Eadburh , also spelled
Eadburg, (
fl. 787-802) was the daughter of King
Offa of Mercia and Queen
Cynethryth. She was the wife of King
Beorhtric of Wessex, and according to
Asser's
Life of Alfred the Great she accidentally killed her husband by poison. She fled to
Francia, where she is said to have been offered the chance of marrying
Charlemagne, but ruined the opportunity. Instead she was appointed as the abbess of a convent. Here she is said to have fornicated with an English exile. As a result she was eventually expelled from the monastery and ended her days begging in the streets of
Pavia.