Æthelswith
Queen of Mercia
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Æthelswith (c. 838–888) was the only known daughter of King Æthelwulf of Wessex. She married King Burgred of Mercia in 853. The couple had no known children.
Although it is unclear to what extent, Æthelswith wielded some power as a queen in her own right. In 868 she witnessed a West Saxon charter and made a grant of fifteen hides of land in her own name in Berkshire, rare for a queen of the period to do so.[1][2]
Burgred's reign lasted until 874 when the Vikings drove him from the kingdom and he fled to Rome with Æthelswith. He died shortly after. Æthelswith lived on in Italy for another decade, before dying while on a pilgrimage in Pavia in 888[3] and was buried in the monastery of San Felice.[4]
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