Æthelstan Rota
Æthelstan (
Edgar. He is referred to as Æthelstan Rota (Æthelstan the Red) in one charter, and is so known to distinguish him from Æthelstan Half-King, and another Æthelstan (fl.
940–949), who were Ealdormen in the same period.
Æthelstan rose to prominence in the reign of King Eadwig;
Edmund I
, and thus Eadwig's stepmother, was married to this Æthelstan. Æthelflæd was a woman of considerable influence, and not merely as a relict of King Edmund; her father Ælfgar is described as a dux and Ealdorman of Essex.
Æthelstan appears to have had lands in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. He is a frequent witness to charters of Kings Eadwig and Edgar. The Life of Saint Dunstan records a vision by a nobleman named Æthelstan and Dunstan's interpretation of it as presaging the death of the king and ill times to come. It is not known whether this Æthelstan or Æthelstan Half-King is the Æthelstan referred to.
References
- Hart, Cyril, The Danelaw. Hambledon, 1992. ISBN 1-85285-044-2
- Williams, Ann, Smyth, Alfred P., and D.P. Kirkby, A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain. Seaby, 1991. ISBN 1-85264-047-2