Eadburgh (c. 773–after 802)

Queen of the West Saxons. Name variations: Eadburg; Eadburga. Born around 773; died after 802 in Pavia, Italy; daughter of Offa II, king of West Mercia, and Queen Cynethryth (fl. 736–796); possibly sister of Etheldreda (d. around 840); married King Brihtric (Beorhtric) of the West Saxons, around 789 (died 802).

Eadburgh, daughter of King Offa II and the notorious Queen Cynethryth , was born a Saxon princess of West Mercia in England. Around 789, she married King Brihtric of the West Saxons. As queen, she gained significant power at the new court, for Brihtric entrusted her with many of the duties of ruling, and the couple seem to have been fairly close. A highly intelligent woman, Eadburgh was also reportedly a ruthless queen, involved in intrigues and power plays. She was accused of poisoning several court officials whom she disliked. In 802, she accidentally murdered her husband when he drank from a cup of poisoned wine that Eadburgh had prepared for one of his favorites, of whom she was jealous.

Widowed and friendless, Eadburgh was required to leave the court. She was so unpopular, it is reported, that the West Saxons would not grant the title of queen to any monarch's wife after Eadburgh. But she did not leave empty-handed; instead, she stole much of the West Saxon treasury and fled to the court of Charlemagne, king of the Franks. Charlemagne, probably unsure of what to do with a murderous Saxon queen, supposedly asked her to choose either himself or his son for a husband. After Eadburgh chose the son because the king was too old, Charlemagne replied that, if she had chosen him, he would have married her to his son; since she made the wrong choice, however, she could have neither.

Charlemagne did secure for her the position of abbess at a Frankish convent, a move that took her out of harm's way and off his hands, or so he thought. She had been at the abbey only a short while before she was caught with a lover. Charlemagne had little recourse but to banish the scandalous abbess from his kingdom, allowing her only one servant. Eadburgh ended her days in Pavia, Italy, probably surviving on charity. Although it is clear that she was disliked by her subjects, it is not clear how much of the evil attributed to her during her reign she actually committed.

Laura York , Riverside, California