Ælfwald II of Northumbria

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Ælfwald is said to have been king of Northumbria following the deposition of Eardwulf in 806. This information is only reported in the anonymous tract De Primo Saxonum Adventu (printed in the collected works of Symeon of Durham) and the Flores Historiarum of Roger of Wendover. 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 and Pope Leo III, although he may instead have been followed by Eardwulf's son Eanred 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, these were produced by a moneyer named Cuthheard, who also produced all known coins of Eardwulf's reign.

Lakeland author W. G. Collingwood 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.

[edit] References

Kirby, D.P., The Earliest English Kings. London: Unwin Hyman, 1991. ISBN 0-04-445691-3
Rollason, David (2004). Eardwulf (fl. 796–c.830), king of Northumbria. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Seaby, 1990. ISBN 1-85264-027-8