NORTHUMBERLAND, Earl Waltheof

1045 - 1076  (31 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	NORTHUMBERLAND, Waltheof
  Prefix	Earl
  Birth	1045	Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Death	31 May 1076	Winchester, Hampshire, England
  Burial	14 Jun 1076	Croyland Abbey, Crowland, Lincolnshire, England
  WAC	4 Jan 1933
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I44575	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Father	NORTHUMBERLAND, Earl Siward Biornsson ,   b. Abt 1012, Denmark Denmarkd. 26 Mar 1055, York, Yorkshire, England (Age 43 years)
  Mother	BERNICIA, Countess Aelfled ,   b. Abt 1016, Bernicia, Northumbia, England Bernicia, Northumbia, Englandd. 1086, Abbey St Peters, Ghent, Belgium (Age 70 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1033	Northumberland, England
  Family ID	F11503	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	BOULOGNE, Countess Judith ,   b. May 1054, Lens, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France Lens, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Franced. 1086, Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, England (Age 31 years)
  Marriage	1070	Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
  Children	2 daughters
  + 1. HUNTINGTON, Queen Mathilda ,   b. 2 Jul 1072, Northumberland, England Northumberland, Englandd. 23 Apr 1131, Scone, Perthshire, Scotland (Age 58 years)   2. HUNTINGDON, Adelise de ,   b. Abt 1075, Flamstead, Hertsfordshire, England Flamstead, Hertsfordshire, Englandd. 1126, Flamstead, Hertsfordshire, England (Age 51 years)
  Family ID	F15661	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

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• Notes

  He was a "minor" in 1055. 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. Waltheof was said to be devout and charitable and was probably educated for a monastic life. Around 1065, however, 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. When Sweyn II invaded Northern England in 1069, Waltheof and Edgar Aetheling 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. 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 31 May 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 into a ditch, but was later retrieved and buried in the chapter house of Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire. n 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.[1] 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. He was commemorated on 31 August.[2][3] 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 comitis, a Middle English Waltheof saga, since lost, and the Anglo-Norman Waldef.