Emma of Normandy

Emma was the daughter of Richard I of Normandy and sister of Richard II. In 1002 she became King Aethelred's second wife, thereby creating the dynastic link between England and Normandy which, in part, was the pretext for the Norman invasion of England in 1066.

Her two sons by Aethelred were both educated in Normandy; Alfred was murdered in 1036 while on a visit to his mother in England, and Edward ("the Confessor") was king of England from 1042 to 1066. Her son Harthacnut, from her second marriage to King Cnut, was king of Denmark and of England (1040-42).

Her second marriage, to Cnut, was politically advantageous to both parties: it prevented the Norman court from intervening in England on behalf of Alfred and Edward, and it protected Emma's sons from murder by Cnut.

Following Cnut's death in 1035, Emma supported Harthacnut against his half-brother Harold "Harefoot". In 1037 she was forced into exile by Harold, only to return with Harold's death in 1040.

Emma seems to have become estranged from her son Edward and in the year following his accession to the throne in 1042 he went with earls Godwin, Leofric and Siward to Winchester and confiscated her lands and property. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggest that Emma's crime was to have kept her wealth from Edward, but it is also believed that Emma supported Magnus of Norway's claim to the English crown.

Emma died in 1052.

© Historybookshop.com