Æthelberht of Wessex

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Æthelberht

King of Wessex
Reign	860–865
Predecessor	Æthelbald
Successor	Æthelred

House	House of Wessex
Father	Æthelwulf, King of Wessex
Mother	Osburh
Born	c 836 Wessex, England
Died	Autumn, 865 Sherborne

Æthelberht (or Ethelbert; Old English: Æþelberht, meaning "magnificent noble") was the King of Kent from 858 and of Wessex from 860 to until his death in 865. He was the third son of Æthelwulf of Wessex and his first wife, Osburh. In 855 he became under-king of Kent while his father, Æthelwulf, visited Rome. His brother Æthelbald was left in charge of the West Saxons. After his father's death in 858 he succeeded him as king of Kent and the other eastern parts of the kingdom. When Æthelbald died childless in 860, the kingship of the West Saxons also passed to Æthelberht.^[1]^[2]

Like his father and brother he was also crowned at Kingston upon Thames. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes Æthelberht's reign as one of good harmony and lasting peace. Though this was true of internal affairs, the Vikings remained a great threat, unsuccessfully storming Winchester and ravaging eastern Kent.^[3]

One development was that Wessex and its recent south-eastern conquests became a united kingdom. Unlike his predecessors, Æthelberht did not appoint another member of his family as under-king of Kent. A charter issued in the first year of Æthelberht's reign reflects an extraordinary new kind of assembly: it was the first charter of a West Saxon king to include a full complement both of West Saxon and of Kentish witnesses.^[3]

Æthelberht died in 865 and was succeeded by his brother Æthelred. He was buried at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset beside his brother Æthelbald.

References

↑ Yorke, Barbara. Kings and Kingdoms in Early Anglo-Saxon England. (London: Seaby, 1990. ISBN 1-85264-027-8), pp. 148–158 & p. 133, table 15.
↑ Stenton, Frank (1971), Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed.), Oxford: Clarendon, p. 245
↑ 3.0 3.1 Miller, Sean (2004). "Æthelberht (d. 865)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8904. (subscription or UK public library membership required)

Regnal titles
Preceded by Æthelbald	King of Wessex 860–865	Succeeded by Æthelred
		Succeeded by Æthelred
Preceded by Æthelstan	King of Kent 858–865

v t e Monarchs of Wessex

House of Wessex Family tree

Cerdic Cynric Ceawlin Ceol Ceolwulf Cynegils Cwichelm Cenwalh Penda of Mercia Cenwalh restored Seaxburh Æscwine Centwine Cædwalla Ine Æthelheard Cuthred Sigeberht Cynewulf Beorhtric Egbert Æthelwulf Æthelbald Æthelberht Æthelred Alfred the Great Edward the Elder Ælfweard ^[‡] Æthelstan

^[‡] disputed

v t e Monarchs of Kent

Hengest Horsa Oisc Octa Eormenric Æthelberht I Eadbald Æðelwald Eorcenberht Eormenred Ecgberht I Hlothhere Eadric Mul Swæfheard Swæfberht Oswine Wihtred Alric Eadbert I Æthelbert II Eardwulf Eadberht II Sigered Eanmund Heaberht Egbert II Ealhmund Eadberht III Præn Cuthred Coenwulf ¹ Ceolwulf I ² Baldred Egbert ³ Æthelwulf ⁴ Æthelstan ⁴ Æthelberht ⁴ Æthelred ⁴

¹ Also monarch of Mercia ² Also monarch of East Anglia and Mercia ³ Also monarch of Wessex, Essex, Sussex and Mercia ⁴ Also monarch of Wessex

Persondata
Name	Æthelberht
Alternative names
Short description	King of Wessex (860 to 865)
Date of birth	c. 836
Place of birth	Wessex
Date of death	865
Place of death	Sherborne

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Æthelberht of Wessex

See also

References