Beorhtric

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Beorhtric (also Beorhtricus, Berhtric, Breohtric, Breorhtric, Brihtric, Byrhtric etc .; † 802 ) was king of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex from 786 to 802 .

Depiction of Beorhtrics from the 13th century

Life

England at the time of Beorhtrics
Beorhtrics coin, probably minted in Winchester around 795
Coin Beorhtrics

family

Beorhtric is said to come from the House of Wessex , but this claim may have been made to legitimize his kingship. He belongs to a group of five West Saxon kings from the period between 726 and 802, whose indications of origin are to be viewed with skepticism.

Domination

Beorhtric came to the throne of Wessex in 786 after King Cynewulf was assassinated. It is unclear whether he was Cynewulf's designated successor or, as an outsider, took advantage of the power vacuum. It is possible that Beorhtrics rose to the throne with the help of Offa (757-796), King of Mercia and the most powerful ruler in England at the time.

His rule was characterized by close and friendly relations with neighboring Mercia. In 789 he married Eadburg, a daughter of King Offa of Mercia, with whom he probably entered into a formal alliance at that time. In this alliance, Offa was the dominant partner. Between 789 and 796, Offa and Beorhtric drove Ecgberht, the pretender to the West Saxon throne, from England into exile in Franconia . Offa could have land in Somerset , west Saxony , but Beorhtric remained an independent king.

After Offa's death in the summer of 796, Beorhtric and Eadburg continued to maintain good contacts with his son and successor Ecgfrith (796), who only ruled for six months. In return for Ecgfrith's support, Beorhtric got back some of the lands near Malmesbury that Offa had annexed. Then Beorhtric seems to have come under a certain predominance of Cenwulf (796-821), the subsequent king of Mercia. In 798 he agreed that Cynehelm, a son of Cenwulf, should become lord of Glastonbury Abbey . The details of the circumstances are unclear, but it is unlikely that Beorhtric did so voluntarily. His power in Somerset remained unaffected, as evidenced by documents in which he had lands with no reference to Mercia. From around 796 Beorhtric had silver coins ( pæneġas ) minted based on the mercian model. Whether the mint was in Hamwic ( Southampton ) or Winchester is controversial. The coins were only minted in small numbers and represented his claim to power rather than serving economic purposes. The three preserved coins Beorhtrics have two different types of coinage. The first Viking raid on Wessex occurred during the Beorhtric reign. The Danes or Norwegians are said to have landed at Portland in Wessex with three ships around the year 789 and killed the royal official Beaduheard. However, these early attacks were largely without consequences. Possibly the displaced Ecgberht had returned in the late 790s and been recognized as king at least in parts of Wessex.

Death and succession

A tradition asers ascribes the death of Beorhtrics to an accidental poisoning by his wife Eadburg, who is said to have fled to the Franconian Empire. The negative image of Eadburg, which Asser also accused of numerous intrigues and several poisonous murders, arose more from the propaganda of Beorhtric's successor Ecgberht (802-825), who was enemies with Beorhtric and Eadburg's father Offa, than historical facts. It is possible that the self-confident Eadburg represented quite one-sided mercian interests.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, however, reports that "Beorhtric and the Ealdorman Worr died and Ecgberht succeeded the throne". At the same time the Ealdorman Æthelmund of Hwicce crossed the Thames near Kempsford ( Gloucestershire ), but was defeated in a battle by the West Saxon Ealdorman Wiohstan. The most likely interpretation is that Ecgberht invaded Wessex with his supporters and Beorhtric fell in battle. Whether Hwicce, who is dependent on Mercia, intervened in the fighting on the side of Beorhtric or wanted to use the turmoil in Wessex for self-interest, remains to be speculated. Beorhtric was buried in Wareham .

Charters

Beorhtric notarised a land swap with the princeps Hemele around 790. In 794 he transferred lands to his præfectus Wigfrith and in 801 to the princeps Lulla. Beorhtric signed two charters of the Mercian king Ecgfrith as a witness in 796. Beorhtric was considered "very pious", but no donations or privileges are known from him to monasteries or churches. However, the fact that the few surviving charters only list laypeople as beneficiaries is probably only coincidental.

swell

literature

Web links

Commons : Beorhtric  - collection of images

Remarks

  1. ↑ Simon Keynes: Kings of the West Saxons . 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. 511-514.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Heather Edwards: Beorhtric  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.oxforddnb.com   (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2011
  3. ^ A b Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 141.
  4. ^ Rory Naismith: Money and Power in Anglo-Saxon England: The Southern English Kingdoms, 757-865 . Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 9781107006621 , p. 106.
  5. ↑ Mark AS Blackburn, DN Dumville (ed.): Kings, currency, and alliances: history and coinage of southern England in the ninth century. Studies in Anglo-Saxon history Vol 9 , Boydell & Brewer, 1998, ISBN 9780851155982 , p. 143.
  6. ^ Rory Naismith: Money and Power in Anglo-Saxon England: The Southern English Kingdoms, 757-865 . Cambridge University Press, 2011, ISBN 9781107006621 , p. 117.
  7. ^ 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. 294.
  8. ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 787; Æthelweard: Chronica 3.2
  9. ^ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 151.
  10. ↑ Mark AS Blackburn, DN Dumville (ed.): Kings, currency, and alliances: history and coinage of southern England in the ninth century. Studies in Anglo-Saxon history Vol 9 , Boydell & Brewer, 1998, ISBN 9780851155982 , p. 3; see: Charter S154 , Charter 270a
  11. ^ Asser: Vita Alfredi for the year 855; The Life of King Alfred (English) ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2017 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. at Online Medieval and Classical Library @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / mcllibrary.org
  12. ^ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 114.
  13. ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 800
  14. ↑ Charter 269
  15. ↑ Charter 267
  16. ↑ Charter 268
  17. ↑ Charter S148 , Charter S149
  18. ↑ Æthelweard: Chronica 3,1
predecessor Office successor
Cynewulf King of Wessex
786–802 		Ecgbert
personal data
SURNAME Beorhtric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beorhtricus; Berhtric; Breohtric; Breorhtri; Brihtric; Byrhtric
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Wessex (786-802)
DATE OF BIRTH 8th century
DATE OF DEATH 802
Place of death Wessex