Editing Osburh

{{Short description|First wife and consort of King Æthelwulf of Wessex}}
{{see also|Osburh of Coventry}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image = Queen Osburga reads for her son, Alfred.gif
| caption = Early 20th century illustration of Osburh reading to her son Alfred
| consort = yes
| spouse = [[Æthelwulf, King of Wessex]]
| issue = {{plainlist|
*[[Æthelstan, King of Kent]]
*[[Æthelswith, Queen of Mercia]]
*[[Æthelbald, King of Wessex]]
*[[Æthelberht, King of Wessex]]
*[[Æthelred I, King of Wessex]]
*[[Alfred the Great|Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons]]}}
| father = Oslac
| death_date = 
}}

'''Osburh''' or '''Osburga''' (also '''Osburga Oslacsdotter''') was the first wife of King [[Æthelwulf of Wessex]] and mother of King [[Alfred the Great]]. Alfred's biographer, [[Asser]], described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth".<ref>[[Simon Keynes]] and [[Michael Lapidge]] eds, ''Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources'', London, Penguin Classics, 1983, p. 68</ref>

==Sources==
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 of Wessex|Æthelstan]], [[Æthelbald of Wessex|Æthelbald]], [[Æthelberht of Wessex|Æthelberht]], [[Æthelred of Wessex|Æthelred]] and Alfred, and his daughter [[Æthelswith]], wife of King [[Burgred of Mercia]].

Osburh is best known from Asser's story about a book of Saxon songs which she showed to her sons, offering to give the book to whoever could first memorise it, a challenge which Alfred took up and won. This exhibits high-status ninth-century women's interest in books and their role in educating their children.<ref>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20887 Janet L. Nelson, Osburh, 2004, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography] In Nelson's view, Osburh may have been dead by 856 or may have been repudiated.</ref>

Osburh was the daughter of Oslac (who is also only known from Asser's ''Life''), King Æthelwulf's ''[[Dish-bearers and butlers in Anglo-Saxon England|pincerna]]'' (cupbearer), an important figure in the royal court and household.<ref>Keynes and Lapidge, pp. 68, 229.</ref> Oslac is described as being of partial [[Goths|Gothic]] ancestry,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asser's Life of King Alfred, by Albert S. Cook—A Project Gutenberg eBook |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63384/63384-h/63384-h.htm |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> and descendant of King [[Cerdic]]'s [[Jutes|Jutish]] nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar, who conquered and settled the [[Isle of Wight]].<ref>Asser states that Oslac was a Goth, but this is regarded by historians as an error as Stuf and Wightgar were Jutes. Keynes and Lapidge pp. 229-30 and Frank Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', Oxford, Oxford UP, 3rd edition 1971, p. 23-4</ref>

==See also==
*[[House of Wessex family tree]]

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Lees, Clare A. & Gillian R. Overing (eds), ''Double Agents: Women and Clerical Culture in Anglo-Saxon England.'' University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8122-3628-9}}

==External links==
* {{PASE|5119|Osburg 2}}

[[Category:9th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon royal consorts]]
[[Category:9th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:9th-century English women]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:House of Wessex]]
[[Category:Mothers of English monarchs]]