Astrid Olofsdotter
Encyclopedia
Astrid Olofsdotter (died 1035) was the Queen Consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 of King Olav II of Norway.

Biography

Astrid was born to King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden and his Obotritian
Obotrites
The Obotrites , also commonly known as the Obodrites, Abotrites, or Abodrites, were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany . For decades they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against Germanic Saxons and Slavic...

 mistress Edla
Edla
Edla, traditionally called Edla, Duchess of Venden , was a Slavic Viking age woman. She was the mother of King Emund of Sweden and Queen Astrid of Norway....

. She was the half sister of King Anund Jacob of Sweden and sister of King Emund the Old of Sweden. It is said, that she and her brother Emund was not treated well by their stepmother, Queen Estrid of the Obotrites
Estrid of the Obotrites
Estrid of the Obotrites was a Medieval and Viking age Swedish Queen consort and West Slavic Princess, married to Olof Skötkonung, the King of Sweden, ca...

, and that they were sent away to foster parents. Astrid were sent to a man named Egil in Västergötland
Västergötland
', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....

.

Astrid was married to King Olav in Sarpsborg
Sarpsborg
is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg.Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neighbouring Fredrikstad...

 during 1019. In 1016, it had been decided that Norway and Sweden should come to more peaceful relations by a royal marriage alliance. Noblemen of both countries tried to arrange a marriage between King Olav of Norway and the half sister of Astrid, Princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden. King Olof of Sweden agreed at first but broke his promise. King Olav was supposed to have married Astrid's half sister, Olof Skötkonung's legitimate daughter Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden
Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden
Princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden also known as Irene, Anna and St. Anna , was a Swedish princess and a Grand Princess of Kiev. She was the daughter of Swedish King Olof Skötkonung and Estrid of the Obotrites and the consort of Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev.Ingegerd or St. Anna is often...

. Ingegerd was, however, after his father's wishes instead married to Yaroslav I the Wise
Yaroslav I the Wise
Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus, known as Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus, known as Yaroslav the Wise Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus, known as Yaroslav the Wise (Old Norse: Jarizleifr; ; Old East Slavic and Russian: Ярослав Мудрый; Ukrainian: Ярослав Мудрий; c...

, Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

. Some sources claim that Astrid replaced Ingegerd by the wish of her father. Other sources claim that the marriage took place against the will of her father, by the cooperation of King Olav of Norway and the Swedish jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson
Ragnvald Ulfsson
Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland, and married to a sister of Olav Tryggvason.Ragnvald is mentioned in the skaldic poem Austrfaravísur, ascribed to Sigvatr Þórðarson, skald of King Olaf Haraldsson of Norway , who had been on a diplomatic mission to Sweden...

.

Astrid was described as beautiful, articulate and generous, and well liked by others. She was probably the mother of Wulfhild of Norway (1020–1070), wife of Ordulf, Duke of Saxony
Ordulf, Duke of Saxony
Ordulf was the duke of Saxony from 1059, when he succeeded his father Bernard II, until his death. He was a member of the Billung family.-Reign:...

. She was the stepmother of King Magnus the Good, with whom she had a good relationship. In 1030, she was widowed when her husband was killed. She left Norway and settled in the Swedish court, where she had a high position. When her stepson Magnus visited Sigtuna
Sigtuna
Sigtuna is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 18 inhabitants in 2005. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta....

 on his way to claim the Norwegian throne, she gave him her official support and encouraged Sweden to do so as well.

Sources

  • This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article of the Norwegian Wikipedia
    Norwegian Wikipedia
    There are two Norwegian language editions of Wikipedia: one for articles written in Bokmål or Riksmål, and one for articles written in Nynorsk. The first site, the original Norwegian Wikipedia, launched on November 26, 2001, and originally allowed articles to be written in any written Norwegian...


Other sources

  • Lagerqvist, Lars O. Sverige och dess regenter under 1.000 år (Albert Bonniers Förlag AB. 1982) ISBN 91-0-075007-7

Succession

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