Eadgifu of Kent From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Eadgifu of Kent Picture of Queen Ediva.jpg Queen consort of the Anglo-Saxons Tenure c.919 - 17 July 924 Spouse Edward, King of the Anglo-Saxons Issue Edmund, King of England Eadred, King of England Saint Eadburh of Winchester Eadgifu Father Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent Born c. 903 Died c. 966 Eadgifu of Kent (also Edgiva or Ediva) (in or before 903 - in or after 966) was the third wife of Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons. Eadgifu was the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent, who died at the Battle of the Holme in 902.[1] She became the mother of two sons, Edmund I of England, later King Edmund I, and Eadred of England, later King Eadred, and two daughters, Saint Eadburh of Winchester and Eadgifu.[2] She survived Edward by many years, dying in the reign of her grandson Edgar. She disappeared from court during the reign of her step-son, King Æthelstan, but she was prominent and influential during the reign of her two sons.[2] As queen dowager, her position seem to have been higher than that of her daughter-in-law; In a Kentish charter datable between 942 and 944, her daughter-in-law Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury subscribes herself as the king's concubine (concubina regis), with a place assigned to her between the bishops and ealdormen. By comparison, Eadgifu subscribes higher up in the witness list as mater regis, after her sons Edmund and Eadred but before the archbishops and bishops.[3] Following the death of her younger son Eadred in 955, she was deprived of her lands by her eldest grandson, King Eadwig, perhaps because she took the side of his younger brother, Edgar, in the struggle between them. When Edgar succeeded on Eadwig's death in 959 she recovered some lands and received generous gifts from her grandson, but she never returned to her prominent position at court. She is last recorded as a witness to a charter in 966.[2] She was known as a supporter of saintly churchmen and a benefactor of churches.[2] See also House of Wessex family tree Notes Jump up ^ Pauline Stafford dates the Battle of the Holme as 903 and Eadgifu's date of birth as in or before 904, but the battle took place on 13 December 902 (Miller, Edward the Elder) ^ Jump up to: a b c d Stafford, Eadgifu Jump up ^ S 514 (AD 942 x 946). References Miller, Sean (2004). "Edward (called Edward the Elder) (870s?-924), king of the Anglo-Saxons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8514. Retrieved 10 August 2012. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Stafford, Pauline (2004). "Eadgifu (b. in or before 904, d. in or after 966), queen of the Anglo-Saxons, consort of Edward the Elder". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52307. Retrieved 10 June 2012. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Preceded by Ælfflæd, wife of Edward the Elder Queen consort of England 919-924 Succeeded by Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury