- Gytha of Wessex
Gytha of Wessex was one of several daughters of
Ealdgyth Swan-neck by Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.According to
Saxo Grammaticus , two of Harold's sons and a daughter escaped to the court of their uncle, king Sweyn Estridsson ofDenmark . They were treated by Sweyn with hospitality, while their sister was married to Waldemar, king ofRuthenia , i.e.Vladimir II Monomakh , one of the most famous rulers ofKievan Rus .Gytha was the mother of Mstislav the Great, the last ruler of united Kievan Rus. In the
Norse saga s, Mstislav is called Harald after his grandfather. Thepateric of St Pantaleon Cloister inCologne says that "Gytha the Queen" died as a nun on10 March . It is assumed that she followedGodfrey of Bouillon in thefirst Crusade and died inPalestine , most likely in 1098, as a year later Vladimir Monomakh married another woman.Children
Their children were:
#Mstislav the Great (1076-1132)
#Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince ofKursk (+September 6 ,1096 )
#Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince ofSmolensk andPereyaslav (+March 16 , 1114)
#Yaropolk II of Kiev (+February 18 ,1139 )
#Viacheslav I of Kiev (+February 2 ,1154 )References
*
Alexander Nazarenko . "Древняя Русь на международных путях". Moscow, 2001. ISBN 5-7859-0085-8.
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