Baldred (Kent)

Coin Baldreds, minted in Canterbury by Oba, EMC number 2006.0373

Baldreds coin, minted in Canterbury by Tidbeorht, EMC number 1001.0434

Baldred (also Baldredus, Baldræd, Baltred, Balred, Bealdred ) was king of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent from around 821 to around 825 .

Not only was Kent under the sovereignty of Mercias, but Sussex , Essex , Middlesex , Surrey and East Anglia were also under the direct control of the ruler Mercias. The only kingdom south of the Humber that could maintain its independence was Wessex . The circumstances of Baldred's accession to the throne are unknown, but the interruption of royal minting in Canterbury by anonymous coins suggests political uncertainty in East Kent. In Rochester , the capital of western Kent, coinage did not show such a turning point. After the death of King Cenwulf (796-821) of Mercia, who had also ruled Kent directly since 807, Baldred possibly came to power in Kent in 821. Perhaps Baldred was a usurper who ruled as the anti-king of Cenwulf's successor, Ceolwulf I of Mercien (821-823). Ceolwulf was overthrown in 823 by Beornwulf , a relative of Baldred's. Other historians believe that Baldred was likely to be installed as sub-king by Beornwulf in 823.

In 825 Egbert von Wessex defeated Beornwulf von Mercia at the Battle of Ellandun . His son Æthelwulf invaded Kent with a large part of the army and drove Baldred, who fled north across the Thames. After this victory, Kent , Surrey , the Kingdom of Sussex and the Kingdom of Essex submitted to the rule of Wessex; and East Anglia , which rose against the rule of Mercier, Egbert recognized as Overlord. Baldred then disappeared from the sources.

swell

• anonymous: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Online in Project Gutenberg (English)
• Charter S1438

literature

• Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford et al. a. 2001, ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1 .
• Philip Grierson , Mark Blackburn : Medieval European Coinage 1. The Early Middle Ages (5th-10th centuries) , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007 (paperback), ISBN 978-0521031776 .
• 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)
• William Hunt :  Baldred (fl.823-825) . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 3:  Baker - Beadon. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885, p. 30 (English,, (partly outdated state of research)).

Web links

• Baldred 4 in Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE)
• Bealdred in Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

Individual evidence

1. ^ Philip Grierson, Mark Blackburn : Medieval European Coinage 1. The Early Middle Ages (5th-10th centuries) , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007 (paperback), ISBN 978-0521031776 , p. 283.
2. ↑ Simon Keynes: Kings of Kent . 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. 501-502.
3. ^ Richard North: The Origins of Beowulf: From Vergil to Wiglaf , Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-920661-2 , p. 282.
4. ↑ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England , Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 122.
5. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 823

predecessor	Office	successor
Cenwulf	King of Kent around 821 – around 825	Kent became a province of Wessex