Burgred

Coins from King Burgreds of Mercia, 852–874.

Burgred (also Burhred, Burghred ; † 880 in Rome ) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia from 852 to 874.

Life

In 852, King Burgred was first mentioned as a witness to a lease between Abbot Ceolred of Medhamsted and a Wulfred.

The following year (853) Burgred asked King Æthelwulf of Wessex for help in subjugating the British in North Wales. Together both kings defeated the Welsh and strengthened their alliance by the fact that Burgred married Æthelwulf's daughter Æthelswith.

868 Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred of Burgred were called to help against Vikings who had invaded Mercia and holed up in Nottingham. The fortress could not be taken and peace was made. The Vikings moved to York the following spring. In 870 the Vikings again plundered through Mercia and burned down the wealthy Medhamsted monastery. Burgred was unable to repel further attacks in the following years and was forced to conclude new 'peace treaties' with the Vikings every year.

In 872 Burgred took in Ecgberht of Northumbria and Wulfhere , the Archbishop of York , who had been driven out by the Northumbrians, according to the chronicler Symeon of Durham .

In 873/874 the Danish Viking Army, coming from Lindsey, wintered in Repton , the traditional burial place of the mercian kings. Burgred fled from the Danes to Rome and they made Ealdorman Ceolwulf II (874–879) their vassal king in Mercia.

Burgred stayed in Rome until his death in 880 and was buried there in the Church of Saint Mary.

Originating from hoards coins from the reign Castle Reds use uniform spelling Burgred instead of in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle used Burhred .

literature

source

• John Allen Giles: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . G. Bell and sons, ltd., London 1914, p. 47–52 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Secondary literature

• James Campbell et al. (Ed.): The Anglo-Saxons. Phaidon, London 1982, ISBN 0-7148-2149-7 .
• William Hunt :  Burhred . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 7:  Brown - Burthogge. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1886, p. 344 (English).
• Frank M. Stenton: Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1971, ISBN 0-19-280139-2 .
• Ian W. Walker: Mercia and the Making of England. Sutton, Stroud 2000, ISBN 0-7509-2131-5
• Sarah Zaluckyi: Mercia. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England. Logaston, Woonton 2001, ISBN 1-873827-62-8 .
• Burgred . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 4 : Bishārīn - Calgary . London 1910, p. 820 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. see 852.
2. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. see 853.
3. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. see 868-870.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. see 874.

predecessor	Office	successor
Beorhtwulf	King of Mercien 852–874	Ceolwulf II.