Wihtred

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Wihtred (also: Wihtræd, Wyhtred, Wythred, Wigtred, Wihtgar, Uictred, Uihtred or Uuihtred ; * around 670 - 23 April 725 ) was king of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent from 690/691 until his death . He came from the Oiscingas dynasty .

The graves of the Kentish kings Eadbald († 640), Hlothhere († 685), Wihtred († 725) and Mul († 687) in today's St. Augustine Abbey . (left to right)

family

The Anglo-Saxon name Wihtred consists of the elements wiht for “fight” and rēd / rǣd , which has a range of meanings from “advice, advice, decision, command” to “wisdom, reason, meaning” and “profit, benefit, benefit, luck” to "help, power".

He was the son of King Ecgberhts I (664–673) and his wife, whose name is unknown. His brother Eadric was also King of Kent for a short time from 685 to 686. It is possible that Eormenhild ("Hermelinda"), the Anglo-Saxon wife of the Longobard king Cunincpert , was his sister.

Wihtred was married three times. Around 694 Cynegyth is recorded as a coniunx ("wife, wife"). She was the first woman to sign an Anglo-Saxon charter as a witness, although land transfers to women have also occurred before. Wihtred's acceptance of women in public affairs was a novelty. A second marriage to Æthelburg, also known as coniunx , existed around 697. Æthelburg may have been cast out and died as a nun in Lyminge monastery. His third marriage to Wærburg, the mother of his son Ealric , is documented by a charter issued between 699 and 716. All three women bore the title regina ("Queen"). He had two other sons, Æthelberht II and Eadberht I , but it is unknown which of the queens their mother was.

Domination

Kent in Anglo-Saxon times

Historical setting and accession to the throne

In 686, Caedwalla , King of Wessex , and his brother Mul, in alliance with King Sighere of Essex , conquered Kent. Caedwalla then installed his brother Mul as sub-king in Kent. This began a series of reges dubii vel externi ("dubious and foreign kings") that ruled Kent between 686 and 690/691. In 687 a rebellion broke out in the course of which Mul and twelve of his followers were burned. This was followed by Oswine , patronized by Æthelred of Mercia , who was evidently not regarded as a legitimate king by his contemporaries.

In 690 or 691 Wihtred, the brother of the last "rightful" king Eadric , overthrew his relative Oswine from the throne and has ruled east Kent ever since. The west of Kent, however, remained under the sovereignty of Essex and was administered by Swæfheard (687 / 688-692 / 694), the son of King Sebbi . Wihtred was given a longer term in office after a series of very short-lived governments. Wihtred was illiterate ( ignorantia litterarum ) and signed his documents with a cross.

Reunification of Kent

Probably Wihtred undertook a campaign against Mercia and Essex between 692 and 694, drove Swæfheard, who disappeared from the sources, advanced over the Thames and became sole ruler. His influence probably extended to parts of Essex and was no less than that of his predecessors before 686. He was not only a skilful ruler in military and financial matters, but also understood diplomacy: In 694 Wihtred made peace with Wessex and paid 30,000 pæneġas (see: Penny ; about 37.5 kg of silver) as wergeld for Mul Ine from Wessex.

Wihtred maintained good relations with the church and strengthened their rights. So he banned 694 at the Synod of Baccanceld (Bapchild at Sittingbourne ) own churches and left the investiture of the clergy. Christianity had become the dominant religion of Kent in the 100 years since the arrival of the missionary Augustine of Canterbury , but the “ancient customs” of the people were still secretly alive.

legislation

Wihtred passed in Berghamstyde (probably Bearsted near Maidstone ) in September 695, like his predecessors Æthelberht (around 602/603) and Hlothhere and Eadric (around 683) laws in the Old English language . Linguistically, the legal text shows some archaisms that were already in use in Æthelberht's laws. On the other hand, vowel shifts clearly show a language change in the 7th century. Some special features in the orthography reveal the Kentish dialect .

In addition to Wihtred, Beorhtwald , the Archbishop of Canterbury , Gebmund , the Bishop of Rochester , other ecclesiastical dignitaries and the Witenagemot were involved in the legislation . The law regulates the churches' tax exemption, illegal marriages, taking oaths, prohibition of Sunday work, disregard of Lent, pagan sacrifices, etc. Church issues were dealt with in 24 of the 28 paragraphs. A copy of the laws was preserved in the Textus Roffensis from the early 12th century.

Series K Type 32a silver sceat, minted between 720 and 740 in Kent

Coin reform

With the unification of East and West Kent, he had also gained control of large parts of English silver production, as a result of which coinage north of the Thames declined in the next few years. The mint in Dorchester-on-Thames (Mercia) even seems to have closed. The coin of London (Essex) lost its importance and mimicked Kentish issues, while Kent implemented a coin reform and new types of coins appeared. The old thrysma ( tremissis ) was minted for the last time in 694 and replaced by the sceat (plural: sceattas ; German: “treasure, money, possessions, wealth”) with a purity of 920 to 950 ‰.

Death and succession

Wihtred died on April 23, 725. He was buried in the Peter and Paul Abbey in Canterbury . The succession was arranged in such a way that the three sons Æthelberht II. , Eadberht I and Ealric Æthelberht as the eldest son received a kind of upper kingship, Eadberht received the west of Kent, while Ealric, who probably died soon after, became a subordinate co-king.

swell

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Jump up ↑ DP Kirby: The Earliest English Kings , Routledge, 2000, ISBN 978-0-415-24211-0 , p. 96.
  2. ↑ a b c 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 978-0-631-22492-1 , pp. 501-502.
  3. ^ Gerhard Köbler : Old English Dictionary, 2nd edition, 2003, online
  4. ↑ a b Beda: HE 4.26
  5. ^ Historia Langobardorum V, 37
  6. ^ Ecgberht in Foundation for Medieval Genealogy; see: Thomas Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders Vol VI, p. 305
  7. ↑ S15
  8. ^ Mary Dockray-Miller: Motherhood and mothering in Anglo-Saxon England , Palgrave Macmillan, 2000, ISBN 978-0-312-22721-0 , p. 22.
  9. ↑ S16
  10. ↑ S18
  11. ↑ Barbara Yorke: Nunneries and the Anglo-Saxon Royal Houses , Continuum, 2003, ISBN 978-0-8264-6040-0 , p. 40.
  12. ↑ p22
  13. ↑ a b Beda: HE 5.23
  14. ↑ a b c d Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England , Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 30.
  15. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 687
  16. ↑ BAE Yorke: The Kingdom of Essex , In: Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Enzyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England , pp. 174-175.
  17. ↑ S20
  18. ^ A b Ian Blanchard: Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the Middle Ages: Asiatic supremacy, 425-1125, Vol. 1 , Steiner, 2001, ISBN 978-3-515-07958-7 , pp. 443-444.
  19. ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 694 Online in Project Gutenberg (English)
  20. ^ Frank Merry Stenton: Anglo-Saxon England , Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001 (3rd ed.), ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5 , p. 128.
  21. ↑ Lisi Oliver: The beginnings of English law , University of Toronto Press, Toronto 2002, ISBN 978-0-8020-3535-6 , pp. 148-150.
  22. ↑ The Laws of King Wihtræd in the Medieval Sourcebook (English)
  23. ^ Frederick Levi Attenborough: The Laws Of The Earliest English Kings , Cambridge 1922; Lawbook Exchange Ltd, Reprint 2006, ISBN 978-1-58477-583-6 , pp. 25-31.
  24. ↑ Allen J. Frantzen, John D. Niles (eds.): Anglo-Saxonism and the Construction of Social Identity , University Press of Florida, Gainesville 1997, ISBN 978-0-8130-1532-3 , p. 45.
  25. ^ Frederick Levi Attenborough: The Laws Of The Earliest English Kings , Cambridge 1922; Lawbook Exchange Ltd, Reprint 2006, ISBN 978-1-58477-583-6 , p. 3.
  26. ^ Ian Blanchard: Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the Middle Ages: Asiatic supremacy, 425-1125, Vol. 1 , Steiner, 2001, ISBN 978-3-515-07958-7 , pp. 445-446.
predecessor Office successor
Oswine King of Kent
690 / 691–725 		Æthelberht II.
Eadberht I.
Ealric


personal data
SURNAME Wihtred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wihtræd; Wyhtred; Wythred; Wigtred; Wihtgar; Uictred; Uihtred; Uuihtred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Kent
DATE OF BIRTH around 670
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 725