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{{short description|7th-century Anglo-Saxon queen, abbess, and saint}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Eanflæd
| title        = Queen of Northumbria<br>(Deiran princess)
| predecessor  = [[Æthelburh of Kent]]
| successor    = [[Æthelthryth]]
| birth_date   = 19 April 626
| birth_place  = [[Deira]] area, [[Northumbria]]
| death_date   = after 685 (Atleast 59 years old)
| death_place  = [[Whitby]], [[Yorkshire]]
| burial_place = [[Whitby Abbey]]<br> (later [[Glastonbury Abbey]] ?)
| issue        = [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria]] <br>[[Osthryth]] <br>[[Ælfwine of Deira]],<br>[[Ælfflæd of Whitby]]
| father       = [[Edwin of Northumbria]]
| mother       = [[Æthelburh of Kent]]
}}

'''Eanflæd''' (19 April 626 – after 685, also known as '''Enfleda''') was a [[Deira]]n princess, queen of [[Northumbria]]<ref name="DNB" /> and later, the [[abbess]] of an influential [[Whitby Abbey|Christian monastery in Whitby]], [[England]]. She was the daughter of King [[Edwin of Northumbria]] and [[Æthelburg of Kent|Æthelburg]], who in turn was the daughter of King [[Æthelberht of Kent]]. In or shortly after 642 Eanflæd became the second wife of King [[Oswiu of Northumbria]].<ref name="DNB" /><ref>Craig, Oswiu</ref> After Oswiu's death in 670, she retired to [[Whitby Abbey]], which had been founded by [[Hilda of Whitby]]. Eanflæd became the abbess around 680 and remained there until her death. The monastery had strong association with members of the Northumbrian royal family and played an important role in the establishment of Roman Christianity in England.

==Birth, baptism, exile==

Eanflæd's mother had grown up as a Christian, but her father was an [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|Anglo-Saxon pagan]] and he remained uncommitted to the new religion when she was born on the evening before [[Easter]] in 626 at a royal residence by the [[River Derwent, Yorkshire|River Derwent]]. [[Bede]] recounts that earlier on the day that Eanflæd was born, an assassin sent by [[Cwichelm of Wessex]] made an attempt on Edwin's life. Afterward, Edwin, prompted by Æthelburg's bishop, [[Paulinus of York|Paulinus]], agreed to Eanflæd's baptism and promised to become a Christian if he was granted a victory over Cwichhelm. Eanflæd was baptised, Bede says, on the feast of [[Pentecost]] (8 June 626) with eleven others of the royal household.<ref>Thacker; Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book II, Chapter 9. Thacker notes that according to a [[Wales|Welsh]] tradition recorded in the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'', chapter 64:<blockquote>Eanfeld, his daughter, received baptism, on the twelfth day after Pentecost, with all her followers, both men and women. ... If any one wishes to know who baptized them, it was Rhun son of Urien.</blockquote> Higham,  ''Northumbria'', p. 81, suggests [[Sancton]] as the location of the royal residence in question.</ref>

Edwin campaigned successfully against Cwichelm and adopted the new faith in 627.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book II, Chapter 13.</ref> His reign ended in 633 with his defeat and death at the [[battle of Hatfield Chase]]. Fleeing the unsettled times which followed Edwin's death, Æthelburg, together with Bishop Paulinus, returned to Kent, where Eanflæd grew up under the protection of her uncle, King [[Eadbald of Kent]].<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book II, Chapter 20. Bede states that Æthelburg did not trust her brother, or Edwin's sainted successor [[Oswald of Northumbria|Oswald]], with the lives of Edwin's male descendants whom she sent to the court of King [[Dagobert I]] in [[Francia]].</ref>

==Return, marriage==

In 642 [[Oswiu]], King of [[Bernicia]], head of the rival Northumbrian royal family,<!-- seems a better term than dynasty--> sent a priest named Utta to Kent, which then was ruled by Eanflæd's cousin, [[Eorcenberht of Kent|Eorcenberht]], to ask for her hand in marriage.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book III, Chapter 15.</ref> Oswiu already had been married, to a British princess, named [[Rhiainfellt|Rieinmellt]], but recently had become king on the death of his brother, [[Oswald of Northumbria|Oswald]], at the [[battle of Maserfield]]. King [[Penda of Mercia]], the victor of Maserfield, dominated central [[Great Britain|Britain]] and Oswiu was in need of support. Marriage with Eanflæd would provide Kentish, and perhaps Frankish, support, and any children Oswiu and Eanflæd might have would have strong claims to all of Northumbria.<ref>Higham, ''Convert Kings'', p. 225; Holdsworth "Oswiu"; Thacker.</ref> The date of the marriage is not recorded.<ref>Thacker states "in or shortly after 642"; Holdsworth, "Oswiu", prefers 643.</ref>

If Oswiu's goal in marrying Eanflæd was the peaceful acceptance of his rule in Deira, the plan was unsuccessful. By 644 [[Oswine of Deira|Oswine]], Eanflæd's paternal second cousin, was ruling in Deira.<ref>Kirby, pp. 91–92; Yorke, ''Kings'', pp. 78–79.</ref> In 651 Oswine was killed by one of Oswiu's generals. To expiate the killing of his wife's kinsman, Oswiu founded [[Gilling Abbey]] at [[Gilling East|Gilling]] where prayers were said for both kings.<ref>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book III, Chapter 14; Holdsworth, "Oswiu"; Thacker; Higham, ''Convert Kings'', pp. 226–230.</ref>

==Children, patron of Wilfrid, supporter of Rome==

With varying degrees of certainty, Eanflæd's children with Oswiu are identified as [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Ecgfrith]], [[Ælfwine of Deira|Ælfwine]], [[Osthryth]], and [[Ælfflæd of Whitby|Ælfflæd]]. Oswiu's complicated series of marriages and liaisons makes identifying the mother of each of his children difficult. Kirby states that [[Aldfrith of Northumbria|Aldfrith]], [[Ealhfrith of Deira|Ealhfrith]], and Ealhflæd were not born to Eanflæd.<ref>Higham, ''Northumbria'', p. 80; Kirby, pp. 90 & 143; Thacker.</ref>

Eanflæd was the early patroness of [[Wilfrid]], who played a large part in Northumbrian politics during the reigns of Ecgfrith, Aldfrith, and [[Osred I of Northumbria|Osred]], and elsewhere in seventh century Britain. When Wilfrid wished to travel on pilgrimage to [[Rome]], the Queen recommended him to her cousin, the Kentish king Eorcenberht.<ref>Eddius, ''Life of Wilfred'', cc. 2–3.</ref>

==Widow, abbess, saint==
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Saint]]
|name=Eanflæd
|birth_date=19 April 626
|death_date=after 685
|feast_day=24 November<ref name=DNB/>
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
|image=
|imagesize=180px
|caption=
|birth_place=[[Deira]] area, [[Northumbria]]
|death_place=[[Whitby]], [[Yorkshire]]
|titles=
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date= [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints#Pre-Congregation|Pre-Congregation]]
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}Perhaps several years after Oswiu's death, Eanflæd retired to the monastery at Whitby. This monastery was closely associated with her royal family and many members were buried there. Divisions within the Northumbrian church led to the [[Synod of Whitby]] held at this monastery in 664, during which Oswiu had agreed to settle a calendar controversy about Easter by adopting the Roman dating method. Whitby Abbey was a double monastery, housing the nuns and monks in separate quarters although they shared the church and religious rites. Following the death of her kinswoman and the founding abbess of the monastery, [[Hilda of Whitby|Hild]], in 680 Eanflæd became abbess jointly with her daughter Ælfflæd. She died in the reign of her stepson, Aldfrith (685–704). During this time, the remains of King Edwin were reburied at Whitby.<ref>Holdsworth, "Edwin"; Lapidge, "Eanflæd"; Thacker. Thacker gives her death date as "after 685", Lapidge, [[Wiktionary:circa|circa]] 704.</ref>

Some late sources give the feast day of Eanflæd as 24 November. Along with Edwin, Oswiu, Hilda, and later, Ælfflæd, she was buried at Whitby. [[William of Malmesbury]] believed that her remains later had been removed to [[Glastonbury Abbey]] where a monument to her was said to exist in the twelfth century.<ref name=DNB>Thacker, Eanflæd</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
* [[Bede]], ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]].'' Translated by Leo Sherley-Price, revised [[R. E. Latham]], ed. D. H. Farmer. London: Penguin, 1990. {{ISBN|0-14-044565-X}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |first=D. J.|last =Craig | publisher = Oxford University Press | encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | title= Oswiu [Oswy] (611/12–670)| year = 2004 | url = https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-20930|doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/20930  |isbn =978-0-19-861412-8 | url-access = subscription }} {{ODNBsub}}
* [[Eddius]], "Life of Wilfrid" in D. H. Farmer (ed.) & J. H. Webb (trans.), ''The Age of Bede.'' London: Penguin, 1998. IBN 0-140-44727-X
* Higham, N. J., ''The Convert Kings: Power and religious affiliation in early Anglo-Saxon England.'' Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-7190-4828-1}}
* Higham, N. J., ''The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350–1100.'' Stroud: Sutton, 1993. {{ISBN|0-86299-730-5}}
* Holdsworth, Philip, "Edwin, King of Northumbria" in M. Lapidge, et al., (eds), ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England''. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. {{ISBN|0-631-22492-0}}
* Holdsworth, Philip, "Oswiu" in M. Lapidge, et al., (eds), ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England''. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. {{ISBN|0-631-22492-0}}
* Kirby, D. P., ''The Earliest Anglo-Saxon Kings'', Routledge, 1991 {{ISBN|0-415-09086-5}}
* Lapidge, Michael, "Eanflæd" in [[Michael Lapidge]] et al., ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.'' Blackwell, 1999. {{ISBN|0-631-22492-0}}
* Lapidge, Michael, "Paulinus" in [[Michael Lapidge]] et al., ''The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.'' Blackwell, 1999. {{ISBN|0-631-22492-0}}
* {{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8392 |title= Eanflæd (St Eanflæd) (''b.'' 626, ''d.'' after 685) |access-date=2007-08-20 |last=Thacker |first=Alan |year=2004 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/8392 }}

==External links==
* {{PASE|7614|Eanflæd 1}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165451/http://www.britannia.com/bios/saints/enflaeda.html Britannia.com profile]

{{Anglo-Saxon saints}}
{{Saints}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eanflaed}}
[[Category:626 births]]
[[Category:Northumbrian saints]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon royal consorts]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon nuns]]
[[Category:7th-century English nuns]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian nuns]]
[[Category:7th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Yorkshire saints]]
[[Category:Abbesses of Whitby]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:English princesses]]
[[Category:Female saints of medieval England]]
[[Category:House of Kent]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]