Editing Ælfgifu of Northampton (section)

===Family background===
Ælfgifu was born into an important noble family based in the [[English Midlands|Midlands]] ([[Mercia]]). She was a daughter of [[Ælfhelm, Ealdorman of York|Ælfhelm]], ealdorman of southern Northumbria, and his wife Wulfrun. Ælfhelm was killed in 1006, probably at the command of King [[Æthelred the Unready]], and Ælfgifu's brothers, Ufegeat and Wulfheah, were blinded. [[Wulfric Spot]], a wealthy nobleman and patron of [[Burton Abbey]], was the brother of Ælfhelm or Wulfrun. The family again came under suspicion during the invasion of England by [[Swein Forkbeard]], King of Denmark, in 1013–14, and further members were charged with treachery and killed.<ref name=DNB/> It is possible that Ælfgifu was a kinswoman of the wife of [[Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia]], also called Ælfgifu.<ref>{{cite ODNB |last=Williams |first=Ann |title=Ælfgar, earl of Mercia (d. 1060) |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-178 |date=2004 |access-date=15 February 2021 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/178}}</ref>