Gyda of Sweden

Gyda Anundsdotter of Sweden, also known as Guda and Gunhild (dead c. 1048/49), was a mediaeval and Viking age Swedish princess and Danish queen consort, spouse of King Sweyn II of Denmark.

Biography

There is little information about Gyda. She was the daughter of King Anund Jacob of Sweden and Queen Gunhild of Sweden. Some sources, however, claim that Anund and Gunhild did not have any children. It is possible that she was the daughter of Anund and another woman. She was in 1047 or 1048 married to King Sweyn of Denmark. It is also possible, that they were married during the time when Sweyn lived in exile at the Swedish court, but this is not confirmed. After about a year of marriage, she died. The cause of her death is unconfirmed: tradition say, that she was murdered by poison by her spouse's lover, Thora. It is not known if any of the children of Sweyn was also the children of Gyda. After the death of her father in 1050, her widower Sweyn married her mother (or stepmother), Queen dowager Gunhild, but they were soon forced to separate by the church.

Gyda have in history often been confused and mixed up with her mother (or stepmother) Gunhild, as their names were similar, and because they were both married to Sweyn. Consequently, she is said to have been forced to divorce Sweyn and move back to Sweden, where she became the founder of Gudhem convent in 1052. Both of them have also been called Gunhild, Guda or Gyda.

References

• Alf Henrikson: Dansk historia (Danish history) (1989) (Swedish)
• http://runeberg.org/dbl/6/0330.html (in Danish)

Succession