Family tree Bas » Waltheof II of Northumbria (1050-1076)

Personal data Waltheof II of Northumbria 

• He was born in the year 1050.
• (Geschiedenis) .Source 1

  Waltheof II van Northumbria (ca. 1050 - Winchester, 31 mei 1076) was de laatste Angelsaksische earl.
  
  Waltheof was de zoon van Siward van Northumbria en Aelfled. Bij de dood van zijn vader was hij te jong om hem op te volgen daarom werd Tostig Godwinson in zijn plaats benoemd. Toen koning Harold II van Engeland Tostig verbande in 1065, werd Waltheof tot earl van Huntingdon benoemd. Hij vocht mee in de de slag van Stamford Bridge waar Tostig met een leger van Vlaamse huurlingen en Noorse bondgenoten werd verslagen. Ook zou Waltheof hebben meegevochten in de slag bij Hastings en door te vluchten aan de dood zijn ontsnapt.
  
  Kort na de slag bij Hastings, nog in 1066, bereikte Waltheof een akkoord met Willem de Veroveraar, en hij behield zijn positie als earl. In 1069 steunde Waltheof echter een Deens leger dat York belegerde. Opnieuw kwam het tot een verzoening tussen Waltheof en Willem. Waltheof kocht de Denen af, die terugkeerden naar huis, en trouwde met Willems nicht Judith van Lens, dochter van Lambertus van Boulogne en Adelheid van Normandië (1026 - 1090). In 1072 wist hij zijn neef Gospatrick te laten verbannen en verwierf diens functie van earl van Northumbria. Waltheof liet in 1074 de familie uitmoorden waarmee zijn schoonfamilie al generaties een bloedvete had en die zijn schoonvader hadden vermoord. In 1074 nam hij deel aan een samenzwering tegen Willem met enkele Normandische earls. Waltheof kwam tot inkeer, vertelde Willem over de samenzwering en vroeg om genade. Maar Waltheof had zijn gunsten bij Willem al verbruikt en werd ter dood veroordeeld. Na een jaar gevangenschap werd hij in Winchester onthoofd. Zijn lichaam werd in een kuil geworpen maar later begraven in Croyland Abbey. Vanaf 1092 werd zijn graf tijdelijk een perlgrimsoord omdat er wonderbaarlijke genezingen zouden plaatsvinden, met name van blinden.
  
  Judith gaf getuigenis tegen Waltheof tijdens het proces in 1075. Zij stichtte de abdij van Elstow en meerdere kerken. Als weduwe verloofd met Simon van Senlis maar ze vluchtte om niet te hoeven trouwen. Als straf ontnam Willem de Veroveraar al haar bezittingen. Simon zou met haar dochter Maud trouwen.

• (Levens event) .Source 2

  Waltheof, 1st Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton (1050 – 31 May 1076) was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I.
  Contents
  Early life
  
  Waltheof was the second son of 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 he, 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.
  Family and children
  
  In 1070 Waltheof married Judith of Lens, daughter of Lambert II, Count of Lens and Adelaide of Normandy, Countess of Aumale. They had three children, the eldest of whom, Maud, brought the earldom of Huntingdon to her second husband, David I of Scotland, and another, Adelise, married the Anglo-Norman noble Raoul III of Tosny. Their son Uchtred of Tynedale married Bethoc; daughter of Donald III, King of Scotland.
  
  One of Waltheof's grandsons was Waltheof (d. 1159), abbot of Melrose.
  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 [~14 km²] to be taxed. There Earl Waltheof had an "Aula" [hall or 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. Gospatric 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 is 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 were reputed to occur in the vicinity of Waltheof’s tomb, often involving the restoration of the pilgrim’s lost sight.
  
  Waltheof also became the subject of popular media, heroic but inaccurate accounts of his life being preserved in the Vita et Passio Waldevi comes, a Middle English Waltheof saga, since lost, and the Anglo-Norman Waldef.

• He died on May 31, 1076 in Winchester, he was 26 years old.
• A child of Sigurd Björnsson (Siward) Digera of Northumbria and Aelfflaed of Northumbria
• This information was last updated on January 25, 2013.

Household of Waltheof II of Northumbria

(1) He is married to Adelaide de Conteville.

They got marriedSource 3

(2) He is married to Judith van Boulogne (von Lens).

They got married in the year 1070, he was 20 years old.Source 4

Child(ren):

1. Uchtred of Tynedale  
2. Mathilda van Huntingdon  1073-1131 
3. Adelisa of Northumbria  1075-> 1125 

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Timeline Waltheof II of Northumbria

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