Editing Ælfgifu of Northampton (section)

===Succession crisis after the death of Cnut (1035)===
Cnut died at Shaftesbury in 1035. [[Symeon of Durham]] and [[Adam of Bremen]] suggest that Cnut had reserved the English throne for Harold, while the ''[[Encomium Emmae Reginae]]'', written to defend Harthacnut's mother, Emma, claims that he had done so for Harthacnut. Ælfgifu was determined that her second son Harold should be the next English king. She had returned to England (at least) by 1036, while Emma's son [[Harthacnut]] was away in Denmark, at war with the Norwegian king [[Magnus I of Norway|Magnus I]], and the Swedes under their king [[Anund Jacob]]. Emma's other sons, Ælfred and Edward, stayed in Normandy. With help from her supporters, Ælfgifu was able to secure the throne for her son. In the view of [[Frank Stenton]], she was probably the real ruler of England for part, if not the whole, of his reign.<ref>Frank Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1971, p. 421.</ref>

The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' (versions C, D and E) describes how Harold and his men forcefully laid claim on the treasury housed in [[Winchester]], where Cnut was buried and Emma (whom the Anglo-Saxons also referred to as "Ælfgifu" the queen) had taken up residence:

{{blockquote|1035: Here King Cnut died, and his son Harold succeeded to the kingdom. He departed at Shaftesbury on 12 November, and he was conveyed to Winchester, and there buried. And Ælfgifu, the Lady, settled inside there [Winchester]. And Harold said that he was the son of Cnut and the Northampton Ælfgifu &nbsp;– although it was not true. He sent and had taken from her all the best treasures which King Cnut possessed.<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Manuscript D</ref>}}

Manuscript E, which is known for its [[Earl Godwine|Godwinist]] sympathies, adds a number of details, including the assembly at Oxford in 1037 at which Harold was elected king of England and the mustering of support north of the Thames, where the power base of Ælfgifu's family was concentrated.

{{blockquote|1036 [for 1035]: Here Cnut died at Shaftesbury. and he is buried in Winchester in the Old Minster. [...] And soon after his passing, there was a meeting of all the councillors at Oxford, and Earl Leofric and almost all the thegns north of the Thames, and the men of the fleet in London, chose Harold as regent of all England, for himself and his half-brother Harthacnut who was in Denmark, And Earl Godwine and all the foremost men in Wessex opposed it just as long as they could, but they could not contrive anything against it. And then it was decided that Ælfgifu, Harold's mother, should settle in Winchester with the king her son's [[housecarls]], and hold all Wessex in hand for him; and Earl Godwine was their most loyal man. Some men said of Harold that he was son of King Cnut and Ælfgifu, daughter of Ealdorman Ælfhelm, but to many men it seemed quite unbelievable; nevertheless he was full king over all England<ref>Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Manuscript E</ref>}}

During 1036, opinion in England moved towards Harold. By August a report had reached Emma's daughter, [[Gunhilda of Denmark|Gunnhild]], at the German court that her "unhappy and unjust step-mother" (i.e. Ælfgifu) was working to deprive Gunnhild's brother, Harthacnut, of the kingdom by holding great feasts, and trying by argument and gifts to persuade the leading nobles to give their fealty to Harold.<ref>Stevenson (1913), cited in [[Pauline Stafford]], ''Queen Emma & Queen Edith'', Blackwell, 1001, p. 238</ref> Emma's encomiast attributes to her even more seriously dishonest methods. She makes Ælfgifu an accomplice in the murder of Emma's youngest son, [[Alfred Aetheling]], by suggesting that she was responsible for sending a forged letter to Normandy inviting Alfred to England. The ''Encomium Emmae Reginae'' also claimed that Ælfgifu's son Harold was a servant's son.

Ælfgifu is not recorded after 1036, apart from a possible reference to her as the "lady", and it is not known when she died.<ref name=DNB>Stafford, Ælfgifu</ref>