Eadwald of East Anglia

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This article is about the 8th-century king of East Anglia. For the 9th-century prince of East Anglia who later became a hermit and saint, see Eadwold of Cerne.
Coin of Eadwald

Eadwald of East Anglia was an obscure

Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia (Old English: Ēast Engla Rīce) from around the year 796 to some point between 798 and 805. He lived at a time when East Anglia was eclipsed by its more powerful neighbour, Mercia. After his deposition, submission, or death, Mercian control was restored under Coenwulf
and the East Anglians lost their independence for a quarter of a century. Knowledge of Eadwald's short reign comes almost solely from the few surviving coins that were minted under his name. No details of his life or reign are known.

Background

The

Danes in 869, to form part of the Danelaw.[5] In 918, the region was conquered by Edward the Elder and was incorporated into the Kingdom of England.[8]

Coinage

What is known about Eadwald comes from coins inscribed with his name. These are rare today; only around 12 are known to exist. At the time that Offa ruled the East Angles, his Mercian coins were minted in East Anglia. The moneyers who went on to work for Eadwald adopted a distinctive style that used

runic letters, similar to those of Offa's coins.[9]

Rule

Practically nothing is known of Eadwald's life or reign, and he is not mentioned in any literacy sources—for instance the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle omits any mention of an East Anglian king for this period.[10] It is not known with any certainty for how long he was king.[11] Evidence from coins minted at this time suggests the East Angles seemed to have regained their independence for a short period after Ecgfrith's death, with Eadwald as their king,[12] but the East Angles were then reconquered after Coenwulf became king of Mercia in 798, during a campaign in which the kingdom of Kent was also brought back under Mercian control.[7] Although the dates for Eadwald's rule are unknown, Coenwulf was minting coins in East Anglia under his own name by c. 805.[13][14]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Yorke 2002, p. 59.
  2. ^ Yorke 2002, p. 61.
  3. ^ Yorke 2002, pp. 63, 67.
  4. ^ Stenton 1963, p. 209.
  5. ^ a b Yorke 2002, p. 64.
  6. ^ Stenton 1963, p. 223.
  7. ^ a b Grierson & Blackburn 1986, p. 283.
  8. ^ Stenton 1963, p. 325.
  9. ^ Grierson & Blackburn 1986, pp. 283–284.
  10. ^ Fryde et al. 1986, p. 9.
  11. ^ Grierson & Blackburn 1986, p. 281.
  12. ^ Kirby 1992, p. 149.
  13. ^ Grierson & Blackburn 1986, p. 293.
  14. ^ Kirby 1992, pp. 149, 179.

Sources

  • Beck, Frederick George Meeson (1911). "East Anglia" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 08 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 827–828.
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 216.
    ISBN 0-521-56350-X
    .
  • Grierson, P.; Blackburn, M. (1986). Mediaeval European Coinage. Vol. 1: The Early Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 978-0-521-03177-6
    .
  • Kirby, D.P. (1992). The Earliest English Kings. London: Routledge.
    ISBN 0-415-09086-5
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-19-821716-9
    .
  • ISBN 0-415-16639-X
    .

Further reading

External links

English royalty
Preceded by
King of East Anglia

796 – 798 		Succeeded by
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