*642180869* Osburgh

  Notater:

Osburh or Osburga was the first wife of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and mother of Alfred the Great. Alfred's biographer, Asser, described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth".

Osburh's existence is known only from Asser's Life of King Alfred. She is not named as witness to any charters, nor is her death reported in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. So far as is known, she was the mother of all Æthelwulf's children, his five sons Æthelstan, Æthelbald, Æthelberht, Æthelred and Alfred the Great, and his daughter Æthelswith, wife of King Burgred of Mercia.
The Boyhood of Alfred the Great (1913).jpg

She is best known for Asser's story about a book of Saxon songs which she showed to Alfred and his brothers, offering to give the book to whoever could first memorise it, a challenge which Alfred took up and won. This exhibits the interest of high status ninth-century women in books, and their role in educating their children.

Osburgh blev gift med *642180868* Aethelwulf of Wessex, søn af *1284361736* Egbert of Wessex og *1284361737* Redburga. (*642180868* Aethelwulf of Wessex blev født omkring 795 i Wessex, , , England, døde den 13. Jan. 858 og blev begravet i Winchester Cathedral, , Hampshire, England.)