Gytha of Wessex (c. 1053/1061 – 1098 or 1107; Old English: Gȳð) was one of several daughters of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, and his consort, Edith the Fair. Through marriage to Vladimir II Monomakh, Gytha became the princess of Smolensk around 1074 or 1075.
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Life
Her paternal grandparents were Godwin, Earl of Wessex and Gytha Thorkelsdóttir.
According to the 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, after the death of their father King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Gytha and two of her brothers (probably Magnus and either Godwin or Edmund) escaped to the court of their first cousin once-removed, King Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark. The two brothers were treated by Sweyn with hospitality, Magnus entering into high-level service with Bolesław II the Generous. This took place in 1069–1070, when Bolesław restored Iziaslav I of Kiev as grand prince, and Gertrude (Bolesław's aunt) to power after they had been deposed.
Gytha was married to Vladimir II Monomakh, the prince of Smolensk, a city in what is now western Russia, around 1074 to 1075. Gytha's role in Vladimir's rule is not documented. Vladimir explained in a book of 'Instructions' (Pouchenie) for his sons, written in the twelfth-century: "Love your wives, but grant them no power over you." In his book, Vladimir also mentioned the recent death of Yuri's mother.