| Notes |
- Aelfgifu was the wife of Aelfgar the Earl of Mercia. They had 4 children:
- Burgheard, died returning from Rome 1060, buried at Reims
- Edwin, Earl of Mercia
- Morcar, Earl of Northumbria
- Ealdgyth, married (1st) Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales (2nd) Harold Godwinson, King of England.
Aelfgifu is believed to be the sister of William Malet, Lord of Eye.
Not much is know about the wife of Aelfgar, Earl of Mercia. Most sources do not name her at all, others claim her name was of Aelgifu. Some people try to make her Ælfgifu, the daughter of King Æthelred the Unready, however, this is not possible. Ælfgifu, the daughter of King Æthelred, is well known to have married Uchtred of Bamburgh about 1014. Uchtred died in 1016 and not much is known about Ælfgifu after that, which leads many to presume she remarried to Ælfgar. There are records documenting the remarriage of Uchtred's other wives but there is nothing documenting Ælfgifu's marriage to Aelfgar. As the daughter of King Æthelred she whould have been much more high profile than Uchtred's other wives and yet nothing. Surely if Aelfgar had married the daughter of a king it would be documented and he would have used those familial relations to his advantage. Ælfgifu did have a daughter named Ealdgyth, just like Aelfgar and his wife, however, the father of her daughter is known to be Uchtred. Ealdgyth, Uchtred's daughter was born between 1014 and 1016 and is known to have married Maldred, Lord of Allerdale about 1036, together they had 3 children. The daughter of Aelfgar, born 1026 or much later, would have been too young to have married Maldred in 1036. She is known to have married Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales about 1055 and had at least one child. After his death she married Harold Godwinson, King of England in 1066 and had a son. The daughter of Uchtred born no later than 1016 would have been at least 50 years old in 1066 and past child bearing years. The daughter of Uchtred can not possibly be the same woman that was also the daughter (or step-daughter) of Aelfgar. And Ælfgifu the wife of Uchtred was not also the woman who married Aelfgar. Additionally, William Malet, High Sheriff of Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, is "said to be the brother of Aelgifu, wife of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia". Malet was certainly not the son of King Æthelred.
In a one on one comparison, it can be seen they are not the same woman:
Ælfgifu: Born: 991 to 1001
Father: King Æthelred
Marriage: Uchtred 1014
Daughter: Ealdgyth, born 1014 to 1016
Aelgifu: Born: ?
Father: ? same father as William Malet
Marriage: Aelfgar about 1023
Daughter: Ealdgyth, born sometime after 1025
Some records such as The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
report Aelgifu's parents as Morcar Thegn of Derbyshire and his wife Ealdgyth. However, this does not appear to fit with her also being the sister of William Malet. UNLESS they were half-siblings sharing the same mother but not the same father. FMG does not have any records supporting this parent/child relationship. Aelgifu did name 2 of her children Morcar and Ealdgyth, these names are not seen in Aelfgar's family so the children could well be named in honor of Aelgifu's parents. This is just a possibility however with out sources to confirm it.
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20AngloSaxon%20nobility.htm#AelfgifuNorthumbriaMAelfgarMercia
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997 - 1092 (95 years)
[1, 2, 3] 
