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Birth:          ABT 1035 Northumbria, England
Death:          31 May 1076 Winchester, Hampshire, England
Cause of Death: beheaded
Burial:         Jun 1076 Crowland, Lincolnshire, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltheof,_Earl_of_Northumbria
Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northumbria (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.

Early life[edit]

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.

First revolt[edit]

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.

Second revolt and death[edit]

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.

Cult of martyrdom[edit]

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.[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.

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.

Family and children[edit]

In 1070 Waltheof married Judith de 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.

One of Waltheof's grandsons was Waltheof (d. 1159), abbot of Melrose.

In popular culture[edit]
Waltheof was portrayed by actor Marcus Gilbert in the TV drama Blood Royal: William 
the Conqueror (1990).
Waltheof is the subject of Juliet Dymoke's 1970 historical novel Of the Ring of Earls
Waltheof is a major character in Elizabeth Chadwick's 2002 historical novel The 
Winter Mantle

Parents
BJORNSSON Sigurd (Siward) "Digera" (ABT  996 - 1055)
OF NORTHUMBERLAND (OF BERNICIA) Aelfleda (ABT 1000 - )

Siblings
FITZSIWARD Sibyl (ABT 1017 - 1070)
____ Waltheof II (ABT 1035 - 31 May 1076)

Marriage To OF BOULOGNE (OF LENS) Judith (1054 - AFT 1086)
    m. 1070 

Notes

Parents
DE BOULOGNE (OF LENS) Lambert (ABT 1022 - 1054)
OF NORMANDY Adelaide (ABT 1027 - BEF 1090)

Children by OF BOULOGNE (OF LENS) Judith 1054 - AFT 1086
DE HUNTINGDON Matilda (Maud) (ABT 1072 - 23 Apr 1131)
HUNTINGDON Alice (Adeliza) (ABT 1075 - AFT 1126)

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