The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England
Osburh
Wife of �thelwulf, king of Wessex.
All that is known of Osburh appears in the work of Asser (and sources depending on him), who assigns an ancestry that is clearly mythical ["Mater [�lfredi] quoque eiusdem Osburh nominabatur, religiosa nimium femina, nobilis ingenio, nobilis et genere; quae erat filia Oslac, famosi pincernae �thelwulfi regis." Asser, c. 2 (p. 4)]. See the page of Oslac for further details.
Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of death: Unknown.
Place of
death: Unknown.
Some controversy has been
generated over a famous passage in Asser, in which �lfred's
mother tells him and his brothers that she will give a book to
the first to learn, whereupon �lfred promptly learns it and wins
the book [Asser, c. 23 (p. 20)]. Some have argued that this
incident could not have occurred until after �thelwulf's second
marriage with Judith in 856, and that this therefore proves that
Osburh was still living after 856 [e.g., Lappenberg (1834-81), 2:
30]. Others have argued that the event took place before 856, and
that Osburh was already dead at the time that �thelwulf married
Judith [e.g., Stevenson, in his notes to Asser, 221-5]. The
details on this matter are too vague to be certain. Although
Osburh's survival past 856 would make �thelwulf technically a
bigamist, it cannot be ruled out.
Father: Oslac, pincerna of king �thelwulf.
Mother: Unknown.
Spouse: �thelwulf, d. 858 (prob. 13 Jan.), king of Wessex.
Possible children:
Although it seems likely that
Osburh was also the mother of at least some of �thelwulf's other
children, there is no direct statement to that effect in any of
the early sources.
�thelbeald, d. 860, bur. Sherborne, king
of Wessex, 855-860;
m. Judith, his father's widow, daughter of Charles the Bald, king of the West Franks, emperor.
�thelswith, d. 888, bur. Pavia;
m. 853 (after Easter), Burgred, d. after 874,
bur. Rome, king of Mercia, 852-874.
�thelbeorht, d. 865�6, bur. Sherborne,
king of Kent, 858-865�6; king of Wessex, 860-865�6.
�thelred I, d. soon after Easter, 871, bur
Wimborne, king of Wessex, 865�6-871;
prob. m. Wulfthryth, fl. 868.
Known child:
Osburh is explicitly called the
mother of �lfred by Asser (see above).
�lfred "the Great", b. ca. 848�9, d. 26 October 899, king of Wessex,
871-899;
m. Ealhswith, d. 5 December 902�3, daughter
of �thelred
Mucil, ealdorman of the Gaini.
Bibliography
Asser = William Henry Stevenson, ed., Asser's Life of King Alfred (new impression, Oxford, 1959).
Lappenberg (1834-1881) = J. M. Lappenberg, A History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings (translated by Benjamin Thorpe, new edition by E. C. Ott�), 2 vols. (London, 1881, orig. pub. 1834).
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 20 June 2010.