Gytha of Wessex
| Gytha of Wessex | |
|---|---|
| Died | 1098 or 1107 |
| Spouse | Vladimir II Monomakh |
| House | House of Godwin (by birth) Rurik Dynasty (by marriage) |
| Father | Harold Godwinson |
| Mother | Edith Swannesha |
Gytha of Wessex (died 1098 or 1107) (Old English: Gȳð) was one of several illegitimate daughters of Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, by his consort, Edith Swannesha.
According to Saxo Grammaticus, Gytha and two of her brothers escaped to the court of their uncle, King Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark. The two brothers were treated by Sweyn with hospitality, while their sister was married to Waldemar, King of Ruthenia, i.e. Vladimir II Monomakh, one of the most famous rulers of Kievan Rus.
Gytha was the mother of Mstislav the Great, the last ruler of united Kievan Rus. In the Norse sagas, Mstislav is called Harald after his grandfather. The pateric of St Pantaleon Cloister in Cologne says that "Gytha the Queen" died as a nun on 10 March. A year later Vladimir Monomakh married another woman.
Children
Their children were:
- Mstislav the Great (1076–1132)
- Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Kursk († 6 September 1096)
- Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Pereyaslav († 16 March 1114)
- Yaropolk II of Kiev († 18 February 1139)
- Viacheslav I of Kiev († 2 February 1154)
Family trees
Further reading
- Alexander Nazarenko. Древняя Русь на международных путях. Moscow, 2001. ISBN 5-7859-0085-8. (Russian)
- Articles containing Old English-language text
- Anglo-Norse people
- Anglo-Saxon people
- 11th-century births
- House of Godwin
- Anglo-Saxon royalty
- Anglo-Saxon nuns
- Kievan Rus'
- Burials at Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev
- Women of medieval Rus'
- Ruthenian people of English descent
- Rurik Dynasty
- 1098 deaths
- 1107 deaths
- 11th-century English people
- 11th-century Russian people
- Anglo-Saxon women
