Æthelbald, King of Wessex

gigatos | February 15, 2022

Post Views: 13

Summary

Æthelbald was king of Wessex from 855 until his death in 860.

The second son of King Æthelwulf, Æthelbald began to appear on his father”s charters in the early 840s and participated with him in the victory of Aclea over the Vikings in 851. When Æthelwulf went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 855, he entrusted Wessex proper to Æthelbald and Kent to his third son Æthelberht.

Æthelwulf returned to England the following year, but Æthelbald refused to give him back the power, supported by a part of the West Saxon elites. In the end, the country escaped civil war thanks to a territorial division between father and son, the terms of which are uncertain. The part devolved to Æthelbald could be either the western half of Wessex or the whole of Wessex.

After Æthelwulf”s death in 858, Æthelbald remained (or became) king of the whole of Wessex. Soon afterwards he married Judith of France, his father”s second wife. Although this union was denounced by the monk Asser a few decades later, it does not seem to have caused any scandal at the time. This marriage produced no children, and Æthelberht, Æthelbald”s younger brother, succeeded him to the throne of Wessex upon his death in 860.

In 802, Æthelbald”s grandfather, Ecgberht, ascended the throne of Wessex. This distant descendant of Cerdic, the legendary founder of the Wessex royal line, became the first ruler in more than a century to bequeath the kingdom to his son upon his death. England was at this time almost entirely controlled by the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the most powerful of which was that of Mercy, based in the Midlands, until 825. In that year, Ecgberht inflicted a decisive defeat on King Beornwulf of Mercy at the Battle of Ellendun, which marked the end of Mercian supremacy over southern England. The former kingdoms of the south-east of the island (Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex) thus came under the authority of Ecgberht, who entrusted them to his son Æthelwulf.

The 830s were marked by Viking raids on the English coast. The Isle of Sheppey was ravaged in 835, and the following year Ecgberht suffered a defeat against the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset. He won a battle against the Vikings allied with the Cornish in 838 at Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom. Upon his death in 839, his son Æthelwulf became king of Wessex and left the southeastern sub-kingdom to his eldest son Æthelstan.

Also read, biographies – Pliny the Elder

Origins

Æthelbald was the second son of Æthelwulf. His mother is probably Osburga, the mother of Alfred the Great. In view of the great age difference between the first and last children of Æthelwulf, it is possible that Æthelbald was born of an earlier marriage of Æthelwulf, otherwise unknown. The first mention of Æthelbald is in a charter issued by his father in 840, where he bears the title filius regis, “son of the king”. He is systematically described as such in the charters of the 840s, then becomes dux filius regis on a charter of 850 and simply dux (ealdorman) thereafter.

In 850, Æthelstan won a naval victory over a Danish fleet off Sandwich, Kent. This is his last appearance in the sources, and he must have died soon after. The following year, the West Saxons, led by Æthelwulf and Æthelbald, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Aclea, possibly in Surrey. When Æthelwulf decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome in 855, he proceeded to divide the kingdom between his two eldest surviving sons: Æthelbald received Wessex proper, while Kent and the other south-eastern kingdoms went to his third son, Æthelberht.

Also read, biographies – Christina Rossetti

The division of the kingdom

After spending a year in Rome, Æthelwulf returned home and spent several months with the Frankish king Charles the Bald. He married the latter”s daughter, Judith, who was crowned queen during the ceremony by Archbishop Hincmar of Reims. Æthelwulf and Judith arrived in England in October 856. According to the biography of Alfred the Great written by the Welsh monk Asser in the 890s, Æthelwulf”s return was marked by a plot organized by Æthelbald and two of his father”s main advisors, the Sherborne bishop Eahlstan and the Somerset ealdorman Eanwulf, to prevent him from regaining his throne.

These events have been the subject of various interpretations by modern historians. The remarriage of Æthelwulf may have been part of an alliance against the Vikings: he enjoyed a certain prestige after his victories against the invaders, while Charles the Bald, who was also confronted with their raids, also had to fight against the revolting nobility of his kingdom. By granting him his daughter”s hand in marriage, he included the West Saxon king in his network of alliances. Æthelwulf gained prestige by marrying a great-granddaughter of Charlemagne. His coronation gave her a special status, as well as any children she might give to Æthelwulf, who might inherit all or part of his father”s kingdom, to the detriment of Æthelbald, who would thus have had every reason to revolt. It is also possible that he hoped his father would die during his pilgrimage.

The opposition between the western and eastern halves of Wessex is perhaps another factor in the crisis. Historically, the diocese of Sherborne, which covers the west of the kingdom, is separated from that of Winchester, in the east, by the Selwood Forest. The family of Ecgberht was originally associated with the western part of Wessex, but it drew closer to the clergy of Winchester in order to gain their support in retaining the throne. According to Asser, the plot is being hatched “west of Selwood,” and Æthelbald”s main supporters, Eahlstan and Eanwulf, are also from that region. It is likely that they did not like the fact that the royal favor was directed to the diocese of Winchester, whose bishop, Swithun, was appointed by Æthelwulf in 852. Æthelbald, on the other hand, favored Sherborne more.

According to Asser, Æthelwulf chose to divide his kingdom to avoid a civil war, but the exact terms of this division are not clear. The most common reading is that Æthelbald retains Wessex, while Æthelwulf (who perhaps retains a degree of authority over his son) takes over the southeastern kingdoms of which his other son Æthelberht had custody during his pilgrimage. It is also possible that Wessex itself was divided between father and son: Æthelbald would have retained his power base, west of Selwood, and Æthelwulf the eastern part around Winchester. According to this scenario, Æthelberht would have remained king of Kent and the other south-eastern provinces. This version is consistent with the way Asser implies that Judith became queen of the West Saxons in 856.

Kingdom

Asser reports that at the end of his life, Æthelwulf planned to divide his kingdom between his two eldest sons. When he died on January 13, 858, his last wishes were respected: Æthelbald remained (or reverted) king of Wessex, while Æthelberht reverted (or remained) king of Kent and the other southeastern provinces. Æthelwulf”s will stipulates that his inheritance is to be divided between his sons Æthelbald, Æthelred and Alfred, with a provision that the last survivor of the three should inherit the whole. Some historians consider this to be a reference to the royal title, but others see it as a way of providing income for his two youngest sons.

Judith”s status as a Carolingian princess was such that Æthelbald decided to take her as his wife. Although Asser states that “all those who heard of it saw it as a great ignominy”, this marriage does not seem to have aroused any notable opposition. The Annals of St. Bertin, a text of Frankish origin, notes this without comment and indicates that after Æthelbald”s death, Judith was welcomed “with all the honors due to a queen” when she returned to her father.

Only two charters issued during Æthelbald”s reign survive. The first (S 1274), dated 858, records the life gift to the king of an episcopal estate at Farnham, Surrey, by the bishop of Winchester Swithun. Its authenticity is debated by historians: doubtful for Janet Nelson, it is defended by Simon Keynes. It is the oldest known West Saxon charter to mention a contribution to fortification work, an innovation that could be of Carolingian origin (a few years later, Charles the Bald undertook a program of construction and restoration of the defenses of West Francia).

The second charter of Æthelbald (S 326), dated 860, testifies to the king”s gift of fourteen hides of land at Teffont in Wiltshire to a thegn named Osmund. Judith”s presence in the list of witnesses to these two documents is evidence of her particularly high status, as the other wives of ninth-century Wessex kings almost never testify on their husbands” charters. Æthelberht is also a witness to this charter, suggesting that he had a good relationship with his brother.

No coins bearing Æthelbald”s name are known. The main mints in southern England are located in Canterbury and Rochester, two cities in Kent. Coins issued from these workshops bear the name of Æthelwulf until 858, when they are replaced by Æthelberht. This implies that Æthelbald had no suzerainty over his younger brother. The only workshop in Wessex, probably located in Southampton or Winchester, was very little active in the mid-ninth century: only three coins are known for the period 839-871, two by Æthelwulf and one by Æthelred, all produced by the same mint. Three coins bearing the name Æthelbald, considered authentic until the end of the nineteenth century, were identified as forgeries in the 1900s.

Æthelbald died in 860. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives him a reign of five years, counting from the year of Æthelwulf”s departure for Rome. In contrast, Asser and the Annals of St. Neots give his reign as lasting only two and a half years, with the Annals stating that he also reigned two and a half years with his father. The exact day of his death is not given in these sources, but if he did indeed reign two and a half years after his father”s death in January 858, he must have died around July. He is buried at Sherborne in Dorset. Æthelberht succeeded him, uniting Wessex and Kent under a single crown. The recent conquests in the south-east were later considered as part of the West Saxon kingdom.

The only contemporary account of Æthelbald is that of Asser, the biographer of Alfred the Great, who passes a very negative judgment on him because of his revolt against his father and his marriage to his stepmother. He describes him as “iniquitous and obstinate”. This point of view is taken up by the chroniclers after the Norman conquest of England: “less than nothing and disloyal to his father” for William of Malmesbury, “defying God”s ban and Christian dignity” for John of Worcester. Roger of Wendover agrees with the latter, but he describes Æthelbald”s repentance in 859, when he repudiated Judith to rule as a good sovereign. Henry of Huntingdon distinguishes himself by painting a positive picture of the king, whose untimely demise he claims all of England mourned. Modern historians tend to treat this king, whose reign was very short and poorly known, in a more neutral way.

Also read, biographies – Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada

Secondary sources

Sources