Discover

'Sigurd Björnsson', also known as 'Siward the Dane' (died 1055), was an English nobleman in the eleventh century, and the earl of Northumbria.
Siward was allegedly a descendant of the Danish royal family, whose ancestors may have arrived in England a few generations earlier as part of the Norse colonisation of Britain. Some historians suggest that Siward arrived in England with King Canute I and that Canute invested the title and position of Earl of York onto him in 1031. At the time Canute was replacing all the old Anglo-Saxon nobility with his own trusted men.

Contents

Family

Conquests

Death

Legends

Progeny

Shakespeare

Succession

Source

Family

In 1033 Siward married into the Northumbrian princely house, that of Bamburgh (after winning their admiration as a warrior) by taking Aelfled, granddaughter of Uhtred, former Earl of Northumbria, as his wife and thus strengthening his own position in that domain. Some sources say that through this marriage, Siward was then distantly related to Duncan; another version is that Siward's own sister became wife of king Duncan. This relation to the Scottish royal family would later affect the landscape of Scottish politics.
Siward was encouraged to settle disputes between his deputies Carl the Hold of York and Eadulf the Earl of Bamburgh, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The dispute had started in 1016 when Uchtred the Bold was murdered by Carl's father Thurbrand the Hold during the meeting with King Canute I. Eadulf had been Earl (only of Bernicia) since the death of his brother Ealdred%2C Earl of Bernicia, Uhtred's oldest son, sometime after 1019. Ealdred had ended up killing Thurband the Hold to avenge his father and in turn Carl the Hold killed Ealdred.
In 1041 Eadulf III of Bernicia, the Earl of the North-East, was killed. The assailant was probably Siward, who became Earl of Northumbria. Siward continued to rule all of Northumbria (including Bernicia) from 1041 until his death in 1055. His marriage produced two sons, the older Osberne and the younger Waltheof II.
Through marriage, Siward became either the uncle or the brother-in-law of Malcolm Canmore (one text erroneously calls him his grandfather). Following Macbeth's defeat of Malcolm's father King Duncan I in 1040, the infant Malcolm was sent to Northumbria to be guarded by Siward. Siward provided protection, shelter and military training for the future Scottish ruler.

Conquests

Siward served as a general to King Harthacanute (second son of King Canute) and Edward the Confessor, and gained great renown for his skills as a soldier.
In 1053, Edward the Confessor agreed to assist the now adult Malcolm in taking the throne of Scotland, and designated Siward as leader of the English army (over 10,000 strong).
In 1054 Siward led the English invasion of Scotland. He defeated Macbeth's forces when the two armies clashed on July 27 (some historians suggest that Siward's army disguised their attack by concealing themselves behind tree branches and wood "used as camouflage" from nearby Birnam forest). The Annals of Ulster reported that the Battle of Dunsinane left 3000 Scots and 1500 English dead. Thus, the incursion was met with limited success, even though it succeeded in capturing the fortress of Dunsinane.
Although Macbeth's army suffered heavy losses, Macbeth himself managed to escape North and continued to rule for another three years until his final and decisive defeat in 1057 at the Battle of Lumphanan.
Siward's oldest son, Osberne, and his son-in-law, were killed during the campaign in Scotland.

Death

Siward died in York in early 1055, never seeing the final defeat of Macbeth. Siward himself deeply regretted 'dying like a cow' and not having been killed in battle. He is reputed to have risen from his death-bed and donned his armour to meet his end more fittingly. Siward is reputedly buried at St Olave's Church, York, which he is said to have founded.
As Siward's oldest son Osberne had died in the Scottish campaign and Waltheof being only 10 at the time of father's death, Tostig became Siward's successor as Earl of Northumbria.

Legends

Rumoured to be a man of unusual strength and size (some referring to him as a "giant") it was traditionally said that Siward's grandfather was a bear and Siward himself was the dragon-slayer of Orkney.
In the 20th century excavations were made of Siward's grave. Supposedly these revealed a skeleton of a man who would have been 6'7" tall.

Progeny

Siward's only surviving son Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northampton, married Judith of Lens, a niece of William the Conqueror. William executed Waltheof in 1076 after finding out (from Judith) that he had been involved in two conspiracies against him. Waltheof was the only Anglo-Saxon noble to be executed by William the Conqueror.
Malcolm's son King David I would later marry Siward's granddaughter Matilda, widow of Simon de St. Liz the elder. Siward's descendants also included James I of England, although this was not fully known during James' time.
Siward's direct descendant and genealogically at the time seniormost heir John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, Earl of Warwick, became Lord President of the Council and effective regent during the reign of Edward VI and was created 1st Duke of Northumberland.
It is also said that Siward was the forefather of the Armstrong Clan, a famous border reiver clan.

Shakespeare

Siward and Osberne (Young Siward) are both characters in William Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''.

Succession

Source

''Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700'' by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 98A-23.