Æthelberht, King of Wessex
Æthelberht was King of Wessex from 860 until his death in 865. He was the third son of King Æthelwulf by his first wife, Osburh. The kingdom came under attack from Viking raids during his reign. But these were minor compared with the invasions after his death.
About Æthelberht, King of Wessex in brief
Æthelberht was King of Wessex from 860 until his death in 865. He was the third son of King Æthelwulf by his first wife, Osburh. He appears to have been on good terms with his younger brothers. The kingdom came under attack from Viking raids during his reign. But these were minor compared with the invasions after his death. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle provides the source for the mid-tenth century account. It is mainly based on the biography of his younger brother, Alfred the Great. The Chronicle also mentions two major incidents in his reign and these are also related in Asserer’s biography of Alfred, which is also based on Asser’s account of Alfred’s early life. The chronicle also mentions the death of his brother Æthelbald, who was buried next to him at Sherborne Abbey in Dorset. The king’s grandfather Ecgberht had been defeated by the Vikings in 835 at the Battle of Ellendun. In the ninth and tenth centuries descent from Cerdic was no longer sufficient to make a man an ætheling: all kings were sons of kings. The two kingdoms became allies, which was important in the resistance to Viking attacks.
In 850 Ætherstan defeated a Danish fleet off Sandwich in the first recorded naval battle in English history. In 843 Æetherwulf defeated the companies of 35 Danish ships at Carhampton. He died in 839 and was succeeded by his eldest son, who appointed his youngest son as sub-king of Kent. In 841 he defeated the Danish fleet of Aclea and his second son Æ thelbald defeated Vikings at theBattle of the Acle. The next year he was killed by a Viking at the battle of Hingston Down. The battle is recorded as the greatest slaughter of a heathen raiding-army that we have heard tell of up to this day, and there are only two major victories in the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle for the period between 835 and 860. The Chronicle of Acle and Acle makes no mention of a victory over the Vikings at Carhampton and there are also only two mentions of a major battle between the Vikings and the Cornishmen in 838. The Battle of Hingston Down was recorded as the greatest slaughter of heathen army that we have heard tell of up to this day, and there are only two major victories for the present day, in 850 and 843 in 850.
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