Agatha of South Bessex (959 - December 27, 1011) was the first Queen Consort of England as the wife of Alfred. The daughter of Asvalt I of South Bessex and Edna, she married Alfred in April of 979 as part of a political merging between the two realms to strengthen ties against Scandinavian forces.
Life []
Contemporaries argue as to whether Agatha and her older brother, Asvalt II had a close relationship. Whatever the matter, Agatha took her nieces, Alsmerda and Elsludna under her wing when Asvalt passed away in June of 979. Historians debate that Agatha merely did this so her nieces would not interfere in the line of succession while others claim that Agatha hoped to plan strategic marriages for them. Upon her son Alfred's birth in 980, there were even rumors that one of the nieces had been secretly betrothed to their cousin.
Issue[]
Agatha had four children with Alfred:
- Alfred (?980 - September 24, 996)
Alfred and Agatha with their son, Edgard
- Goda, Duchess of Thuringia (?982 - December 2, 1031)
- Iwra, Abbess of Kent (?985 - October 18, 1053)
- Edgard, King of England (?986 - July 6, 1045)
Death[]
Either than the role of consort and wife, Agatha does not appear to have played an influential part in her husband's reign. She died in December of 1011 and was buried in the Benedictine Abbey of Colbunister.