Æthelbald, King of Wessex
Æthelbald | |
---|---|
Æthelwulf | |
Mother | Osburh? |
Æthelbald (died 860) was
On his way back from Rome, Æthelwulf stayed for several months with
Æthelbald married his stepmother Judith. Asser, the biographer of his youngest brother, Alfred the Great, denounced Æthelbald and Judith's union as being "against God's prohibition and Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans",[1] but the marriage does not seem to have been condemned at the time. Æthelbald and Æthelberht appear to have been on good terms: when Æthelbald died in 860, Æthelberht became king of both Wessex and Kent, and they were never again divided.
Background
When Æthelbald's grandfather
At the beginning of the ninth century, England was almost wholly under the control of the
Early life
Æthelbald was the second son of King Æthelwulf and probably of his first wife
Division of the kingdom
Æthelwulf spent a year in Rome. On his way back he stayed for several months with
Historians give varying explanations for both the marriage and the rebellion. D. P. Kirby and
Rivalry between east and west Wessex may have also been a factor in the dispute. The ancient Selwood Forest marked the boundary between the bishoprics of Sherborne in the west and Winchester in the east. In the eighth century, the connections of Ecgberht's family were with the west, but in the early ninth century, the family became close to the clergy of Winchester, who helped them to establish an exclusive hold on the throne for their royal branch. According to Asser, the plot to rob Æthelwulf of his throne was concocted in "the western part of Selwood", and Æthelbald's chief supporters, Eahlstan and Eanwulf, were western magnates who probably resented the favour shown by Æthelwulf to the eastern Winchester diocese, and to Swithun, who was appointed by Æthelwulf as Bishop of Winchester in 852. Æthelbald's patronage was mainly directed at Sherborne.[23]
Asser is the sole source for the dispute between Æthelwulf and Æthelbald, which is not mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and according to Asser when Æthelwulf returned to England he agreed to divide the kingdom to avoid a civil war. Most historians state that Æthelbald kept Wessex while Æthelberht agreed to surrender the south-eastern kingdoms of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex to Æthelwulf, although Simon Keynes thinks that Æthelwulf kept a degree of sovereignty.[24] Some historians argue that it is more likely that Wessex itself was divided, with Æthelbald keeping his power base west of Selwood, Æthelwulf taking the east and Æthelberht keeping Kent. Pauline Stafford and D. P. Kirby point out that Asser implies that Judith became queen of the West Saxons in 856.[25] Sean Miller observes that Asser complained that the "son ruled where by rightful judgment the father should have done; for the western part of the Saxon land has always been more important than the eastern", and since Kent had been conquered only thirty years previously, it did not make sense to speak of it as having always been a less important part of the kingdom.[26]
Kingship
According to Asser, at the end of his life, Æthelwulf directed that his kingdom should be divided between his two eldest sons, and this was carried out when he died on 13 January 858. Æthelbald then continued (or resumed) as king of Wessex, while Æthelberht resumed (or kept) the kingship of Kent and the south-east. Æthelwulf left a bequest to Æthelbald, Æthelred and Alfred, with the provision that whoever lived the longest was to inherit the whole; this is seen by some historians as leaving the kingship of Wessex to the survivor, but other historians dispute this and it may have been intended to provide for the younger sons.
Little is known of Æthelbald's reign and only two of his charters survive. S 1274, dated 858,[b] is a grant by Swithun of an episcopal estate at Farnham to the king for his lifetime, and in Barbara Yorke's view it is an example of Æthelbald's confiscations of the bishop of Winchester's estates for his own use.[31] S 326, dated 860, is a grant by Æthelbald of fourteen hides at Teffont in Wiltshire to a thegn called Osmund.[32] Both are attested by Judith, an indication of her high status, as ninth-century West Saxon kings' wives were not normally given the rank of queen and almost never witnessed charters. The marriage and attestations are evidence that Æthelbald intended the succession to pass to his own son, not his brothers.[33][c] S 326 is also attested by King Æthelberht, suggesting that he was on good terms with his brother.[35] S 1274 is the earliest surviving West Saxon charter to require a contribution to fortification work, and Nelson suggests that Judith's entourage may have been responsible for the innovation. A few years later Charles the Bald began a programme of rebuilding town walls and building new fortresses in West Francia.[36]
No coins are known to have been issued in the name of Æthelbald. The main mints in southern England were both in Kent, at Canterbury and Rochester. They minted coins in the name of Æthelwulf until 858 and then in the name of Æthelberht. There was one mint in Wessex, probably at Southampton or Winchester, but it operated at a minimal level in the mid-ninth century and only three coins from it between 839 and 871 are known, two of Æthelwulf and one of Æthelred I, all produced by the same moneyer. The fact that the Kentish mints produced coins only for Æthelberht between 858 and 860 is evidence that Æthelbald was not his brother's overlord.[37] Three coins of Æthelbald were regarded as genuine in the late nineteenth century, but in the 1900s they were found to be forgeries.[38]
Death
Æthelbald died in 860 and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives him a reign of five years, dating the start to 855 when Æthelwulf left for Rome. Both Asser and the Annals of St Neots give Æthelbald a rule of two and a half years, and the Annals adds that he also ruled for two and a half years jointly with his father.[39] Most modern historians date his reign as 855 to 860,[40] but some as 858 to 860.[41] Only the year of his death is known, but as his father died in January 858 and he ruled for two and a half years thereafter, he probably died in about July 860. He was buried at Sherborne in Dorset and he is not known to have had any children.[42]
He was succeeded by Æthelberht, who re-united Wessex and Kent under his rule. It is not clear whether the division between Wessex and Kent had been intended to be permanent, but if so Æthelbald's early death allowed Æthelberht to reverse the division and Kent and the south-east were thereafter treated as an integral part of Wessex.[43]
Reputation
In the 890s, Bishop Asser gave the only surviving contemporary assessment of Æthelbald. Asser, who was hostile to him both because of his revolt against his father and because of his uncanonical marriage, described him as "iniquitous and grasping" and his reign as "two and a half lawless years", adding that many people attributed the rebellion "solely to arrogance on the part of King Æthelbald, because he was grasping in this affair and many other wrongdoings".
Robert Howard Hodgkin also adopted Asser's views in his 1935 History of the Anglo-Saxons,[49] but later historians have been more circumspect. Frank Stenton in Anglo-Saxon England does not give any opinion on Æthelbald, and observes that his marriage to Judith does not appear to have aroused any scandal among the churchmen of her country,[50] while Sean Miller in his Dictionary of National Biography article on Æthelbald says that very little is known of his reign after his marriage, but he appears to have been on good terms with Æthelberht.[35]
Notes
- ^ S refers to the Sawyer catalogue of Anglo-Saxon charters.[7]
- ^ The authenticity of charter S 1274 is disputed. Janet Nelson describes it as "untrustworthy" and David Dumville as "suspicious", but its genuineness is defended in detail by Simon Keynes.[30]
- ^ In S 326 Judith is styled filius regis (king's son) due to a copyist's error.[34]
Citations
- ^ a b Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 73.
- ^ Abels 2002, p. 85; Dumville 1979, p. 17; Stafford 2001, p. 83.
- ^ Keynes 1995, pp. 28, 39–41.
- ^ Stenton 1971, pp. 235, 241; Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 431; Edwards 2004.
- ^ a b c d Nelson 2004.
- ^ Miller 2004; Smyth 1995, p. 11.
- ^ "The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters". British Academy-Royal Historical Society Joint Committee on Anglo-Saxon Charters. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- ^ Miller 2004; Keynes 1998, pp. 1 and 2, Table XXI; Stafford 2003, pp. 255–256.
- ^ Stenton 1971, p. 244.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 68.
- ^ Miller 2004; Abels 1998, pp. 70–71.
- ^ Abels 1998, pp. 75, 85; Nelson 2004.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 70.
- ^ Kirby 2000, pp. 165–167; Stafford 1981, p. 139.
- ^ Kirby 2000, p. 165.
- ^ Kirby 2000, pp. 165–167.
- ^ Enright 1979, pp. 291–301.
- ^ Nelson 2013, pp. 239–240.
- ^ Kirby 2000, p. 166; Miller 2004.
- ^ Abels 1998, p. 70.
- ^ Stafford 1981, pp. 139–140.
- ^ Nelson 1997, p. 143.
- ^ Yorke 1984, p. 64; Yorke 1995, pp. 23–24, 85, 99; Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 70.
- ^ Stenton 1971, p. 245; Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 15; Williams 1991; Dumville 1996, p. 23.
- ^ Stafford 1981, p. 143; Kirby 2000, pp. 166–167.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 70; Miller 2004.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 314; Nelson 2004; Smyth 1995, pp. 416–417; Miller 2001, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Smyth 1995, pp. 106–107.
- ^ Nelson 1991b, pp. 86, 97.
- ^ Nelson 1991a, p. 58, n. 62; Dumville 1992, p. 43; Keynes 1994, pp. 1123–1126.
- ^ Yorke 1984, p. 64.
- ^ Keynes 1994, p. 1123.
- ^ Stafford 2003, pp. 257–258.
- ^ Keynes 1994, p. 1129.
- ^ a b Miller 2004.
- ^ Brooks 1971, p. 81; Nelson 2003, p. 297.
- ^ Naismith 2011, pp. 43–46; Naismith 2012, pp. 110, 125–126.
- ^ Grierson and Blackburn 1986, p. 337; Lawrence 1893, pp. 40–45; Lawrence 1905, pp. 407–409; Naismith 2011, p. 34.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 73; Smyth 1995, p. 192.
- ^ Williams 1991; Dumville 1996, p. 23; Smyth 1995, p. 10; Abels 1998, p. 347; Yorke 1995, p. 114.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 62; Nelson 2004.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 73; Smyth 1995, p. 192; Stenton 1971, p. 245.
- ^ Williams 1999, p. 72.
- ^ Keynes and Lapidge 1983, pp. 70, 73.
- ^ Mynors, Thomson and Winterbottom 1998, p. 177.
- ^ Darlington, McGurk and Bray 1995, p. 275.
- ^ Giles 1849, p. 187.
- ^ Greenway 1996, p. 281.
- ^ Hodgkin 1935, p. 516.
- ^ Stenton 1971, p. 245.
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