Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia
Encyclopedia
Ælfhere was ealdorman
of Mercia
. His family, along with those of Æthelstan Half-King
and Æthelstan Rota
, rose to greatness in the middle third of the 10th century. In the reign of Edward the Martyr
, Ælfhere was a leader of the anti-monastic reaction and an ally of Edward's stepmother Queen Dowager Ælfthryth. After the killing of Edward by Ælfthryth's servants in 978, Ælfhere supported the new king, Ælfthryth's son Æthelred the Unready, and was the leading nobleman in the Kingdom of England
until his death in 983.
(fl. 940–951) who had been one of the several ealdormen in Mercia in the reigns of Kings Edmund
and Eadred. The family was of Wessex
origin, like most of those prominent in Mercia in the period, and may have been connected to the royal family, probably members of a collateral branch of the Royal house. The family's power-base was probably in south-west Mercia, in the diocese of Worcester
, the former Kingdom of the Hwicce
. Ælfhere's brother Ælfheah (fl. 959–972) was an important figure, serving as steward
to King Eadwig from 956 and as ealdorman of Hampshire
from 959. One of Ælfhere's brothers may have been married to a niece of Saint Dunstan
.
Ælfhere was promoted by King Eadwig, probably as a counter to the influence of Æthelstan Half-King and his kinsmen. Eadwig's promotion of new men, such as Ælfhere, soon faced opposition from the old guard. The crisis came in 957, and to all appearances was settled by negotiation. The English kingdom was neatly partitioned between Eadwig and his younger brother Edgar
, Eadwig ruling south of the Thames
, Edgar to the north. Ælfhere survived the crisis, abandoning Eadwig, and became Edgar's devoted supporter.
written by Abbot Byrhtferth of Ramsey refers to Ælfhere by the impressive title princeps merciorum gentis—prince of the Mercian people, last used in the days of Æthelflæd and Ælfwynn—and as a witness to Oswald's charters he is called "ealdorman of the Mercians." His brother Ælfheah disappears from the record circa
972, and it may be that Ælfhere then became ealdorman of Hampshire or central Wessex
.
As the ealdorman of Mercia, Ælfhere was concerned with relations with the Welsh
princes. Wars in Wales gave opportunities for fame, and for booty to be distributed to allies and kinsmen. A campaign in 983 by Ælfhere against Brycheiniog
and Morgannwg, with the aid of the Welsh king Hywel ap Ieuaf, is recorded by the Annales Cambriae
.
, the elder, was the son of Æthelflæd, daughter of Ordmær, the younger was Æthelred, son of Ælfthryth, daughter of Ordgar. A late source describes Ælfhere as a friend of Ælfthryth, to whom Ælfheah had left lands in his will. As Edward was about fifteen years of age, and Æthelred only six or seven, the disputes from 975 to 978 were not between two rival kings, but between two factions among the notables of the kingdom. Edward was supported by the church—he was crowned by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
, and Oswald of Worcester, by then Archbishop of York
—and by Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
, heir of Æthelstan Half-King. Ælfhere, on the other hand, was counted among the supporters of Æthelred.
The short reign of Edward was the period of the so-called anti-monastic reaction. Ælfhere was portrayed by medieval writers, who were invariably monks, as a leader in this movement, which saw the seizure of monastic lands by the magnates. In Ælfhere's case, this appears to have centred on the lands attached to monasteries founded by Oswald of Worcester, which had been greatly enlarged with the assistance of the sons of Æthelstan Half-King.
The reign of Edward came to an end with his murder at Corfe Castle on 18 March 978. His stepmother Queen Ælfthryth was soon blamed for the killing, the details of which are uncertain. Edward was initially buried at Wareham
, but in 979 or 980 Ælfhere and Archbishop Dunstan had the remains of the king reburied at Shaftesbury Abbey
. Whether Ælfhere wished to publicly disassociate himself from the killing of Edward, or to assuage a guilty conscience—he certainly profited from Edward's death—can only be conjectured.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
for the year 983 records Ælfhere's death. He was buried at Glastonbury Abbey
. Ælfric Cild
, his sister's husband—she may have been called Æthelflæd—succeeded to some of his offices, but was exiled in 985. No children of Ælfhere are known, but two of his nephews appear in the record. Ælfric Cild's son Ælfwine was killed at the battle of Maldon
in 991 and Ælfheah's son Godwine may be the same person as Godwine, ealdorman of Lindsey
, who died in the battle of Ashingdon
in 1016.
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...
of Mercia
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...
. His family, along with those of Æthelstan Half-King
Æthelstan Half-King
Æthelstan , commonly called Æthelstan Half-King, was Ealdorman of East Anglia and the leading member of a very prominent Anglo-Saxon family. Æthelstan became a monk at Glastonbury Abbey in 957.-Origins and career:...
and Æthelstan Rota
Æthelstan Rota
Æthelstan was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman. He served as an Ealdorman in southern Mercia in the reigns of Kings Eadwig and Edgar. He is referred to as Æthelstan Rota in one charter, and is so known to distinguish him from Æthelstan Half-King, and another Æthelstan Æthelstan (floruit 940–970) was...
, rose to greatness in the middle third of the 10th century. In the reign of Edward the Martyr
Edward the Martyr
Edward the Martyr was king of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar, but not his father's acknowledged heir...
, Ælfhere was a leader of the anti-monastic reaction and an ally of Edward's stepmother Queen Dowager Ælfthryth. After the killing of Edward by Ælfthryth's servants in 978, Ælfhere supported the new king, Ælfthryth's son Æthelred the Unready, and was the leading nobleman in the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
until his death in 983.
Origins and relations
Ælfhere was a son of EalhhelmEalhhelm
Ealhhelm was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and ealdorman in Mercia of West Saxon origins.It was in the reign of Edmund, circa 940, that Ealhhelm was appointed as an ealdorman. He shared authority in Mercia with others, including Æthelstan Rota, Æthelmund, and another Æthelstan. The division is presumed...
(fl. 940–951) who had been one of the several ealdormen in Mercia in the reigns of Kings Edmund
Edmund I of England
Edmund I , called the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, or the Magnificent, was King of England from 939 until his death. He was a son of Edward the Elder and half-brother of Athelstan. Athelstan died on 27 October 939, and Edmund succeeded him as king.-Military threats:Shortly after his...
and Eadred. The family was of 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...
origin, like most of those prominent in Mercia in the period, and may have been connected to the royal family, probably members of a collateral branch of the Royal house. The family's power-base was probably in south-west Mercia, in the diocese of Worcester
Anglican Diocese of Worcester
The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many Anglo Saxon petty-kingdoms of that time...
, the former Kingdom of the Hwicce
Hwicce
The Hwicce were one of the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England. The exact boundaries of their kingdom are uncertain, though it is likely that they coincided with those of the old Diocese of Worcester, founded in 679–80, the early bishops of which bore the title Episcopus Hwicciorum...
. Ælfhere's brother Ælfheah (fl. 959–972) was an important figure, serving as steward
Steward (office)
A steward is an official who is appointed by the legal ruling monarch to represent him or her in a country, and may have a mandate to govern it in his or her name; in the latter case, it roughly corresponds with the position of governor or deputy...
to King Eadwig from 956 and as ealdorman of Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
from 959. One of Ælfhere's brothers may have been married to a niece of Saint Dunstan
Dunstan
Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
.
Ælfhere was promoted by King Eadwig, probably as a counter to the influence of Æthelstan Half-King and his kinsmen. Eadwig's promotion of new men, such as Ælfhere, soon faced opposition from the old guard. The crisis came in 957, and to all appearances was settled by negotiation. The English kingdom was neatly partitioned between Eadwig and his younger brother Edgar
Edgar of England
Edgar the Peaceful, or Edgar I , also called the Peaceable, was a king of England . Edgar was the younger son of Edmund I of England.-Accession:...
, Eadwig ruling south of the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, Edgar to the north. Ælfhere survived the crisis, abandoning Eadwig, and became Edgar's devoted supporter.
Prince of the Mercian people
Following the partition of the kingdom, Æthelstan Half-King retired from political life, leaving Ælfhere as the chief ealdorman in Edgar's northern kingdom. From this time onwards, he signed as the first of the ealdormen to witness Edgar's charters. The Life of Saint Oswald of WorcesterOswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of years at Fleury, Oswald returned to England at the request of his uncle, who died...
written by Abbot Byrhtferth of Ramsey refers to Ælfhere by the impressive title princeps merciorum gentis—prince of the Mercian people, last used in the days of Æthelflæd and Ælfwynn—and as a witness to Oswald's charters he is called "ealdorman of the Mercians." His brother Ælfheah disappears from the record circa
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
972, and it may be that Ælfhere then became ealdorman of Hampshire or central 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...
.
As the ealdorman of Mercia, Ælfhere was concerned with relations with the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
princes. Wars in Wales gave opportunities for fame, and for booty to be distributed to allies and kinsmen. A campaign in 983 by Ælfhere against Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it...
and Morgannwg, with the aid of the Welsh king Hywel ap Ieuaf, is recorded by 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...
.
Edward and Æthelred
King Edgar's complicated marital relations left two sons on his death in 975. EdwardEdward the Martyr
Edward the Martyr was king of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar, but not his father's acknowledged heir...
, the elder, was the son of Æthelflæd, daughter of Ordmær, the younger was Æthelred, son of Ælfthryth, daughter of Ordgar. A late source describes Ælfhere as a friend of Ælfthryth, to whom Ælfheah had left lands in his will. As Edward was about fifteen years of age, and Æthelred only six or seven, the disputes from 975 to 978 were not between two rival kings, but between two factions among the notables of the kingdom. Edward was supported by the church—he was crowned by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, and Oswald of Worcester, by then Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
—and by Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
Æthelwine was ealdorman of East Anglia and one of the leading noblemen in the kingdom of England in the later 10th century. As with his kinsmen, the principal source for his life is Byrhtferth's life of Oswald of Worcester...
, heir of Æthelstan Half-King. Ælfhere, on the other hand, was counted among the supporters of Æthelred.
The short reign of Edward was the period of the so-called anti-monastic reaction. Ælfhere was portrayed by medieval writers, who were invariably monks, as a leader in this movement, which saw the seizure of monastic lands by the magnates. In Ælfhere's case, this appears to have centred on the lands attached to monasteries founded by Oswald of Worcester, which had been greatly enlarged with the assistance of the sons of Æthelstan Half-King.
The reign of Edward came to an end with his murder at Corfe Castle on 18 March 978. His stepmother Queen Ælfthryth was soon blamed for the killing, the details of which are uncertain. Edward was initially buried at Wareham
Wareham, Dorset
Wareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
, but in 979 or 980 Ælfhere and Archbishop Dunstan had the remains of the king reburied at Shaftesbury Abbey
Shaftesbury Abbey
Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Founded in the year 888, the abbey was the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England, a major pilgrimage site, and the town's central focus...
. Whether Ælfhere wished to publicly disassociate himself from the killing of Edward, or to assuage a guilty conscience—he certainly profited from Edward's death—can only be conjectured.
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...
for the year 983 records Ælfhere's death. He was buried at Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....
. Ælfric Cild
Ælfric Cild
Ælfric Cild was a wealthy Anglo-Saxon nobleman from the east Midlands, ealdorman of Mercia between 983 and 985, and possibly brother-in-law to his predecessor Ælfhere...
, his sister's husband—she may have been called Æthelflæd—succeeded to some of his offices, but was exiled in 985. No children of Ælfhere are known, but two of his nephews appear in the record. Ælfric Cild's son Ælfwine was killed at the battle of Maldon
Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon took place on 10 August 991 near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Aethelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battle ended in an Anglo-Saxon defeat...
in 991 and Ælfheah's son Godwine may be the same person as Godwine, ealdorman of Lindsey
Lindsey
Lindsey was a unit of local government until 1974 in Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it...
, who died in the battle of Ashingdon
Battle of Ashingdon
The Battle of Assandun was fought on 18 October 1016. There is dispute over whether Assandun may actually be today's Ashdon, or the long supposed Ashingdon, in southeast Essex, England....
in 1016.