Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (10 page)

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Authors: Alison Weir

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KING SWEYN

Known as ‘Forkbeard’, he was born in
c
.960 in Denmark. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 1 November, 986. He is said by some sources to have been deposed in 987 and restored in 1000. He usurped the throne of England in the autumn of 1013, having defeated and deposed Ethelred II; he claimed the throne by right of conquest, but had no dynastic claim to it. He was never crowned.

Sweyn married firstly
, in
c.
990 (although no record exists as to
where):

Gunhilda

She was probably the daughter of Mjeczislas I, Duke of Poland, by Dubrawka, daughter of Boleslaw I, Duke of Bohemia, or, less probably, the daughter of Boleslaw, King of Wendland. Sweyn later divorced her, probably before 1000. She died in
c.
1015. One source gives the date of her death as 992, but this must be wrong.

Issue of marriage:

1
Harold

He was born in
c.
994 in Denmark. He succeeded his father as King of Denmark on 3 February, 1014, and died in 1018/19.

2
King Canute
(
see here
).

The following were possibly the children of Gunhilda, although they may have been the issue of Sweyn by his second wife (
below):

3
Gytha

She married Erik Hakonson, a Danish Earl in England, and Earl of Hlathir in Norway in 1013, and had issue:

1 Haakon, Earl of Worcester (
d.
1029/30), who married Gunhilda, daughter of Wytgeorn, King of Wendland (
below).

4
Santslaue

Alternatively called Svantoslava, she was born and died in Denmark. No dates are recorded.

5
Thyra

She is said to have been born in
c
.993 in Denmark – probably the eldest child of Sweyn and Gunhilda, although this is open to doubt. She married Godwine, later Earl of Wessex (
see here
, under Harold II), and had issue, but no details of them are recorded. She died in 1018.

6
Daughter

Her name is not known. She married Wytgeorn, King of Wendland, and had issue:

1 Gunhilda; she married firstly Haakon, Earl of Worcester (
d
.1029/30) (
above), and secondly, Harold (
d
.1042), son of Edith, the daughter of Ethelred II.

Sweyn married secondly
, probably before 1000 (although no record exists as to where):

Sigrid

Alternatively known as Sigrith or Syritha, and called ‘the Haughty’,
she was the daughter of Skogul Toste of Sweden, and was born in Sweden. She married firstly Eric VI, King of Sweden (
d
.995), and had issue:

1 Olaf Svenski, King of Sweden (
d
.1022), who married a lady called Astrid, and had issue.

One source gives the date of Sigrid’s death as 995, but this is impossible. It is likely that she died before 1013, as she has never been referred to as Queen of England.

Issue of marriage:

1
Astrid

Alternatively called Estrith, or Margaret. She married either Richard II, Duke of Normandy (
d
.1027), or Robert II, Duke of Normandy (
see here
, under William I), between 1017 and 1027. If her husband was Robert, then he repudiated her shortly after the marriage took place. She married secondly Ulf Thorgilson, a Danish Earl in England (
d
.1035; he was the brother of Gytha, mother of Harold II), and had issue:

1 Sweyn Estrithson, King of Denmark (
d
.1074/6), who married a lady called Gunhilda. He left illegitimate issue only.

2 Beorn, Earl of Danish Mercia. He was murdered in 1049.

3 Osbeorn (
d
.1086?).

Sigrid may also have been the mother of Sweyn’s four other daughters (

above).

KING SWEYN

He died on 3 February, 1014, at Gainsborough, Lincs., and was buried in England (location unknown). His remains were later moved to Roeskild Cathedral, Denmark.

He was succeeded by Ethelred II (

preceding chapter), who was in turn succeeded by Edmund, the son of Ethelred.