Wulfthryth, also known as Wilfrida, was the second known consort of Edgar, King of England in the early 960s. Historians disagree whether she was his wife or mistress. Their daughter Edith was widely regarded in the eleventh century as a saint. In 964, Edgar married Ælfthryth, and then or earlier, Wulfthryth returned to Wilton Abbey, where she had been brought up, with her daughter. Wulfthryth remained there for the rest of her life as Abbess and died on 21 September in an unknown year, around 1000. She was regarded as a saint at Wilton, but her cult did not spread more widely.
Near contemporary drawing of Edith.
St Mary's church, Wilton
A coin of Edgar, c.973.
Edgar was King of the English from 959 until his death. He became king of all England on his brother's death. He was the younger son of King Edmund I and his first wife Ælfgifu. A detailed account of Edgar's reign is not possible, because only a few events were recorded by chroniclers and monastic writers were more interested in recording the activities of the leaders of the church.
Edgar in the early fourteenth-century Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England
Edgar in the second tier of the Royal Window in the mid-fifteenth century chapel of All Souls College, Oxford. The stained glass is original apart from Edgar's head, which was replaced with one made by Clayton and Bell in the 1870s.
Coin of Edgar, pre-reform, Bust Crowned, moneyer Levinc, East Anglia
Frontispiece of the Winchester New Minster Charter of 966, the only illuminated charter and the only manuscript written entirely in gold to survive from Anglo-Saxon England. Edgar is flanked by the Virgin Mary and St Peter, and he is offering the charter to Christ, who sits enthroned above, surrounded by four winged angels.
