Généalogie and Heritage

Source: ÆTHELWULF King of Wessex - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

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Type Valeur
Titre ÆTHELWULF King of Wessex - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

Entrées associées à cette source

Personnes
King EGBERT of Wessex RF01
ALFRED The Great King Of Wessex RF01

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Notes

ÆTHELWULF, son of ECGBERHT King of Wessex & his wife Redburga --- ([795/810]-13 Jan 858, bur Winchester Cathedral). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names Æthelwulf as son of Ecgberht. Kirby suggests that Æthelwulf could have been born as late as 810, althoughthis would not be consistent with the supposed date of his father's marriage and is unlikely to be correct if Æthelstan (see below) was King Æthelwulf's son. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 825 "Egbert king of Wessex…sent his son Æthelwulf…andWulfheard his ealdorman to Kent with a great force" where they expelled King Baldred. "Æthelwulfi regis filii mei" was co-grantor of land at Canterbury to "Ciaba clericus" with "Ægberhtus rex occidentalium Saxonum" by charter dated 836. "Æthelwulf rex Cancie" was co-grantor of land in Kent with "Egberthus rex occident Saxonum pater meus" by charters dated [833/39] and 838 respectively. Under-King of Kent, Essex, Sussex and Surrey 825-839. He succeeded his father in 839 as ÆTHELWULF King of Wessex, crowned [later in 839] at Kingston-upon-Thames. Danish raids intensified during his reign. Great damage was done in Lindsey, East Anglia and Kent in 841, and Southampton was plundered in 842. Before 850, King Æthelwulf had settled the ancient dispute with Mercia about the lands to the west of the middle Thames by transferring Berkshire from Mercia to Wessex. He defeated a large Danish army south of the Thames at Aclea in 851 after it had stormed Canterbury and London and driven Burghred King of Mercia to flight. King Æthelwulf made a pilgrimage to Rome in 855, leaving the government in the hands of his son Æthelbald. At the request of Pope Benedict III, he made a public distribution of gold and silver to the clergy, leading men of Rome and the people.William of Malmesbury records that Æthelbald rebelled against his father during his absence and, after returning, King Æthelwulf abdicated part of his realm in Wessex in favour of his son to avoid civil war, continuing to rule in the other part of Wessex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the death of King Æthelwulf two years after returning from Rome and his burial at Winchester.

[m] [firstly] ([815/20]) ---. There is no direct proof of this supposed first marriage. However, the likely birth date of King Æthelwulf's son Æthelstan suggests a substantial age difference with his brothers, indicating that he was probably not born from the same mother.

m [secondly] ([830/33]) OSBURGA, daughter of OSLAC Ealdorman of the Isle of Wight & his wife --- (-[852/55]). Asser names "Osburga…daughter of Oslac the famous butler of King Æthelwulf…a Goth by nation" as the mother of King Alfred, specifying that her father was descended from "the Goths and Jutes…namely of Stuf and Whitgar two brothers…who…received possession of the Isle of Wight from their uncle King Cerdic". She is named as mother of King Alfred by Roger of Hoveden, who also names her father, specifying that he was "pincerna regis".

m [thirdly] ([Verberie-sur-Oise] 1 Oct 856) as her first husband, JUDITH of the Franks, daughter of CHARLES II "le Chauve" King of the West Franks & his first wife Ermentrudis [d’Orléans] ([844]-after 870). The Annales Bertiniani record the betrothal in Jul 856 of "Iudith filiam Karli regis" and "Edilvulf rex occidentalium Anglorum" after the latter returned from Rome and their marriage "Kal Oct in Vermaria palatio", during which "Ingmaro Durocortori Remorum episcopo" set a queen's diadem on her head. She and her father are named by Roger of Hoveden when he records her marriage to King Æthelwulf. Her husband placed her "by his own side on the regal throne", contrary to normal practice according to Asser, who also says that the subservient position previously given to the queen was adopted in Wessex after the reign of King Beorhtric because of the unpopular influence of his queen Eadburh of Mercia. Queen Judith married secondly ([858/59]) her stepson, Æthelbald King of Wessex. The Annales Bertiniani record the marriage of "Iudit reginam" and "Adalboldus filius eius [=Edilvulf regis]" in 858 after the death of her first husband. She eloped with her future third husband, Baudouin I Count of Flanders, around Christmas 861 and married him at Auxerre end-863.
[Mistress (1): ---. The uncertain nature of the precise relationship of King Æthelberht to the royal family is explained below, one of the possibilities being that he was an illegitimate son of King Æthelwulf by an unknown concubine.]

King Æthelwulf & his [first wife] had one child:

1. ÆTHELSTAN ([820/26]-[851/53]). According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Æthelstan was under-King of Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex in 839[1506]. Æthelstan had [one possible child]: a) ÆTHELWEARD (-850). Weir states that Æthelstan (whom she places as King Ecgberht's son) had a son named Ethelweard who was under-King of Kent and who died in 850, but the primary source on which this is based is not known.

King Æthelwulf & his [second] wife had [five] children:

2. ÆTHELBALD ([835/40]-20 Dec 860, bur Sherborne Abbey, Dorset). succeeded as ÆTHELBALD King of Wessex, while his father continued to rule in the other part of Wessex and in Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex. m ([858/59], separated) as her second husband, his stepmother, JUDITH of the Franks, widow of ÆTHELWULF King of Wessex, daughter of CHARLES II "le Chauve" King of the West Franks & his first wife Ermentrudis [d’Orléans] ([844]-after 870).

3. ÆTHELSWITH ([838/41]-in Italy 888, bur Pavia). Her name is confirmed by the charter of "Burgred rex Mercensium" dated 855 subscribed by "Æthelswith regina". Æthelswith had no known children from whose birth dates one could calculate their mother's age.m (Chippenham after Easter 853) BURGHRED King of Mercia, son of --- (-Rome after 874).

4. ÆTHELRED ([844/47]-[15/22] Apr 871, bur Wimborne Minster, Dorset[1533]). He succeeded his brother in 866 as ÆTHELRED I King of Wessex, crowned soon after at Kingston-upon-Thames. m (868) WULFTHRYTH, daughter of --- ([848/53]-). King Æthelred I & [hiswife] had two children:
a) ÆTHELHELM ([868/70]-898). b) ÆTHELWOLD ([869/71]-killed at the battle of the Holm [902/05]).

5. ÆLFRED (Wantage, Berkshire 849-26 Oct 899, bur Newminster Abbey, Winchester, transferred to Hyde Abbey, Winchester). Asser records the birth in 849 of Alfred, son of King Æthelwulf, at Wantage in Berkshire. He succeeded his brother in 871 as ALFRED King of Wessex.
- [SEE ENTRY FOR ALFRED]

6. [OSWEALD (-875 or after). "Oswald filius regis" subscribed a charter of King Æthelred I dated 868, listed immediately after "Ælfred filius regis" and before "Wulfthryth regina"[1558]. If he was the son of King Æthelred, he would probably have been named before his uncle Alfred in this charter. It is more likely that Osweald was another son of King Æthelwulf, listed in the document after his older brother Alfred, although it is also possible that he was the son of either of King Æthelred's older brothers, King Æthelbald or King Æthelberht. The root "Os-" in his name suggests a connection with Osburga, the mother of Alfred. "Oswealdus filius regis…" subscribed a charter dated 875 under which Eardwulf granted property to Wighelm[1559]. It is interesting to note that this is not the only example where the son of a previous king continues to be referred to in charters as "filius regis" after the death of his father and succession of his brother. Presumably Osweald died soon after this date as no later record of him has been found.]

[King Æthelwulf had one illegitimate child by Mistress (1):]

7. [ÆTHELBERHT ([830/35]-[865/66], bur Sherborne Abbey, Dorset). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names Æthelberht as king Æthelbald's brother when recording his succession in 860, and as the brother of Æthelred when recording the latter's succession in [865/66]. King Æthelberht's more uncertain relationship with the royal family is deduced from the will of King Alfred, probably dated to [879/88], which refers to the inheritance "which my father King Æthelwulf bequeathed to us three brothers Æthelbald, Æthelred and myself" specifying that "Æthelred and I entrusted our share to our kinsman king Æthelberht on condition that he should return it to us…fully…and he then did so".