Æthelred II of Northumbria
Encyclopedia
Æthelred was king of Northumbria
. He was the son of Eanred
.
Relatively little is known of his reign from the surviving documentary record. He appears to have been expelled in favour of Rædwulf
, whose reign is confirmed by the evidence of coinage
. However, Rædwulf was killed the same year, fighting against Vikings, and Æthelred was restored to power. He was assassinated a few years later, but no further details are known of his murder.
The dating of Æthelred's reign is extremely problematic. According to the written sources, he was expelled in 844 and assassinated in 849, but recent reinterpretations of ninth century Northumbrian chronology based on numismatic evidence argue for his reign beginning c.
854, his expulsion having taken place c. 858, and his assassination c. 862.
The new styca coinage, small brass
coins containing very little silver and much zinc
, which began in his father's reign, continued in Æthelred's. Large numbers of his styca coins have been found, again minted in York
by a number of moneyer
s. A moneyer active in this period named Eardwulf was sometimes confused with Æthelred's grandfather King Eardwulf
in older works on numismatics.
Written and numismatic evidence agrees that Æthelred was succeeded by Osberht
.
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...
. He was the son of 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...
.
Relatively little is known of his reign from the surviving documentary record. He appears to have been expelled in favour of Rædwulf
Rædwulf of Northumbria
Rædwulf was king of Northumbria for a short time. His descent is not known, but it is possible that he was a kinsman of Osberht and Ælla.Rædwulf became king when Æthelred son of Eanred was deposed. Coins from his reign are known, but other than the report in the Roger of Wendover's Flores...
, whose reign is confirmed by the evidence of coinage
COinS
ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...
. However, Rædwulf was killed the same year, fighting against Vikings, and Æthelred was restored to power. He was assassinated a few years later, but no further details are known of his murder.
The dating of Æthelred's reign is extremely problematic. According to the written sources, he was expelled in 844 and assassinated in 849, but recent reinterpretations of ninth century Northumbrian chronology based on numismatic evidence argue for his reign beginning c.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
854, his expulsion having taken place c. 858, and his assassination c. 862.
The new styca coinage, small brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
coins containing very little silver and much zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, which began in his father's reign, continued in Æthelred's. Large numbers of his styca coins have been found, again minted in 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...
by a number of 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:...
s. A moneyer active in this period named Eardwulf was sometimes confused with Æthelred's grandfather King 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 older works on numismatics.
Written and numismatic evidence agrees that Æthelred was succeeded by Osberht
Osberht of Northumbria
Osberht was king of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited. Osberht's descent is not known and the dating of his reign is problematic.-Chronicles:...
.
External links
- The Fitzwilliam MuseumFitzwilliam MuseumThe 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