Ethelbald of Mercia
Encyclopedia
Æthelbald (died 757) was the King of Mercia
, in what is now the English Midlands
, from 716 until 757. During his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the seventh century under the strong Mercian kings Penda
and Wulfhere
. Mercian domination of England
continued until the end of the eighth century; Offa
, the grandson of Æthelbald's cousin Eanwulf, ruled for an additional thirty-nine years, starting shortly after Æthelbald's murder.
Æthelbald came to the throne on the death of his cousin, King Ceolred
. Both Wessex
and Kent
were ruled by strong kings at that time, but within fifteen years the contemporary chronicler Bede
describes Æthelbald as ruling all England south of the river Humber
. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
does not list Æthelbald as a bretwalda
, or "Ruler of Britain", though this may be due to the West Saxon origin of the Chronicle.
St Boniface
wrote to Æthelbald in about 745, reproving him for various dissolute and irreligious acts. The subsequent 747 council of Clovesho, and a charter Æthelbald issued at Gumley in 749—which freed the church from some of its obligations—may have been responses to Boniface's letter. Æthelbald was killed in 757 by his bodyguards. He was succeeded briefly by Beornrad
, of whom little is known, but within a year Offa had seized the throne.
. However, two later sources name Eowa as king as well: the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae
. The Annales Cambriae is the source for Eowa's death in 644 at the battle of Maserfield
, where Penda defeated Oswald of Northumbria
. Details on Penda’s reign are scarce, and it is a matter for speculation whether Eowa was an underking, owing allegiance to Penda, or if instead Eowa and Penda had divided Mercia between them. If they did divide the kingdom, it is likely that Eowa ruled northern Mercia, as Penda’s son Peada was established later as the king of southern Mercia by the Northumbrian Oswiu
, who defeated the Mercians and killed Penda in 656. It is possible that Eowa fought against Penda at Maserfield.
During Æthelbald's youth, Penda's dynasty ruled Mercia; Ceolred
, a grandson of Penda and therefore a second cousin of Æthelbald, was king of Mercia from 709 to 716. An early source, Felix's Life of Saint Guthlac, reveals that it was Ceolred who drove Æthelbald into exile. Guthlac
was a Mercian nobleman who abandoned a career of violence to become first a monk at Repton
, and later a hermit living in a barrow
at Crowland
, in the East Anglian fens. During Æthelbald's exile he and his men also took refuge in the Fens in the area, and visited Guthlac. Guthlac was sympathetic to Æthelbald's cause, perhaps because of Ceolred's oppression of the monasteries. Other visitors of Guthlac's included Bishop Haedde of Lichfield
, an influential Mercian, and it may be that Guthlac's support was politically useful to Æthelbald in gaining the throne. After Guthlac's death, Æthelbald had a dream in which Guthlac prophesied greatness for him, and Æthelbald later rewarded Guthlac with a shrine when he had become king.
When Ceolred died of a fit at a banquet, Æthelbald returned to Mercia and became ruler. It is possible that a king named Ceolwald, perhaps a brother of Ceolred, reigned for a short while between Ceolred and Æthelbald. Æthelbald's accession ended Penda's line of descent; Æthelbald's reign was followed, after a brief interval, by that of Offa, another descendant of Eowa.
Æthelbald's reign marked a resurgence of Mercian power, which would last until the end of the eighth century. With the exception of the short reign of Beornrad
, who succeeded Æthelbald for less than a year, Mercia was ruled for eighty years by two of the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kings, Æthelbald and Offa. These long reigns were unusual at this early date; during the same period eleven kings reigned in Northumbria
, many of whom died violent deaths.
By 731, Æthelbald had all the English south of the Humber under his overlordship. There is little direct evidence of the relationship between Æthelbald and the kings who were dependent on him. Generally, a king subject to an overlord such as Æthelbald would still be regarded as a king, but would have his independence curtailed in some respects. Charter
s are an important source of evidence for this relationship; these were documents which granted land to followers or to churchmen, and were witnessed by the kings who had power to grant the land. A charter granting land in the territory of one of the subject kings might record the names of the king as well as the overlord on the witness list appended to the grant; such a witness list can be seen on the Ismere Diploma
, for example. The titles given to the kings on these charters could also be revealing: a king might be described as a "subregulus", or underking.
Enough information survives to suggest the progress of Æthelbald's influence over two of the southern kingdoms, Wessex
and Kent
. At the start of Æthelbald's reign, both Kent and Wessex were ruled by strong kings; Wihtred
and Ine
, respectively. Wihtred of Kent died in 725, and Ine of Wessex, one of the most formidable rulers of his day, abdicated in 726 to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ine's successor, Aethelheard
, fought that year with an ealdorman
named Oswald, whom the Chronicle provides with a genealogy showing descent from Ceawlin
, an early king of Wessex. Aethelheard ultimately succeeded in this struggle for the throne, and there are subsequent indications that he ruled subject to Mercian authority. Hence it may be that Æthelbald helped establish both Aethelheard and his brother, Cuthred, who succeeded Aethelheard in 739. There is also evidence of South Saxon territory breaking away from West Saxon dominance in the early 720s, and this may indicate Æthelbald's increasing influence in the area, though it could have been Kentish, rather than Mercian, influence that was weakening West Saxon control.
As for Kent, there is evidence from Kentish charters
that shows that Æthelbald was a patron of Kentish churches. There is, however, no charter evidence showing Æthelbald's consent to Kentish land grants; and charters of Aethelberht and Eadberht
, both kings of Kent, survive in which they grant land without Æthelbald's consent. It may be that charters showing Æthelbald's overlordship simply do not survive, but the result is that there is no direct evidence of the extent of Æthelbald's influence in Kent.
Less is known about events in Essex, but it was at about this time that London became attached to the kingdom of Mercia rather than that of Essex. Three of Æthelbald's predecessors—Æthelred, Coenred, and Ceolred—had each confirmed an East Saxon charter granting Twickenham to Waldhere, the bishop of London. From Kentish charters it is known that Æthelbald was in control of London, and from Æthelbald's time on, the transition to Mercian control appears to be complete; an early charter of Offa's, granting land near Harrow, does not even include the king of Essex on the witness list. For the South Saxons, there is very little charter evidence, but as with Kent, what there is does not show any requirement for Æthelbald's consent to land grants. The lack of evidence should not obscure the fact that Bede, who was after all a contemporary chronicler, summarized the situation of England in 731 by listing the bishops in office in southern England, and adding that "all these provinces, together with the others south of the river Humber and their kings, are subject to Æthelbald, King of the Mercians."
There is evidence that Æthelbald had to go to war to maintain his overlordship. In 733 Æthelbald undertook an expedition against Wessex and captured the royal manor
of Somerton
. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also tells how when Cuthred
succeeded Aethelheard to the throne of Wessex, in 740, he "boldly made war against Aethelbald, king of Mercia". Three years later, Cuthred and Æthelbald are described as fighting against the Welsh. This could have been an obligation placed on Cuthred by Mercia; earlier kings had similarly assisted Penda
and Wulfhere
, two strong seventh-century Mercian rulers. In 752, Æthelbald and Cuthred are again on opposite sides of the conflict, and according to one version of the manuscript, Cuthred "put him [Æthelbald] to flight" at Burford
. Æthelbald seems to have reasserted his authority over the West Saxons by the time of his death, since a later West Saxon king, Cynewulf
, is recorded as witnessing a charter of Æthelbald at the very beginning of his reign, in 757.
In 740, a war between the Picts and the Northumbrians is reported. Æthelbald, who might have been allied with Óengus
, the king of the Picts, took advantage of Eadberht
's absence from Northumbria to ravage his lands, and perhaps burn York
.
Earlier in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People chronicle, he lists seven kings who governed the southern provinces of the English, with reigns dating from the late fifth to the late seventh century. Subsequently, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle—another important source for the period—describes these seven as bretwalda
s or brytenwaldas, a title translated as "Britain-ruler" or "Wide-ruler". The Chronicle adds just one king to the list: Egbert of Wessex
, who reigned in the ninth century. The resulting list of eight bretwaldas omits several strong Mercian kings. It is possible that the chronicler was merely adding Egbert's name to Bede's original list of seven, rather than claiming that no other kings achieved similar powers in England. The chronicler was almost certainly a West Saxon, and since neither Æthelbald nor Offa were kings of Wessex it is possible the chronicler does not mention them out of regional pride. The meaning of the term "bretwalda", and the nature of the power that these eight kings wielded, has had much academic scrutiny. One suggested interpretation is that since Bede was writing during Æthelbald's reign, the original seven he listed were essentially those kings who could be seen as prototypes of Æthelbald in their domination of England south of the Humber.
Further evidence of Æthelbald's power, or at least his titles, is provided by an important charter of 736, the Ismere Diploma
, which survives in a contemporary (and possibly original) copy. It starts by describing Æthelbald as "king not only of the Mercians but also of all the provinces which are called by the general name South English"; in the witness list he is further named "Rex Britanniae", "King of Britain". One historian described this title as "a phrase which can only be interpreted as a Latin rendering of the English title Bretwalda"; but it may be that at that time these titles would not have been acknowledged much beyond Worcester
, where this and other documents from the 730s that use similar titles were written.
, along with seven other bishops, sent Æthelbald a scorching letter reproaching him for many sins—stealing ecclesiastical revenue, violating church privileges, imposing forced labour on the clergy, and fornicating with nuns. The letter implored Æthelbald to take a wife and abandon the sin of lust:
Boniface first sent the letter to Ecgberht
, the archbishop of York, asking him to correct any inaccuracies and reinforce whatever was right; and he requested Herefrith, a priest whom Æthelbald had listened to in the past, to read and explain it to the king in person. Though Boniface's letter praises Æthelbald's faith and alms-giving, its criticisms have strongly coloured subsequent opinion of Æthelbald. A claim made in a ninth-century list of donations from the abbey of Gloucester that Æthelbald had "stabbed—or smitten" to death the kinsman of a Mercian abbess has also contributed negatively to his reputation.
Æthelbald may have influenced the appointment of successive archbishops of Canterbury in Tatwin
e, Nothelm
, and Cuthbert, the latter probably the former bishop of Hereford; and despite Boniface's strong criticisms, there is evidence of Æthelbald's positive interest in church affairs. A subsequent letter of Boniface's to Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, provided a good deal of information about Frankish synod
s, especially one held in 747, the decrees of which Boniface included in the letter. Boniface does not explicitly suggest to Cuthbert that he, too, should hold a synod, but it seems clear that this was Boniface's intent. A council was, in fact, subsequently held at Clovesho (the location of which is now lost); Æthelbald attended and perhaps presided. The council was concerned with the relationship between the church and the secular world, and it condemned many excesses on the part of the clergy. The council limited relations between monks and laymen and ruled that secular activities were impermissible for monks: secular business and secular songs were both forbidden, especially "ludicrous songs".
Two years after this, in 749, at the synod of Gumley
, Æthelbald issued a charter that freed ecclesiastical lands from all obligations except the requirement to build forts and bridges—obligations which lay upon everyone, as part of the trinoda necessitas
. This charter was witnessed only by Mercian bishops, and it is possible it had no effect outside Mercia, but it is also possible that it was essentially part of a reform programme inspired by Boniface and instigated at Clovesho.
, Warwickshire
, near the royal seat of Tamworth
. According to a later continuation of Bede
's Ecclesiastical History, he was "treacherously murdered at night by his own bodyguards", though the reason why is unrecorded. He was succeeded, briefly, by Beornrad
. Æthelbald was buried at Repton
, in a crypt which still can be seen; a contemporary is reported to have seen a vision of him in hell, reinforcing the impression of a king not universally well-regarded. The monastery church on the site at that time was probably constructed by Æthelbald to house the royal mausoleum; other burials there include that of Wigstan.
A fragment of a cross shaft from Repton includes on one face a carved image of a mounted man which, it has been suggested, may be a memorial to Æthelbald. The figure is of a man wearing mail armour and brandishing a sword and shield, with a diadem
bound around his head. If this is Æthelbald, it would make it the earliest large-scale pictorial representation of an English monarch.
, there was once a King Alfred III of Mercia, who reigned in the 730s. Though no Mercian king was ever named Alfred, let alone three, if this story has any historical basis (which Leland himself rejected) it must presumably relate to Æthelbald. The legend states that Alfred III had occasion to visit a certain William de Albanac, alleged ancestor of the Earls of Rutland, at his castle near Grantham
, and took a fancy to Willam's three comely daughters. It was the king's intention to take one as his mistress, but William threatened to kill whichever he chose rather than have her dishonoured in this way, whereupon Alfred "answerid that he meant to take one of them to wife, and chose Etheldrede that had fat bottoks, and of her he had Alurede that wan first all the Saxons the monarchy of England." A painting of this supposed incident was commissioned in 1778 by the then Duke of Rutland, but was destroyed in a fire in 1816.
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
, in what is now the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
, from 716 until 757. During his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the seventh century under the strong Mercian kings Penda
Penda of Mercia
Penda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the...
and Wulfhere
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
. Mercian domination of England
Mercian Supremacy
The Mercian Supremacy is a term commonly used to describe that period of English history between AD 600 and 900, in which the Kingdom of Mercia dominated the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy...
continued until the end of the eighth century; Offa
Offa of Mercia
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...
, the grandson of Æthelbald's cousin Eanwulf, ruled for an additional thirty-nine years, starting shortly after Æthelbald's murder.
Æthelbald came to the throne on the death of his cousin, King Ceolred
Ceolred of Mercia
-Mercia at the end of the 7th century:By the end of the 7th century, England was almost entirely divided into kingdoms ruled by the Anglo-Saxons, who had come to Britain two hundred years earlier. The kingdom of Mercia occupied what is now the English Midlands, bordered by Northumbria to the...
. Both Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
and Kent
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
were ruled by strong kings at that time, but within fifteen years the contemporary chronicler Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
describes Æthelbald as ruling all England south of the river Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
does not list Æthelbald as a bretwalda
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
, or "Ruler of Britain", though this may be due to the West Saxon origin of the Chronicle.
St Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
wrote to Æthelbald in about 745, reproving him for various dissolute and irreligious acts. The subsequent 747 council of Clovesho, and a charter Æthelbald issued at Gumley in 749—which freed the church from some of its obligations—may have been responses to Boniface's letter. Æthelbald was killed in 757 by his bodyguards. He was succeeded briefly by Beornrad
Beornrad of Mercia
Beornred was briefly King of Mercia in 757, following the murder of Æthelbald. However, he was defeated by Offa and fled.According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 757:...
, of whom little is known, but within a year Offa had seized the throne.
Early life and accession
Æthelbald came of the Mercian royal line, although his father, Alweo, was never king. Alweo’s father was Eowa, who may have shared the throne for some time with his brother, Penda of Mercia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not mention Eowa; though it does date Penda’s reign as the thirty years from 626 to 656, when Penda was killed at the battle of the WinwaedBattle of the Winwaed
The Battle of the Winwaed was fought on 15 November 655 , between King Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia, ending in the Mercians' defeat and Penda's death.-History:Although the battle is said to be the most important between the early northern and southern divisions of...
. However, two later sources name Eowa as king as well: the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, is the name given to a complex of Cambro-Latin chronicles deriving ultimately from a text compiled from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales, not later than the 10th century...
. The Annales Cambriae is the source for Eowa's death in 644 at the battle of Maserfield
Battle of Maserfield
The Battle of Maserfield , Welsh: "Maes Cogwy", was fought on August 5, 641 or 642, between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment...
, where Penda defeated Oswald of Northumbria
Oswald of Northumbria
Oswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is now venerated as a Christian saint.Oswald was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of...
. Details on Penda’s reign are scarce, and it is a matter for speculation whether Eowa was an underking, owing allegiance to Penda, or if instead Eowa and Penda had divided Mercia between them. If they did divide the kingdom, it is likely that Eowa ruled northern Mercia, as Penda’s son Peada was established later as the king of southern Mercia by the Northumbrian Oswiu
Oswiu of Northumbria
Oswiu , also known as Oswy or Oswig , was a King of Bernicia. His father, Æthelfrith of Bernicia, was killed in battle, fighting against Rædwald, King of the East Angles and Edwin of Deira at the River Idle in 616...
, who defeated the Mercians and killed Penda in 656. It is possible that Eowa fought against Penda at Maserfield.
During Æthelbald's youth, Penda's dynasty ruled Mercia; Ceolred
Ceolred of Mercia
-Mercia at the end of the 7th century:By the end of the 7th century, England was almost entirely divided into kingdoms ruled by the Anglo-Saxons, who had come to Britain two hundred years earlier. The kingdom of Mercia occupied what is now the English Midlands, bordered by Northumbria to the...
, a grandson of Penda and therefore a second cousin of Æthelbald, was king of Mercia from 709 to 716. An early source, Felix's Life of Saint Guthlac, reveals that it was Ceolred who drove Æthelbald into exile. Guthlac
Saint Guthlac
Saint Guthlac of Crowland was a Christian saint from Lincolnshire in England. He is particularly venerated in the Fens of eastern England.-Life:...
was a Mercian nobleman who abandoned a career of violence to become first a monk at Repton
Repton
Repton is a village and civil parish on the edge of the River Trent floodplain in South Derbyshire, about north of Swadlincote. Repton is close to the county boundary with neighbouring Staffordshire and about northeast of Burton upon Trent.-History:...
, and later a hermit living in a barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
at Crowland
Crowland
Crowland or Croyland is a small town in south Lincolnshire, England, positioned between Peterborough and Spalding, with two sites of historical interest.-Geography:...
, in the East Anglian fens. During Æthelbald's exile he and his men also took refuge in the Fens in the area, and visited Guthlac. Guthlac was sympathetic to Æthelbald's cause, perhaps because of Ceolred's oppression of the monasteries. Other visitors of Guthlac's included Bishop Haedde of Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, an influential Mercian, and it may be that Guthlac's support was politically useful to Æthelbald in gaining the throne. After Guthlac's death, Æthelbald had a dream in which Guthlac prophesied greatness for him, and Æthelbald later rewarded Guthlac with a shrine when he had become king.
When Ceolred died of a fit at a banquet, Æthelbald returned to Mercia and became ruler. It is possible that a king named Ceolwald, perhaps a brother of Ceolred, reigned for a short while between Ceolred and Æthelbald. Æthelbald's accession ended Penda's line of descent; Æthelbald's reign was followed, after a brief interval, by that of Offa, another descendant of Eowa.
Mercian dominance
Beornrad of Mercia
Beornred was briefly King of Mercia in 757, following the murder of Æthelbald. However, he was defeated by Offa and fled.According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 757:...
, who succeeded Æthelbald for less than a year, Mercia was ruled for eighty years by two of the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kings, Æthelbald and Offa. These long reigns were unusual at this early date; during the same period eleven kings reigned in Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
, many of whom died violent deaths.
By 731, Æthelbald had all the English south of the Humber under his overlordship. There is little direct evidence of the relationship between Æthelbald and the kings who were dependent on him. Generally, a king subject to an overlord such as Æthelbald would still be regarded as a king, but would have his independence curtailed in some respects. Charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
s are an important source of evidence for this relationship; these were documents which granted land to followers or to churchmen, and were witnessed by the kings who had power to grant the land. A charter granting land in the territory of one of the subject kings might record the names of the king as well as the overlord on the witness list appended to the grant; such a witness list can be seen on the Ismere Diploma
Ismere Diploma
The Ismere Diploma is a charter of 736, in which Aethelbald of Mercia grants ten hides of land near Ismere to Cyneberht, his "venerable companion", for the foundation of a coenubium ....
, for example. The titles given to the kings on these charters could also be revealing: a king might be described as a "subregulus", or underking.
Enough information survives to suggest the progress of Æthelbald's influence over two of the southern kingdoms, Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
and Kent
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
. At the start of Æthelbald's reign, both Kent and Wessex were ruled by strong kings; Wihtred
Wihtred of Kent
Wihtred was king of Kent from about 690 or 691 until his death. He was a son of Ecgberht I and a brother of Eadric. Wihtred acceded to the throne after a confused period in the 680s, which included a brief conquest of Kent by Cædwalla of Wessex and subsequent dynastic conflicts...
and Ine
Ine of Wessex
Ine was King of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla, who had brought much of southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory substantially...
, respectively. Wihtred of Kent died in 725, and Ine of Wessex, one of the most formidable rulers of his day, abdicated in 726 to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ine's successor, Aethelheard
Aethelheard of Wessex
Æthelheard , also spelled Ethelheard or Æþelheard, was King of Wessex from 726 to 740. There is an unreliable record of Æthelheard having been the brother-in-law of his predecessor, Ine, but his ancestry is unknown, perhaps making him the first King of Wessex not to be descended from Cynric by...
, fought that year with an ealdorman
Ealdorman
An ealdorman is the term used for a high-ranking royal official and prior magistrate of an Anglo-Saxon shire or group of shires from about the ninth century to the time of King Cnut...
named Oswald, whom the Chronicle provides with a genealogy showing descent from Ceawlin
Ceawlin of Wessex
Ceawlin was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle represents as the leader of the first group of Saxons to come to the land which later became Wessex...
, an early king of Wessex. Aethelheard ultimately succeeded in this struggle for the throne, and there are subsequent indications that he ruled subject to Mercian authority. Hence it may be that Æthelbald helped establish both Aethelheard and his brother, Cuthred, who succeeded Aethelheard in 739. There is also evidence of South Saxon territory breaking away from West Saxon dominance in the early 720s, and this may indicate Æthelbald's increasing influence in the area, though it could have been Kentish, rather than Mercian, influence that was weakening West Saxon control.
As for Kent, there is evidence from Kentish charters
Chartulary
A cartulary or chartulary , also called Pancarta and Codex Diplomaticus, is a medieval manuscript volume or roll containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the foundation, privileges, and legal rights of ecclesiastical establishments, municipal corporations, industrial...
that shows that Æthelbald was a patron of Kentish churches. There is, however, no charter evidence showing Æthelbald's consent to Kentish land grants; and charters of Aethelberht and Eadberht
Eadbert I of Kent
Eadberht I was king of Kent from 725 to 748. After his father, Wihtred of Kent died, he inherited the kingdom of Kent along with his two brothers Æðelberht II and Ælfric. Æðelberht II seems to have been the eldest and more dominant brother. Eadberht I died in 748, according to the Anglo-Saxon...
, both kings of Kent, survive in which they grant land without Æthelbald's consent. It may be that charters showing Æthelbald's overlordship simply do not survive, but the result is that there is no direct evidence of the extent of Æthelbald's influence in Kent.
Less is known about events in Essex, but it was at about this time that London became attached to the kingdom of Mercia rather than that of Essex. Three of Æthelbald's predecessors—Æthelred, Coenred, and Ceolred—had each confirmed an East Saxon charter granting Twickenham to Waldhere, the bishop of London. From Kentish charters it is known that Æthelbald was in control of London, and from Æthelbald's time on, the transition to Mercian control appears to be complete; an early charter of Offa's, granting land near Harrow, does not even include the king of Essex on the witness list. For the South Saxons, there is very little charter evidence, but as with Kent, what there is does not show any requirement for Æthelbald's consent to land grants. The lack of evidence should not obscure the fact that Bede, who was after all a contemporary chronicler, summarized the situation of England in 731 by listing the bishops in office in southern England, and adding that "all these provinces, together with the others south of the river Humber and their kings, are subject to Æthelbald, King of the Mercians."
There is evidence that Æthelbald had to go to war to maintain his overlordship. In 733 Æthelbald undertook an expedition against Wessex and captured the royal manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Somerton
Somerton
Somerton is a small town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset. It gave its name to the county of Somerset, was briefly, around the start of the 14th century, the county town, and around 900 AD was possibly the capital of Wessex...
. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also tells how when Cuthred
Cuthred of Wessex
Cuthred or Cuþræd was the King of Wessex from 740 until 756. He succeeded Æthelheard, his relative and possibly his brother....
succeeded Aethelheard to the throne of Wessex, in 740, he "boldly made war against Aethelbald, king of Mercia". Three years later, Cuthred and Æthelbald are described as fighting against the Welsh. This could have been an obligation placed on Cuthred by Mercia; earlier kings had similarly assisted Penda
Penda of Mercia
Penda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the...
and Wulfhere
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
, two strong seventh-century Mercian rulers. In 752, Æthelbald and Cuthred are again on opposite sides of the conflict, and according to one version of the manuscript, Cuthred "put him [Æthelbald] to flight" at Burford
Battle Edge
Battle-Edge is a former field, located beside Sheep Street and Tanners Lane, in Burford in Oxfordshire, England where King Ethelbald of Mercia was defeated by King Cuthred of the West Saxons in 752 AD....
. Æthelbald seems to have reasserted his authority over the West Saxons by the time of his death, since a later West Saxon king, Cynewulf
Cynewulf of Wessex
Cynewulf was the King of Wessex from 757 until his death in 786.Cynewulf became king after his predecessor, Sigeberht, was deposed. He may have come to power under the influence of Æthelbald of Mercia, since he was recorded as a witness to a charter of Æthelbald shortly thereafter...
, is recorded as witnessing a charter of Æthelbald at the very beginning of his reign, in 757.
In 740, a war between the Picts and the Northumbrians is reported. Æthelbald, who might have been allied with Óengus
Óengus I of the Picts
Óengus son of Fergus , was king of the Picts from 732 until his death in 761. His reign can be reconstructed in some detail from a variety of sources.Óengus became the chief king in Pictland following a period of civil war in the late 720s...
, the king of the Picts, took advantage of Eadberht
Eadberht of Northumbria
Eadberht was king of Northumbria from 737 or 738 to 758. He was the brother of Ecgbert, Archbishop of York. His reign is seen as a return to the imperial ambitions of seventh-century Northumbria and may represent a period of economic prosperity. He faced internal opposition from rival dynasties...
's absence from Northumbria to ravage his lands, and perhaps burn York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
.
Titles and Bretwaldaship
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
s or brytenwaldas, a title translated as "Britain-ruler" or "Wide-ruler". The Chronicle adds just one king to the list: Egbert of Wessex
Egbert of Wessex
Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent...
, who reigned in the ninth century. The resulting list of eight bretwaldas omits several strong Mercian kings. It is possible that the chronicler was merely adding Egbert's name to Bede's original list of seven, rather than claiming that no other kings achieved similar powers in England. The chronicler was almost certainly a West Saxon, and since neither Æthelbald nor Offa were kings of Wessex it is possible the chronicler does not mention them out of regional pride. The meaning of the term "bretwalda", and the nature of the power that these eight kings wielded, has had much academic scrutiny. One suggested interpretation is that since Bede was writing during Æthelbald's reign, the original seven he listed were essentially those kings who could be seen as prototypes of Æthelbald in their domination of England south of the Humber.
Further evidence of Æthelbald's power, or at least his titles, is provided by an important charter of 736, the Ismere Diploma
Ismere Diploma
The Ismere Diploma is a charter of 736, in which Aethelbald of Mercia grants ten hides of land near Ismere to Cyneberht, his "venerable companion", for the foundation of a coenubium ....
, which survives in a contemporary (and possibly original) copy. It starts by describing Æthelbald as "king not only of the Mercians but also of all the provinces which are called by the general name South English"; in the witness list he is further named "Rex Britanniae", "King of Britain". One historian described this title as "a phrase which can only be interpreted as a Latin rendering of the English title Bretwalda"; but it may be that at that time these titles would not have been acknowledged much beyond Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, where this and other documents from the 730s that use similar titles were written.
Relations with the church
In 745–746, the leading Anglo-Saxon missionary in Germany, St BonifaceSaint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
, along with seven other bishops, sent Æthelbald a scorching letter reproaching him for many sins—stealing ecclesiastical revenue, violating church privileges, imposing forced labour on the clergy, and fornicating with nuns. The letter implored Æthelbald to take a wife and abandon the sin of lust:
We therefore, beloved son, beseech Your Grace by Christ the son of God and by His coming and by His kingdom, that if it is true that you are continuing in this vice you will amend your life by penitence, purify yourself, and bear in mind how vile a thing it is through lust to change the image of God created in you into the image and likeness of a vicious demon. Remember that you were made king and ruler over many not by your own merits but by the abounding grace of God, and now you are making yourself by your own lust the slave of an evil spirit.
Boniface first sent the letter to Ecgberht
Ecgbert, Archbishop of York
Ecgbert was an eighth century Archbishop of York and correspondent of Bede and Boniface.-Life:...
, the archbishop of York, asking him to correct any inaccuracies and reinforce whatever was right; and he requested Herefrith, a priest whom Æthelbald had listened to in the past, to read and explain it to the king in person. Though Boniface's letter praises Æthelbald's faith and alms-giving, its criticisms have strongly coloured subsequent opinion of Æthelbald. A claim made in a ninth-century list of donations from the abbey of Gloucester that Æthelbald had "stabbed—or smitten" to death the kinsman of a Mercian abbess has also contributed negatively to his reputation.
Æthelbald may have influenced the appointment of successive archbishops of Canterbury in Tatwin
Tatwin
Tatwine was the tenth Archbishop of Canterbury from 731 to 734. Prior to becoming archbishop, he was a monk and abbot of a Benedictine monastery. Besides his ecclesiastical career, Tatwine was a writer, and riddles he composed survive...
e, Nothelm
Nothelm
Nothhelm was a medieval Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. A correspondent of both Bede and Boniface, it was Nothhelm who gathered materials from Canterbury for Bede's historical works. After his appointment to the archbishopric in 735, he attended to ecclesiastical matters, including holding...
, and Cuthbert, the latter probably the former bishop of Hereford; and despite Boniface's strong criticisms, there is evidence of Æthelbald's positive interest in church affairs. A subsequent letter of Boniface's to Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, provided a good deal of information about Frankish synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
s, especially one held in 747, the decrees of which Boniface included in the letter. Boniface does not explicitly suggest to Cuthbert that he, too, should hold a synod, but it seems clear that this was Boniface's intent. A council was, in fact, subsequently held at Clovesho (the location of which is now lost); Æthelbald attended and perhaps presided. The council was concerned with the relationship between the church and the secular world, and it condemned many excesses on the part of the clergy. The council limited relations between monks and laymen and ruled that secular activities were impermissible for monks: secular business and secular songs were both forbidden, especially "ludicrous songs".
Gumley
Gumley is a village in Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom. The closest town is Market Harborough.The name Gumley is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon “Gutmundesleah” – meaning Godmund’s clearing.- History :The village is first mentioned in 749...
, Æthelbald issued a charter that freed ecclesiastical lands from all obligations except the requirement to build forts and bridges—obligations which lay upon everyone, as part of the trinoda necessitas
Trinoda necessitas
Trinoda necessitas is a Latin term used to refer to a "threefold tax" in Anglo-Saxon times. Subjects of an Anglo-Saxon king were required to yield three services: bridge-bote , burgh-bote , and fyrd-bote...
. This charter was witnessed only by Mercian bishops, and it is possible it had no effect outside Mercia, but it is also possible that it was essentially part of a reform programme inspired by Boniface and instigated at Clovesho.
Death
In 757, Æthelbald was killed at SeckingtonSeckington
Seckington is a village and civil parish located near the B5493 road in the North Warwickshire district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. Seckington has a church called All Saints Church, Seckington and a castle called Seckington Castle. Seckington was recorded in the Domesday Book as...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, near the royal seat of Tamworth
Tamworth
Tamworth is a town and local government district in Staffordshire, England, located north-east of Birmingham city centre and north-west of London. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker...
. According to a later continuation of Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's Ecclesiastical History, he was "treacherously murdered at night by his own bodyguards", though the reason why is unrecorded. He was succeeded, briefly, by Beornrad
Beornrad of Mercia
Beornred was briefly King of Mercia in 757, following the murder of Æthelbald. However, he was defeated by Offa and fled.According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 757:...
. Æthelbald was buried at Repton
Repton
Repton is a village and civil parish on the edge of the River Trent floodplain in South Derbyshire, about north of Swadlincote. Repton is close to the county boundary with neighbouring Staffordshire and about northeast of Burton upon Trent.-History:...
, in a crypt which still can be seen; a contemporary is reported to have seen a vision of him in hell, reinforcing the impression of a king not universally well-regarded. The monastery church on the site at that time was probably constructed by Æthelbald to house the royal mausoleum; other burials there include that of Wigstan.
A fragment of a cross shaft from Repton includes on one face a carved image of a mounted man which, it has been suggested, may be a memorial to Æthelbald. The figure is of a man wearing mail armour and brandishing a sword and shield, with a diadem
Diadem
Diadem may refer to:*Diadem, a type of crown-Military:*HMS Diadem was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line in the Royal Navy launched in 1782 at Chatham and participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1787...
bound around his head. If this is Æthelbald, it would make it the earliest large-scale pictorial representation of an English monarch.
The Legend of Alfred III, King of Mercia
According to a story recorded by the 16th century antiquarian John Leland, and derived by him from a now lost book in the possession of the Earls of Rutland at Belvoir CastleBelvoir Castle
Belvoir Castle is a stately home in the English county of Leicestershire, overlooking the Vale of Belvoir . It is a Grade I listed building....
, there was once a King Alfred III of Mercia, who reigned in the 730s. Though no Mercian king was ever named Alfred, let alone three, if this story has any historical basis (which Leland himself rejected) it must presumably relate to Æthelbald. The legend states that Alfred III had occasion to visit a certain William de Albanac, alleged ancestor of the Earls of Rutland, at his castle near Grantham
Grantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
, and took a fancy to Willam's three comely daughters. It was the king's intention to take one as his mistress, but William threatened to kill whichever he chose rather than have her dishonoured in this way, whereupon Alfred "answerid that he meant to take one of them to wife, and chose Etheldrede that had fat bottoks, and of her he had Alurede that wan first all the Saxons the monarchy of England." A painting of this supposed incident was commissioned in 1778 by the then Duke of Rutland, but was destroyed in a fire in 1816.