Ælfwald is said to have been king of Northumbria following the deposition of Eardwulf

Eardwulf of Northumbria

Eardwulf was king of Northumbria from 796 to 806, when he was deposed and went into exile. He may have had a second reign from 808 until perhaps 811 or 830. Northumbria in the last years of the eighth century was the scene of dynastic strife between several noble families, and, in 790, the...

 in 806. This information is only reported in the anonymous tract De primo Saxonum adventu

De primo Saxonum adventu

De primo Saxonum adventu is a historical work, probably written in Durham during the episcopate of Ranulf Flambard . It recounts the coming of the English to the British Isles, treating individually the history of the rulers of the Kingdom of Kent, of the Kingdom of East Anglia, of the Kingdom...

and the later Flores Historiarum

Flores Historiarum

The Flores Historiarum is a Latin chronicle dealing with English history from the creation to 1326 . It was compiled by various persons and quickly acquired contemporary popularity, for it was continued by many hands in many manuscript traditions...

of Roger of Wendover

Roger of Wendover

Roger of Wendover , probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III,...

. Roger states that Ælfwald had overthrown Eardwulf.

Ælfwald is said to have reigned for two years and probably succeeded by Eardwulf, restored to power with the aid of the Emperor Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 and Pope Leo III

Pope Leo III

Pope Saint Leo III was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor....

, although he may instead have been followed by Eardwulf's son Eanred

Eanred of Northumbria

Eanred was king of Northumbria in the early ninth century.Very little is known for certain about Eanred. The only reference made by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to the Northumbrians in this period is the statement that in 829 Egbert of Wessex...

 rather than by Eardwulf.

While written sources for Ælfwald's reign are late and exiguous, coins minted in his reign have survived in modest numbers. Minted at 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...

, these were produced by a moneyer

Moneyer

A moneyer is someone who physically creates money. Moneyers have a long tradition, dating back at least to ancient Greece. They became most prominent in the Roman Republic, continuing into the empire.-Roman Republican moneyers:...

 named Cuthheard, who also produced all known coins of Eardwulf's reign.

Lakeland

Lake District

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...

 author W. G. Collingwood

W. G. Collingwood

William Gershom Collingwood, was an author, artist, antiquary and Professor of Fine Arts at Reading University....

 1917 book The Likeness of King Elfwald: A Study of Iona and Northumbria imagined the life of Ælfwald. The work, based on Collingwood's long study of Northumbria which led to his 1919 work Northumbrian Crosses of the pre-Norman Age, was well regarded and has been reprinted.

External links

• The Fitzwilliam Museum
  Fitzwilliam Museum
  The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
  
  's Corpus of Early Medieval Coin Finds website