Editing Alfred the Great (section)

== Family ==
In 868, Alfred married [[Ealhswith]], daughter of a Mercian nobleman, [[Æthelred Mucel]], [[Ealdorman]] of the [[Gaini]]. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family.{{Sfn|Keynes|Lapidge|1983|pp=77, 240–241}}

They had five or six children together, including [[Edward the Elder]] who succeeded his father as king; [[Æthelflæd]] who became lady of the Mercians; and [[Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders|Ælfthryth]] who married [[Baldwin II, Count of Flanders]]. Alfred's mother was [[Osburga]], daughter of Oslac of the [[Isle of Wight]], Chief [[Butler#Ancient through medieval eras|Butler]] of England. Asser, in his ''Vita Ælfredi'' asserts that this shows his lineage from the [[Jutes]] of the Isle of Wight.{{Sfn|Keynes|Lapidge|1983|p=68}}

[[Osferth]] was described as a relative in King Alfred's will and he attested charters in a high position until 934. A charter of King Edward's reign described him as the king's brother – mistakenly according to Keynes and Lapidge, but in the view of [[Janet Nelson]], he probably was an illegitimate son of King Alfred.{{Sfn|Keynes|Lapidge|1983|p=322, n. 79}}{{Sfn|Nelson|1999|pp=60–62}}

{| class=wikitable

|-
! style="width:16%;"|Name!! style="width:14%;"|Birth!! style="width:14%;"|Death!! style="width:64%;"|Notes

|-
| Æthelflæd
| {{Circa|870}}
| 12 June 918
| Married {{Circa|886}}, [[Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians]] d. 911; had issue

|-
| Edward
| {{Circa|874}}
| 17 July 924
| Married (1) [[Ecgwynn]], (2) [[Ælfflæd, wife of Edward the Elder|Ælfflæd]], (3) 919 [[Eadgifu of Kent|Eadgifu]]

|-
| [[Æthelgifu]]
| 
| 
| Abbess of [[Shaftesbury Abbey|Shaftesbury]]

|-
| [[Æthelweard (son of Alfred)|Æthelweard]]
| {{Circa|880}}
| 16 October 922(?)
| Married and had issue

|-
| [[Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders|Ælfthryth]]
| 
| 929
| Married [[Baldwin II, Count of Flanders|Baldwin II]] d. 918; had issue

|}