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Source: Ealhmund, King of Kent -The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England

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Titre	Ealhmund, King of Kent -The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England

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EALMUND, King of Kent

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Ealhmund King of Kent, fl. 784. Ealhmund appears in a charter of 784, donating land in Sheldwick, co. Kent to abbot Hwitred and the monastery of Reculver ["Anno dominicæ incarnationis .DCC.LXXXIIII. Ego Ealmundus rex Canciæ ..." Cart. Sax. 1: 337 (#243)]. Two manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mention him, but in late hands ["To þysan timan rixode Ealhmund cing innon Cent." ASC(A) s.a. 784 (late hand); "Hic tunc temporis fuit in Cantia rex Ealhmundus. Þes Ealhmund cing was Egberhts fæder. Egberht was Aðulfes fæder." ASC(F) s.a. 784 (late hand)]. As noted by Plummer, it is possible that the notes in the Chronicle are taken from the charter [ASC 2: 71]. Ealhmund is given the title of "subregulus" by John of Worcester ["Ecgbertus, filius Alhmundi subreguli ..." John Worc., 1: 273]. Date of birth: Unknown. Place of birth: Unknown. Date of death: After 784. Place of death: Unknown. It seems unlikely that he was the princeps Ealhmund who attested a charter of Beorhtric of Wessex in 801 [Cart. Sax. 1: 391 (#282)]. Possible father: Eaba/Eafa. Mother: Unknown. Ealhmund's parentage is discussed below in the Commentary section. Spouse: Unknown. The sources are silent on Ealhmund's wife, but see the Commentary section for a conjecture which has been offered. Child: MALE Ecgbeorht, d. 839, king of Wessex, 802-39. ["Æðelwulf wæs Ecgbyrhting, Ecbyrht Ealhmunding, Ealhmund Eabing, Eaba Iopping, ..." Dumville (1986), 24; ASC(F) s.a. 784 (see above)] Commentary The orthodox West Saxon genealogy During the reign of Ælfred the Great at the latest, a genealogy was composed tracing his father Æthelwulf back to Cerdic, legendary first king of the West Saxons, and further to Adam. The fabricated nature of the pre-Cerdic part of the pedigree was demonstrated by Sisam [Sisam (1953), 158-165]. An outline of the pedigree from Ecgbeorht to Cerdic is given here as it appears in several sources: the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List ["Ecbyrht Ealhmunding, Ealhmund Eabing, Eaba Iopping, Ioppa Ingilding, Ingild Cenreding, ..., Cenred Ceolwalding, Ceolwald Cuðwulfing, Cuðwulf Cuðwining, Cuðwine Celing, Cel Cynricing, Cynric [Creoding, Creoda] Cerdicing ..." Dumville (1986), 24-5; cf. ASC(A), preface (1: 4), which includes a version omitting Creoda], the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 855 ["Ecgbryht Ealhmunding, Ealhmund Eafing, Eafa Eopping, Eoppa Ingilding; Ingild wæs Ines broþur West Seaxna cyninges, ... & hie wæron Cenredes suna, Cenred wæs Ceolwalding, Ceolwald Cuþaing, Cuþa Cuþwining, Cuþ Ceaulining, Ceawlin Cynricing, Cynric Cerdicing, ..." ASC(A) s.a. 855], Asser's Life of Ælfred ["... qui fuit Ecgberhti; qui fuit Ealhmundi; qui fuit Eafa; qui fuit Eoppa; qui fuit Ingild; Ingild et Ine, ... qui fuerunt filii Coenred; qui fuit Ceoluuald; qui fuit Cudam; qui fuit Cuthwine; qui fuit Ceaulin; qui fuit Cynric; qui fuit Creoda; qui fuit Cerdic, ..." Asser, c. 1 (p. 2)], Æthelweard ["Igitur præfatus rex fuit filius Ecgbryhti regis, cuius auus Ealhmund, proauus Eafa, atauus Eoppa, abauus Ingild, Ines frater, Occidentalium Anglorum regis, qui Romæ finierat uitam, traxeruntque supra dicti reges a Cenred rege originem. Cenred fuit filius Ceoluuald. Auus quippe eius Cuthuuine, proauus / Ceaulin, atauus Cynric, abauus Cerdic" Æthelweard, Chronicon, 32-3], John of Worcester ["... qui fuit Ecgberhti, qui fuit Ealhmundi, qui fuit Eafæ, qui fuit Eoppa, qui fuit Ingels. Ingels et Ine, ... qui fuerunt filii Coenred, qui fuit Ceolwald, qui fuit Cutha, qui fuit Cuthwine, qui fuit Ceaulin, qui fuit Cynric, qui fuit Creoda, qui fuit Cerdic, ..." John Worc., s.a. 849 (1: 70-1)], and William of Malmesbury ["Egbirhtus Elmundi; Elmundus Eafæ; Eafa Eoppæ; Eoppa Ingildi fratris Inæ regis, qui ambo filii fuere Chenredi; Chenredus Chelwaldi; Chelwaldus Cudæ; Cuda Cudwini; Cudwinus Cheaulini; Cheaulinus Chinrici; Chinricus Cherdicii, qui fuit primus rex West-Saxonum; ..." Wm. Malmes., Gesta Regum, c. 116 (1: 120-1)]. The most notable disagreement between the versions is the absence or presence of Creoda between Cerdic and Cynric. Also significant is the omission of Cuthwulf/Cutha by Æthelweard. The Genealogical Regnal List gives the long form Cuthwulf compared to the short form Cutha of the other versions. Two apparently early genealogies from the Anglian Collection which startwith Ine agree with the list in giving the long form Cuthwulf ["Ine Cenreding, Cenred Ceolwalding, Ceolwald Cuþwulfing, Cuþwulf Cuþwining, Cuþwine Celing, Celin Cynricing, Cynric Creoding, Creoda Cerdicing, ..." Ms. CCCC 183, 67r, Dumville (1976), 34; similarly (with spelling variants) in Ms. Tiberius B. v, 1:23r, col. 2, ibid., 37]. However, a genealogy of Ine which appears in the Chronicle agrees with Æthelweard in omitting Cuthwulf/Cutha altogether ["Þonne was se Ine Cenreding, Cenred Ceolwalding, Ceolwald was Cynegilses broþur, & þa wæron Cuþwines suna Ceaulininges, Ceaulin Cynricing, Cynric Cerdicing." ASC(A) s.a. 688]. For convenience, the above sources are compared in the following table. Gen. Reg. List ASC(A) s.a. 855 Asser Æthelweard John Worc. Wm. Malmes. Anglian Gen. ASC(A) s.a. 688 Cerdic Cerdic Cerdic Cerdic Cerdic Cherdicus Cerdic Cerdic Creoda Creoda Creoda Creoda Cynric Cynric Cynric Cynric Cynric Chinricus Cynric Cynric Cel Ceawlin Ceaulin Ceaulin Ceaulin Cheaulinus Celin Ceaulin Cuðwine Cuþwine Cuthwine Cuthwine Cuthwine Cudwinus Cuþwine Cuþwine Cuðwulf Cuþa Cudam Cutha Cuda Cuþwulf Ceolwald Ceolwald Ceoluuald Ceoluuald Ceolwald Chelwaldus Ceolwald Ceolwald Cenred Cenred Coenred Cenred Coenred Chenredus Cenred Cenred Ingild Ingild Ingild Ingild Ingels Ingildus [Ine] [Ine] Ioppa Eoppa Eoppa Eoppa Eoppa Eoppa Eaba Eafa Eafa Eafa Eafa Eafa Ealhmund Ealhmund Ealhmund Ealhmund Ealhmund Elmundus Ecbyrht Ecgbryht Ecgberht Ecgbyrht Ecgberht Egbirhtus This genealogy back to Cerdic has often been accepted as reliable. However, there are problems with accepting the genealogy at face value. First and foremost is the fact that none of the links between Ecgbeorht and Cerdic is verified in contemporary sources. Thus, it seems impossible to confirm the genealogy in any realistic sense. Second, and related to this, there is the fact that for eight generations the supposed ancestors of Ecgbeorht fail to appear on the standard list of West Saxon kings, Ceawlin being the most recent king on the list who appears as an ancestor of Ecgbeorht, nine generations back. However, this problem is mitigated to a significant extent by the appearance of king Ine of Wessex as a brother of Ingild, the supposed great-great-grandfather of Ecgbeorht. Ine's father Coenred, who appears as king of Wessex confirming two South Saxon charters (but is not on the king list), and is called a subregulus by John of Worcester, seems to be a well enough documented individual, even if no contemporary source confirms that he had a son named Ingild [Cart. Sax. 1: 113 (#78), 211 (#144); John Worc., 1: 272]. Third, the genealogical sources on the early dynasty of Wessex are extremely contradictory, and seem impossible to reconcile [see, e.g., Plummer, in ASC 2: 1-2; Kirby (1965)]. In particular, no confidence at all can be placed in the generations prior to Ceawlin, and as noted above, the genealogies do not even agree on the number of generations between Ceawlin and Ine. Ealhmund of Kent and Ecgbeorht of Wessex The orthodox West Saxon genealogy, as indicated above, states that Ecgbeorht of Wessex was the son of an Ealhmund. It has commonly been concluded that the Ealhmund who was father of Ecgbeorht was the same person as king Ealhmund of Kent, who appears in the charter of 784 (see above), but the identification does not appear in any early source, and it has not been accepted by some. For example, Barbara Yorke stated that it was doubtful that Ealhmund of Kent should be identified with the same-named father ofEcgbeorht of Wessex [Yorke (1983), 13]. Nevertheless, even though the explicit attribution of Ealhmund of Kent as Ecgbeorht's father does not appear until some late additions to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ["Hic tunc temporis fuit in Cantia rex Ealhmundus.Þes Ealhmund cing was Egberhts fæder. Egberht was Aðulfes fæder." ASC(F) s.a. 784 (late hand); "(filius Ealhmundi regis)" ASC(F) s.a. 800 (in reference to Ecgbeorht)], there are good reasons for believing that Ecgbeorht had Kentish connections, which seem to confirm these late traditions that Ecgbeorht of Wessex was a son of Ealhmund of Kent. Direct evidence that Ecgbeorht had at least one relative who had previously reigned in Kent is provided by an entry of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year "823" (actually 825, because of the two year dislocation of this part of the chronicle) ["... &Cantware him to cirdon, & Suþrige, & Suþ Seaxe, & East Seaxe, þy hie from his mægum ær mid unryhte anidde wæren; ..." ASC(A) s.a. 823 (=825) (and similarly in other manuscripts of the ASC) (Translation: "... and the inhabitants of Kent turned to him - and the Surrey men and South Saxons and East Saxons - because earlier they were wrongly forced away from his relatives." ASC(Eng.), 60)]. Although Surrey, Sussex, and Essex are also mentioned, the statement appears to be primarily concerned with Kent, the main subject of the sentence. A similar statement appears in John of Worcester's history, no doubt based on a version of the Chronicle ["Posthæc Cantuarienses, Suthregienses, Australes Saxones, Orientales Saxones, sponte se regi dederunt Ecgbrihto; ex cujus propinquorum manibus prius extorti, extraneorum regum ditioni per aliquot annorum curricula inviti sunt subacti." John Worc., s.a. 823 (1: 66)]. The most interesting additional detail occurs in the account of Henry of Huntingdon, who calls "Pren" (evidently Eadbeorht Præn, see below) the "cognatus" (relative) of Ecgbeorht ["Tunc ergo populos Cantiæ, et Sudriæ, et Sudsexe, et Estsexe rex Egbricht in dominium suscepit, quos prius cognatus suus Pren injuste amiser

Ealhmund
King of Kent, fl. 784.
Ealhmund appears in a charter of 784, donating land in Sheldwick, co. Kent to abbot Hwitred and the monastery of Reculver ["Anno dominicæ incarnationis .DCC.LXXXIIII. Ego Ealmundus rex Canciæ ..." Cart. Sax. 1: 337 (#243)]. Two manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mention him, but in late hands ["To þysan timan rixode Ealhmund cing innon Cent." ASC(A) s.a. 784 (late hand); "Hic tunc temporis fuit in Cantia rex Ealhmundus. Þes Ealhmund cing was Egberhts fæder. Egberht was Aðulfes fæder." ASC(F) s.a. 784 (late hand)]. As noted by Plummer, it is possible that the notes in the Chronicle are taken from the charter [ASC 2: 71]. Ealhmund is given the title of "subregulus" by John of Worcester ["Ecgbertus, filius Alhmundi subreguli ..." John Worc., 1: 273].

Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.

Date of death: After 784.
Place of death: Unknown.
It seems unlikely that he was the princeps Ealhmund who attested a charter of Beorhtric of Wessex in 801 [Cart. Sax. 1: 391 (#282)].

Possible father: Eaba/Eafa.
Mother: Unknown.
Ealhmund's parentage is discussed below in the Commentary section.

Spouse: Unknown.
The sources are silent on Ealhmund's wife, but see the Commentary section for a conjecture which has been offered.

Child:

MALE Ecgbeorht, d. 839, king of Wessex, 802-39.
["Æðelwulf wæs Ecgbyrhting, Ecbyrht Ealhmunding, Ealhmund Eabing, Eaba Iopping, ..." Dumville (1986), 24; ASC(F) s.a. 784 (see above)]

Commentary
The orthodox West Saxon genealogy

During the reign of Ælfred the Great at the latest, a genealogy was composed tracing his father Æthelwulf back to Cerdic, legendary first king of the West Saxons, and further to Adam. The fabricated nature of the pre-Cerdic part of the pedigree was demonstrated by Sisam [Sisam (1953), 158-165]. An outline of the pedigree from Ecgbeorht to Cerdic is given here as it appears in several sources: the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List ["Ecbyrht Ealhmunding, Ealhmund Eabing, Eaba Iopping, Ioppa Ingilding, Ingild Cenreding, ..., Cenred Ceolwalding, Ceolwald Cuðwulfing, Cuðwulf Cuðwining, Cuðwine Celing, Cel Cynricing, Cynric [Creoding, Creoda] Cerdicing ..." Dumville (1986), 24-5; cf. ASC(A), preface (1: 4), which includes a version omitting Creoda], the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 855 ["Ecgbryht Ealhmunding, Ealhmund Eafing, Eafa Eopping, Eoppa Ingilding; Ingild wæs Ines broþur West Seaxna cyninges, ... & hie wæron Cenredes suna, Cenred wæs Ceolwalding, Ceolwald Cuþaing, Cuþa Cuþwining, Cuþ Ceaulining, Ceawlin Cynricing, Cynric Cerdicing, ..." ASC(A) s.a. 855], Asser's Life of Ælfred ["... qui fuit Ecgberhti; qui fuit Ealhmundi; qui fuit Eafa; qui fuit Eoppa; qui fuit Ingild; Ingild et Ine, ... qui fuerunt filii Coenred; qui fuit Ceoluuald; qui fuit Cudam; qui fuit Cuthwine; qui fuit Ceaulin; qui fuit Cynric; qui fuit Creoda; qui fuit Cerdic, ..." Asser, c. 1 (p. 2)], Æthelweard ["Igitur præfatus rex fuit filius Ecgbryhti regis, cuius auus Ealhmund, proauus Eafa, atauus Eoppa, abauus Ingild, Ines frater, Occidentalium Anglorum regis, qui Romæ finierat uitam, traxeruntque supra dicti reges a Cenred rege originem. Cenred fuit filius Ceoluuald. Auus quippe eius Cuthuuine, proauus / Ceaulin, atauus Cynric, abauus Cerdic" Æthelweard, Chronicon, 32-3], John of Worcester ["... qui fuit Ecgberhti, qui fuit Ealhmundi, qui fuit Eafæ, qui fuit Eoppa, qui fuit Ingels. Ingels et Ine, ... qui fuerunt filii Coenred, qui fuit Ceolwald, qui fuit Cutha, qui fuit Cuthwine, qui fuit Ceaulin, qui fuit Cynric, qui fuit Creoda, qui fuit Cerdic, ..." John Worc., s.a. 849 (1: 70-1)], and William of Malmesbury ["Egbirhtus Elmundi; Elmundus Eafæ; Eafa Eoppæ; Eoppa Ingildi fratris Inæ regis, qui ambo filii fuere Chenredi; Chenredus Chelwaldi; Chelwaldus Cudæ; Cuda Cudwini; Cudwinus Cheaulini; Cheaulinus Chinrici; Chinricus Cherdicii, qui fuit primus rex West-Saxonum; ..." Wm. Malmes., Gesta Regum, c. 116 (1: 120-1)]. The most notable disagreement between the versions is the absence or presence of Creoda between Cerdic and Cynric. Also significant is the omission of Cuthwulf/Cutha by Æthelweard. The Genealogical Regnal List gives the long form Cuthwulf compared to the short form Cutha of the other versions. Two apparently early genealogies from the Anglian Collection which startwith Ine agree with the list in giving the long form Cuthwulf ["Ine Cenreding, Cenred Ceolwalding, Ceolwald Cuþwulfing, Cuþwulf Cuþwining, Cuþwine Celing, Celin Cynricing, Cynric Creoding, Creoda Cerdicing, ..." Ms. CCCC 183, 67r, Dumville (1976), 34; similarly (with spelling variants) in Ms. Tiberius B. v, 1:23r, col. 2, ibid., 37]. However, a genealogy of Ine which appears in the Chronicle agrees with Æthelweard in omitting Cuthwulf/Cutha altogether ["Þonne was se Ine Cenreding, Cenred Ceolwalding, Ceolwald was Cynegilses broþur, & þa wæron Cuþwines suna Ceaulininges, Ceaulin Cynricing, Cynric Cerdicing." ASC(A) s.a. 688]. For convenience, the above sources are compared in the following table.

Gen. Reg. List ASC(A) s.a. 855 Asser Æthelweard John Worc. Wm. Malmes. Anglian Gen. ASC(A) s.a. 688
Cerdic Cerdic Cerdic Cerdic Cerdic Cherdicus Cerdic Cerdic
Creoda Creoda Creoda Creoda
Cynric Cynric Cynric Cynric Cynric Chinricus Cynric Cynric
Cel Ceawlin Ceaulin Ceaulin Ceaulin Cheaulinus Celin Ceaulin
Cuðwine Cuþwine Cuthwine Cuthwine Cuthwine Cudwinus Cuþwine Cuþwine
Cuðwulf Cuþa Cudam Cutha Cuda Cuþwulf
Ceolwald Ceolwald Ceoluuald Ceoluuald Ceolwald Chelwaldus Ceolwald Ceolwald
Cenred Cenred Coenred Cenred Coenred Chenredus Cenred Cenred
Ingild Ingild Ingild Ingild Ingels Ingildus [Ine] [Ine]
Ioppa Eoppa Eoppa Eoppa Eoppa Eoppa
Eaba Eafa Eafa Eafa Eafa Eafa
Ealhmund Ealhmund Ealhmund Ealhmund Ealhmund Elmundus
Ecbyrht Ecgbryht Ecgberht Ecgbyrht Ecgberht Egbirhtus
This genealogy back to Cerdic has often been accepted as reliable. However, there are problems with accepting the genealogy at face value. First and foremost is the fact that none of the links between Ecgbeorht and Cerdic is verified in contemporary sources. Thus, it seems impossible to confirm the genealogy in any realistic sense. Second, and related to this, there is the fact that for eight generations the supposed ancestors of Ecgbeorht fail to appear on the standard list of West Saxon kings, Ceawlin being the most recent king on the list who appears as an ancestor of Ecgbeorht, nine generations back. However, this problem is mitigated to a significant extent by the appearance of king Ine of Wessex as a brother of Ingild, the supposed great-great-grandfather of Ecgbeorht. Ine's father Coenred, who appears as king of Wessex confirming two South Saxon charters (but is not on the king list), and is called a subregulus by John of Worcester, seems to be a well enough documented individual, even if no contemporary source confirms that he had a son named Ingild [Cart. Sax. 1: 113 (#78), 211 (#144); John Worc., 1: 272]. Third, the genealogical sources on the early dynasty of Wessex are extremely contradictory, and seem impossible to reconcile [see, e.g., Plummer, in ASC 2: 1-2; Kirby (1965)]. In particular, no confidence at all can be placed in the generations prior to Ceawlin, and as noted above, the genealogies do not even agree on the number of generations between Ceawlin and Ine.

Ealhmund of Kent and Ecgbeorht of Wessex

The orthodox West Saxon genealogy, as indicated above, states that Ecgbeorht of Wessex was the son of an Ealhmund. It has commonly been concluded that the Ealhmund who was father of Ecgbeorht was the same person as king Ealhmund of Kent, who appears in the charter of 784 (see above), but the identification does not appear in any early source, and it has not been accepted by some. For example, Barbara Yorke stated that it was doubtful that Ealhmund of Kent should be identified with the same-named father ofEcgbeorht of Wessex [Yorke (1983), 13]. Nevertheless, even though the explicit attribution of Ealhmund of Kent as Ecgbeorht's father does not appear until some late additions to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ["Hic tunc temporis fuit in Cantia rex Ealhmundus.Þes Ealhmund cing was Egberhts fæder. Egberht was Aðulfes fæder." ASC(F) s.a. 784 (late hand); "(filius Ealhmundi regis)" ASC(F) s.a. 800 (in reference to Ecgbeorht)], there are good reasons for believing that Ecgbeorht had Kentish connections, which seem to confirm these late traditions that Ecgbeorht of Wessex was a son of Ealhmund of Kent.

Direct evidence that Ecgbeorht had at least one relative who had previously reigned in Kent is provided by an entry of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year "823" (actually 825, because of the two year dislocation of this part of the chronicle) ["... &Cantware him to cirdon, & Suþrige, & Suþ Seaxe, & East Seaxe, þy hie from his mægum ær mid unryhte anidde wæren; ..." ASC(A) s.a. 823 (=825) (and similarly in other manuscripts of the ASC) (Translation: "... and the inhabitants of Kent turned to him - and the Surrey men and South Saxons and East Saxons - because earlier they were wrongly forced away from his relatives." ASC(Eng.), 60)]. Although Surrey, Sussex, and Essex are also mentioned, the statement appears to be primarily concerned with Kent, the main subject of the sentence. A similar statement appears in John of Worcester's history, no doubt based on a version of the Chronicle ["Posthæc Cantuarienses, Suthregienses, Australes Saxones, Orientales Saxones, sponte se regi dederunt Ecgbrihto; ex cujus propinquorum manibus prius extorti, extraneorum regum ditioni per aliquot annorum curricula inviti sunt subacti." John Worc., s.a. 823 (1: 66)]. The most interesting additional detail occurs in the account of Henry of Huntingdon, who calls "Pren" (evidently Eadbeorht Præn, see below) the "cognatus" (relative) of Ecgbeorht ["Tunc ergo populos Cantiæ, et Sudriæ, et Sudsexe, et Estsexe rex Egbricht in dominium suscepit, quos prius cognatus suus Pren injuste amiser