Everything about Waltheof Ii Earl Of Northumbria totally explained
Waltheof (
1050-
31 May 1076),
Earl of Northumbria and last of the
Anglo-Saxon earls. He was the only English aristocrat to be formally executed during the reign of
William I. He was reputed for his physical strength but was weak and unreliable in character.
Early life
He was the second son of Earl
Siward, Earl of Northumbria. His mother was Aelfflaed, daughter of
Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia, son of
Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria. In 1054, Waltheof’s brother, Osbearn, who was much older than him, was killed in battle, making Waltheof his father’s heir. Siward himself died in 1055, and Waltheof being far too young to succeed as Earl of Northumbria,
King Edward appointed
Tostig Godwinson to the earldom.
He was said to be devout and charitable and was probably educated for a
monastic life. In fact, around
1065 he became an earl, governing
Northamptonshire and
Huntingdonshire. Following the
Battle of Hastings he submitted to William and was allowed to keep his pre-Conquest title and possessions. He remained at William’s court until 1068.
First revolt
When
Sweyn II invaded
Northern England in
1069 Waltheof and
Edgar Ætheling joined the Danes and took part in the attack on
York. He would again make a fresh submission to William after the departure of the invaders in
1070. He was restored to his earldom, and went on to marry William's niece,
Judith of Lens. In
1072, he was appointed
Earl of Northampton.
The
Domesday Book mentions Waltheof ("
Walleff"); "'In
Hallam ("
Halun"), one manor with its sixteen hamlets, there are twenty-nine
carucates [~14km²] to be taxed. There Earl Waltheof had an "Aula" [hallor court]. There may have been about twenty ploughs. This land Roger de Busli holds of the Countess Judith." (Hallam, or
Hallamshire, is now part of the city of
Sheffield.
In
1072, William expelled
Gospatric from the earldom of Northumbria. Gospatric was Waltheof’s cousin and had taken part in the attack on York with him, but like Waltheof, had been pardoned by William. Godpatric fled into exile and William appointed Waltheof as the new earl.
Waltheof had many enemies in the north. Amongst them were members of a family who had killed Waltheof’s maternal great-grandfather,
Uchtred the Bold, and his grandfather
Ealdred. This was part of a long-running blood feud. In 1074, Waltheof moved against the family by sending his retainers to ambush them, succeeding in killing the two eldest of four brothers.
Second revolt and death
In
1075 Waltheof joined the
Revolt of the Earls against William. His motives for taking part in the revolt are unclear, as is the depth of his involvement. However he repented, confessing his guilt first to Archbishop
Lanfranc, and then in person to William, who was at the time in
Normandy. He returned to England with William but was arrested, brought twice before the king's court and sentenced to death.
He spent almost a year in confinement before being beheaded on
May 31,
1076 at
St. Giles's Hill, near
Winchester. He was said to have spent the months of his captivity in prayer and fasting. Many people believed in his innocence and were surprised when the execution was carried out. His body was initially thrown in a ditch, but was later retrieved and was buried in the chapter house of
Croyland Abbey.
Cult of martyrdom
In
1092, after a fire in the chapter house, the abbot had Waltheof’s body moved to a prominent place in the abbey church. When the coffin was opened, it's reported that the corpse was found to be intact with the severed head re-joined to the trunk. This was regarded as a miracle, and the abbey, which had a financial interest in the matter began to publicise it. As a result, pilgrims began to visit Waltheof’s tomb.
After a few years healing miracles began to occur in the vicinity of Waltheof’s tomb, often involving the restoration of the pilgrim’s lost sight.
Family and children
In 1070 he married
Judith of Lens, daughter of
Lambert II, Count of Lens and
Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of
Aumale. They had three daughters, the eldest of whom,
Maud, brought the earldom of Huntingdon to her second husband,
David I of Scotland, and another of whom, Adelise, married the Anglo-Norman noble
Raoul III of Tosny.
One of Waltheof's grandsons was
Waltheof (d.
1159),
abbot of Melrose.
Further Information
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