General Notes

1  NAME /Ethelwulf/
1  DEAT
2  DATE 13 JAN 857/58
2  PLAC England
bk&q pp 8-10, 28, 226, 314-7, 797, 801
pp. 316-7:  [reigns] Kent, 825-839, 856-858; Wessex, July(?) 839-855 "Athe
lwolf was the son of Egbert, whose subjugation of most of England from 8
25 onward bgecame the foundation of the future kingdom of England.  Althou
gh usually listed amongst the kings of England, Athelwolf remained ki
ng of Wessex only.  These territories incorporated Sussex, Kent and Esse
x, which Athelwolf had conquered on his father's behalf in 825 and of whi
ch Athelwolf was duly appointed sub-king.  Athelwolf appointed his broth
er (or son) Athelstan as sub-king of these territories when he became ki
ng of Wessex.  However, Athelwolf did not directly rule East Anglia, Merc
ia or Northumbria, all of which had their own kings who acknowledged Athel
wolf as their overlord.  Athelwolf's direct ascent to the throne of Wess
ex was a rare event in the West Saxon kingdom.  Over the past three centur
ies the kingdom had passed either to the next most appropriate local chief
tain as confirmed by the council or witan or, in a few cases, by conques
t.  Wessex had been a fairly loose knit confederacy of smaller kingdoms, a
nd succession did not pass directly from father to son.  Egbert's rigoro
us readministration of the kingdom had ensured his eldest son would inher
it and that there would not be the inter-dynastic squabbling that had weak
ened other kingdoms.  The ability to appoint younger sons to sub-kingdo
ms helped this process.  Elsewhere the leading chieftain of the shire beca
me the ealdorman, a position of considerable privilege second only to t
he king.  In Athelwolf's time we find that the ealdormen became of major i
mportance in helping defend the kingdom from the Danes, whose raids increa
sed considerably during the 840s.  Athelwolf or his ealdormen succeed
ed in defeating the Danes on almost every occasion.  The raids reached a p
eak in the years 850/1 when there were three assaults spread across the so
uth.  The sequence may not be as the ASC records, but it suggests that fir
st an army landed in Devon which was defeated by the local ealdorman.  A f
urther army arrived off the Kent coast near Sandwich, where Athelstan a
nd his ealdormen fought a sea battle, defeating the Danes and capturing ni
ne of their ships.  The Danes spent that winter in Thanet.  Then, ear
ly in 851, a major fiorce arrived in over three hundred ships which sail
ed up the Thames and attacked inland.  It first defeated Beorhtwulf of Mer
cia and then turned its attention south of the Thames, where it met Athelw
olf and his son Atheldbald at a place called Acleah, somewhere in Surrey (
usually associated with Ockley, though not all authorities agree).  If t
he number of ships is correct (and not miscopied as 350 instead of 35) th
en the Danish force must have numbered nearly 10,000 men.  The ASC notes t
hat this was the greatest slaughter of the Danes that was known up to th
at time and was evidently a significant battle.
A few years of peace followed, and we may imagine that after the batt
le of Acleah Athelwolf had agreed some form of peace arrangement with t
he Danes, or that they sought easier places of conquest.  The following ye
ar (852), Beorhtwulf of Mercia died, and a new king, Burgred, appeare
d. He was almost certainly a vassal of Athelwolf's, possibly even one of h
is ealdormen.  At Easter 853, Burgred married Athelwolf's daughter Athelsw
ith, and later that year Athelwolf aided Burgred married Athelwolf's daugh
ter Athelswith, and later that year Athelwolf aided Burgred in his batt
le against the Welsh where they subjected Cyngen Ap Cadell to a major defe
at.
Athelwolf's life was soon after tinged with sadness as his wife die
d, probably at the end of 853 or early 854.  By all accounts Athelwolf lov
ed her deeply.  The character of this king is somewhat perplexing.  Ma
ny of the chroniclers recorded hi