Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameGytha of Wessex 
Death10 Mar 1098, Palestine
FatherHarold II Godwinson , King of England (~1025-1066)
MotherEaldgyth Swan-neck (-~1086)
Misc. Notes
Gytha of Wessex was one of several daughters of Ealdgyth Swan-neck by Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
According to Saxo Grammaticus, two of Harold's sons and a daughter escaped to the court of their uncle, king Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark. The sons were treated by Swein with hospitality, while Gytha was married to Waldemar, king of Ruthenia, i.e. Vladimir Monomakh, one of the greatest rulers of Kievan Rus.
Gytha was the mother of Mstislav the Great, the last ruler of united Kievan Rus. In the Norse sagas, Mstislav is called Harald after his grandfather. The pateric of St Pantaleon Cloister in Cologne says that "Gytha the Queen" died as a nun on 10 March. It is assumed that she followed Godfrey of Bouillon in the first Crusade and died in Palestine, most likely in 1098, as a year later Vladimir Monomakh married another woman.
Their children were:
1. Mstislav the Great (1076-1132)
2. Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Kursk (+September 6, 1096)
3. Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Pereyaslav (+March 16, 1114)
4. Yaropolk II of Kiev (+February 18, 1139)
5. Vyacheslav of Kiev (+February 2, 1154)
According to Saxo Grammaticus, two of Harold's sons and a daughter escaped to the court of their uncle, king Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark. The sons were treated by Swein with hospitality, while Gytha was married to Waldemar, king of Ruthenia, i.e. Vladimir Monomakh, one of the greatest rulers of Kievan Rus.
Gytha was the mother of Mstislav the Great, the last ruler of united Kievan Rus. In the Norse sagas, Mstislav is called Harald after his grandfather. The pateric of St Pantaleon Cloister in Cologne says that "Gytha the Queen" died as a nun on 10 March. It is assumed that she followed Godfrey of Bouillon in the first Crusade and died in Palestine, most likely in 1098, as a year later Vladimir Monomakh married another woman.
Their children were:
1. Mstislav the Great (1076-1132)
2. Izyaslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Kursk (+September 6, 1096)
3. Svyatoslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Smolensk and Pereyaslav (+March 16, 1114)
4. Yaropolk II of Kiev (+February 18, 1139)
5. Vyacheslav of Kiev (+February 2, 1154)
Spouses
Birth1053
Death19 May 1125
BurialSaint Sophia Cathedral, Kiev, Russia
FatherVsevolod I Yaroslavich , Grand Prince of Kiev (1030-1093)
ChildrenMstislav I Vladimirovich the Great (1076-1132)