Æthelwulf

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Æthelwulf on an illustration from the 13th century

Æthelwulf (Ethelwulf) (* around 800 ; † January 13, 858 ) was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.

Life

Æthelwulf was the son of King Egbert III. and his wife Redburga, probably a sister-in-law of Charlemagne . He was born between 795 and 806 and was first a monk in Winchester .

In 825 he conquered Kent on behalf of his father and expelled King Baldred , whereupon Surrey ( East Anglia ), Sussex and Essex also surrendered. His first marriage was Osburga in 830, succeeded his father on the throne in 839 and was crowned in Kingston upon Thames. Æthelwulf established his eldest son Æthelstan as sub-king of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex while ruling himself over the old heartland of Wessex (Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and Devon).

During his reign, the increasing Viking incursions by the great pagan army and their settlement on the coasts of England fell. In the year 840 Æthelwulf is subject to a Danish army at Charmouth (or Carhampton), which had landed with 35 ships. In 851 he and his son Æthelbald inflicted a crushing defeat on the Danish chief Rorik near Acleah (Ockley). His older son Æthelstan died that same year and Æthelbald succeeded him as sub-king.

In 853, King Burgred of Mercia asked Æthelwulf for help in subjugating the British in North Wales. Together, both kings defeated the Welsh under Cyngen ap Cadell and confirmed their alliance by the fact that Burgred married Æthelwulf's daughter Æthelswith.

Æthelwulf donated a tenth of his kingdom to the church in 855 and moved with his son Alfred to Rome, where they stayed for a year. The king's pious disposition is also evident in the generous gifts he made to the clergy.

During Æthelwulf's absence, Æthelbald conspired with Ealstan, the bishop of Sherborne and Eanwulf, Earl of Somerton, usurped the throne and was crowned Bretwalda at Kingston upon Thames. After Æthelwulf's wife Osburga had died (or cast off), he married 12-year-old Judith, a daughter of the Frankish King Charles II , on the journey home from Rome in 856 ; Archbishop Hinkmar von Reims performed the wedding ceremony. When he arrived in England, he left Æthelbald on the throne to avoid civil war and only ruled over the region in central and eastern Wessex. The following year, Æthelwulf donated a silver shrine in Malmsbury for the relics of the later canonized Bishop Aldhelm .

Æthelwulf's tombstone, St Andrew's Church, Steyning

After his death on January 13, 858 in Stamridge, he was first buried in Stemrugam (also Staeningham ), today's Steyning in Sussex and later transferred to Old Minster in Winchester . Today his bones rest in Winchester Cathedral .

In his will he had decreed that his kingdom would be divided between the two eldest sons: Æthelbald got Wessex, while Æthelberht ruled Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex. Mount Ethelwulf , a mountain on Alexander I Island in Antarctica , is named after him .

Marriage and offspring

His first marriage was in 830 Osburga (* around 810; † unknown); Daughter of Oslac , who according to Asser was "Gote" ( Gothus erat natione , presumably to be understood in the sense of "Danish"), or more precisely "Gothic" and Jutian origin from the tribe of the brothers Stuf and Wihtgar.

  • Æthelstan (Ethelstan) († 851) sub-king of Kent and Wessex
  • Æthelswitha (Ethelswitha) († 888) ⚭ 853 King Burgred of Mercia († 880)
  • Æthelbald (Ethelbald) (* around 834; † 860) ⚭ 858 Judith von Franken (his stepmother, whom he soon disowned)
  • Æthelberht (Ethelbert) (* around 835; † 866)
  • Æthelred I. (Ethelred) (* fallen around 837; † 871) ⚭ Wulfthryth
  • Alfred the Great (* 849; † 899) ⚭ Ealhswith von Gaini (* 852; † 902), nun from 901 - venerated as a saint after her death.

In his second marriage, he married 12-year-old Judith von Franken (* 844, † 870), daughter of King Charles II of West Franconia, and his first wife Irmentrud von Orléans . This marriage remained childless.

See also

swell

literature

Web links

Commons : Æthelwulf von Wessex  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 825
  2. ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 840
  3. ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 851
  4. ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 853
  5. ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 855
  6. ^ Asser , Vita Alfredi 12
  7. ↑ Barbara Yorke : Wessex in the Early Middle Ages. Leicester University Press, London et al. 1995, ISBN 0-7185-1314-2 , p. 99.
  8. ↑ Asser, Vita Alfredi 16
predecessor Office successor
Egbert King of Wessex
839–858 		Æthelbald
personal data
SURNAME Æthelwulf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aethelwulf; Ethelwulf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the West Saxons
DATE OF BIRTH around 800
PLACE OF BIRTH Stamridge, Wessex
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 858