Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria

Waltheof ( 1050 - May 31, 1076 ) was Earl of Northumbria and the last Anglo-Saxon Earl . In addition, he was the only aristocrat to be executed at the time of King William the Conqueror . He was of great physical strength, but at the same time weak and unreliable in character, and is described as pious and benevolent.

Around 1065 he was given the title of Earl of the Honor of Huntingdon and Northampton , with which he ruled Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire . After the Battle of Hastings (1066) he submitted to the new king and in return was confirmed in his offices and his possessions.

When the Danish King Sven Estridsson invaded northern England in 1069, Waltheof and Edgar Ætheling joined his attack on York . When the Danes left the country again in 1070, Waltheof submitted again, and was then reinstated in his county. A marriage with Wilhelm's niece Judith von Lens should secure the connection. In 1072 he was appointed Earl of Northampton .

In 1075 Waltheof joined the count's revolt against Wilhelm, but soon lost heart. He revealed himself first to Lanfrank von Bec , the Archbishop of Canterbury , and later also to Wilhelm, who was in Normandy at the time. Together with the king he returned to England, where he was arrested and tried twice before the royal court. Waltheof was sentenced to death and beheaded on May 31, 1076 on St. Giles's Hill near Winchester .

The Anglo-Saxons subsequently regarded him as a martyr , at whose grave in Croyland Abbey miracles were to take place.

family

Waltheof was a son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria and the Ælflaeda, a daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia and granddaughter of Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria . In 1070 he married Judith von Lens , daughter of Lambert von Boulogne , Count of Lens , and Adelheid, a sister of Wilhelm. The couple had three daughters, of whom the eldest, Maud , was the second wife of the Scottish King David I and thus brought the county of Huntingdon to the Scottish royal family. One of Waltheof's grandchildren was Waltheof von Melrose , the elected Archbishop of York , who had been rejected by the king .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 440

literature

• Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition,
• Marilu Burch Smallwood, Tad Evans: Burch, Harrell and allied families. Volume 1, 1992, p. 499 f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Gospatric	Earl of Northumbria 1072-1075	William Walcher