Æthelred II (Northumbria)

Æthelred had this styca minted by the mint master Eardwulf

Æthelred II. (Also Aethelred, Edilred ) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century .

Life

Æthelred was the son of King Eanred (808 / 810–840 / 841 or 830–854) of Northumbria. His mother is unknown. He may have been a descendant of Eadwulf (705-706) from the Northumbrian royal family.

The chronology of the rulers' successes of this time is uncertain and contradicting handed down for Northumbria. When Eanred died around 840/841 or around 854, his son Æthelred II succeeded him as king. It is generally accepted that Rædwulf (844 or 858) usurped the throne for a short time in the middle of Æthelred's reign. Rædwulf fell in the same year at Alutthelia (Elvet near Durham ) in battles against Vikings and Æthelred came back to power.

The stycas (silver coins with a very low fineness) minted by Æthelred were of such poor material quality that they can be called brass currency . Over 760 pieces of these stycas have survived. The widespread use of these coins even beyond the borders of Northumbria to Mercia , East Anglia and Kent , indicates the control and regulation of the economy by the king.

After Æthelred was murdered around 848/849 or around 862 under unknown circumstances, Osberht succeeded him to the throne.

swell

• Symeon of Durham : Historia ecclesiae Dunelmensis (History of the Church of Durham)
• Roger von Wendover : Flores Historiarum

literature

• Barbara Yorke : Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 . PDF (6.2 MB)
• DP Kirby: The Earliest English Kings . Routledge, London-New York 2000, ISBN 978-0415242110 .
• Barrie Cook, Gareth Williams (Eds.): Coinage and History in the North Sea World, c. AD 500-1200 . Brill, 2006, ISBN 978-900414777-5 .

Web links

• David W. Rollason: Eardwulf (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved February 4, 2012
• Æthelred in Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Simon Keynes: Kings of the Northumbrians . In: Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford et al. a. 2001, ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1 , pp. 502-505.
2. ^ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , pp. 89 and 96.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} David W. Rollason: Eardwulf ( Memento from May 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved February 4, 2012
4. ^ ^{A b} Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 97.
5. ↑ ^{a b} website ( memento of the original dated August 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the Fitzwilliam Museum 

predecessor	Office	successor
Eanred	King of Northumbria 840 / 841–844 or 854–858	Rædwulf
Rædwulf	King of Northumbria 844–848 / 849 or 858–862	Osberht