The final 100 years of Saxon England told through the eyes of the powerful Earls of Mercia, a multi-generation historical fiction series set during The Second Viking Age
I began the Earls of Mercia series (back in 2011/12) with the purpose of retelling the last century (just about) of Early England, up to just after 1066 and starting in 993. No mean feat for an author who’d not yet written a single work of historical fiction.
The first book, variously known as Ealdorman, Viking Sword, and now the corrected and preferred edition, of The Earl of Mercia’s Father, began with the intention of retelling this story using information from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the available charter evidence as compiled by Simon Keynes in The Diplomas of King Æthelred the Unready, and also available via the online Kemble, a resource which seems to have become unavailable (unless you have the correct contacts at Cambirdge University) although the Electronic Sawyer can still be accessed. This might sound weirdly difficult, but I was studying for my Masters at the time, and it all tied in with the research I was doing on the survival of sources and how they’re variously interpreted.
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I’ve continued to employ this technique with the series, only searching outside these sources when I was, quite frankly, desperate for some more information. Not, I should make it clear, that I haven’t read extensive secondary sources as well, but rather than be swayed by the interpretation of others, I wanted to take a fresh perspective. Yet, with that in mind, I will confess that in the earlier books I feel I was overly influenced by the ideas of others – with more experience and more confidence – the stories have grown to become what I hoped they would always be.
With the above in mind, and an appreciation that it is all rather complex and complicated, I’ve compiled some genealogical details to assist my readers in knowing who everyone is (historical as well as fictional, when that happens), and how they fit together throughout the series of books. Sometimes it does feel as though a character disappears and then returns some books later – most notably for Edward and Alfred, children of King Æthelred II and Lady Emma. Hopefully, these tables will help with such problems.
So, first, the family of Ealdorman Leofwine.
The identity of Ealdorman Leofwine’s father is postulated. Ælfwine is named in the Battle of Maldon poem, and the identification has been made that he was Leofwine’s father by historians who know the period much better than I do.
The fact that Leofwine had a daughter is also postulated, because all that’s known is that his grandson, Leofric, existed, but not who his parents were. Equally, the marriage of Northman and the survival of two children is fictional. The identities of Leofwine’s mother and wife are unknown. No dates of birth are known for Leofwine and his children. Some authors will suggest he was much older than I portray him. In fact, some make him about 80 at the time of his death.
And next, the family of the king, Æthelred II.
(You can click on the image to make it bigger.)
There is some confusion about the number of daughters Æthelred II and his first wife had. The year of Lady Ælfgifu’s death is unknown, although it must have occurred before he married Lady Emma of Normandy. I’m unaware of any children born to the daughters, but I must imagine they did have children with their husbands, and these weren’t deemed worthy of mentioning (see my blog posts about the daughters of Edward the Elder for an example of ‘lost’ daughters.)
It’s interesting to note Æthelred used his daughters to make political marriages to bind his ealdormen (later named as earls) to him. I’m not aware of the tactic being used by previous kings, other than King Alfred, but this is perhaps due to a lack of daughters, and the only king I can think who might have benefitted from such an action – Alfred’s son, Edward, known as the Elder – married his daughters to royalty on mainland Europe, or allowed them to become nuns (see The King’s Daughters).
This takes us to the children of Lady Emma, twice England’s queen.
Lady Emma was an unlucky and unfortunate woman as she outlived two husbands, and also, all but one of her five children. From about 1002, she lived in England, although she was exiled on two occasions, firstly seeking sanctuary with her family in Normandy during King Swein’s brief rule in 1013-1014, and then in Bruges, during the reign of King Harald, her husband’s son with another woman, who Lady Emma never acknowledged as his child. Emma believed Harald had no right to claim the crown of England.
And now for the family of Earl Godwine.
And the family of Ulfr, as only then does it become evident as to who Earl Godwine married, and his relationship with King Cnut.
These noble families were all interconnected, and they’re all primary characters in the events of the last years of Early England. While it becomes immediately apparent that Ealdorman Leofwine and his descendants were never offered the chance of wedding one of the royal children, it should also be noted they didn’t have unwed daughters at those times.
Read more blog posts about The Earls of Mercia Series
I finally visited Deerhurst, the fictional home of Ealdorman Leofwine
Ealdorman Leofwine and the role of ealdormen/earls in Saxon England
The Earl of Mercia’s Father and its book journey
The English Earl is 5 years old today
The King’s Brother release day post
The King’s Brother research photo dump
The Earls of Mercia: What possessed me?
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MJ Porter 