Wulfnoth Cild

Wulfnoth Cild (died 1015) is thought to have been the father of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and thus the grandfather of King Harold Godwinson. Earl Godwin's father was certainly named Wulfnoth, a relatively uncommon name. He is thus assumed to be the same person as Wulfnoth Cild, a thegn in Sussex.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that in 1009 Wulfnoth, commanding a force of 20 ships, was accused, of what is not said, to King Ethelred the Unready by Earl Brihtric (or "Beohtric"), Eadric Streona's brother. Wulfnoth retaliated by ravaging the south coast, leading to Brihtric being sent with a force of 80 ships to deal with him. Brihtric's ships were caught in a storm, driven ashore, and then burned by Wulfnoth and his men. Wulfnoth was sentenced to exile but his son Godwin remained in England.

Wulfnoth's brother Aethelnoth became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1020.

Controversy over Ancestry

The theory has been advanced by Alfred Anscombe in 1913 and more recently, D.H.Kelley that Harold Godwinson was descended through Godwin and Wulfnoth from King Ethelred I via Aethelmaer the Stout and Aethelweard the Historian (see link below). The controversy is over whether Wulfnoth was the son of Aethelmaer the Stout. There were at least two prominent men called Aethelmaer at the time and it is often difficult to establish which one did which.Aethelmaer the Stout was also known as "Cild of Sussex" and this line of ancestry is mentioned in the chronicles of Florence and John of Worcester. However this is not mentioned in context of Harold's claim to the throne, nor did Godwin ever claim it for himself. However had he done so he might have been executed by Canute instead of promoted- as was Aethelmaer and his son Aethelweard II and various sons of Ethelred the Unready.The Dictionary of National Biography however, describe Godwin and Wulfnoth as parvenus of obscure origin. Florence and John also describe Godwin as the son of a shepherd or swineherd., perhaps contradictorily due to dual authorship. Godwin and Wulfnoth's alleged obscure origins have become part of accepted myth after 1066.

In 1014, the will of King Ethelred's son the Ætheling Athelstan states that Godwin was to receive "the estate at Compton which his father possessed." This land was willed by Alfred the Great for the descendants of his elder brother Ethelred I and has been used by Professor David Hurmiston Kelley amongst others as evidence of Wulfnoth's descent from Ethelred.

Aethelmaer the Stout's other son was Aethelnoth, who became Canute's chaplain and later Archbishop of Canterbury (even though Canute executed his brother). The circumstances of Wulfnoth's death are rather obscure, but occurred in 1015 at the same time as Canute's takeover.Professor Frank Barlow refers to Aethelnoth as Godwin's uncle.This descent would give Harold (and his brothers) a prior claim to the throne, even over the descendants of Alfred (since Ethelred was older than Alfred) but the BBC History website states that he had no claim.

Legacy

The church of St. Mary Woolnoth in London was founded by an Anglo Saxon nobleman named Wulfnoth, who may be the same as Wulfnoth Cild of Sussex.

ee also

*House of Wessex family tree

References

*
* Walker, Ian, "Harold: The Last English King." Stroud: Sutton, 1997. ISBN 0-7509-2456-X
* David Hurmiston Kelley "The House of Ethelred" 1989 ed.LL Brook Studies in Genalogy and Family History; Tribute to Charles Evans on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday, available via the "Foundation for Medieval Genealogy"
* Alfred Anscombe "The Pedigree of Godwine" - Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 3rd series Vol 7, pp129-150 , 1913