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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1997-02 > 0856027273
From: Chris Bennett < >
Subject: Re: Ancient Saxon lineage
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 1997 11:21:13 -0600
In article <5dnrgb$ms$1@news.campus.mci.net>,
(Stewart Baldwin) wrote:
>
> CARRIED AWAY < > wrote:
>
<snip>
>
> >3) Is there any historical verification for the claim that Redburga, wife
> >of king Ecgbert III of Wessex, was a sister of Charlemagne, King of
> >Franks? Redburga was the mother of (among others) Aethelwulf King of
> >England b. c. AD 800.
>
> Ecgbert was the only king of Wessex of that name, and should not have
> a "III" after his name. He was certainly not married to a sister of
> Charlemagne. I have never seen the name of his wife documented in any
> good source.
>
<snip>
> Stewart Baldwin
Further to this: I assume the "III" comes from his position as king of
Kent. Egbert's father Ealhmund is usually identified as the king of Kent
of that name. David Kelley has suggested that the introduction of the
previously-Kentish name Egbert into the Wessex dynasty at this time may
indicate a descent from the Kentish royal family. Its an interesting
idea, and if correct would give a possible Merovingian ancestry to the
later Wessex kings, but there's absolutely no proof that I know of.
However, Stewart is right -- Egbert should not be referred to as "Egbert
III".
There is no contemporary source for Egbert's wife. The name "Raedburh"
comse from a medieval manuscript quoted by W. G. Searle (Anglo-Saxon
Bishops, Kings and Nobles, London 1899, 343) as "MS Trin Coll Oxf x".
She is described there as "regis Francorum sororia" which can only be a
reference to Charlemagne; however there is no such sister known. Since
Egbert was certainly in exile at Charlemagne's court, it is perfectly
plausible that he married his wife there. If the tradition has any
value, then the best guess is that she was probably a sister-in-law, but
she could just as well have been a lady of the Court. Settipani (La
prehistoire des Capetiens, 308 n791) is willing to accept the name.
CHeers,
Chris
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