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26 ° Bisabuelo/ Great Grandfather de:
Carlos Juan Felipe Antonio Vicente De La Cruz Urdaneta Alamo
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Æþelwulf MP
Gender: Male
Birth: circa 795
Wessex Kingdom, England
Death: January 13, 858 (58-67)
Stamridge, Wessex Kingdom, England (United Kingdom)
Place of Burial: Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
Immediate Family:
Son of Egbert, king of Wessex and Rædburh, queen consort of Wessex
Husband of Judith, countess of Flanders and Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex
Father of Æthelstan, king of Kent; Aethelbald, king of Wessex; Aethelbert, king of Wessex, Essex & Kent; Ethelred I 'the Pious', king of Wessex & Kent; Aethelswith, Queen of Mercia and 1 other
Added by: Anders Helge Eriksson on February 2, 2007
Managed by: Guillermo Eduardo Ferrero Montilla and 509 others
Curated by: Jason Scott Wills
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Æthelwulf, rey de Wessex
De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre
| Æthelwulf | |
|---|---|
|
Æthelwulf a principios del siglo XIV Rol genealógico de los reyes de Inglaterra
| |
| Rey de wessex | |
| Reinado | 839–858 |
| Predecesor | Egbert |
| Sucesor | Æthelbald |
| Murió | 13 de enero de 858 |
| Entierro | |
| Esposa | |
| Problema | |
| Casa | House of Wessex |
| Padre | Egbert |
Æthelwulf ( / del ɛ theta əl w ʊ l f / ; [2] Antiguo Inglés para "Noble Lobo"; [3] murió el 13 de de enero de 858) fue rey de Wessex de 839 a 858. [a] En 825, su padre, El rey Egbert derrotó al rey Beornwulf de Mercia , poniendo fin a un largo dominio merciano sobre la Inglaterra anglosajona al sur del Humber . Egbert envió a Æthelwulf con un ejército a Kent, donde expulsó al sub-rey de Mercia y fue nombrado sub-rey. Después de 830, Egbert mantuvo buenas relaciones con Mercia, y esto fue continuado por Æthelwulf cuando se convirtió en rey en 839, el primer hijo que sucedió a su padre como rey de Sajonia Occidental desde 641.
Los vikingos no fueron una gran amenaza para Wessex durante el reinado de Æthelwulf. En 843, fue derrotado en una batalla contra los vikingos en Carhampton en Somerset, pero logró una gran victoria en la Batalla de Aclea en 851. En 853 se unió a una exitosa expedición merciana a Gales para restaurar la hegemonía merciana tradicional, y en el mismo año su hija Æthelswith se casó con el rey Burgred de Mercia . En 855 Æthelwulf fue en peregrinación a Roma. En preparación, dio una "aniquilación", donando una décima parte de su propiedad personal a sus súbditos; nombró a su hijo superviviente mayor Æthelbald para que actuara como Rey de Wessex en su ausencia, y su próximo hijo Æthelberhtpara gobernar Kent y el sureste. Æthelwulf pasó un año en Roma, y en su camino de regreso se casó con Judith , la hija del rey franco de Occidente Carlos el Calvo .
Cuando Æthelwulf regresó a Inglaterra, Æthelbald se negó a entregar el trono de West Saxon, y Æthelwulf acordó dividir el reino, tomar el este y dejar el oeste en manos de Æthelbald. A la muerte de Æthelwulf en 858, dejó Wessex a Æthelbald y Kent a Æthelberht, pero la muerte de Æthelbald solo dos años después condujo a la reunificación del reino. En el siglo XX, la reputación de Æthelwulf entre los historiadores era pobre: se lo consideraba excesivamente piadoso y poco práctico, y su peregrinación se veía como una deserción de sus deberes. Los historiadores en el siglo XXI lo ven de manera muy diferente, como un rey que consolidó y extendió el poder de su dinastía, exigió respeto en el continente y trató con mayor eficacia que la mayoría de sus contemporáneos con los ataques vikingos. Es considerado como uno de los reyes más exitosos de West Saxon,Alfred el Grande .
Antecedentes
Sur de Gran Bretaña a mediados del siglo IX
A principios del siglo IX, Inglaterra estaba casi completamente bajo el control de los anglosajones, con Mercia y Wessex como los reinos del sur más importantes. Mercia fue dominante hasta la década de 820, y ejerció el señorío sobre East Anglia y Kent , pero Wessex pudo mantener su independencia de su vecino más poderoso. Offa , rey de Mercia de 757 a 796, fue la figura dominante de la segunda mitad del siglo VIII. El rey Beorhtric de Wessex (786–802), se casó con la hija de Offa en 789. Beorhtric y Offa llevaron al padre de Æthelwulf, Egbert, al exilio, y pasó varios años en la corte de Carlomagno enFrancia . Egbert era hijo de Ealhmund , quien había sido brevemente rey de Kent en 784. Después de la muerte de Offa, el rey Coenwulf de Mercia (796–821) mantuvo el dominio de Mercia, pero no está claro si Beorhtric alguna vez aceptó la subordinación política y cuándo murió en 802 Egbert se convirtió en rey, tal vez con el apoyo de Carlomagno. [6] Durante doscientos años, tres familias habían luchado por el trono de Sajonia Occidental, y ningún hijo había seguido a su padre como rey. El mejor reclamo de Egbert fue que era el tataranieto de Ingild, hermano del rey Ine (688–726), y en 802 parecía muy poco probable que estableciera una dinastía duradera. [7]
Casi nada se registra de los primeros veinte años del reinado de Egbert, aparte de las campañas contra los Cornualles en los años 810. [8] El historiador Richard Abels argumenta que el silencio de la Crónica anglosajona fue probablemente intencional, ocultando la purga de Egbert de los magnates de Beorhtric y la supresión de las líneas reales rivales. [9] Las relaciones entre los reyes de Mercia y sus súbditos de Kent eran distantes. Los ealdormen de Kent no asistieron a la corte del rey Coenwulf, quien se peleó con el arzobispo Wulfred de Canterbury (805–832) por el control de los monasterios de Kent; La principal preocupación de Coenwulf parece haber sido obtener acceso a la riqueza de Kent. Sus sucesores Ceolwulf I (821–23) yBeornwulf (823–26) restableció las relaciones con el arzobispo Wulfred, y Beornwulf designó a un sub-rey de Kent, Baldred . [10]
Inglaterra había sufrido incursiones vikingas a fines del siglo VIII, pero no se registraron ataques entre 794 y 835, cuando la Isla de Sheppey en Kent fue devastada. [11] En 836 Egbert fue derrotado por los vikingos en Carhampton en Somerset , [8] pero en 838 fue victorioso sobre una alianza de Cornualles y vikingos en la Batalla de Hingston Down , reduciendo Cornwall al estado de un reino cliente. [12]
Familia
Æthelwulf era hijo de Egbert, rey de Wessex desde 802 hasta 839. Se desconoce el nombre de su madre y no tenía hermanos registrados. Se sabe que tuvo dos esposas en sucesión, y hasta donde se sabe, Osburh , el mayor de los dos, era la madre de todos sus hijos. Ella era la hija de Oslac, descrita por Asser , biógrafo de su hijo Alfred el Grande , como "el famoso mayordomo del rey Æthelwulf", [b] un hombre que descendía de Jutes que había gobernado la Isla de Wight . [14] [15] Æthelwulf tuvo seis hijos conocidos. Su hijo mayor, Æthelstan, tenía la edad suficiente para ser nombrado Rey de Kent en 839, por lo que debe haber nacido a principios de los años 820 y murió a principios de los 850. [c] El segundo hijo, Æthelbald , se registra por primera vez como testigo fundador en 841, y si, como Alfred, comenzó a dar testimonio cuando tenía alrededor de seis años, habría nacido alrededor de 835; fue rey de Wessex de 858 a 860. El tercer hijo de Æthelwulf, Æthelberht , probablemente nació alrededor de 839 y fue rey de 860 a 865. La única hija, Æthelswith , se casó con Burgred, rey de Mercia , en 853. [17] El otro dos hijos eran mucho más jóvenes: Æthelrednació alrededor de 848 y fue rey de 865 a 871, y Alfred nació alrededor de 849 y fue rey de 871 a 899. [18] En 856 Æthelwulf se casó con Judith , hija de Carlos el Calvo , rey del oeste de Francia y futuro emperador del Sacro Imperio Romano y su esposa Ermentrude . Osburh probablemente había muerto, aunque es posible que ella haya sido repudiada. [d] No hubo hijos del matrimonio de Æthelwulf con Judith, y después de su muerte ella se casó con su hijo superviviente y sucesor, Æthelbald. [14]
Vida temprana
Æthelwulf se registró por primera vez en 825, cuando Egbert ganó la crucial batalla de Ellandun en Wiltshire contra el rey Beornwulf de Mercia, poniendo fin a la larga ascendencia merciana sobre el sur de Inglaterra. Egbert lo siguió enviando a Æthelwulf con Eahlstan , obispo de Sherborne , y Wulfheard, Ealdorman de Hampshire , con un gran ejército a Kent para expulsar al sub-rey Baldred. [e] Æthelwulf descendía de los reyes de Kent, y era sub-rey de Kent, y de Surrey , Sussex y Essex , que luego se incluyeron en el sub-reino, hasta que heredó el trono de Wessex en 839. [23 ]Su sub-reinado se registra en las cartas, en algunas de las cuales el Rey Egbert actuó con el permiso de su hijo, [14] como una concesión en 838 al Obispo Beornmod de Rochester, y el propio Ethelwulf emitió una carta como Rey de Kent en el mismo año. . [24] A diferencia de sus predecesores mercios, que alienaron al pueblo de Kent al gobernar desde la distancia, Æthelwulf y su padre cultivaron con éxito el apoyo local al gobernar a través de ealdormen de Kent y promover sus intereses. [25] En opinión de Abels, Egbert y Æthelwulf recompensaron a sus amigos y purgaron a los partidarios de Mercia. [26] [f]Los historiadores tienen diferentes puntos de vista sobre la actitud del nuevo régimen hacia la iglesia de Kent. En Canterbury, en 828, Egbert otorgó privilegios al obispado de Rochester , y según el historiador de la Inglaterra anglosajona Simon Keynes , Egbert y Æthelwulf tomaron medidas para garantizar el apoyo del arzobispo Wulfred. [28] Sin embargo, el medievalista Nicholas Brooks argumenta que el origen y las conexiones mercianas de Wulfred resultaron ser una responsabilidad. Æthelwulf se apoderó de una propiedad en East Malling de la iglesia de Canterbury con el argumento de que Baldred solo le había concedido cuando estaba huyendo de las fuerzas de Sajonia Occidental; la cuestión de archiepiscopalla moneda fue suspendida por varios años; y el único estado que Wulfred recibió después de 825 que recibió del rey Wiglaf de Mercia . [29]
En 829 Egbert conquistó Mercia, solo para que Wiglaf recuperara su reino un año después. [30] El erudito DP Kirby ve la restauración de Wiglaf en 830 como un cambio dramático para Egbert, que probablemente fue seguido por su pérdida de control de la casa de moneda de Londres y la recuperación merciana de Essex y Berkshire, [31] y el historiador Heather Edwards afirma que su "inmensa conquista no se pudo mantener". [8] Sin embargo, en opinión de Keynes:
Es interesante ... que tanto Egbert como su hijo Æthelwulf parecen haber respetado la identidad separada de Kent y sus provincias asociadas, como si no hubiera habido un plan en esta etapa para absorber el sureste en un reino ampliado que se extiende a través del Todo el sur de Inglaterra. Tampoco parece haber sido la intención de Egbert y sus sucesores mantener la supremacía de ningún tipo sobre el reino de Mercia ... Es muy posible que Egbert haya renunciado a Mercia por su propia voluntad; y no se sugiere que ningún antagonismo residual haya afectado las relaciones entre los gobernantes de Wessex y Mercia a partir de entonces. [32]
En 838, el rey Egbert celebró una asamblea en Kingston en Surrey, donde Ethelwulf pudo haber sido consagrado como rey por el arzobispo. Egbert restauró la propiedad de East Malling al sucesor de Wulfred como arzobispo de Canterbury, Ceolnoth , a cambio de una promesa de "amistad firme e ininterrumpida" para él y para Æthelwulf y sus herederos, y la misma condición se especifica en una subvención para la sede de Winchester . [g] Egbert aseguró el apoyo a Æthelwulf, quien se convirtió en el primer hijo en suceder a su padre como rey de Sajonia Occidental desde 641. [34]En la misma reunión, los monasterios de Kent escogieron a Æthelwulf como su señor, y él se comprometió a que, después de su muerte, tendrían libertad para elegir sus cabezas. Wulfred había dedicado su archiepiscopado a luchar contra el poder secular sobre los monasterios de Kent, pero Ceolnoth ahora entregó el control efectivo a Æthelwulf, cuya oferta de libertad de control después de su muerte era poco probable que fuera honrada por sus sucesores. Los eclesiásticos y laicos de Kent ahora buscaban protección contra los ataques vikingos a West Saxon en lugar del poder real de Mercia. [35]
Las conquistas de Egbert le trajeron una riqueza mucho mayor de la que habían disfrutado sus predecesores, y le permitieron comprar el apoyo que aseguraba el trono de Sajonia Occidental para sus descendientes. [36] La estabilidad traída por la sucesión dinástica de Egbert y Æthelwulf condujo a una expansión de los recursos comerciales y agrarios, y a una expansión de los ingresos reales. [37] La riqueza de los reyes de Sajonia Occidental también se incrementó por el acuerdo en 838-39 con el Arzobispo Ceolnoth para que los ministros de Sajonia Occidental previamente independientes aceptaran al rey como su señor secular a cambio de su protección. [38] Sin embargo, no había certeza de que la hegemonía de Wessex resultaría más permanente que la de Mercia. [39]
Rey de wessex
Representación de Æthelwulf en la crónica genealógica de finales del siglo XIII de los reyes ingleses
Cuando Æthelwulf logró el trono de Wessex en 839, su experiencia como sub-rey de Kent le había dado un valioso entrenamiento en la realeza, y él a su vez convirtió a sus propios hijos en reyes. [40] Según la Crónica anglosajona , en su adhesión "le dio a su hijo Æthelstan el reino de la gente de Kent, y el reino de los sajones del este [Essex] y de la gente de Surrey y de los sajones del sur [Sussex] ". Sin embargo, Æthelwulf no le dio a Æthelstan el mismo poder que su padre le había dado, y aunque Æthelstan atestiguó las cartas de su padre [h]como rey, no parece que se le haya dado el poder de emitir sus propias cartas. Æthelwulf ejerció autoridad en el sureste e hizo visitas regulares allí. Él gobernó Wessex y Kent como esferas separadas, y las asambleas en cada reino solo fueron atendidas por la nobleza de ese país. La historiadora Janet Nelson dice que "Æthelwulf dirigió una firma familiar de reinos plurales carolingios , mantenida unida por su propia autoridad como padre-rey, y por consentimiento de distintas élites". Mantuvo la política de su padre de gobernar Kent a través de ealdormen designados por la nobleza local y promover sus intereses, pero dio menos apoyo a la iglesia. [41] En 843 Æthelwulf otorgó diez pieles en Little Charta Æthelmod, el hermano del líder ealdorman de Kent, Ealhere, y Æthelmod tuvo éxito en el puesto sobre la muerte de su hermano en 853. [42] En 844, Æthelwulf otorgó tierras en Horton en Kent a Ealdorman Eadred, con permiso para transferir partes de ellas a locales. propietarios de tierras; En una cultura de reciprocidad, esto creó una red de amistades y obligaciones mutuas entre los beneficiarios y el rey. [43] Los arzobispos de Canterbury estaban firmemente en la esfera del rey de Sajonia Occidental. Sus ealdormen disfrutaban de un alto estatus, y a veces se los colocaba más alto que los hijos del rey en las listas de testigos de las cartas. [44] Su reinado es el primero para el cual hay evidencia de sacerdotes reales, [45] y la Abadía de Malmesburylo consideraba un benefactor importante, de quien se dice que fue el donante de un santuario para las reliquias de Saint Aldhelm . [46]
Después de 830, Egbert había seguido una política de mantener buenas relaciones con Mercia, y esto fue continuado por Æthelwulf cuando se convirtió en rey. Londres era tradicionalmente una ciudad merciana, pero en los años 830 estaba bajo el control de West Saxon; poco después de la adhesión de Æthelwulf, volvió al control de Mercia. [47] El rey Wiglaf de Mercia murió en 839 y su sucesor, Berhtwulf , revivió la menta merciana en Londres; Los dos reinos parecen haber tenido un problema conjunto a mediados de la década de 840, posiblemente indicando la ayuda de West Saxon para revivir las monedas de Mercia, y mostrando las relaciones amistosas entre las dos potencias. Berkshire todavía era merciano en 844, pero en 849 era parte de Wessex, ya que Alfred nació en ese año en el estado real de West Saxon en Wantage , luego en Berkshire.[48] [i] Sin embargo, el ealdorman merciano local, también llamado Ethelwulf , retuvo su posición bajo los reyes de Sajonia Occidental. [50] Berhtwulf murió en 852 y la cooperación con Wessex continuó bajo Burgred, su sucesor como Rey de Mercia, quien se casó con la hija de Æthelwulf Æthelswith en 853. En el mismo año, Æthelwulf ayudó a Burgred en un exitoso ataque a Gales para restaurar la hegemonía tradicional de Mercia sobre el galés. [51]
En el siglo IX Mercia y Kent, las cartas reales fueron producidas por casas religiosas, cada una con su propio estilo, pero en Wessex había una sola tradición diplomática real, probablemente por una sola agencia que actuaba para el rey. Esto puede haberse originado en el reinado de Egbert, y queda claro en los años 840, cuando Æthelwulf tenía una secretaria franca llamada Felix. [52] Hubo fuertes contactos entre los tribunales sajones del oeste y carolingios. Los Anales de St Bertin se interesaron especialmente en los ataques vikingos contra Gran Bretaña y en 852 Lupus , el abad de Ferrières.y un protegido de Charles el Calvo, escribió a Æthelwulf felicitándolo por su victoria sobre los vikingos y solicitando un regalo de plomo para cubrir el techo de su iglesia. Lupus también le escribió a su "amigo más querido" Félix, pidiéndole que gestione el transporte del plomo. [53] A diferencia de Canterbury y el sureste, Wessex no vio una fuerte disminución en el estándar del latín en las cartas a mediados del siglo IX, y esto puede deberse en parte a Félix y sus contactos continentales. [54] Lupus pensó que Félix tenía una gran influencia sobre el Rey. [14] Las cartas se emitieron principalmente de propiedades reales en condados que eran el corazón del antiguo Wessex, a saber, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire y Dorset , con algunos en Kent.[55]
Una antigua división entre el este y el oeste de Wessex continuó siendo importante en el siglo IX; El límite era Selwood Forest en las fronteras de Somerset, Dorset y Wiltshire. Los dos obispados de Wessex fueron Selborne en el oeste y Winchester en el este. Las conexiones familiares de Æthelwulf parecen haber estado al oeste de Selwood, pero su patrocinio se concentró más al este, particularmente en Winchester, donde fue enterrado su padre, y donde designó a Swithun para suceder a Helmstan como obispo en 852–853. Sin embargo, le otorgó una tierra en Somerset a su principal ealdorman, Eanwulf, y el 26 de diciembre de 846 se otorgó una gran propiedad en South Hams, en el oeste de Devon. Así lo cambió deRoyal Demesne , que se vio obligado a transmitir a su sucesor como rey, a Bookland , que podría transferirse a su gusto, para que pudiera otorgar tierras a los seguidores para mejorar la seguridad en una zona fronteriza. [56]
Amenaza vikinga
Las incursiones vikingas aumentaron a principios de los años 840 en ambos lados del Canal de la Mancha , y en 843 Æthelwulf fue derrotado por las compañías de 35 barcos daneses en Carhampton en Somerset . En 850 el sub-rey Æthelstan y Ealdorman Ealhhere de Kent obtuvieron una victoria naval sobre una gran flota vikinga frente a Sandwich en Kent, capturando nueve barcos y alejando al resto. Ethelwulf le otorgó a Ealhhere una gran propiedad en Kent, pero no se volvió a saber de Ethelstan y probablemente murió poco después. Al año siguiente, la crónica anglosajona.registra cinco ataques diferentes contra el sur de Inglaterra. Una flota danesa de 350 barcos vikingos tomó Londres y Canterbury, y cuando el rey Berhtwulf de Mercia fue en su ayuda, fue derrotado. Los vikingos luego se trasladaron a Surrey, donde fueron derrotados por Æthelwulf y su hijo Æthelbald en la Batalla de Aclea . Según la Crónica anglosajona, los gravámenes sajones del oeste "hicieron la mayor matanza de un pagano del que hemos oído hablar hasta el día de hoy". La Crónica reportó con frecuencia victorias durante el reinado de Æthelwulf ganadas por impuestos dirigidos por ealdormen, a diferencia de los años 870 cuando se enfatizó el comando real, lo que refleja un estilo de liderazgo más consensuado en el período anterior. [57]
En 850 un ejército danés pasó el invierno en Thanet , y en 853 los ealdormen Ealhhere de Kent y Huda de Surrey fueron asesinados en una batalla contra los vikingos, también en Thanet. En 855, los vikingos daneses se quedaron durante el invierno en Sheppey, antes de continuar saqueando el este de Inglaterra. [58] Sin embargo, durante el reinado de Æthelwulf, los ataques vikingos fueron contenidos y no representaron una gran amenaza. [59]
Moneda
![Moneda del Rey Æthelwulf: "EĐELVVLF REX", moneyer Manna, Canterbury [60]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/%C3%86thelwulf_penny.jpg/440px-%C3%86thelwulf_penny.jpg)
Moneda del Rey Æthelwulf: "EĐELVVLF REX", moneyer Manna, Canterbury [60]
El centavo de plata era casi la única moneda utilizada en la Inglaterra anglosajona media y posterior. Las monedas de Æthelwulf provenían de una casa de moneda principal en Canterbury y una secundaria en Rochester; ambos habían sido utilizados por Egbert para su propia moneda después de que él tomó el control de Kent. Durante el reinado de Æthelwulf, hubo cuatro fases principales de la moneda distinguibles en ambas casas de moneda, aunque no son exactamente paralelas y no está claro cuándo tuvieron lugar las transiciones. El primer número en Canterbury tenía un diseño conocido como Saxoniorum., que había sido utilizado por Egbert para uno de sus propios problemas. Esto fue reemplazado por un diseño de retrato en aproximadamente 843, que puede subdividirse aún más; Las primeras monedas tienen diseños más crudos que las posteriores. En la casa de moneda de Rochester, la secuencia se invirtió, con un diseño de retrato inicial reemplazado, también en aproximadamente 843, por un diseño sin retrato que llevaba un patrón de cruz y cuñas en el anverso . [14] [61]
En aproximadamente 848 ambas mentas cambiaron a un diseño común conocido como Dor¯b¯ / Cant - los caracteres "Dor¯b¯" en el anverso de estas monedas indican Dorobernia (Canterbury) o Dorobrevia (Rochester), y "Cant", refiriéndose a Kent, apareció en el reverso. Es posible que la casa de moneda Canterbury continúe produciendo monedas de retratos al mismo tiempo. El problema de Canterbury parece haber terminado en 850–851 por las incursiones vikingas, aunque es posible que Rochester se haya salvado, y el problema puede haber continuado allí. El último problema, nuevamente en ambas casas de moneda, se introdujo en aproximadamente 852; Tiene una cruz inscrita en el reverso y un retrato en el anverso. Las monedas de Æthelwulf se degradaronal final de su reinado, y aunque el problema empeoró después de su muerte, es posible que la degradación provocó los cambios en el tipo de moneda desde 850. [62]
La primera moneda de Rochester de Æthelwulf pudo haber comenzado cuando todavía era el rey de Kent, bajo Egbert. Una acumulación de monedas depositadas al comienzo del reinado de Æthelwulf en aproximadamente 840, encontradas en el Templo Medio de Londres, contenía 22 monedas de Rochester y dos de Canterbury del primer número de cada moneda. Algunos numismáticos sostienen que la alta proporción de monedas de Rochester significa que el problema debe haber comenzado antes de la muerte de Egbert, pero una explicación alternativa es que quien acumuló las monedas simplemente tuvo acceso a más monedas de Rochester. Los hijos de Æthelwulf no emitieron monedas durante su reinado. [63]
Ceolnoth, arzobispo de Canterbury durante el reinado de Æthelwulf, también acuñó monedas propias en Canterbury: había tres diseños de retratos diferentes, que se consideran contemporáneos con cada uno de los primeros tres problemas de Canterbury de Æthelwulf. A estos les siguió un diseño cruzado inscrito que era uniforme con la moneda final de Æthelwulf. En Rochester, el obispo Beornmod produjo solo un tema, un diseño de cruces y cuñas que era contemporáneo con el tema Saxoniorum de Æthelwulf . [64]
En opinión de los numismáticos Philip Grierson y Mark Blackburn , las casas de moneda de Wessex, Mercia y East Anglia no se vieron muy afectadas por los cambios en el control político: "la notable continuidad de los inversores que se puede ver en cada una de estas casas de moneda sugiere que la realidad La organización mint era en gran medida independiente de la administración real y se fundó en las comunidades comerciales estables de cada ciudad ". [sesenta y cinco]
Cartas de diezmado
![La Carta S 316 fechada en 855, en la cual Æthelwulf otorgó tierras en Ulaham en Kent a su ministro Ealdhere. [66]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Charter_S_316%2C_dated_855_of_King_%C3%86thelwulf_of_Wessex.jpg/440px-Charter_S_316%2C_dated_855_of_King_%C3%86thelwulf_of_Wessex.jpg)
El historiador WH Stevenson de principios del siglo XX observó que: "Pocas cosas en nuestra historia temprana han llevado a tanta discusión" como las Cartas de diezmación de Æthelwulf; [67] cien años después, la experta en charter Susan Kelly los describió como "uno de los grupos más controvertidos de diplomas anglosajones". [68] Tanto Asser como la Crónica anglosajona dicen que Æthelwulf dio una aniquilación, [j] en 855, poco antes de partir en peregrinación a Roma. De acuerdo con la crónica"El rey Æthelwulf transmitió por carta la décima parte de su tierra en todo su reino para alabanza de Dios y para su propia salvación eterna". Sin embargo, Asser afirma que "Æthelwulf, el estimado rey, liberó a la décima parte de todo su reino del servicio real y el tributo, y como herencia eterna lo hizo en la cruz de Cristo al Dios trino , para la redención de su alma y las de sus predecesores ". [70] Según Keynes, la versión de Asser puede ser simplemente una "traducción suelta" de la Crónica , y su implicación de que Æthelwulf liberó una décima parte de toda la tierra de las cargas seculares probablemente no fue la intención. Toda la tierra podría considerarse como la tierra del rey, por lo que la Crónicala referencia a "su tierra" no necesariamente se refiere a la propiedad real, y dado que la reserva de la tierra, trasmitiéndola por carta, siempre se consideró como un acto piadoso, la declaración de Asser de que lo entregó a Dios no necesariamente significa que las cartas estaban a favor de la iglesia. [71]
Susan Kelly divide los Decimation Charters en cuatro grupos:
- Dos fechados en Winchester el 5 de noviembre de 844. En una carta en el archivo de Malmesbury, Æthelwulf se refiere en el proemio al peligroso estado de su reino como resultado de los ataques de paganos y bárbaros. Por el bien de su alma y a cambio de misas para el rey y los ealdormen cada miércoles, "he decidido dar en libertad perpetua una parte de las tierras hereditarias a todos aquellos rangos que estaban en posesión, tanto para los siervos de Dios como para las sirvientas que sirven a Dios y para los laicos, siempre la décima piel, y donde es menor, entonces la décima parte ". [k]
- Seis fechados en Wilton el día de Pascua, el 22 de abril de 854. En el texto común de estas cartas, Æthelwulf afirma que "por el bien de su alma y la prosperidad del reino y [la salvación de] las personas que Dios le asignó, él ha actuado siguiendo el consejo que le dieron sus obispos, comités y todos sus nobles. Ha otorgado la décima parte de las tierras en todo su reino, no solo a las iglesias, sino también a sus reyes . La tierra se otorga en libertad perpetua, para que permanezca libre de los servicios reales y todas las cargas seculares. A cambio habrá una conmemoración litúrgica del rey y de sus obispos y ealdormen ". [l]
- Cinco de Old Minster, Winchester , se relacionaron con la reunión de Wilton, pero generalmente se consideran espurios. [metro]
- Uno de Kent fechado en 855, el único que tiene la misma fecha que la aniquilación según Chronicle y Asser. El rey concede a su propiedad thegn Dunn en Rochester "a causa de la destrucción de tierras que, por el regalo de Dios, he decidido hacer". Dunn dejó la tierra a su esposa con la reversión a la Catedral de Rochester . [n] [74]
Ninguno de los estatutos es original, y Stevenson los descartó a todos por fraudulentos, aparte del Kentish de 855. Stevenson vio la aniquilación como una donación de demesne real a iglesias y laicos, con las subvenciones que se hicieron a los laicos en el entendimiento. que habría reversión a una institución religiosa. [75] Hasta la década de 1990, su punto de vista sobre la autenticidad de las cartas fue generalmente aceptado por los académicos, con la excepción del historiador HPR Finberg., quienes argumentaron en 1964 que la mayoría se basan en diplomas auténticos. Finberg acuñó los términos "Primera Decimación" de 844, que vio como la eliminación de las cuotas públicas en una décima parte de todo el libro, y la "Segunda Decimación" de 854, la donación de una décima parte del "dominio privado de la realeza casa "a las iglesias. Consideró poco probable que la Primera Decimación se hubiera llevado a efecto, probablemente debido a la amenaza de los vikingos. La terminología de Finberg ha sido adoptada, pero su defensa de la Primera Decimación generalmente fue rechazada. En 1994, Keynes defendió las cartas de Wilton en el grupo 2, y sus argumentos han sido ampliamente aceptados. [76]
Los historiadores se han dividido sobre cómo interpretar la Segunda Decimación, y en 1994 Keynes la describió como "uno de los problemas más desconcertantes" en el estudio de las cartas del siglo IX. Expuso tres alternativas:
- Transmitió una décima parte del reino real, las tierras de la corona en oposición a la propiedad personal del soberano, en manos de iglesias, eclesiásticos y laicos. En la Inglaterra anglosajona, la propiedad era folkland o bookland. La transmisión de folkland se regía por los derechos consuetudinarios de los parientes, sujeto a la aprobación del rey, mientras que bookland se estableció mediante la concesión de una carta real, y el propietario podía deshacerse de él libremente. La reserva de tierras lo convirtió por carta de folkland a bookland. La demesne real era la tierra de la corona, mientras que la tierra de los libros del rey era su propiedad personal, que podía dejar por voluntad cuando lo deseara. En la aniquilación, Æthelwulf pudo haber transmitido el folclore real por carta para convertirse en tierra de libros, en algunos casos a laicos que ya habían arrendado la tierra. [77]
- Era la reserva de una décima parte del folclore a sus propietarios, que luego serían libres de transmitirlo a una iglesia. [78]
- Fue una reducción de una décima parte de las cargas seculares en las tierras que ya están en posesión de los terratenientes. [78] Las cargas seculares habrían incluido la provisión de suministros para el rey y sus funcionarios, y el pago de varios impuestos. [79]
Algunos estudiosos, por ejemplo Frank Stenton , autor de la historia estándar de la Inglaterra anglosajona, junto con Keynes y Abels, ven la Segunda Decimación como una donación de demesne real. En opinión de Abels, Æthelwulf buscó la lealtad de la aristocracia y la iglesia durante la próxima ausencia del rey de Wessex, y mostró una sensación de inseguridad dinástica también evidente en la generosidad de su padre hacia la iglesia de Kent en 838, y en una "atención ávida" en este período para compilar y revisar genealogías reales. [80] Keynes sugiere que "el propósito de Æthelwulf era presumiblemente obtener ayuda divina en sus luchas contra los vikingos", [81] y el historiador de mediados del siglo XX Eric Johnobserva que "toda una vida de estudios medievales enseña que uno de los primeros reyes medievales nunca fue tan político como cuando estaba de rodillas". [82] La opinión de que la aniquilación fue una donación de los bienes personales del rey es respaldada por el anglosajón sajón Alfred P. Smyth , quien argumenta que estas eran las únicas tierras que el rey tenía derecho a enajenar por libro. [83] [o] El historiador Martin Ryan prefiere la opinión de que Æthelwulf liberó a una décima parte de la tierra propiedad de los laicos de las obligaciones seculares, que ahora podían dotar a las iglesias bajo su propio patrocinio. Ryan lo ve como parte de una campaña de devoción religiosa. [86]Según el historiador David Pratt, "se interpreta mejor como un 'recorte de impuestos' estratégico, diseñado para fomentar la cooperación en medidas defensivas a través de una remisión parcial de las cuotas reales". [87] Nelson afirma que la aniquilación tuvo lugar en dos fases, en Wessex en 854 y Kent en 855, lo que refleja que seguían siendo reinos separados. [88]
Kelly argumenta que la mayoría de las cartas se basaron en originales genuinos, incluida la Primera Decimación de 844. Ella dice: "Los comentaristas han sido desagradables [y] la versión 844 no ha recibido el beneficio de la duda". En su opinión, Æthelwulf dio una reducción de impuestos del 10% en bookland, y diez años después dio el paso más generoso de "una distribución generalizada de las tierras reales". A diferencia de Finberg, ella cree que ambas decimaciones se llevaron a cabo, aunque la segunda puede no haberse completado debido a la oposición del hijo de Æthelwulf, Æthelbald. Ella piensa que las concesiones de bookland a los laicos en la Segunda Decimación fueron incondicionales, no con la reversión a las casas religiosas como Stevenson había argumentado. [89]Sin embargo, Keynes no está convencido por los argumentos de Kelly, y piensa que las cartas de la Primera Decimación fueron fabricaciones del siglo XI o principios del XII. [90]
Peregrinación a Roma y vida posterior
A principios de los años 850 Æthelwulf fue en peregrinación a Roma. Según Abels: "Æthelwulf estaba en la cima de su poder y prestigio. Fue un momento propicio para que el rey de Sajonia Occidental reclamara un lugar de honor entre los reyes y emperadores de la cristiandad ". [91] Sus hijos supervivientes más antiguos, Æthelbald y Æthelberht, eran adultos, mientras que Æthelred y Alfred todavía eran niños pequeños. En 853, Ethelwulf envió a sus hijos menores a Roma, quizás acompañando a los enviados en relación con su próxima visita. Alfred, y posiblemente Æthelred también, fueron investidos con el "cinturón del consulado". La parte de Æthelred en el viaje solo se conoce a partir de un registro contemporáneo en la liber vitae de San Salvatore , Brescia, ya que registros posteriores como la Crónica anglosajona solo estaban interesados en registrar el honor que se le había otorgado a Alfred. [14] Abels ve la embajada como allanando el camino para la peregrinación de Æthelwulf, y la presencia de Alfred, su hijo más joven y por lo tanto más prescindible, como un gesto de buena voluntad para el papado; La confirmación del Papa León IV convirtió a Alfredo en su hijo espiritual, y así creó un vínculo espiritual entre los dos "padres". [92] [p] Kirby argumenta que el viaje puede indicar que Alfred estaba destinado a la iglesia, [94] mientras que Nelson, por el contrario, ve el propósito de Æthelwulf como afirmar la dignidad del trono de sus hijos menores, protegiéndolos así contra la amnesiapor sus hermanos mayores, lo que los habría dejado sin derecho a la realeza. [95]
Æthelwulf se dirigió a Roma en la primavera de 855, acompañado por Alfred y un gran séquito. [96] El Rey dejó Wessex al cuidado de su hijo superviviente más viejo, Æthelbald, y el sub-reino de Kent al gobierno de Æthelberht, y confirmó que iban a tener éxito en los dos reinos. [26] En el camino, la fiesta se quedó con Carlos el Calvo en Francia, donde hubo los banquetes habituales y el intercambio de regalos. Æthelwulf se quedó un año en Roma [97] y sus obsequios a la diócesis de Romaincluía una corona de oro que pesaba 4 libras (1,8 kg), dos copas de oro, una espada atada con oro, cuatro cuencos dorados, dos túnicas de seda y dos velos entrelazados de oro. También le dio oro al clero y hombres principales y plata a la gente de Roma. Según la historiadora Joanna Story, sus dones rivalizaban con los de los donantes carolingios y el emperador bizantino y "fueron elegidos claramente para reflejar la generosidad personal y la riqueza espiritual del rey de Sajonia Occidental; aquí no había" hillbilly "germánico de los bosques de los cristianos. mundo, sino más bien un monarca sofisticado, rico y totalmente contemporáneo ". [98] Según el cronista del siglo XII William of Malmesbury , ayudó a pagar la restauración del barrio sajón, que recientemente había sido destruido por el fuego, para los peregrinos ingleses. [99]
La peregrinación desconcierta a los historiadores y Kelly comenta que "es extraordinario que un rey medieval temprano pudiera considerar su posición lo suficientemente segura como para abandonar su reino en un momento de crisis extrema". Ella sugiere que Æthelwulf pudo haber sido motivado por un impulso religioso personal. [100] Ryan lo ve como un intento de aplacar la ira divina mostrada por los ataques vikingos, [86] mientras que Nelson piensa que su objetivo era mejorar su prestigio al tratar con las demandas de sus hijos adultos. [101] En opinión de Kirby:
El viaje de Æthelwulf a Roma es de gran interés porque no significó la abdicación y la retirada del mundo como lo hicieron sus viajes a Roma por Cædwalla e Ine y otros reyes anglosajones. Era más una muestra de la posición internacional del rey y una demostración del prestigio de su dinastía en los círculos francos y papales. [102]
En su camino de regreso de Roma, Æthelwulf se quedó nuevamente con el rey Carlos el Calvo, y pudo haberse unido a él en una campaña contra una banda de guerra vikinga. [103] El 1 de octubre de 856 Æthelwulf se casó con la hija de Charles, Judith, de 12 o 13 años, en Verberie . El matrimonio fue considerado extraordinario por los contemporáneos y por los historiadores modernos. Las princesas carolingias rara vez se casaban y, por lo general, las enviaban a conventos, y era casi desconocido para ellas casarse con extranjeros. Judith fue coronada reina y ungida por Hincmar , arzobispo de Rheims. Aunque las emperatrices habían sido ungidas antes, esta es la primera unción definitivamente conocida de una reina carolingia. Además, la costumbre de West Saxon, descrita por Asser como "perversa y detestable", era que la esposa de un rey de Wessex no podía llamarse reina o sentarse en el trono con su esposo; ella era solo la esposa del rey. [104]
Æthelwulf regresó a Wessex para enfrentarse a una revuelta de Æthelbald, quien intentó evitar que su padre recuperara su trono. Los historiadores dan explicaciones variadas tanto para la rebelión como para el matrimonio. En opinión de Nelson, el matrimonio de Æthelwulf con Judith agregó al rey de Sajonia Occidental a la familia de reyes y aliados principescos que Charles estaba creando. [105] Charles estaba bajo ataque tanto de los vikingos como de un aumento entre su propia nobleza, y Æthelwulf tenía un gran prestigio debido a sus victorias sobre los vikingos; algunos historiadores como Kirby y Pauline StaffordVemos el matrimonio como sellando una alianza anti-vikinga. El matrimonio le dio a Æthelwulf una participación en el prestigio carolingio, y Kirby describe la unción de Judith como "una santificación carismática que mejoró su estatus, bendijo su vientre y confirió la dignidad del trono adicional a su descendencia masculina". Estas marcas de un estado especial implicaban que un hijo suyo tendría éxito al menos en parte del reino de Æthelwulf, y explicaría la decisión de Æthelbald de rebelarse. [106]El historiador Michael Enright niega que una alianza anti-vikinga entre dos reinos tan distantes pueda tener algún propósito útil, y argumenta que el matrimonio fue la respuesta de Æthelwulf a las noticias de que su hijo planeaba rebelarse; su hijo de una reina carolingia ungida estaría en una posición fuerte para tener éxito como rey de Wessex en lugar del rebelde Æthelbald. [107] Abels sugiere que Æthelwulf buscó la mano de Judith porque necesitaba el dinero y el apoyo de su padre para superar la rebelión de su hijo, [108] pero Kirby y Smyth argumentan que es extremadamente improbable que Charles el Calvo hubiera aceptado casar a su hija con un gobernante que se sabía que estaba en serias dificultades políticas. [109]Æthelbald también pudo haber actuado por resentimiento por la pérdida de patrimonio que sufrió como resultado de la aniquilación. [100]
La rebelión de Æthelbald fue apoyada por Ealhstan, obispo de Sherborne y Eanwulf, ealdorman de Somerset, a pesar de que parecen haber sido dos de los asesores más confiables del rey. [110] Según Asser, la trama se concertó "en la parte occidental de Selwood", y los nobles occidentales pueden haber respaldado a Æthelbald porque les molestaba el patrocinio que Æthelwulf le dio al este de Wessex. [111] Asser también declaró que Æthelwulf acordó renunciar a la parte occidental de su reino para evitar una guerra civil. Algunos historiadores como Keynes y Abels piensan que su gobierno se limitó al sudeste, [112]mientras que otros, como Kirby, piensan que es más probable que se dividiera Wessex, con Æthelbald manteniendo Wessex al oeste de Selwood, Æthelwulf manteniendo el centro y el este, y Æthelberht manteniendo el sureste. [113] Æthelwulf insistió en que Judith debería sentarse a su lado en el trono hasta el final de su vida, y según Asser esto fue "sin ningún desacuerdo o insatisfacción por parte de sus nobles". [114]
Anillo del rey Æthelwulf
Anillo del rey Æthelwulf
El anillo del rey Æthelwulf fue encontrado en una carreta en Laverstock en Wiltshire en agosto de 1780 por un tal William Petty, quien lo vendió a un platero en Salisbury . El platero lo vendió al conde de Radnor , y el hijo del conde, William , lo donó al Museo Británico en 1829. El anillo, junto con un anillo similar de la hija de Æthelwulf, Æthelswith, es uno de los dos ejemplos clave de nielloed del siglo IX. metalistería. Parecen representar el surgimiento de un "estilo de corte" de metalistería de Sajonia Occidental, caracterizado por una iconografía cristiana inusual, como un par de pavos reales en la Fuente de la Vidaen el anillo Æthelwulf, asociado con la inmortalidad cristiana. El anillo está inscrito "Æthelwulf Rex", asociándolo firmemente con el Rey, y la inscripción forma parte del diseño, por lo que no se puede agregar más tarde. Muchas de sus características son típicas de la carpintería metálica del siglo IX, como el diseño de dos pájaros, bordes con cuentas y moteados, y una salina con terminales en forma de flecha en la parte posterior. Probablemente se fabricó en Wessex, pero era típico de la uniformidad de los adornos de animales en Inglaterra en el siglo IX. En opinión de Leslie Webster , experta en arte medieval: "Su elegante adorno de estilo Trewhiddle ciertamente encajaría en una fecha de mediados del siglo IX". [115]En opinión de Nelson, "seguramente fue un regalo de este señor real para un seguidor musculoso: el signo de un reinado exitoso del siglo IX". [14] El historiador del arte David Wilson lo ve como una supervivencia de la tradición pagana del rey generoso como el "donante de anillos". [116]
La voluntad de Æthelwulf
Una página del testamento del rey Alfredo
La voluntad de Æthelwulf no ha sobrevivido, pero la de Alfred sí, y proporciona cierta información sobre las intenciones de su padre. Dejó un legado para ser heredado por cualquiera de Æthelbald, Æthelred y Alfred que vivieron más tiempo. Abels y Yorke argumentan que esto significaba la totalidad de su propiedad personal en Wessex, y probablemente que el sobreviviente también heredaría el trono de Wessex, mientras que Æthelberht y sus herederos gobernaban Kent. [117] Otros historiadores no están de acuerdo. Nelson afirma que la disposición sobre la propiedad personal no tenía nada que ver con la realeza, [14] y Kirby comenta: "Tal arreglo habría llevado a una lucha fratricida. Con tres hermanos mayores, las posibilidades de Alfred de llegar a la edad adulta, uno siente, han sido mínimos ". [118]Smyth describe el legado como una provisión para sus hijos más jóvenes cuando alcanzaron la madurez. [119] La riqueza móvil de Æthelwulf, como el oro y la plata, debía dividirse entre "niños, nobles y las necesidades del alma del rey". [14] Para este último, dejó una décima parte de su tierra hereditaria para reservar para alimentar a los pobres, y ordenó que se enviaran trescientos mancuses a Roma cada año, cien para gastar en encender las lámparas en San Pedro en Semana Santa, cien por las luces de San Pablo y cien por el papa. [120]
Muerte y sucesión
Æthelwulf murió el 13 de enero de 858. Según los Anales de St Neots , fue enterrado en Steyning en Sussex , pero su cuerpo fue trasladado a Winchester , probablemente por Alfred. [121] Como Æthelwulf había planeado, fue sucedido por Æthelbald en Wessex y Æthelberht en Kent y el sureste. [122] El prestigio conferido por un matrimonio franco era tan grande que Æthelbald casó a su madrastra Judith, con el horror retrospectivo de Asser; Describió el matrimonio como una "gran desgracia" y "contra la prohibición de Dios y la dignidad cristiana". [14]Cuando Æthelbald murió solo dos años más tarde, Æthelberht se convirtió en rey de Wessex y Kent, y la intención de Æthelwulf de dividir sus reinos entre sus hijos fue dejada de lado. En opinión de Yorke y Abels, esto se debía a que Æthelred y Alfred eran demasiado jóvenes para gobernar, y Æthelberht acordó a cambio que sus hermanos menores heredarían todo el reino a su muerte, [123] mientras que Kirby y Nelson piensan que Æthelberht se convirtió en el fiduciario para la parte de sus hermanos menores del legado de su padre. [124]
Después de la muerte de Æthelbald, Judith vendió sus posesiones y regresó con su padre, pero dos años después se fugó con Baldwin, Conde de Flandes . En la década de 890, su hijo, también llamado Baldwin , se casó con la nieta de Æthelwulf, Ælfthryth . [14]
Historiografía
La reputación de Æthelwulf entre los historiadores era pobre en el siglo XX. En 1935, el historiador RH Hodgkin atribuyó su peregrinación a Roma a "la piedad poco práctica que lo llevó a abandonar su reino en un momento de gran peligro", y describió su matrimonio con Judith como "la locura de un hombre senil antes de su tiempo". ". [125] Para Stenton en la década de 1960 era "un hombre religioso y poco ambicioso, para quien la participación en la guerra y la política era una consecuencia no deseada del rango". [126] Un disidente fue Finberg, quien en 1964 lo describió como "un rey cuyo valor en la guerra y la munificencia principesca recordaban las figuras de la época heroica", [127]pero en 1979, Enright dijo: "Más que nada, parece haber sido un entusiasta religioso poco práctico". [128] Los primeros escritores medievales, especialmente Asser, enfatizan su religiosidad y su preferencia por el consenso, visto en las concesiones hechas para evitar una guerra civil a su regreso de Roma. [q] En opinión de Story, "su legado se ha visto empañado por acusaciones de piedad excesiva que (al menos para las sensibilidades modernas) parece haber estado en desacuerdo con las demandas de la realeza medieval temprana". En 839, un rey anglosajón sin nombre escribió al emperador romano santo Luis el Piadosopidiendo permiso para viajar por su territorio camino a Roma, y relatando el sueño de un sacerdote inglés que predijo el desastre a menos que los cristianos abandonaran sus pecados. Ahora se cree que este fue un proyecto no realizado de Egbert al final de su vida, pero anteriormente se atribuyó a Æthelwulf, y se vio como una muestra de lo que Story llama su reputación de "piedad dramática" e irresponsabilidad por planear abandonar su reino. Al comienzo de su reinado. [130]
En el siglo XXI los historiadores lo ven de manera muy diferente. Æthelwulf no aparece en el índice de Peter Hunter Blair 's Introducción a la Inglaterra anglosajona , publicado por primera vez en 1956, pero en una nueva introducción a las Keynes edición de 2003 lo incluyó entre las personas "que no siempre han sido concedidos la atención que se podría pensar que merece ... porque fue él, más que ningún otro, quien aseguró la fortuna política de su pueblo en el siglo IX y abrió los canales de comunicación que condujeron a través de los reinos francos y los Alpes hasta Roma ". . [131]Según Story: "Æthelwulf adquirió y cultivó una reputación tanto en Francia como en Roma, que no tiene paralelo en las fuentes desde el apogeo del poder de Offa y Coenwulf a principios del siglo IX". [132]
Nelson lo describe como "uno de los grandes subestimado entre los anglosajones", y se queja de que sólo se le permitió 2.500 palabras para él en el Diccionario Oxford de la biografía nacional , en comparación con 15.000 para Edward II y de 35.000 para Isabel I . [133] Ella dice:
English (default) edit | history
Æthelwulf (Old English for "Noble Wolf";[2] died 13 January 858) was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.[a] In 825, his father, King Egbert, defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending a long Mercian dominance over Anglo-Saxon England south of the Humber. Egbert sent Æthelwulf with an army to Kent, where he expelled the Mercian sub-king and was himself appointed sub-king. After 830, Egbert maintained good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by Æthelwulf when he became king in 839, the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.
Æthelwulf was the son of Egbert, King of Wessex from 802 to 839. His mother's name is unknown, and he had no recorded siblings. He is known to have had two wives in succession, and so far as is known, Osburh, the senior of the two, was the mother of all his children. She was the daughter of Oslac, described by Asser, biographer of their son Alfred the Great, as "King Æthelwulf's famous butler",[b] a man who was descended from Jutes who had ruled the Isle of Wight.[13][14] Æthelwulf had six known children. His eldest son, Æthelstan, was old enough to be appointed King of Kent in 839, so he must have been born by the early 820s, and he died in the early 850s.[c] The second son, Æthelbald, is first recorded as a charter witness in 841, and if, like Alfred, he began to attest when he was around six, he would have been born around 835; he was King of Wessex from 858 to 860. Æthelwulf's third son, Æthelberht, was probably born around 839 and was king from 860 to 865. The only daughter, Æthelswith, married Burgred, King of Mercia, in 853.[16] The other two sons were much younger: Æthelred was born around 848 and was king from 865 to 871, and Alfred was born around 849 and was king from 871 to 899.[17] In 856 Æthelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia and future Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Ermentrude. Osburh had probably died, although it is possible that she had been repudiated.[d] There were no children from Æthelwulf's marriage to Judith, and after his death she married his eldest surviving son and successor, Æthelbald.[13]
Source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelwulf
Further Reading
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20AngloSaxon%20&%20Danish%20Kings.htm#AethelwulfWessexdied858B
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethelwulf_av_Wessex
http://park.org/Guests/Stavanger/sg05.htm
http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon2.html
http://www.thepeerage.com/p10261.htm#i102608
http://www.royalist.info/execute/biog?person=172
http://www.britroyals.com/kings.asp?id=aethelwulf
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/KingsandQueens...
He was an Anglo-Saxon king, the father of King Alfred "The Great". As ruler of the West Saxons he allied his kingdom of Wessex with the kingdom of Mercia and by so doing withstood invasion of his country by the Danish Vikings.
Æthelwulf (Old English for "Noble Wolf";[2] died 13 January 858) was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.[a] In 825, his father, King Egbert, defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending a long Mercian dominance over Anglo-Saxon England south of the Humber. Egbert sent Æthelwulf with an army to Kent, where he expelled the Mercian sub-king and was himself appointed sub-king. After 830, Egbert maintained good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by Æthelwulf when he became king in 839, the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641. The Vikings were not a major threat to Wessex during Æthelwulf's reign. In 843, he was defeated in a battle against the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset, but he achieved a major victory at the Battle of Aclea in 851. In 853 he joined a successful Mercian expedition to Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony, and in the same year his daughter Æthelswith married King Burgred of Mercia. In 855 Æthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. In preparation he gave a "decimation", donating a tenth of his personal property to his subjects; he appointed his eldest surviving son Æthelbald to act as King of Wessex in his absence, and his next son Æthelberht to rule Kent and the south-east. Æthelwulf spent a year in Rome, and on his way back he married Judith, the daughter of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald. When Æthelwulf returned to England, Æthelbald refused to surrender the West Saxon throne, and Æthelwulf agreed to divide the kingdom, taking the east and leaving the west in Æthelbald's hands. On Æthelwulf's death in 858 he left Wessex to Æthelbald and Kent to Æthelberht, but Æthelbald's death only two years later led to the reunification of the kingdom. In the 20th century Æthelwulf's reputation among historians was poor: he was seen as excessively pious and impractical, and his pilgrimage was viewed as a desertion of his duties. Historians in the 21st century see him very differently, as a king who consolidated and extended the power of his dynasty, commanded respect on the continent, and dealt more effectively than most of his contemporaries with Viking attacks. He is regarded as one of the most successful West Saxon kings, who laid the foundations for the success of his son, Alfred the Great. Contents [hide] 1Background 2Family 3Early life 4King of Wessex 5Viking threat 6Coinage 7Decimation Charters 8Pilgrimage to Rome and later life 9King Æthelwulf's ring 10Æthelwulf's will 11Death and succession 12Historiography 13Notes 14References 15Sources 16External links Background[edit]Southern Britain in the middle of the ninth centuryAt the beginning of the 9th century, England was almost completely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons, with Mercia and Wessex the most important southern kingdoms. Mercia was dominant until the 820s, and it exercised overlordship over East Anglia and Kent, but Wessex was able to maintain its independence from its more powerful neighbour. Offa, King of Mercia from 757 to 796, was the dominant figure of the second half of the 8th century. King Beorhtric of Wessex (786–802), married Offa's daughter in 789. Beorhtric and Offa drove Æthelwulf's father Egbert into exile, and he spent several years at the court of Charlemagne in Francia. Egbert was the son of Ealhmund, who had briefly been King of Kent in 784. Following Offa's death, King Coenwulf of Mercia (796–821) maintained Mercian dominance, but it is uncertain whether Beorhtric ever accepted political subordination, and when he died in 802 Egbert became king, perhaps with the support of Charlemagne.[5] For two hundred years three kindreds had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. Egbert's best claim was that he was the great-great-grandson of Ingild, brother of King Ine (688–726), and in 802 it would have seemed very unlikely that he would establish a lasting dynasty.[6] Almost nothing is recorded of the first twenty years of Egbert's reign, apart from campaigns against the Cornish in the 810s.[7] The historian Richard Abels argues that the silence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was probably intentional, concealing Egbert's purge of Beorhtric's magnates and suppression of rival royal lines.[8]Relations between Mercian kings and their Kentish subjects were distant. Kentish ealdormen did not attend the court of King Coenwulf, who quarrelled with Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury (805–832) over the control of Kentish monasteries; Coenwulf's primary concern seems to have been to gain access to the wealth of Kent. His successors Ceolwulf I (821–23) and Beornwulf (823–26) restored relations with Archbishop Wulfred, and Beornwulf appointed a sub-king of Kent, Baldred.[9] England had suffered Viking raids in the late 8th century, but no attacks are recorded between 794 and 835, when the Isle of Sheppey in Kent was ravaged.[10] In 836 Egbert was defeated by the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset,[7] but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.[11] Family[edit]Æthelwulf was the son of Egbert, King of Wessex from 802 to 839. His mother's name is unknown, and he had no recorded siblings. He is known to have had two wives in succession, and so far as is known, Osburh, the senior of the two, was the mother of all his children. She was the daughter of Oslac, described by Asser, biographer of their son Alfred the Great, as "King Æthelwulf's famous butler",[b] a man who was descended from Jutes who had ruled the Isle of Wight.[13][14] Æthelwulf had six known children. His eldest son, Æthelstan, was old enough to be appointed King of Kent in 839, so he must have been born by the early 820s, and he died in the early 850s.[c] The second son, Æthelbald, is first recorded as a charter witness in 841, and if, like Alfred, he began to attest when he was around six, he would have been born around 835; he was King of Wessex from 858 to 860. Æthelwulf's third son, Æthelberht, was probably born around 839 and was king from 860 to 865. The only daughter, Æthelswith, married Burgred, King of Mercia, in 853.[16] The other two sons were much younger: Æthelred was born around 848 and was king from 865 to 871, and Alfred was born around 849 and was king from 871 to 899.[17] In 856 Æthelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, King of West Francia and future Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Ermentrude. Osburh had probably died, although it is possible that she had been repudiated.[d] There were no children from Æthelwulf's marriage to Judith, and after his death she married his eldest surviving son and successor, Æthelbald.[13] Early life[edit]Æthelwulf was first recorded in 825, when Egbert won the crucial Battle of Ellandun against King Beornwulf of Mercia, ending the long Mercian ascendancy over southern England. Egbert followed it up by sending Æthelwulf with Eahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Wulfheard, Ealdorman of Hampshire, with a large army into Kent to expel sub-king Baldred.[e] Æthelwulf was descended from kings of Kent, and he was sub-king of Kent, and of Surrey, Sussex and Essex, which were then included in the sub-kingdom, until he inherited the throne of Wessex in 839.[22] His sub-kingship is recorded in charters, in some of which King Egbert acted with his son's permission,[13] such as a grant in 838 to Bishop Beornmod of Rochester, and Æthelwulf himself issued a charter as King of Kent in the same year.[23] Unlike their Mercian predecessors, who alienated the Kentish people by ruling from a distance, Æthelwulf and his father successfully cultivated local support by governing through Kentish ealdormen and promoting their interests.[24] In Abels' view, Egbert and Æthelwulf rewarded their friends and purged Mercian supporters.[25][f] Historians take differing views on the attitude of the new regime to the Kentish church. At Canterbury in 828 Egbert granted privileges to the bishopric of Rochester, and according to the historian of Anglo-Saxon England Simon Keynes, Egbert and Æthelwulf took steps to secure the support of Archbishop Wulfred.[27] However, the medievalist Nicholas Brooks argues that Wulfred's Mercian origin and connections proved a liability. Æthelwulf seized an estate in East Malling from the Canterbury church on the ground that it had only been granted by Baldred when he was in flight from the West Saxon forces; the issue of archiepiscopal coinage was suspended for several years; and the only estate Wulfred was granted after 825 he received from King Wiglaf of Mercia.[28] In 829 Egbert conquered Mercia, only for Wiglaf to recover his kingdom a year later.[29] The scholar D. P. Kirby sees Wiglaf's restoration in 830 as a dramatic reversal for Egbert, which was probably followed by his loss of control of the London mint and the Mercian recovery of Essex and Berkshire,[30] and the historian Heather Edwards states that his "immense conquest could not be maintained".[7] However, in the view of Keynes: It is interesting ... that both Egbert and his son Æthelwulf appear to have respected the separate identity of Kent and its associated provinces, as if there appears to have been no plan at this stage to absorb the southeast into an enlarged kingdom stretching across the whole of southern England. Nor does it seem to have been the intention of Egbert and his successors to maintain supremacy of any kind over the kingdom of Mercia ... It is quite possible that Egbert had relinquished Mercia of his own volition; and there is no suggestion that any residual antagonism affected relations between the rulers of Wessex and Mercia thereafter.[31] In 838 King Egbert held an assembly at Kingston in Surrey, where Æthelwulf may have been consecrated as king by the archbishop. Egbert restored the East Malling estate to Wulfred's successor as Archbishop of Canterbury, Ceolnoth, in return for a promise of "firm and unbroken friendship" for himself and Æthelwulf and their heirs, and the same condition is specified in a grant to the see of Winchester. Egbert thus ensured support for Æthelwulf, who became the first son to succeed his father as West Saxon king since 641.[32] At the same meeting Kentish monasteries chose Æthelwulf as their lord, and he undertook that, after his death, they would have freedom to elect their heads. Wulfred had devoted his archiepiscopate to fighting against secular power over Kentish monasteries, but Ceolnoth now surrendered effective control to Æthelwulf, whose offer of freedom from control after his death was unlikely to be honoured by his successors. Kentish ecclesiastics and laymen now looked for protection against Viking attacks to West Saxon rather than Mercian royal power. [33] Egbert's conquests brought him wealth far greater than his predecessors had enjoyed, and enabled him to purchase the support which secured the West Saxon throne for his descendants.[34] The stability brought by the dynastic succession of Egbert and Æthelwulf led to an expansion of commercial and agrarian resources, and to an expansion of royal income.[35] The wealth of the West Saxon kings was also increased by the agreement in 838–39 with Archbishop Ceolnoth for the previously independent West Saxon minsters to accept the king as their secular lord in return for his protection.[36] However, there was no certainty that the hegemony of Wessex would prove more permanent than that of Mercia.[37] King of Wessex[edit]Depiction of Æthelwulf in the late-13th-century Genealogical Chronicle of the English KingsWhen Æthelwulf succeeded to the throne of Wessex in 839, his experience as sub-king of Kent had given him valuable training in kingship, and he in turn made his own sons sub-kings.[38] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, on his accession "he gave to his son Æthelstan the kingdom of the people of Kent, and the kingdom of the East Saxons [Essex] and of the people of Surrey and of the South Saxons [Sussex]". However, Æthelwulf did not give Æthelstan the same power as his father had given him, and although Æthelstan attested his father's charters[g] as king, he does not appear to have been given the power to issue his own charters. Æthelwulf exercised authority in the south-east and made regular visits there. He governed Wessex and Kent as separate spheres, and assemblies in each kingdom were only attended by the nobility of that country. The historian Janet Nelson says that "Æthelwulf ran a Carolingian-style family firm of plural realms, held together by his own authority as father-king, and by the consent of distinct élites." He maintained his father's policy of governing Kent through ealdormen appointed from the local nobility and advancing their interests, but gave less support to the church.[39] In 843 Æthelwulf granted ten hides at Little Chart to Æthelmod, the brother of the leading Kentish ealdorman Ealhere, and Æthelmod succeeded to the post on his brother's death in 853.[40] In 844 Æthelwulf granted land at Horton in Kent to Ealdorman Eadred, with permission to transfer parts of it to local landowners; in a culture of reciprocity, this created a network of mutual friendships and obligations between the beneficiaries and the king.[41] Archbishops of Canterbury were firmly in the West Saxon king's sphere. His ealdormen enjoyed a high status, and were sometimes placed higher than the king's sons in lists of witnesses to charters.[42] His reign is the first for which there is evidence of royal priests,[43] and Malmesbury Abbey regarded him as an important benefactor, who is said to have been the donor of a shrine for the relics of Saint Aldhelm.[44] After 830, Egbert had followed a policy of maintaining good relations with Mercia, and this was continued by Æthelwulf when he became king. London was traditionally a Mercian town, but in the 830s it was under West Saxon control; soon after Æthelwulf's accession it reverted to Mercian control.[45] King Wiglaf of Mercia died in 839 and his successor, Berhtwulf, revived the Mercian mint in London; the two kingdoms appear to have struck a joint issue in the mid-840s, possibly indicating West Saxon help in reviving Mercian coinage, and showing the friendly relations between the two powers. Berkshire was still Mercian in 844, but by 849 it was part of Wessex, as Alfred was born in that year at the West Saxon royal estate in Wantage, then in Berkshire.[46][h] However, the local Mercian ealdorman, also called Æthelwulf, retained his position under the West Saxon kings.[48] Berhtwulf died in 852 and cooperation with Wessex continued under Burgred, his successor as King of Mercia, who married Æthelwulf's daughter Æthelswith in 853. In the same year Æthelwulf assisted Burgred in a successful attack on Wales to restore the traditional Mercian hegemony over the Welsh.[49] In 9th-century Mercia and Kent, royal charters were produced by religious houses, each with its own style, but in Wessex there was a single royal diplomatic tradition, probably by a single agency acting for the king. This may have originated in Egbert's reign, and it becomes clear in the 840s, when Æthelwulf had a Frankish secretary called Felix.[50] There were strong contacts between the West Saxon and Carolingian courts. The Annals of St Bertin took particular interest in Viking attacks on Britain, and in 852 Lupus, the Abbot of Ferrières and a protégé of Charles the Bald, wrote to Æthelwulf congratulating him on his victory over the Vikings and requesting a gift of lead to cover his church roof. Lupus also wrote to his "most beloved friend" Felix, asking him to manage the transport of the lead.[51] Unlike Canterbury and the south-east, Wessex did not see a sharp decline in the standard of Latin in charters in the mid-9th century, and this may have been partly due to Felix and his continental contacts.[52] Lupus thought that Felix had great influence over the King.[13] Charters were mainly issued from royal estates in counties which were the heartland of ancient Wessex, namely Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, with a few in Kent.[53] An ancient division between east and west Wessex continued to be important in the 9th century; the boundary was Selwood Forest on the borders of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. The two bishoprics of Wessex were Selborne in the west and Winchester in the east. Æthelwulf's family connections seem to have been west of Selwood, but his patronage was concentrated further east, particularly on Winchester, where his father was buried, and where he appointed Swithun to succeed Helmstan as bishop in 852–853. However, he made a grant of land in Somerset to his leading ealdorman, Eanwulf, and on 26 December 846 he granted a large estate to himself in South Hams in west Devon. He thus changed it from royal demesne, which he was obliged to pass on to his successor as king, to bookland, which could be transferred as the owner pleased, so he could make land grants to followers to improve security in a frontier zone.[54] Viking threat[edit]Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and in 843 Æthelwulf was defeated by the companies of 35 Danish ships at Carhampton in Somerset. In 850 sub-king Æthelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere of Kent won a naval victory over a large Viking fleet off Sandwich in Kent, capturing nine ships and driving off the rest. Æthelwulf granted Ealhhere a large estate in Kent, but Æthelstan is not heard of again, and probably died soon afterwards. The following year the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records five different attacks on southern England. A Danish fleet of 350 Viking ships took London and Canterbury, and when King Berhtwulf of Mercia went to their relief he was defeated. The Vikings then moved on to Surrey, where they were defeated by Æthelwulf and his son Æthelbald at the Battle of Aclea. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the West Saxon levies "there made the greatest slaughter of a heathen that we have heard tell of up to the present day". The Chronicle frequently reported victories during Æthelwulf's reign won by levies led by ealdormen, unlike the 870s when royal command was emphasised, reflecting a more consensual style of leadership in the earlier period.[55] In 850 a Danish army wintered on Thanet, and in 853 ealdormen Ealhhere of Kent and Huda of Surrey were killed in a battle against the Vikings, also on Thanet. In 855 Danish Vikings stayed over the winter on Sheppey, before carrying on their pillaging of eastern England.[56] However, during Æthelwulf's reign Viking attacks were contained and did not present a major threat.[57] Coinage[edit]Coin of King Æthelwulf: "EĐELVVLF REX", moneyer Manna, Canterbury[58]The silver penny was almost the only coin used in middle and later Anglo-Saxon England. Æthelwulf's coinage came from a main mint in Canterbury and a secondary one at Rochester; both had been used by Egbert for his own coinage after he gained control of Kent. During Æthelwulf's reign, there were four main phases of the coinage distinguishable at both mints, though they are not exactly parallel and it is uncertain when the transitions took place. The first issue at Canterbury carried a design known as Saxoniorum, which had been used by Egbert for one of his own issues. This was replaced by a portrait design in about 843, which can be subdivided further; the earliest coins have cruder designs than the later ones. At the Rochester mint the sequence was reversed, with an initial portrait design replaced, also in about 843, by a non-portrait design carrying a cross-and-wedges pattern on the obverse.[13][59] In about 848 both mints switched to a common design known as Dor¯b¯/Cant – the characters "Dor¯b¯" on the obverse of these coins indicate either Dorobernia (Canterbury) or Dorobrevia (Rochester), and "Cant", referring to Kent, appeared on the reverse. It is possible that the Canterbury mint continued to produce portrait coins at the same time. The Canterbury issue seems to have been ended in 850–851 by Viking raids, though it is possible that Rochester was spared, and the issue may have continued there. The final issue, again at both mints, was introduced in about 852; it has an inscribed cross on the reverse and a portrait on the obverse. Æthelwulf's coinage became debased by the end of his reign, and though the problem became worse after his death it is possible that the debasement prompted the changes in coin type from as early as 850.[60] Æthelwulf's first Rochester coinage may have begun when he was still sub-king of Kent, under Egbert. A hoard of coins deposited at the beginning of Æthelwulf's reign in about 840, found in the Middle Temple in London, contained 22 coins from Rochester and two from Canterbury of the first issue of each mint. Some numismatists argue that the high proportion of Rochester coins means that the issue must have commenced before Egbert's death, but an alternative explanation is that whoever hoarded the coins simply happened to have access to more Rochester coins. No coins were issued by Æthelwulf's sons during his reign.[61] Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury throughout Æthelwulf's reign, also minted coins of his own at Canterbury: there were three different portrait designs, thought to be contemporary with each of the first three of Æthelwulf's Canterbury issues. These were followed by an inscribed cross design that was uniform with Æthelwulf's final coinage. At Rochester, Bishop Beornmod produced only one issue, a cross-and-wedges design which was contemporary with Æthelwulf's Saxoniorum issue.[62] In the view of the numismatists Philip Grierson and Mark Blackburn, the mints of Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia were not greatly affected by changes in political control: "the remarkable continuity of moneyers which can be seen at each of these mints suggests that the actual mint organisation was largely independent of the royal administration and was founded in the stable trading communities of each city".[63] Decimation Charters[edit]Charter S 316 dated 855, in which Æthelwulf granted land at Ulaham in Kent to his minister Ealdhere.[64]The early 20th-century historian W. H. Stevenson observed that: "Few things in our early history have led to so much discussion" as Æthelwulf's Decimation Charters;[65] a hundred years later the charter expert Susan Kelly described them as "one of the most controversial groups of Anglo-Saxon diplomas".[66]Both Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say that Æthelwulf gave a decimation,[i] in 855, shortly before leaving on pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Chronicle "King Æthelwulf conveyed by charter the tenth part of his land throughout all his kingdom to the praise of God and to his own eternal salvation". However, Asser states that "Æthelwulf, the esteemed king, freed the tenth part of his whole kingdom from royal service and tribute, and as an everlasting inheritance he made it over on the cross of Christ to the triune God, for the redemption of his soul and those of his predecessors."[68]According to Keynes, Asser's version may just be a "loose translation" of the Chronicle, and his implication that Æthelwulf released a tenth of all land from secular burdens was probably not intended. All land could be regarded as the king's land, so the Chronicle reference to "his land" does not necessarily refer to royal property, and since the booking of land – conveying it by charter – was always regarded as a pious act, Asser's statement that he made it over to God does not necessarily mean that the charters were in favour of the church.[69] The Decimation Charters are divided by Susan Kelly into four groups: Two dated at Winchester on 5 November 844. In a charter in the Malmesbury archive, Æthelwulf refers in the proem to the perilous state of his kingdom as the result of the assaults of pagans and barbarians. For the sake of his soul and in return for masses for the king and ealdormen each Wednesday, "I have decided to give in perpetual liberty some portion of hereditary lands to all those ranks previously in possession, both to God's servants and handmaidens serving God and to laymen, always the tenth hide, and where it is less, then the tenth part."[j] Six dated at Wilton on Easter Day, 22 April 854. In the common text of these charters, Æthelwulf states that "for the sake of his soul and the prosperity of the kingdom and [the salvation of] the people assigned to him by God, he has acted upon the advice given to him by his bishops, comites, and all his nobles. He has granted the tenth part of the lands throughout his kingdom, not only to the churches, but also to his thegns. The land is granted in perpetual liberty, so that it will remain free of royal services and all secular burdens. In return there will be liturgical commemoration of the king and of his bishops and ealdormen."[k] Five from Old Minster, Winchester, connected with the Wilton meeting but generally considered spurious.[l] One from Kent dated 855, the only one to have the same date as the decimation according to Chronicle and Asser. The king grants to his thegn Dunn property in Rochester "on account of the decimation of lands which by God's gift I have decided to do". Dunn left the land to his wife with reversion to Rochester Cathedral.[m][72] None of the charters are original, and Stevenson dismissed all of them as fraudulent apart from the Kentish one of 855. Stevenson saw the decimation as a donation of royal demesne to churches and laymen, with those grants which were made to laymen being on the understanding that there would be reversion to a religious institution.[73] Up to the 1990s, his view on the authenticity of the charters was generally accepted by scholars, with the exception of the historian H. P. R. Finberg, who argued in 1964 that most are based on authentic diplomas. Finberg coined the terms the 'First Decimation' of 844, which he saw as the removal of public dues on a tenth of all bookland, and the 'Second Decimation' of 854, the donation of a tenth of "the private domain of the royal house" to the churches. He considered it unlikely that the First Decimation had been carried into effect, probably due to the threat from the Vikings. Finberg's terminology has been adopted, but his defence of the First Decimation generally rejected. In 1994 Keynes defended the Wilton charters in group 2, and his arguments have been widely accepted.[74] Historians have been divided on how to interpret the Second Decimation, and in 1994 Keynes described it as "one of the most perplexing problems" in the study of 9th-century charters. He set out three alternatives: It conveyed a tenth of the royal demesne – the lands of the crown as opposed to the personal property of the sovereign – into the hands of churches, ecclesiastics and laymen. In Anglo-Saxon England property was either folkland or bookland. The transmission of folkland was governed by the customary rights of kinsmen, subject to the king's approval, whereas bookland was established by the grant of a royal charter, and could be disposed of freely by the owner. Booking land thus converted it by charter from folkland to bookland. The royal demesne was the crown's folkland, whereas the king's bookland was his own personal property which he could leave by will as he chose. In the decimation Æthelwulf may have conveyed royal folkland by charter to become bookland, in some cases to laymen who already leased the land.[75] It was the booking of a tenth of folkland to its owners, who would then be free to convey it to a church.[76] It was a reduction of one tenth in the secular burdens on lands already in the possession of landowners.[76] The secular burdens would have included the provision of supplies for the king and his officials, and payment of various taxes.[77] Some scholars, for example Frank Stenton, author of the standard history of Anglo-Saxon England, along with Keynes and Abels, see the Second Decimation as a donation of royal demesne. In Abels' view Æthelwulf sought loyalty from the aristocracy and church during the king's forthcoming absence from Wessex, and displayed a sense of dynastic insecurity also evident in his father's generosity towards the Kentish church in 838, and in an "avid attention" in this period to compiling and revising royal genealogies.[78] Keynes suggests that "Æthelwulf's purpose was presumably to earn divine assistance in his struggles against the Vikings",[79] and the mid-20th century historian Eric John observes that "a lifetime of medieval studies teaches one that an early medieval king was never so political as when he was on his knees".[80] The view that the decimation was a donation of the king's own personal estate is supported by the Anglo-Saxonist Alfred Smyth, who argues that these were the only lands the king was entitled to alienate by book.[81][n] The historian Martin Ryan prefers the view that Æthelwulf freed a tenth part of land owned by laymen from secular obligations, who could now endow churches under their own patronage. Ryan sees it as part of a campaign of religious devotion.[84] According to the historian David Pratt, it "is best interpreted as a strategic 'tax cut', designed to encourage cooperation in defensive measures through a partial remission of royal dues".[85] Nelson states that the decimation took place in two phases, in Wessex in 854 and Kent in 855, reflecting that they remained separate kingdoms.[86] Kelly argues that most charters were based on genuine originals, including the First Decimation of 844. She says: "Commentators have been unkind [and] the 844 version has not been given the benefit of the doubt". In her view Æthelwulf then gave a 10% tax reduction on bookland, and ten years later he took the more generous step of "a widespread distribution of royal lands". Unlike Finberg, she believes that both decimations were carried out, although the second one may not have been completed due to opposition from Æthelwulf's son Æthelbald. She thinks that the grants of bookland to laymen in the Second Decimation were unconditional, not with reversion to religious houses as Stevenson had argued.[87] However, Keynes is not convinced by Kelly's arguments, and thinks that the First Decimation charters were 11th or early 12th century fabrications.[88] Pilgrimage to Rome and later life[edit]In the early 850s Æthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome. According to Abels: "Æthelwulf was at the height of his power and prestige. It was a propitious time for the West Saxon king to claim a place of honour among the kings and emperors of christendom."[89] His eldest surviving sons Æthelbald and Æthelberht were then adults, while Æthelred and Alfred were still young children. In 853 Æthelwulf sent his younger sons to Rome, perhaps accompanying envoys in connection with his own forthcoming visit. Alfred, and possibly Æthelred as well, were invested with the "belt of consulship". Æthelred's part in the journey is only known from a contemporary record in the liber vitae of San Salvatore, Brescia, as later records such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were only interested in recording the honour paid to Alfred.[13] Abels sees the embassy as paving the way for Æthelwulf's pilgrimage, and the presence of Alfred, his youngest and therefore most expendable son, as a gesture of goodwill to the papacy; confirmation by Pope Leo IV made Alfred his spiritual son, and thus created a spiritual link between the two "fathers".[90][o] Kirby argues that the journey may indicate that Alfred was intended for the church,[92] while Nelson on the contrary sees Æthelwulf's purpose as affirming his younger sons' throneworthiness, thus protecting them against being tonsured by their elder brothers, which would have rendered them ineligible for kingship.[93] Æthelwulf set out for Rome in the spring of 855, accompanied by Alfred and a large retinue.[94] The King left Wessex in the care of his oldest surviving son, Æthelbald, and the sub-kingdom of Kent to the rule of Æthelberht, and thereby confirmed that they were to succeed to the two kingdoms.[25] On the way the party stayed with Charles the Bald in Francia, where there were the usual banquets and exchange of gifts. Æthelwulf stayed a year in Rome,[95] and his gifts to the Diocese of Rome included a gold crown weighing 4 pounds (1.8 kg), two gold goblets, a sword bound with gold, four silver-gilt bowls, two silk tunics and two gold-interwoven veils. He also gave gold to the clergy and leading men and silver to the people of Rome. According to the historian Joanna Story, his gifts rivalled those of Carolingian donors and the Byzantine emperor and "were clearly chosen to reflect the personal generosity and spiritual wealth of the West Saxon king; here was no Germanic 'hillbilly' from the backwoods of the Christian world but, rather, a sophisticated, wealthy and utterly contemporary monarch".[96] According to the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury, he helped to pay for the restoration of the Saxon quarter, which had recently been destroyed by fire, for English pilgrims.[97] The pilgrimage puzzles historians and Kelly comments that "it is extraordinary that an early medieval king could consider his position safe enough to abandon his kingdom in a time of extreme crisis". She suggests that Æthelwulf may have been motivated by a personal religious impulse.[98] Ryan sees it as an attempt to placate the divine wrath displayed by Viking attacks,[84] whereas Nelson thinks he aimed to enhance his prestige in dealing with the demands of his adult sons.[99] In Kirby's view: Æthelwulf's journey to Rome is of great interest for it did not signify abdication and a retreat from the world as their journeys to Rome had for Cædwalla and Ine and other Anglo-Saxon kings. It was more a display of the king's international standing and a demonstration of the prestige his dynasty enjoyed in Frankish and papal circles.[100] On his way back from Rome Æthelwulf again stayed with King Charles the Bald, and may have joined him on a campaign against a Viking warband.[101] On 1 October 856 Æthelwulf married Charles's daughter, Judith, aged 12 or 13, at Verberie. The marriage was considered extraordinary by contemporaries and by modern historians. Carolingian princesses rarely married and were usually sent to nunneries, and it was almost unknown for them to marry foreigners. Judith was crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims. Although empresses had been anointed before, this is the first definitely known anointing of a Carolingian queen. In addition West Saxon custom, described by Asser as "perverse and detestable", was that the wife of a king of Wessex could not be called queen or sit on the throne with her husband – she was just the king's wife.[102] Æthelwulf returned to Wessex to face a revolt by Æthelbald, who attempted to prevent his father from recovering his throne. Historians give varying explanations for both the rebellion and the marriage. In Nelson's view, Æthelwulf's marriage to Judith added the West Saxon king to the family of kings and princely allies which Charles was creating.[103] Charles was under attack both from Vikings and from a rising among his own nobility, and Æthelwulf had great prestige due to his victories over the Vikings; some historians such as Kirby and Pauline Stafford see the marriage as sealing an anti-Viking alliance. The marriage gave Æthelwulf a share in Carolingian prestige, and Kirby describes the anointing of Judith as "a charismatic sanctification which enhanced her status, blessed her womb and conferred additional throne-worthiness on her male offspring." These marks of a special status implied that a son of hers would succeed to at least part of Æthelwulf's kingdom, and explain Æthelbald's decision to rebel.[104] The historian Michael Enright denies that an anti-Viking alliance between two such distant kingdoms could serve any useful purpose, and argues that the marriage was Æthelwulf's response to news that his son was planning to rebel; his son by an anointed Carolingian queen would be in a strong position to succeed as king of Wessex instead of the rebellious Æthelbald.[105] Abels suggests that Æthelwulf sought Judith's hand because he needed her father's money and support to overcome his son's rebellion,[106] but Kirby and Smyth argue that it is extremely unlikely that Charles the Bald would have agreed to marry his daughter to a ruler who was known to be in serious political difficulty.[107] Æthelbald may also have acted out of resentment at the loss of patrimony he suffered as a result of the decimation.[98] Æthelbald's rebellion was supported by Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, and Eanwulf, ealdorman of Somerset, even though they appear to have been two of the king's most trusted advisers.[108]According to Asser, the plot was concerted "in the western part of Selwood", and western nobles may have backed Æthelbald because they resented the patronage Æthelwulf gave to eastern Wessex.[109] Asser also stated that Æthelwulf agreed to give up the western part of his kingdom in order to avoid a civil war. Some historians such as Keynes and Abels think that his rule was then confined to the south-east,[110] while others such as Kirby think it is more likely that it was Wessex itself which was divided, with Æthelbald keeping Wessex west of Selwood, Æthelwulf holding the centre and east, and Æthelberht keeping the south-east.[111]Æthelwulf insisted that Judith should sit beside him on the throne until the end of his life, and according to Asser this was "without any disagreement or dissatisfaction on the part of his nobles".[112] King Æthelwulf's ringKing Æthelwulf's ring[edit]King Æthelwulf's ring was found in a cart rut in Laverstock in Wiltshire in about August 1780 by one William Petty, who sold it to a silversmith in Salisbury. The silversmith sold it to the Earl of Radnor, and the earl's son, William, donated it to the British Museum in 1829. The ring, together with a similar ring of Æthelwulf's daughter Æthelswith, is one of two key examples of nielloed 9th-century metalwork. They appear to represent the emergence of a "court style" of West Saxon metalwork, characterised by an unusual Christian iconography, such as a pair of peacocks at the Fountain of Life on the Æthelwulf ring, associated with Christian immortality. The ring is inscribed "Æthelwulf Rex", firmly associating it with the King, and the inscription forms part of the design, so it cannot have been added later. Many of its features are typical of 9th-century metalwork, such as the design of two birds, beaded and speckled borders, and a saltire with arrow-like terminals on the back. It was probably manufactured in Wessex, but was typical of the uniformity of animal ornament in England in the 9th century. In the view of Leslie Webster, an expert on medieval art: "Its fine Trewhiddle style ornament would certainly fit a mid ninth-century date."[113] In Nelson's view, "it was surely made to be a gift from this royal lord to a brawny follower: the sign of a successful ninth-century kingship".[13] The art historian David Wilson sees it as a survival of the pagan tradition of the generous king as the "ring-giver".[114] Æthelwulf's will[edit]A page from King Alfred's willÆthelwulf's will has not survived, but Alfred's has and it provides some information about his father's intentions. The kingdom was to be divided between the two oldest surviving sons, with Æthelbald getting Wessex and Æthelberht Kent and the south-east. The survivor of Æthelbald, Æthelred and Alfred was to inherit their father's bookland – his personal property as opposed to the royal lands which went with the kingship – and Abels and Yorke argue that this probably means that the survivor was to inherit the throne of Wessex as well.[115] Other historians disagree. Nelson states that the provision regarding the personal property had nothing to do with the kingship,[13] and Kirby comments: "Such an arrangement would have led to fratricidal strife. With three older brothers, Alfred's chances of reaching adulthood would, one feels, have been minimal."[116] Æthelwulf's moveable wealth, such as gold and silver, was to be divided between "children, nobles and the needs of the king's soul".[13] For the latter, he left one tenth of his hereditary land to be set aside to feed the poor, and he ordered that three hundred mancuses be sent to Rome each year, one hundred to be spent on lighting the lamps in St Peter's at Easter, one hundred for the lights of St Paul's, and one hundred for the pope.[117] Death and succession[edit]Æthelwulf died on 13 January 858. According to the Annals of St Neots, he was buried at Steyning in Sussex, but his body was later transferred to Winchester, probably by Alfred.[118] Æthelwulf was succeeded by Æthelbald in Wessex and Æthelberht in Kent and the south-east. The prestige conferred by a Frankish marriage was so great that Æthelbald then wedded his step-mother Judith, to Asser's retrospective horror; he described the marriage as a "great disgrace", and "against God's prohibition and Christian dignity".[13]When Æthelbald died only two years later, Æthelberht became King of Wessex as well as Kent, and Æthelwulf's intention of dividing his kingdoms between his sons was thus set aside. In the view of Yorke and Abels this was because Æthelred and Alfred were too young to rule, and Æthelberht agreed in return that his younger brothers would inherit the whole kingdom on his death,[119] whereas Kirby and Nelson think that Æthelberht just became the trustee for his younger brothers' share of the bookland.[120] After Æthelbald's death Judith sold her possessions and returned to her father, but two years later she eloped with Baldwin, Count of Flanders. In the 890s their son, also called Baldwin, married Æthelwulf's granddaughter Ælfthryth.[13] Historiography[edit]Æthelwulf's reputation among historians was poor in the twentieth century. In 1935 the historian R. H. Hodgkin attributed his pilgrimage to Rome to "the unpractical piety which had led him to desert his kingdom at a time of great danger", and described his marriage to Judith as "the folly of a man senile before his time".[121]To Stenton in the 1960s he was "a religious and unambitious man, for whom engagement in war and politics was an unwelcome consequence of rank".[122] One dissenter was Finberg, who in 1964 described him as "a king whose valour in war and princely munificence recalled the figures of the heroic age",[123] but in 1979 Enright said: "More than anything else he appears to have been an impractical religious enthusiast."[124] Early medieval writers, especially Asser, emphasise his religiosity and his preference for consensus, seen in the concessions made to avert a civil war on his return from Rome.[p] In Story's view "his legacy has been clouded by accusations of excessive piety which (to modern sensibilities at least) has seemed at odds with the demands of early medieval kingship". In 839 an unnamed Anglo-Saxon king wrote to the Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious asking for permission to travel through his territory on the way to Rome, and relating an English priest's dream which foretold disaster unless Christians abandoned their sins. This is now believed to have been an unrealised project of Egbert at the end of his life, but it was formerly attributed to Æthelwulf, and seen as exhibiting what Story calls his reputation for "dramatic piety", and irresponsibility for planning to abandon his kingdom at the beginning of his reign.[126] In the twenty-first century he is seen very differently by historians. Æthelwulf is not listed in the index of Peter Hunter Blair's An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England, first published in 1956, but in a new introduction to the 2003 edition Keynes listed him among people "who have not always been accorded the attention they might be thought to deserve ... for it was he, more than any other, who secured the political fortune of his people in the ninth century, and who opened up channels of communication which led through Frankish realms and across the Alps to Rome".[127] According to Story: "Æthelwulf acquired and cultivated a reputation both in Francia and Rome which is unparalleled in the sources since the height of Offa's and Coenwulf's power at the turn of the ninth century".[128] Nelson describes him as "one of the great underrated among Anglo-Saxons", and complains that she was only allowed 2,500 words for him in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, compared with 15,000 for Edward II and 35,000 for Elizabeth I.[129]She says: Æthelwulf's reign has been relatively under-appreciated in modern scholarship. Yet he laid the foundations for Alfred's success. To the perennial problems of husbanding the kingdom's resources, containing conflicts within the royal family, and managing relations with neighbouring kingdoms, Æthelwulf found new as well as traditional answers. He consolidated old Wessex, and extended his reach over what is now Devon and Cornwall. He ruled Kent, working with the grain of its political community. He borrowed ideological props from Mercians and Franks alike, and went to Rome, not to die there, like his predecessor Ine, ... but to return, as Charlemagne had, with enhanced prestige. Æthelwulf coped more effectively with Scandinavian attacks than did most contemporary rulers.[13] Notes[edit] Jump up^ Egbert's death and Æthelwulf's accession is dated by historians to 839. According to Susan Kelly, "there may be grounds for arguing that Æthelwulf's succession actually took place late in 838",[3] but Joanna Story argues that the West Saxon regnal lists show the length of Egbert's reign as 37 years and 7 months, and as he acceded in 802 he is unlikely to have died before July 839.[4] Jump up^ Keynes and Lapidge comment: "The office of butler (pincerna) was a distinguished one, and its holders were likely to have been important figures in the royal court and household".[12] Jump up^ Æthelstan was sub-king of Kent ten years before Alfred was born, and some late versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle make him the brother of Æthelwulf rather than his son. This has been accepted by some historians, but is now generally rejected. It has also been suggested that Æthelstan was born of an unrecorded first marriage, but historians generally assume that he was Osburh's son.[15] Jump up^ Nelson states that it is uncertain whether Osburh died or had been repudiated,[13] but Abels argues that it is "extremely unlikely" that she was repudiated, as Hincmar of Rheims, who played a prominent role in Æthelwulf's and Judith's marriage ceremony, was a strong advocate of the indissolubility of marriage.[18] Jump up^ The historians Janet Nelson and Ann Williams date Baldred's removal and the start of Æthelwulf's sub-kingship to 825,[19] but D. P. Kirby states that Baldred was probably not driven out until 826.[20]Simon Keynes cites the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as stating that Æthelwulf expelled Baldred in 825, and secured the submission of the people of Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex; however, charter evidence suggests that Beornwulf was recognised as overlord of Kent until he was killed in battle while attempting to put down a rebellion in East Anglia in 826. His successor as king of Mercia, Ludeca, never seems to have been recognised in Kent. In a charter of 828 Egbert refers to his son Æthelwulf "whom we have made king in Kent" as if the appointment was fairly new.[21] Jump up^ Christ Church, Canterbury kept lists of patrons who had made donations to the church, and late 8th and early 9th century patrons who had been supporters of Mercian power were expunged from the lists towards the end of the 9th century.[26] Jump up^ To attest a charter was to witness a grant of land by the king. The attesters were listed by the scribe at the end of the charter, although usually only the most high-ranking witnesses were included. Jump up^ The scholar James Booth suggests that the part of Berkshire where Alfred was born may have been West Saxon territory throughout the period.[47] Jump up^ "Decimation" is used here in the sense of a donation of a tenth part. This usually means a payment to the ruler or church (tithe),[67]but it is used here to mean a donation of a tenth part by the king. Historians do not agree what it was a tenth of. Jump up^ The charters are S 294, 294a and 294b. Kelly treats 294a and b, which are both from Malmesbury Abbey, as one text.[70] Jump up^ The six charters are S 302, 303, 304, 305, 307 and 308.[71] Jump up^ The five Old Minster charters are S 309-13. Kelly states that there are six charters, but she only lists five and she states that there are fourteen in total, whereas there would be fifteen if there were six Old Minster charters.[66] Jump up^ The Kent charter is S 315.[66] Jump up^ Smyth dismisses all the Decimation Charters as spurious,[82] with what the scholar David Pratt describes as "unwarranted scepticism".[83] Jump up^ Abels is sceptical whether Æthelred accompanied Alfred to Rome as he is not mentioned in a letter from Leo to Æthelwulf reporting Alfred's reception,[91] but Nelson argues that only a fragment of the letter survives in an 11th-century copy, and the scribe who selected excerpts from Leo's letters, like the editors of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, was only interested in Alfred.[13] Jump up^ The historian Richard North argues that the Old English poem "Deor" was written in about 856 as a satire on Æthelwulf and a "mocking reflection" on Æthelbald's attitude towards him.[125] References[edit] Jump up^ "Notes and Queries about the Mortuary Chests". Winchester Cathedral. Church Monuments Society. Retrieved 24 May 2015. Jump up^ Halsall 2013, p. 288. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, p. 178. Jump up^ Story 2003, p. 222, n. 39. Jump up^ Keynes 1995, pp. 22, 30–37; Williams 1991b; Kirby 2000, p. 152. Jump up^ Abels 2002, p. 85. ^ Jump up to:a b c Edwards 2004. Jump up^ Abels 2002, pp. 86–87. Jump up^ Keynes 1993, pp. 113–19; Brooks 1984, pp. 132–36. Jump up^ Ryan 2013, p. 258; Stenton 1971, p. 241. Jump up^ Stenton 1971, p. 235; Charles-Edwards 2013, p. 431. Jump up^ Keynes & Lapidge 1983, pp. 229–30. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Nelson 2004a. Jump up^ Nelson 2004b. Jump up^ Hodgkin 1935, pp. 497, 721; Stenton 1971, p. 236, n. 1; Abels 1998, p. 50; Nelson 2004b. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 50. Jump up^ Miller 2004. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 71, n. 69. Jump up^ Nelson 2004a; Williams 1991a. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, pp. 155–56. Jump up^ Keynes 1993, pp. 120–21. Jump up^ Williams 1991a; Stenton 1971, p. 231; Kirby 2000, pp. 155–56. Jump up^ Smyth 1995, p. 673, n. 63. Jump up^ Keynes 1993, pp. 112–20. ^ Jump up to:a b Abels 2002, p. 88. Jump up^ Fleming 1995, p. 75. Jump up^ Keynes 1993, pp. 120–21; Keynes 1995, p. 40. Jump up^ Brooks 1984, pp. 136–37. Jump up^ Stenton 1971, pp. 232–33. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, p. 157. Jump up^ Keynes 1995, pp. 40–41. Jump up^ Wormald 1982, p. 140; Keynes 1994, pp. 1112–13; S 281 Sawyer. Jump up^ Nelson 2004a; Keynes 1993, p. 124; Brooks 1984, pp. 197–201; Story 2003, p. 223; Blair 2005, p. 124. Jump up^ Yorke 1990, pp. 148–49. Jump up^ Pratt 2007, p. 17. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, p. 89. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 28. Jump up^ Yorke 1990, pp. 168–69. Jump up^ Keynes 1993, pp. 124–27; Nelson 2004a. Jump up^ Brooks 1984, pp. 147–49. Jump up^ Abels 1998, pp. 32–33; S 319 Sawyer. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 271. Jump up^ Pratt 2007, p. 64. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, pp. 13, 102. Jump up^ Keynes 1993, pp. 127–28. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, pp. 160–61; Keynes 1998, p. 6; Booth 1998, p. 65. Jump up^ Booth 1998, p. 66. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 29. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, p. 161. Jump up^ Keynes 1994, pp. 1109–23; Nelson 2004a. Jump up^ Nelson 2013, pp. 236–38; Stafford 1981, p. 137. Jump up^ Ryan 2013, p. 252. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 52. Jump up^ Yorke 1995, pp. 23–24, 98–99; Nelson 2004a; Finberg 1964, p. 189. Jump up^ Nelson 2004a; Story 2003, p. 227. Jump up^ Stenton 1971, p. 243; Abels 1998, p. 88. Jump up^ Ryan 2013, p. 258. Jump up^ Grueber & Keary 1893, pp. 9, 17 no. 19, Plate III.4; Early Medieval Coins Fitzwilliam Museum. Jump up^ Grierson & Blackburn 2006, pp. 270, 287–91. Jump up^ Grierson & Blackburn 2006, pp. 287–91, 307–08. Jump up^ Grierson & Blackburn 2006, pp. 271, 287–91. Jump up^ Grierson & Blackburn 2006, pp. 287–91. Jump up^ Grierson & Blackburn 2006, p. 275. Jump up^ S 316 & Sawyer. Jump up^ Stevenson 1904, p. 186. ^ Jump up to:a b c Kelly 2005, p. 65. Jump up^ Oxford English Dictionary 1933. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, pp. 65–66. Jump up^ Keynes 1994, pp. 1119–20. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, pp. 65, 180. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, pp. 65, 188. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, pp. 65–67, 73–74, 80–81. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, p. 65; Stevenson 1904, pp. 186–91. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, pp. 65–67; Finberg 1964, pp. 187–206; Keynes 1994, pp. 1102–22; Nelson 2004c, p. 15; Pratt 2007, p. 66. Jump up^ Keynes 1994, pp. 1119–21; Williams 2014; Wormald 2001, p. 267; Keynes 2009, p. 467; Nelson 2004c, p. 3. ^ Jump up to:a b Keynes 1994, pp. 1119–21. Jump up^ Keynes & Lapidge 1983, p. 232. Jump up^ Stenton 1971, p. 308; Abels 2002, pp. 88–89; Keynes 2009, p. 467. Jump up^ Keynes 2009, p. 467. Jump up^ John 1996, pp. 71–72. Jump up^ Smyth 1995, p. 403. Jump up^ Smyth 1995, pp. 376–78, 382–83. Jump up^ Pratt 2007, p. 66, n. 20. ^ Jump up to:a b Ryan 2013, p. 255. Jump up^ Pratt 2007, p. 68. Jump up^ Nelson 2004c, pp. 15–16. Jump up^ Kelly 2005, pp. 67–91. Jump up^ Keynes 2009, pp. 464–67. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 62. Jump up^ Abels 1998, pp. 62, 67. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 67, n. 57. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, pp. 164–65. Jump up^ Nelson 1997, pp. 144–46; Nelson 2004a. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 72. Jump up^ Abels 1998, pp. 73, 75. Jump up^ Story 2003, pp. 238–39. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 77. ^ Jump up to:a b Kelly 2005, p. 91. Jump up^ Nelson 2013, p. 240. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, p. 164. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 79. Jump up^ Stafford 1981, pp. 139–42; Story 2003, pp. 240–42. Jump up^ Nelson 1997, p. 143. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, pp. 165–66; Stafford 1981, p. 139. Jump up^ Enright 1979, pp. 291–301. Jump up^ Abels 1998, pp. 80–82; Enright 1979, pp. 291–302. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, p. 166; Smyth 1995, pp. 191–92. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 81. Jump up^ Yorke 1995, pp. 98–99. Jump up^ Keynes 1998, p. 7; Abels 2002, p. 89. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, pp. 166–67. Jump up^ Keynes & Lapidge 1983, pp. 71, 235–36, n. 28; Nelson 2006, pp. 70–71. Jump up^ Wilson 1964, pp. 2, 22, 34, 142; Webster 1991, pp. 268–69; Pratt 2007, p. 65. Jump up^ Wilson 1964, p. 22. Jump up^ Abels 2002, pp. 89–91; Yorke 1990, pp. 149–50. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, p. 167. Jump up^ Abels 1998, p. 87. Jump up^ Smyth 1995, p. 674, n. 81. Jump up^ Yorke 1990, pp. 149-50; Abels 2002, pp. 90–91. Jump up^ Kirby 2000, pp. 167–69; Nelson 2004a. Jump up^ Hodgkin 1935, pp. 514–15. Jump up^ Stenton 1971, p. 245. Jump up^ Finberg 1964, p. 193. Jump up^ Enright 1979, p. 295. Jump up^ O'Keeffe 1996, pp. 35–36. Jump up^ Story 2003, pp. 218–28; Dutton 1994, pp. 107–09. Jump up^ Keynes 2003, p. xxxiii. Jump up^ Story 2003, p. 225. Jump up^ Nelson 2004c. Sources[edit] Abels, Richard (1998). Alfred the Great: War, Kingship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. Harlow, UK: Longman. ISBN 0-582-04047-7. Abels, Richard (2002). "Royal Succession and the Growth of Political Stability in Ninth-Century Wessex". The Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell & Brewer. 12: 83–97. doi:10.1017/upo9781846150852.006. ISBN 1-84383-008-6. Blair, John (2005). The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921117-3. Booth, James (1998). "Monetary Alliance or Technical Cooperation? The Coinage of Berhtwulf of Mercia (840–852)". In Blackburn, Mark A. S.; Dumville, David N. Kings, Currency and Alliances: History and Coinage of Southern England in the Ninth Century. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. pp. 63–103. ISBN 0-85115-598-7. Brooks, Nicholas (1984). The Early History of the Church of Canterbury. Leicester, UK: Leicester University Press. ISBN 0-7185-1182-4. Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2013). Wales and the Britons 350–1064. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821731-2. "Decimation". The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 1971 [1933]. p. 661. OCLC 67218777. Dutton, Paul Edward (1994). The Politics of Dreaming in the Carolingian Empire. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1653-X. "Early Medieval Coins: EMC number 2001.0016". Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Retrieved 11 July 2015. Edwards, Heather (2004). "Ecgberht [Egbert] (d. 839), king of the West Saxons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8581. Retrieved 5 April 2015. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Enright, Michael J. (1979). "Charles the Bald and Æthelwulf of Wessex: Alliance of 856 and Strategies of Royal Succession". Journal of Medieval History. Amsterdam, Netherlands: North Holland. 5 (1): 291–302. doi:10.1016/0304-4181(79)90003-4. ISSN 0304-4181. Finberg, H. P. R. (1964). The Early Charters of Wessex. Leicester, UK: Leicester University Press. OCLC 3977243. Fleming, Robin (1995). "History and Liturgy at Pre-Conquest Christ Church". The Haskins Society Journal: Studies in Medieval History. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. 6: 67–83. ISBN 0-85115-604-5. Grierson, Philip; Blackburn, Mark (2006) [1986]. Medieval European Coinage, With A Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge: 1: The Early Middle Ages (5th–10th Centuries) (corr. ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-03177-X. Grueber, Herbert A.; Keary, Charles Francis (1893). A Catalogue of English Coins in the British Museum: Anglo-Saxon Series (PDF). 2. London, UK: Printed by Order of the Trustees. OCLC 650118125. Halsall, Guy (2013). Worlds of Arthur: Facts & Fictions in the Dark Ages. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-870084-5. Hodgkin, R. H. (1935). A History of the Anglo-Saxons. 2. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. OCLC 1350966. John, Eric (1996). Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5053-7. Kelly, Susan (2005). Charters of Malmesbury Abbey. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-726317-4. Keynes, Simon; Lapidge, Michael, eds. (1983). Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources. London, UK: Penguin Classics. ISBN 978-0-14-044409-4. Keynes, Simon (1993). "The Control of Kent in the Ninth Century". Early Medieval Europe. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. 2 (2): 111–31. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0254.1993.tb00013.x. ISSN 1468-0254. Keynes, Simon (November 1994). "The West Saxon Charters of King Æthelwulf and his sons". English Historical Review. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 109: 1109–49. doi:10.1093/ehr/cix.434.1109. ISSN 0013-8266. Keynes, Simon (1995). "England, 700–900". In McKitterick, Rosamund. The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume II c.700–c.900. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 18–42. ISBN 0-521-36292-X. Keynes, Simon (1998). "King Alfred and the Mercians". In Blackburn, Mark A. S.; Dumville, David N. Kings, Currency and Alliances: History and Coinage of Southern England in the Ninth Century. Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press. pp. 1–45. ISBN 0-85115-598-7. Keynes, Simon (2003) [1955]. "Introduction: Changing Perceptions of Anglo-Saxon History". In Blair, Peter Hunter. An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England (Third ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. xvii–xxxv. ISBN 0-521-83085-0. Keynes, Simon (2009). "King Æthelred's Charter for Eynsham Abbey (1005)". In Baxter, Stephen; Karkov, Catherine; Nelson, Janet L.; Pelteret, David. Early Medieval Studies in Memory of Patrick Wormald. Farnham, UK: Ashgate. pp. 451–73. ISBN 978-0-7546-6331-7. Kirby, D. P. (2000). The Earliest English Kings (Revised ed.). London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-24211-8. Miller, Sean (2004). "Æthelred I [Ethelred I] (d. 871), King of the West Saxons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8913. Retrieved 24 March 2014. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Nelson, Janet L. (1997). "The Franks and the English in the Ninth Century Reconsidered". In Szarmach, Paul E.; Rosenthal, Joel T. The Preservation and Transmission of Anglo-Saxon Culture: Selected Papers from the 1991 Meeting of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists (PDF). Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University. pp. 141–58. ISBN 1-879288-90-7. Nelson, Janet L. (2004a). "Æthelwulf (d. 858), king of the West Saxons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39264. Retrieved 8 March 2015. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Nelson, Janet L. (2004b). "Osburh [Osburga] (fl. 839)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20887. Retrieved 8 March 2015. (subscription orUK public library membership required) Nelson, Janet L. (2004c). "England and the Continent in the Ninth Century: III, Rights and Rituals". Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (14): 1–24. Nelson, Janet L. (2006). "The Queen in Ninth-Century Wessex". In Keynes, Simon; Smyth, Alfred P. Anglo-Saxons: Studies Presented to Cyril Roy Hart. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts Press. pp. 69–77. ISBN 1-85182-932-6. Nelson, Janet L. (2013). "Britain, Ireland, and Europe, c. 750–c.900". In Stafford, Pauline. A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500–c.1100 (paperback ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 231–47. ISBN 978-1-118-42513-8. O'Keeffe, Katherine O'Brien (Winter 1996). "Deor" (PDF). Old English Newsletter. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Western Michigan University. 29 (2): 35–36. ISSN 0030-1973. Pratt, David (2007). The Political Thought of King Alfred the Great. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-12644-1. Ryan, Martin J. (2013). "The Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings, c. 825–900". In Higham, Nicholas J.; Ryan, Martin J. The Anglo-Saxon World. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. pp. 232–70. ISBN 978-0-300-12534-4. "S 281". The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters. Retrieved 21 October 2015. "S 316". The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters. Retrieved 10 July 2015. "S 319". The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters. Retrieved 2 July 2015. Smyth, Alfred P. (1995). King Alfred the Great. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-822989-5. Stafford, Pauline (1981). "Charles the Bald, Judith and England". In Gibson, Margaret; Nelson, Janet L. Charles the Bald: Court and Kingdom. Oxford, UK: B A R. pp. 137–51. ISBN 0-86054-115-0. Stenton, Frank M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5. Stevenson, William Henry (1904). Asser's Life of King Alfred. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. OCLC 1354216. Story, Joanna (2003). Carolingian Connections: Anglo-Saxon England and Carolingian Francia, c. 750–870. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. ISBN 0-7546-0124-2. Webster, Leslie (1991). "The Age of Alfred: Metalwork, Wood and Bone". In Webster, Leslie; Backhouse, Janet. The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600–900. London, UK: The Trustees of the British Museum. pp. 268–83. ISBN 0-7141-0555-4(Exhibition catalogue) Williams, Ann (1991a). "Æthelwulf King of Wessex 839-58". In Williams, Ann; Smyth, Alfred P.; Kirby, D. P. A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain. London, UK: Seaby. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-1-85264-047-7. Williams, Ann (1991b). "Ecgberht King of Wessex 802–39". In Williams, Ann; Smyth, Alfred P.; Kirby, D. P. A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain. London, UK: Seaby. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-85264-047-7. Williams, Ann (2014). "Land Tenure". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England (2nd ed.). 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Married Judith after death of wife in 855 Judith became son's wife after his death Æthelwulf, 839 – 858
Æthelwulf was already the king of Kent before his ascension to the throne of Wessex, a title awarded to him by his father in 825. Keeping to this family tradition, when Egbert died in 839 Æthelwulf subsequently handed Kent to his own son, Æthelstan, to rule it on his behalf.
Not much is known about Æthelwulf’s reign except that he an extremely religious man, prone to the occasional gaffe, and rather unambitious, although he did fairly well at keeping the invading Vikings at bay (namely at Carhampton and Ockley in Surrey, the latter of which was said to have been ‘ the greatest slaughter of heathen host ever made’.) Æthelwulf was also said to have been rather fond of his wife, Osburh, and together they bore six children (five sons and a daughter).
In 853 Æthelwulf sent his youngest son, Alfred (later to become King Alfred the Great) to Rome on a pilgrimage. However after the death of his wife in 855, Æthelwulf decided to join him in Italy and on his return the following year met his second wife, a 12 year old girl called Judith, a French princess.
Quite to his surprise, when Æthelwulf finally returned to British shores in 856 he found that his oldest surviving son, Æthelbald, had stolen the kingdom from him! Although Æthelwulf had more than enough support of the sub-kings to reclaim the throne, his Christian charity led him to cede the western half of Wessex to Æthelbald in an attempt to keep the kingdom from breaking out into civil war.
When Æthelwulf died in 858 the throne of Wessex unsurprisingly fell to Æthelbald.
Æthelbald 858 – 860
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Osburga, Queen Consort of Wessex
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Æthelstan, king of Kent
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Aethelbald, king of Wessex
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Ethelred I 'the Pious', king of ...
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Aethelswith, Queen of Mercia
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Alfred the Great, king of The An...
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Judith, countess of Flanders
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Egbert, king of Wessex
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Rædburh, queen consort of Wessex
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Baldwin II "the Bald", count of ...
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Rudolf, count of Cambrai
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