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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1997-01 > 0852473934


From: Anders Berg <>
Subject: Re: AGATHA, WIFE of EDWARD the EXILE
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1997 15:18:54 +0100


>Don Stone wrote:
>>
>> Here is my brief summary of the issues relating to the parentage
>> of Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile:
[...]
>> Jette also adduces onomastic support for his proposal
>> that Jaroslav and Ingegarde were the parents of Agatha (a Greek
>> name), since Jaroslav had an attraction to Greek culture,
>> perhaps inspired by his stepmother Anne of Byzantium;
>> in
>> addition, none of Agatha's children or grandchildren were given
>> German names, while two of her three children (Margaret and
>> Christine) had Swedish names.

Thanks to Don Stone for the summary of Jette's article. I would very much
like to know the arguments backing up the statement that Margaret and Christine
are "Swedish names". They are Greek names, and from the Swedish horizon in
the mid 11th century they are Christian names distinctly different from the
native name tradition. At the time Agatha's children were born I would be
surprised if *any* native women in Sweden bore these names! The country was
just barely Christianized.

Todd A.Farmerie wrote:
>The names Margaret and Christine do not show up in the Swedish royal
>family (at least in my sources) for another few generations (the
>daughters of Steinkil). By that time, they also show up in Navarre.
>Maybe she was spanish :) Christine is indeed uncommon in 11th century,
>while a few Margarets can be identified (several later Margarets I
>traced back seem to owe inspiration to an 11th century daughter of
>Hilduin III, Count of Rameru).

Margaret and Christine show up the first time in Sweden with the daughters
of Inge (the Elder), son of Steinkil. They are probably born in the latter
half of the 11th century. Inge was married to a woman of unknown origin
(Russian would be a qualified guess) with the Greek name Helena.
The occurence of Christine and Margaret together is interesting, but the
possible link between Agatha and the Swedish princesses is much more likely
through their mother Helena than through Inge (whose mother's father may
have been Emund, brother of Jaroslav's Ingegarde).

When talking about nomenclature and Greek names, interesting is the
occurrence of the name Philip in western Europe with Jaroslav's daughter
Anna's son Philip of France; and king Philip Halstensson of Sweden, grandson
of Steinkil. The maternity of the Swedish Philip is entirely unknown, but
given the name it is not unlikely that Halsten Steinkilsson, like his
brother Inge (the Elder), married a woman of Greek or Slavic origin.

Todd:
>While the nomenclature, and to a lesser extent the chronology of de
>Vajay's solution raises eyebrows, his interpretation is the only one
>possible if one accepts the "filia germani imperatoris Henrici"
>statement. If you reject this statement, then one is truly guessing,
>and I do not find the nomenclature sufficient to favor the Jette
>solution over some other guesses.

Yes, I agree. When reading Don's summary I expected something more concrete
to back up the claim. Nomenclature can be very strong evidence (consider if
Agatha would have had a daughter named Ingegarde!), but in this case it does
not seem to be enough.

Cheers,
Anders Berg

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Medieval genealogy: http://www.algonet.se/~anderzb/genea/medieval/index.htm
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