said to have married Vladimir II Monomachos, Prince of Kief, >>

On the alledged marriage of Gytha to Vladimir, "Heraldry of the Royal
Families of Europe" is silent, but it does name this Prince as "Vladimir II Monomakh,
Grand Duke of /Kiev/ d 1125" on Table 135, with no wife named.

I have so far collected nine children for him and his wife. I have marriages
however for only three of those:
1) Euphemia of Kiev d 1139 mar Koloman, King of /Hungary/ in 1095 d 1114,
having Boris d 1155, unknown if there are further descents;
2) Mstislav I, Grand Duke of /Kiev/ d 1132, mar an unknown woman and had at
least six children with further descents;
3) Yuri I Dolgoruki of /Kiev/ d 1157 mar an unknown woman and had at least
eight children with further descents.

Will Johnson

[Leo van de Pas]

Will,
Do you mean this superb book by Jiri Louda and Michael Maclagan? Don't
forget this book is mainly about heraldry.

ES Volume II Tafel 135, identifies Gytha as daughter of King Harold II of
England and wife of Vladimir Monomakh. This Tafel also shows that Vladimir
had three wives, (1) Gytha, mother of six of his children (2) NN mother of
five children (3) NN of Polowczen no children.

Best wishes
Leo van de Pas
Canberra, Australia

[Todd A. Farmerie]

I know of no evidence for such a son - he probably originated in the
mind of a local priest, wishing to spice up the history of his abbey.

taf

[paulv...@gmail.com]

mike wrote:
> hi
>
> Has anyone heard of Alboynus a son of Harold II of England? It sounds
> like a norman name rather than saxon.

It doesn't look either Norman nor Saxon to me.

Searle (Anglo-Saxon Bishops Kings and Nobles) lists:

Godwine
Eadmund
Magnus
Gytha = (a. 1087) Wladimir of Novogorod
Gunhild
Ulf or Harold ?twins

Whether any of these were legitimate is now impossible to determine.
Harold seems to have had two wives living at the same time. Most of his
children were produced by Eadgyth Swanneshals, who is said to have been
the only person who could identify his body after the Battle of
Hastings. But he was also married in 1066 to Ealdgyth of Mercia, widow
of Gruffydd of Gwynedd (he was killed in 1063). The situation may the
the same as with the marriages of Cnut the the Great, who didn't allow
the fact that he was already married prevent him from marrying a royal
widow when he became king.

[anneva...@gmail.com]

I came across this old post about Aelfwine, but since it's still showing up in searches, I thought I'd reply the answer to your question. The Alboynus you read about in association with Conques, France is a Latinized form of the Anglo-Saxon name Aelfwine. He was the son of Harald I of England, better known as Harald Harefoot, son of King Cnut and Aelfgifu of Northampton. I am a writer and historian working on a project about Aelfgifu of Northampton, and the other wife of King Cnut, Emma of Normandy.

Yes, Cnut had two living wives at the same time, not unusual for Scandianvian kings but only acceptable to Christian England at the time because his first marriage to Aelfgifu was a Viking handfasting, and not blessed by the Church, while his second marriage to Emma (the widow of the former King Aethelred II) was consecrated and kept her powerful Norman family from invading England in 1017. Cnut converted, but he kept both wives and recognized his two sons by Aelfgifu -- Svein, the elder, and Harald -- as legitimate heirs. Svein was named King of Norway in 1030 by his father, but died the winter of 1035-6, shortly after Cnut. Cnut and Emma had a son, Harthacnut, who by a signed document was supposed to inherit the English throne before his older half-brothers. But Harthacnut, already King of Denmark, was extremely slow in returning to England to claim the throne, and in his absence, Harald was first named regent, then crowned King in 1037. A will of Bishop Aelfric of Elmham (d. 1038) names his "lord" King Harald and his "lady," who receive token bequests. The "lady" (hlaefdige, a term used for Anglo-Saxon queens) is clearly Harald's wife and some sort of relation to Bishop Aelfric.

The Abbey of Conques, France has two charters relating to Aelfwine/Alboynus/Albodenus, dated 1060 and 1062, where he is described as "of the stock of kings, who came from the uttermost parts of Angle-land" and "Alboynus Anglorum" born in London, his father Harald King of Angle-land, his mother named "Alvena," a "nobleman and loyal christian."

The placing of Aelfwine in France, along the pilgrim route to Compostela in Spain, is not so far-fetched when the events of 1040 in England are considered. King Harald, only 24, dies suddenly at Oxford, possibly of poison. Harthacnut, already in Flanders with an invasion fleet, quickly arrives and is proclaimed King. He orders Harald's body dug up from Winchester Cathedral, beheaded, and thrown into a bog. At this point in history, Aelfgifu, Harald's mother, disappears entirely from the records. If Harald had a young son, Aelfwine, by his wife, also named Aelfgifu (a popular name at the time), then the child's life would have been in mortal danger. King Cnut had made two pilgrimages to Rome along the Via Francigena, leading from Calais across the English Channel through northern France, down to the Swiss border, completely bypassing Normandy. Only this pilgrim route could offer Aelfgifu and her grandson Aelfwine any protection from King Harthacnut's Norman relatives. A branch off this route had recently (prior to 1060) routed pilgrims to Compostela through Conques, and hence, the abbey church needed to be enlarged to accommodate them.

By the time Aelfwine/Alboynus, son of King Harald I, arrives, it seems his grandmother had either died or stayed behind at another location. Harald I is often forgotten in English history; he reigned for only 4 years, and apparently without much incident, based on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The momentous events surrounding his distant cousin, Harald II in 1066, seem to have eclipsed his entire family line. But given the dangerous situation in England, with the rise to power of the half-Normans -- Harthacnut and Edward -- maybe Aelfwine was wise to never claim the throne.

[Peter Stewart]

This seems rather a lot of narrative weight to place on some very slight evidence. I assume you have read William Stevenson's 1913 EHR article on the subject, where he concluded: "The probability is, therefore, that Harold Harefoot is the king referred to in the French record. A son of his in 1062 must have been still a very young man. It is possible that Ælfwine the son of King Heroldus and Ælfgifu is merely one of the long line of mythical royal founders invented by the monks for the glorification of their monasteries. But, as the chartulary is separated from his time by little more than a generation, it is difficult to believe that he was entirely mythical. He may possibly have lied about his royal parentage."

Peter Stewart

[anneva...@gmail.com]

Stevenson relies too heavily on Emma’s Encomium, a blatant piece of self-promotion if there ever was one, to characterize Aelfgifu of Northampton as “an equally ambitious, stronger, and more ruthless woman.” As for the union being “irregular,” to use Stevenson’s words, a handfasting marriage was recognized by the Church as a legal union at the time much as a marriage by a justice of the peace is today. The only requirement in Anglo-Saxon England to make it official was the consent of the woman and the payment of property to the bride’s family. The Latin word used in the document Cnut signed to give preference to any son he might have by Emma, with reference to the mother of his earlier sons, was “coniuge,” meaning “spouse.” Emma clearly knew that Cnut was already married, but chose to override that earlier union for political gain. The nasty tale she later spins to her biographer in Flanders about Aelfgifu, mother of Harald, has survived and been printed in some form or other again and again – because Emma recognized the power of the written word, not because it was truth. Unfortunately, Aelfgifu did not dictate her own biography, and only a few lines survive in the Norwegian sagas to describe her. There, too, she is on unfriendly ground, as Cnut trusted her enough in 1030 to appoint her Regent of Norway, to rule alongside their teenage son, Svein. The Norwegians hated the foreign laws and interference, after, of course, they had slain their own “hero” Olaf at Stiklestad. So they ran her and Svein out in 1035. But as for her being Olaf’s mistress, I am of the belief that some kind of relationship did happen when Olaf was in England in 1011, but at that time, Aelfgifu would have been a fatherless teenage girl of 16 supporting two brothers blinded by their own king. Desperate is perhaps the best word to describe her situation. Olaf sailed away leaving her without a champion. That she accepted Cnut’s offer of marriage is thus no surprise, but that she remained loyal after his marriage to Emma, is.

[Peter Stewart]

On Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 12:31:18 PM UTC+11, anneva...@gmail.com wrote:
> Stevenson relies too heavily on Emma’s Encomium, a blatant piece of self-promotion if there ever was one, to characterize Aelfgifu of Northampton as “an equally ambitious, stronger, and more ruthless woman.” As for the union being “irregular,” to use Stevenson’s words, a handfasting marriage was recognized by the Church as a legal union at the time much as a marriage by a justice of the peace is today. The only requirement in Anglo-Saxon England to make it official was the consent of the woman and the payment of property to the bride’s family. The Latin word used in the document Cnut signed to give preference to any son he might have by Emma, with reference to the mother of his earlier sons, was “coniuge,” meaning “spouse.” Emma clearly knew that Cnut was already married, but chose to override that earlier union for political gain. The nasty tale she later spins to her biographer in Flanders about Aelfgifu, mother of Harald, has survived and been printed in some form or other again and again – because Emma recognized the power of the written word, not because it was truth. Unfortunately, Aelfgifu did not dictate her own biography, and only a few lines survive in the Norwegian sagas to describe her. There, too, she is on unfriendly ground, as Cnut trusted her enough in 1030 to appoint her Regent of Norway, to rule alongside their teenage son, Svein. The Norwegians hated the foreign laws and interference, after, of course, they had slain their own “hero” Olaf at Stiklestad. So they ran her and Svein out in 1035. But as for her being Olaf’s mistress, I am of the belief that some kind of relationship did happen when Olaf was in England in 1011, but at that time, Aelfgifu would have been a fatherless teenage girl of 16 supporting two brothers blinded by their own king. Desperate is perhaps the best word to describe her situation. Olaf sailed away leaving her without a champion. That she accepted Cnut’s offer of marriage is thus no surprise, but that she remained loyal after his marriage to Emma, is.

It's a good practice to start a new thread when you want to discuss separate matters or suppositions about different individuals and relationships.

Peter Stewart

[mike]

thanks for your reply. actually I too had stumbled upon the explanation
in a book about the Bayeux tapestry, and posted a reply to my own post,
as did Peter in 2007. For some reason it didn't show up in the original thread.


The document in the Conques collection is not a formal charter
but an account how 'Alboynus son of King Herold and Alveva',
persuaded the local lords of Panat in the Rouergue to rebuild
the church of st.peter near there in 1060 and became prior.
The document was written in the early 12th century according
to the editor Desjardins, so its an interesting tale. I've
not seen the collection, and often these are full of forgeries,
so it might be just a fanciful story to back up some dubious
property claim.

However if true and if he was a cleric it would indicate that
he did not seek royal power of his father and was no threat to
Emmas sons. As you say Harthacnut had disinterred Harolds body
and beheaded it, and any son might be in serious danger, so somewhere
far away in Aquitaine might have been a safe place out of reach
of both the English king and the duke of Normandy.

mike