Æthelwulf of Wessex (c795-858)

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Æthelwulf of Wessex ‡
Birth:	795 Imperial Frankish Court, Aachen, France
Death:	13 January 858 Steyning, Sussex
Father:	Egbert of Wessex (c769-839)
Spouse / partner:	Osburga (-bef856)
Spouse / partner (2):	Judith (844-870)
Sex:
Edit Facts

• 839-858 : King of Wessex
• Æþelwulf cyning of Westseaxum (Old English)

Æthelwulf of Wessex was born 795 in Imperial Frankish Court, Aachen, France to Egbert of Wessex (c769-839) and died 13 January 858 Steyning, Sussex of unspecified causes. He married Osburga (-bef856) . He married Judith (844-870) .

Biography

Æthelwulf, also spelled Aethelwulf or Ethelwulf; Old English: Æþelwulf, meaning "Noble Wolf", was King of Wessex from 839 until his death in 858. He was the only known child of King Egbert of Wessex. He conquered the kingdom of Kent on behalf of his father in 825, and was sometime later made King of Kent as a sub-king to Egbert. He succeeded his father as King of Wessex on Egbert's death in 839, at which time his kingdom stretched from the county of Kent in the east to Devon in the west. At the same time his eldest son Æthelstan became sub-king of Kent as a subordinate ruler.

House of Wessex

He was of the royal English dynasty called House of Wessex, a family originating in the southwest corner of England and gradually increased in power and prestiege. The House became rulers of all the country with the reign of Alfred the Great in 871 and lasting until Edmund Ironside in 1016. This period of the English monarchy is known as the Saxon period.

Martial Career

Royal ring of Aethelwulf

This was an era in European history when nations were being invaded by many different groups; there were Saracens in the south, Magyars in the east, Moors in the west, and Vikings in the north.

Æthelwulf and his oldest son, Æthelstan of Kent (-c852), are most noted for their success in repelling a series of Danish invasions from 840-860 including a huge victory at Oakley in 851 AD, and according to the Chronicle it was "the greatest slaughter of heathen host ever made."

Around 853, They were successful in battles allied with his son-in-law, Burgred, King of Mercia, in defeating Cyngen ap Cadell of Wales and made the Welsh subject to him.

855 Pilgrimage to Rome

Religion was always an important part of Æthelwulf's life. As early as the first year of his reign he planned a pilgrimage to Rome. Due to the ongoing and increasing raids he felt the need to appeal to the Christian God for help against an enemy "so agile, and numerous, and profane."

In 855, about a year after the death of his wife Osburga, Æthelwulf followed Alfred to Rome, where he was generous with his wealth. He distributed gold to the clergy of St. Peter's and offered them chalices of the purest gold and silver-gilt candelabra of Saxon work.

856 Civil War

Tombstone of Aethelwulf

Upon their return to England in 856 Æthelwulf met with an acute crisis. His eldest surviving son Æthelbald (Athelstan had since died) had devised a conspiracy with the Ealdorman of Somerset and the Bishop of Sherborne to oppose Æthelwulf's resumption of the kingship on his return. While Æthelwulf was able to muster enough support to fight a civil war or to banish Æthelbald and his fellow conspirators, he instead chose to yield western Wessex to his son, while he himself retained central and eastern Wessex. The absence of coins in Æthelbald's name suggests that West Saxon coinage was in Æthelwulf's name until his death. He ruled there until his death on 13 January 858.

Burial

He was buried first at Steyning and later re-interred in the Old Minster in Winchester. His bones now rest in one of several "mortuary chests" in Winchester Cathedral.

Marriage & Family

1st Marriage: Osburg

Æthelwulf and his first wife, Osburh, had five sons, Æthelstan, Æthelbald, Æthelbert, Æthelred, and Alfred. Each of his sons, with the exception of Æthelstan, succeeded to the throne. Æthelwulf's only daughter, Æthelswith, was married as a child to King Burgred of Mercia.

Osburh or Osburga was the first wife of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and mother of Alfred the Great. Alfred's biographer, Asser, described her as "a most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth". It is presumed that she died before 856 when Æthelwulf remarried. Osburh was the daughter of Oslac, King Æthelwulf's Butler, an important figure in the royal court and household.

1. Æthelstan of Kent (-c852) - Eldest son, did not rule)
2. Æthelswith of Wessex (c838-888) - Only daughter, was married as a child to King Burgred of Mercia.
3. Æthelbald of Wessex (-860) - Son. Married 858, Judith (844-870), his father's widow and stepmother. Ruled 858–860. (see 2nd Marriage below) (died 20 Dec 860)
4. Æthelberht of Wessex (-865) - Son. Ruled 860-865.
5. Æthelred of Wessex (c847-871) - Son. Married. Two known children. Ruled 865-871. Died 23 Apr 871.
6. Alfred the Great, (c849-899) - Son. Married 868, Ealhswith. Six known children. Ruled 871–899. Died 26 Oct 899, the lineage of Wessex Kings runs thru him.

2nd Marriage: Judith

During the return journey in 856 he married Judith (844-870) (aka:Judith of Flanders), the 12-year old daughter of Charles The Bald, king of the West Franks. She was a Carolingian princess (a great-granddaughter of Emporer Charlemagne), the daughter of Charles the Bald (823-877), King of the West Franks. She had no children with Aethelwulf.

The restoration of Æthelwulf included a special concession on behalf of Saxon queens. The West Saxons previously did not allow the queen to sit next to the king. In fact they were referred to not as a queen but merely as the "wife of the king." This restriction was lifted for Queen Judith, probably because she was a high-ranking European princess.

Judith had no children by Æthelwulf, who died on 13 January 858. He was succeeded by Æthelbald, who married Judith, his step-mother, probably to enhance his status because she was the daughter of the West Frankish king. The marriage was condemned by Asser in his Life of Alfred the Great:

Once King Æthelwulf was dead, Æthelbald, his son, against God's prohibition and Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans, took over his father's marriage-bed and married Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks, incurring great disgrace from all who heard of it.

Judith was still childless when Æthelbald died in 860 after a reign of two and a half years.[

Following Æthelbald's death, Judith sold her properties in Wessex and returned to France. According to the Chronicle of St. Bertin, her father sent her to the Monastery at Senlis, where she would remain "under his protection and royal episcopal guardianship, with all the honour due to a queen, until such time as, if she could not remain chaste, she might marry in the way the apostle said, that is suitably and legally." Presumably, Charles may have intended to arrange another marriage for his daughter. However, around Christmas 861, Judith eloped with Baldwin, later Count of Flanders.

Children

Offspring of Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburga (-bef856)
Name	Birth	Death	Joined with
Æthelstan of Kent (-c852)	830 England, United Kingdom (Wessex)	852 England, United Kingdom (Wessex)
Æthelswith of Wessex (c838-888)	838 England, United Kingdom (Wessex)	888 Pavia, Italy	Burgred of Mercia (c825-874)
Æthelbald of Wessex (-860)	833 Wessex	20 December 860 Sherborne, Dorsetshire, England	Judith (844-870)
Æthelberht of Wessex (-865)	836 Wessex	865 England
Æthelred of Wessex (c847-871)	847 Wessex	23 April 871 Wessex	Wulfthryth of Wessex (c840-)
Alfred the Great (849-899)	23 April 849 Wantage, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom	26 October 899 Winchester, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom	Ealhswith (c852-905)

Siblings

Offspring of Egbert of Wessex (c769-839) and unknown parent
Name	Birth	Death	Joined with
Æthelwulf of Wessex (c795-858)	795 Imperial Frankish Court, Aachen, France	13 January 858 Steyning, Sussex	Osburga (-bef856) Judith (844-870)

Offspring of Egbert of Wessex (c769-839) and unknown parent
Name	Birth	Death	Joined with
Wihtred of Wessex (c800-)

See Also

Bibliography

• 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 12: 83–97. DOI:10.1017/upo9781846150852.006. 
• 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. 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. http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/emc/fullpage.php?from=list&which=12. 
• 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. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8581/8581?back=,8921,8581,8921. 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 5: 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 6: 67–83. 
• Grierson, Philip; Blackburn, Mark (2006). 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. 

External Links

• wikipedia:en:Æthelwulf, King of Wessex
• Æðelwulf, King of Wessex at thePeerage
• Æthelwulf, King of Wessex - Geni.com
• Æthelwulf, King of Wessex at Find A Grave
• Anglo-Saxon and Danish Kings of England - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
• Æthelwulf 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

Ancestry Trees

• Alfred the Great Family Ancestry
• House of Wessex

Contemporary Sources

There are several contemporary sources that provide information about the life of Æthelwulf, King of Wessex. These include:

1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: This is a collection of annals written in Old English, which provides a year-by-year account of events in Anglo-Saxon England from the 9th to the 12th centuries. The Chronicle includes information about Æthelwulf's military campaigns and political alliances.
2. Asser's Life of King Alfred: This is a biography of King Alfred the Great written by his contemporary, Asser. Although the focus of the work is on Alfred, it includes information about his father, Æthelwulf, and his reign.
3. The Frankish Annals: These are a series of annals written in Latin, which provide a year-by-year account of events in Francia (modern-day France) and other parts of Europe. The Frankish Annals include information about Æthelwulf's marriage to Judith, the daughter of the Frankish king.
4. The Chronicle of Saint Neots: This is a chronicle written in Latin, which provides a year-by-year account of events in Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th to the 12th centuries. The Chronicle includes information about Æthelwulf's religious activities and his pilgrimage to Rome.
5. The Liber Vitae of the New Minster, Winchester: This is a book of prayers and names written in Latin, which includes the names of Anglo-Saxon kings, including Æthelwulf. The book was created in the late 10th or early 11th century and provides evidence of the veneration of Æthelwulf as a saintly figure.

Original Citations

849 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle #1

However, in "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," there is an entry for the year 849 which reads:

"Her Æðelwulf cyning gefeaht wið heathoða (heidene) cyninga, and his sunu Æðelstan æt Wigmore, and þær wearð micel wæl geslægen on bæð wælstowe" (Translation: "Here King Æthelwulf fought against the heathen kings, and his son Æthelstan at Wigmore, and there was a great slaughter on both sides").

This entry is significant because it mentions the name of King Alfred's father, Æthelwulf, and his older brother, Æthelstan, who would go on to become king after their father's death.

850 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle #2

Original Old English:

"Her Æþelwulf cyning gerædde þæt his sunu Æþelbald cyning sceolde ricsian æfter him on West Seaxum, and þæt him æfter his dæge eall his rice to ælcum dæle to gange, butan þæm feower hida landes þe he his yldran broþrum sealde on his dagum on feorme."

Translation: "In this year [856 AD], King Æthelwulf decreed that his son Æthelbald should rule after him in Wessex, and that after his [Æthelwulf's] day all his realm should pass to him [Æthelbald] in every part, except for the four hides of land which he gave to his elder brothers in his lifetime for their maintenance."

This quotation is significant because it provides insight into the political arrangements that Æthelwulf made for the succession of the Wessex throne and his concern for the welfare of his family.

Æthelwulf's will

A page from King Alfred's will

Æthelwulf's will has not survived, but Alfred's has and it provides some information about his father's intentions. He left a bequest to be inherited by whichever of Æthelbald, Æthelred, and Alfred lived longest. Abels and Yorke argue that this meant the whole of his personal property in Wessex, and probably that the survivor was to inherit the throne of Wessex as well, while Æthelberht and his heirs ruled Kent. Other historians disagree. Nelson states that the provision regarding the personal property had nothing to do with the kingship, 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." Smyth describes the bequest as provision for his youngest sons when they reached manhood. Æthelwulf's moveable wealth, such as gold and silver, was to be divided among "children, nobles and the needs of the king's soul". 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.

Succession Chart

Regnal titles
Preceded by Ecgberht	King of Wessex 839–858	Succeeded by Æthelbald

Footnotes (including sources)

‡ General

his mother's name is unknown: "Raedburga" is a myth

MainTour, AMK152, Rtol, Phlox, Thurstan, Robin Patterson