Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 0856, Wessex, England; Konge av Wessex.

Notes:

Occupation:
King Æthelbald of Wessex or Ethelbald (Old English: Æþelbald) was the second of the five sons of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburh. He was king of Wessex from 858 to 860.

He witnessed his father's charters as a kings' son in the 840s, and in 850 he received the rank of Ealdorman. In 855 he became regent of Wessex while his father, Æthelwulf, visited Rome, his elder brother Æthelstan having died in 851 or shortly after. His younger brother Æthelbert became king of Kent.

Æthelwulf returned a year later, having taken as his second wife, the Carolingian King Charles the Bald's thirteen-year-old daughter Judith.

According to Alfred the Great's biographer, Asser, during Æthelwulf's absence there may have been a plot hatched to prevent the king's return either by Æthelbald, or by Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne and Eanwulf, Ealdorman of Somerset, or by all three.
It is probable that Æthelbald was involved in such a plot because of his father's marriage to Judith. The marriage to a Frankish princess who had her own royal lineage could have produced heirs more throne-worthy than Æthelbald.

To avoid a civil war, Æthelwulf allowed Æthelbald to continue to rule Wessex itself (or the western part of Wessex) while he took Kent and the other eastern parts of the kingdom.

Ann Williams dates the start of Æthelbald's reign to 855, regarding father and son as joint kings from Æthelwulf's return from Rome in 856 until his death in 858.
The absence of any coins in Æthelbald's name during this period suggests the coinage continued to be in Æthelwulf's name until his death. Æthelbald then became the king of Wessex, while Æthelbert again became king of Kent.

Judith's charisma as a Carolingian princess was so great that rather than lose the prestige of the connection Æthelbald then married her, in spite of strong clerical opposition, as marriage to a widowed stepmother was considered incestuous.

Little is known of his reign and only one charter survives, witnessed by king Æthelbald, king Æthelbert and Judith, suggesting that he was on good terms with his brother.

Æthelbald died at Sherborne in Dorset on 20 December 860. Asser, who was hostile to Æthelbald both because of his revolt against his father and because of his uncanonical marriage, described him as iniquitous and grasping, and his reign as two and a half lawless years.

Ethelbald married Judith av Flandern after 13 Jan 0858 in Wessex, England. Judith (daughter of Karl (Charles) av Vest-Franken, "Karl 2" and Irmentrud (Ermentrude) av Orleans) was born between 0843 and 0844 in Roches, Frankrike; died about 0870 in Roches, Frankrike. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
King Æthelwulf, who died on 13 January 858, was succeeded by his son Æthelbald, who married his step-mother Judith, probably to enhance his status because she was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor.

The marriage was condemned by Asser in his Life of Alfred the Great:

Once King Æthelwulf was dead, Æthelbald, his son, against God's prohibition and Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans, took over his father's marriage-bed and married Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks, incurring great disgrace from all who heard of it.

Judith was still childless when Æthelbald died in 860 after a reign of 2,5 years.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 0839, Wessex, England; Konge av Wessex og Kent.

Notes:

Birth:
Som barn ble Ethelwulf gitt undervisning av blant annet Svithun av Winchester.

Occupation:
Ethelwulf ble anglosaksisk konge i 839. Han etterfulgte sin far Egbert. Noe av det første han gjorde som konge var å splitte farens rike i to. Han ga det østre riket, som var Kent, Essex, Surrey og Sussex, til sin eldste sønn Ethelstan. Selv beholdt han den vestre del av Wessex, dvs Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset og Devon.

Han var meget kirkevennlig og ville foreta en pilgrimsferd. Biskop Ealstan fikk ham i stedet til å verge Wessex mot vikingene, som han seiret over flere ganger. Under hans regjeringstid var han plaget av vikinger. Han vant en viktig seier i slaget ved Acleah, antagelig ved Ockley. Han slo også, sammen med Mercias konge, den walisiske kongen Cyngen ap Cadell. Vikingene ble slått senere også av sønnen Ethelbald ved Sandwich i 851.

Etter sin første kones død etter 855, dro han sammen med sønnen Alfred på pilgrimsferd til Roma, hvor han forpliktet seg til å gi 300 gullmynter i årlige Peterspenger. Alfred ble konfirmert av paven, Leo 4.

På tilbakereisen var de innom Karls den skallede i Frankrike, og Ethelwulf ektet Karl's unge datter. Etter tilbakekomsten overlot han styret av Wessex til sin kraftige sønn Ethelbald, og nøyde seg med en beskjeden stilling som underkonge i Kent fra 856.

Kilder:
Dictionary of National Biography.
Mogens Bugge: Våre forfedre, nr. 218.
Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 103.

Tekst til bilde av ring:
"Æthelwulf's ring, measuring about an inch across, richly decorated with religious symbols, and inscribed Æthelwulf Rex."

Æthelwulf, also spelled Aethelwulf or Ethelwulf; Old English: Æþelwulf, meaning "Noble Wolf", was King of Wessex from 839 until his death in 858. He was the only known child of King Egbert of Wessex.
He conquered the kingdom of Kent on behalf of his father in 825, and was sometime later made King of Kent as a sub-king to Egbert.
He succeeded his father as King of Wessex on Egbert's death in 839, at which time his kingdom stretched from the county of Kent in the east to Devon in the west. At the same time his eldest son Æthelstan became sub-king of Kent as a subordinate ruler.

He proved to be intensely religious, cursed with little political sense, and with too many able and ambitious sons.

In 843, he fought unsuccessfully at Carhampton against 35 ship companies of Danes, whose raids had increased considerably.
His most notable victory came in 851 at Acleah, possibly Ockley in Surrey or Oakley in Berkshire. Here, Æthelwulf and his son Æthelbald fought against the heathen, and according to the Chronicle it was the greatest slaughter of heathen host ever made.
Around 853, Æthelwulf and his son-in-law, Burgred, King of Mercia, defeated Cyngen ap Cadell of Wales and made the Welsh subject to him.
The Chronicle depicts more battles throughout the years, mostly against invading pirates and Danes. This was an era in European history when nations were being invaded by many different groups; there were Saracens in the south, Magyars in the east, Moors in the west, and Vikings in the north.
Before Æthelwulf's death, raiders had wintered on the Isle of Sheppey and pillaged at will in East Anglia. Over the course of the next 20 years the struggles of his sons were to be ceaseless, heroic, and largely futile.

Religion was always an important part of Æthelwulf's life. As early as the first year of his reign he planned a pilgrimage to Rome. Due to the ongoing and increasing raids he felt the need to appeal to the Christian God for help against an enemy so agile, and numerous, and profane.
In 853, Æthelwulf sent his son Alfred, a child of about four years, to Rome. In 855, about a year after the death of his wife Osburga, Æthelwulf followed Alfred to Rome, where he was generous with his wealth. He distributed gold to the clergy of St. Peter's and offered them chalices of the purest gold and silver-gilt candelabra of Saxon work. During the return journey in 856 he married Judith, a Frankish princess and a great-granddaughter of Charlemagne.

Upon their return to England in 856 Æthelwulf met with an acute crisis. His eldest surviving son Æthelbald (Athelstan had since died) had devised a conspiracy with the Ealdorman of Somerset and the Bishop of Sherborne to oppose Æthelwulf's resumption of the kingship on his return. While Æthelwulf was able to muster enough support to fight a civil war or to banish Æthelbald and his fellow conspirators, he instead chose to yield western Wessex to his son, while he himself retained central and eastern Wessex. The absence of coins in Æthelbald's name suggests that West Saxon coinage was in Æthelwulf's name until his death. He ruled there until his death on 13 January 858.

The restoration of Æthelwulf included a special concession on behalf of Saxon queens. The West Saxons previously did not allow the queen to sit next to the king. In fact they were referred to not as a queen but merely as the wife of the king. This restriction was lifted for Queen Judith, probably because she was a high-ranking European princess.

Buried:
Han ble gravlagt i Steyning. Senere ble hans legeme flyttet til Winchester-katedralen i London.

He was buried first at Steyning and later re-interred in the Old Minster in Winchester. His bones now rest in one of several mortuary chests in Winchester Cathedral.

Ethelwulf married Osburga av Isle of Wight before 0829. Osburga (daughter of Oslac av Isle of Wight and Judith) was born about 0810 in Isle of Wight, England; died between 0853 and 0855 in Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
ca.856

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 0802, Wessex, England; Konge av Wessex og Kent.

Notes:

Occupation:
Forente de 7 kongeriker:

Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Mercia, Øst-Anglia og Northumberland til ett; kongeriket Anglia.

Egbert var etterkommer til vestsaksernes høvding Cerdic.

Han ble som ung jaget av kong Offa av Mercia og oppholdt seg i flere år hos Karl den store. Egbert kom ca.802 tilbake til England og ble konge.

Kongen av Mercia gjorde et innfall i 825, men led nederlag. Deretter undertvang Egbert seg Kent, Sussex og Essex, mye med hjelp av sin sønn Ethelwulf. Østanglerne underkastet seg også, og Mercia og Northumberland måtte i 829 anerkjenne ham som overherre. Dette år betegnes som de 7 rikers forening.

Egbert var gift med Redburh (Redburgia).

De saksiske germanerne kom fra Sachsen i Tyskland ved slutten av 400-tallet og fordrev de keltiske brittene. Slekten skal visstnok kunne føre sine aner tilbake til Odin (Woden)!

England ble oppdelt i kongerikene Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia, Essex, Sussex, Wessex og Kent.

På 600-tallet hadde Northumbria den ledende stillingen i England, mens Mercia dominerte på 700-tallet.

Wessex-slekten var konger av Wessex og Kent fra 519 til 927 og konger av England fra 927 til 1013 og fra 1042 til 1066.

Etter et kort mellomspill med kong Harald Godwinson ble England erobret av Vilhelm Erobreren.

Kilder:
Wikipedia.
Dictionary of National Biography.
Mogens Bugge: Våre forfedre, nr. 219.
Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 8-9, 103.

Died:
Begravet i Winchester-katedralen i London.

Egbert married Redburga (Redburh/Raedburg) av Wessex before 0800. Redburga was born about 0788 in Wessex, England; died about 0858 in Wessex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Mulig søster av Karl den store av Frankrike.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Grand Butler of England.

Oslac married Judith before 0810. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ealhmund married NN Aethelbertsdatter. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]