General Notes

[baeldaeg.FTW]

Æthelwulf (è´thelw¢lf, à-), d. 858, king of WESSEX (839-56), son of EGBERT and father of ÆTHELBERT and ALFRED. With his son Æthelbald, he won a notable victory over the Danes at Aclea (851). He married Judith of France in 856. A man of great piety, he learned while on a pilgrimage in Rome that Æthelbald would resist his return. He left his son as king in Wessex and ruled in Kent and its dependencies.
Source:
The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright © 1995 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved

Data Sources:
     Brøderbund World Family Tree #8, Pedigree #1725
          King of England 839-858; married Osburh daughter of Oslac, the royal
          cup bearer.

     Gedcom G419
          Submitted to Broderbund by:
               Robert W. McGahuey
               203 Willowbrook Court
               Winchester, VA  22602
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     Churchyard/Orr Family Museum - Chart of Lineal Ancestors
     of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault

     Imperium Forum on the Net www.ghgcorp.com/shelter/oldimp
          King of Wessex  839-856

          When King Egbert of Wessex, who won the entire of Britain to his control and
          is sometimes considered the first King of all England, died in 839, he gave
          everything to his son AEthelwulf, who in turn gave his son Athelstan the
          smaller satellite kingdoms of Kent, Essex, Sussex.  In 840, he fought the
          Danes at Charmouth.  In 851, AEthelwulf and his son AEthelbald defeated
          the Mercians at Ockley.  He gave up the throne to his son in 856 when
          Athelstan died.  Wessex passed to AEthelbald, and the satellites went
          to AEthelbert.

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NOTE: Reigned 839-856 (abdicated). Under-king of Kent 825-839 and 856-858.
Renown for his military prowess, he reputedly defeated 350 viking ships (851).
He reduced taxation, endowed the Church, made lay lands inheritable, and
provided systems of poor relief.

   Æthelwulf, king of the West Saxons in England, son of Eg bert, and father of Alfred.  He was overking of Kent (wit h Surrey, Sussex, and Essex) and apparently of Mercia and E ast Anglia.  He had acted as underking of Kent (828? - 838? ) before his father's death in 839.  He was compelled to de fend his country against the invasion of the Danes and, wit h his son Æthelbald, won a notable victory over them in 851 . He also seems to have campaigned against the Welsh.  I n 855 he went to Rome on pilgrimage.  Later (856?) he too k as his second wife Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald o f France.  It is said that this marriage was one of the cau ses of an obscure revolt led by Æthelbald. It is also sai d that Æthelwulf withdrew to the East, where he died, leavi ng the kingdom in the West to Æthelbald, the kingdom in th e East to Æthelbert. Æthelwulf seems to have given generous ly to the Church.  He is a shadowy, half -legendary figure.
   Made many journeys to Rome. 839
   He is called  a "descendant of Wihgar, nephew of Cerdic , who ruled the Isle of Wight early in 6th cent.

   Æthelwulf, king of the West Saxons in England, son of Eg bert, and father of Alfred.  He was overking of Kent (wit h Surrey, Sussex, and Essex) and apparently of Mercia and E ast Anglia.  He had acted as underking of Kent (828? - 838? ) before his father's death in 839.  He was compelled to de fend his country against the invasion of the Danes and, wit h his son Æthelbald, won a notable victory over them in 851 . He also seems to have campaigned against the Welsh.  I n 855 he went to Rome on pilgrimage.  Later (856?) he too k as his second wife Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald o f France.  It is said that this marriage was one of the cau ses of an obscure revolt led by Æthelbald. It is also sai d that Æthelwulf withdrew to the East, where he died, leavi ng the kingdom in the West to Æthelbald, the kingdom in th e East to Æthelbert. Æthelwulf seems to have given generous ly to the Church.  He is a shadowy, half -legendary figure.
   Made many journeys to Rome. 839
   He is called  a "descendant of Wihgar, nephew of Cerdic , who ruled the Isle of Wight early in 6th cent.

King of Kent 825-839 and 856-858

King of Kent 825-839 and 856-858

Ethelwolf,
king of England, succeeded his father, Egbert, in 837, and gave to his son, Athelstan, the sovereignty over Essex, Kent, and Sussex. In the year 851 the Danes invaded the kingdom in excessive numbers, and threatened its total subjugation; for though vigorously opposed by Athelstan and others, they fixed their winter quarters in Thanet, and the same year took Canterbury and London. During these troubles, Ethelwolf, accompanied by Alfred <kinga.html>, his youngest son, made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he remained a year, and, on his return, found Athelstan dead, and succeeded by his next son, Ethelbald, who had entered into a conspiracy with some of the nobles to prevent his father from again ascending the throne. To avoid a civil war, the king gave up the western division of the kingdom to his son, and soon after, summoning the great council of the kingdom, gave a tenth part of the land to the church. The meaning and effect of this grant has been much discussed, and still remains doubtful. That it formed the foundation of the claim of tithes, as once maintained, is no longer held. Died, 857.
4.

King of England 839-858.

!King of the West Saxons.  5 sons. [Funk & Wagnalls]

FOSTER, MINOR, NEWLIN, WAITE LINE

!839-858 - King of England.
851 - defeats the Danes at Oakley
855 - begins to raise Peter's pence and goes with his son Alfred on pilgrimage to Rome
856 - son Ethelbald rebels against him
858 - dies and is succeeded by son Ethelbert
[Timetables of History]

!Mounted the throne in 839 and had to face an attack which was only beaten off by years of hard fighting.  He fought bravely in defence of his realm; in his defeat at Charmouth as in a final victory at Aclea in 851 he led his troops in person against the sea-robbers; and his success won peace for the land through the short and uneventful reigns of his sons Ethelbald and Ethelberht. [WBH-England]

!The year 851 AD is noted as that when "the heathen men first sat over winter in Thanet".  Yet in that year, at Ockley below Leith Hill, Ethelwulf faced the invaders so sternly that the land seems to have gained a respite. [Leaders & Landmarks, Vol. II, p. 15]

!Eldest son of Egbert. 4 sons and a daughter.  Due to the early deaths of all of his sons and the well-documented health problems of son Alfred, this author believes the family had an hereditary infirmity.  Alfred was said to suffer from transient bouts of severe pain and anxiety among other undefined problems. [Knight's Popular History of England, Vol. 1, p. 95-6, 110]

!Reigned 839-58; father of Alfred, Aethelbald, Aethelbert, Aethelred I. [Chronicle of the Royal Family, chart]

!Ethelwulf, King of Wessex md (1) Osburh, Queen of Wessex. [Royal Ancestors of Some American Families by Michel Call SLC 1989 chart 11505, 11605]

!King from 839-858

King of England 839-58; son of Egbert and Raedburh; d. 13 Jan 858; m.1 Osburh; father of Alfred the Great. [Ancestral Roots, p. 2]

Father of Aethelred I, King of Wessex. [Ancestral Roots, p. 5]

Son of King Egbert of England and Redburh of Wessex; m. Osburg of Wessex. [GRS 3.03, Automated Archives, CD#100]

King of Wessex; son of Egbert, King of Wessex, and Redburh; m. Osburh; father of Ethelred I, King of Wessex, and of Alfred the Great. [WFT Vol 1 Ped 986]

Ruled Wessex from 839 to 858. In 855, Aethelwulf went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and not expecting to return, divided his kingdom between his sons Aethelbald and Aethelbert. However, Aethelwulf did in fact return with his 12-year-old bride Judith, and resumed kingship of the eastern half of Wessex, while Aethelbald ruled the western half. He died on 13 Jan 858.
   After Egbert's death, Athulf succeeded to the throne of his father Egbert, and he delivered up the kingdomof Kent to his son Athelstan, together with East-Saxony, South-Saxony, and Surrey, i.e., the eastern southern and midland parts.
   851: Ceorl, duke of Devon, fought a battle against the pagans at Wembury, where they selw many of the Danes and gained the victory. In the course of the same year, the barbarians wintered first in the isle of Thanet, which lies not far from Britain, and has fruitful but not large corn fields. That year was not yet finished, when a large fleet of pagans arrived, 350 ships, at the mouth of the river Thames and destroyed the city of Canterbury and the city of London, and put to flight Berthwilf King of Mercia, having defeated his army. After the battle they returned beyond the river Thames toward the south through the province of Surrey, adn there King Ethelwulf with the Western Angles met them: an immense number was slain on both sides near Ockley Wood.
   854: After three years King Burhred asked assistance from King Ethelwulf to subdue the Northern Britons: he granted it, and having collected his army, passed through the Mercian kingdom to go against the Britons: whom he subdues and made tributary. In the same year King Ethelwulf sent his son Alfred to Rome, in the days of our lord pope Leo IV, who consecrated him king and named him his son in baptism, when we are accustomed to name little children, when we receive them from the bishop's hand. In the same year were fought battles in the isle of Thanet against the pagans; and there was a great slaughter made on both sides, and many were drowned in the sea. The same year also after Easter King Ethelwulf gave his daughter in marriage to King Burhred.
   855: After a year the pagans wintered in Sheppey. In the same year King Ethelwulf gave the tenth of all his possession to be the Lord's portion, and so appointed it to be in all the government of his kingdom. In the same year he set out to Rome with great dignity, and stayed there 12 months. As he returned home, therefore, to his country, Charles, king of the Franks, gave him his daughter in marriage, and he took her home with him to his own country.
   857: Lastly, after a year King Ethelwulf died, and his body reposes in the city of Winchester. [Gordon Fisher <Fishergm@vax1.acs.jmu.edu]

b.c. 795, Aachen, France; d. 13 Jan 857/8, Sussex, England; son of Egbert III and Eadburh; m. Osburh; father of:
1. Æthelbald who m. Judith of France
2. Æthelbert
3. Æthelred who m. Wulfrida
4. Alfred who m. Ealhswith of the Gaini
5. Altheswith Burgred of Mercia
[Terry Walters <tlwalters@voyager.net, 2 Nov 2001]

Source: Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots, Seventh Edition,Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, [1992], 1-14.

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