Ælfweard (/ˈælfwɔːrd/; c. 902 – 2 August 924) was the second son of Edward the Elder, the eldest born to his second wife Ælfflæd.
| Ælfweard | |
|---|---|
| King of Wessex (disputed) | |
| Reign | 17 July – c. 2 August 924 |
| Predecessor | Edward the Elder |
| Successor | Æthelstan |
| Born | c. 902 Wessex |
| Died | 2 August 924 (aged 21–22) Oxford, Wessex |
| Burial | |
| House | Wessex |
| Father | Edward the Elder |
| Mother | Ælfflæd |
Kingship and death
editThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle simply states that Ælfweard died soon after his father's death on 17 July 924 and that they were buried together at Winchester. Manuscript D of the Chronicle specifies that he outlived his father by only 16 days. No reign is explicitly attributed to him here. However, a list of West-Saxon kings in the 12th-century Textus Roffensis[1] mentions him as his father's successor, with a reign of four weeks.[2] He is also described as king in the New Minster Liber Vitae,[3][4] an 11th-century source based in part on earlier material. On the other hand, William of Malmesbury, summarising a text dating to the lifetime of Ælfweard's elder brother Æthelstan, states that Æthelstan succeeded under the terms of his father's will.[5]
This conflicting documentation has led to alternative interpretations, some modern historians concluding that he had succeeded his father in preference to his older half-brother Æthelstan, while others maintain that Æthelstan was the only heir to his father.[5] Alternatively, a divided rule has been suggested, since the so-called Mercian register of the Chronicle reports that Æthelstan became king of the Mercians, and William of Malmesbury, though denying a reign for Ælfweard, reports that Æthelstan was educated at the Mercian court of his aunt Æthelflæd.[2][5][6] In the view of Simon Keynes, Ælfweard was recognised as king in Wessex and Æthelstan in Mercia, and although it is possible that Edward intended a division of the kingdom after his death, it is more likely that the leaders of Wessex chose Ælfweard, and Mercia set up Æthelstan in opposition.[7]
Ælfweard died only 16 days after his father, on 2 August 924 at Oxford, and was buried at the New Minster, Winchester. Æthelstan still had difficulty in securing acceptance in Wessex, and he was not crowned King of the Anglo-Saxons until 4 September 925.[7][8]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ (Rochester, Cathedral Library, MS A.3.5, fols. 7v-8r).
- ^ a b Yorke, Bishop Æthelwold. p. 71.
- ^ f. 9v, cited by Yorke.
- ^ "Ælfweard 4". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
- ^ a b c Williams, "Some Notes", pp. 149–50; Mynors et al, William of Malmesbury, p. 211
- ^ Walker, Mercia and the Making of England. p. 127.
- ^ a b Keynes, 'Rulers of the English', p. 514
- ^ Foot, Æthelstan, p. 17
References
edit- Foot, Sarah (2011). Æthelstan the first king of England. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12535-1.
- Keynes, Simon (2001). "Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". In Michael Lapidge; John Blair; Simon Keynes; Donald Scragg (eds.). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1.
- Lapidge, Michael (2001). The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1.
- Mynors, R. A. B.; Thomson, R. M.; Winterbottom, M., eds. (1998). William of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum Anglorum, The History of the English Kings. Vol. I. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820678-1.
- Walker, Ian W. (2000). Mercia and the Making of England. Sutton Pub Limited. ISBN 978-0-7509-2131-2.
- Williams, Ann, "Some Notes and Considerations on Problems Connected with the English Royal Succession, 860–1066", Proceedings of the Battle Conference, 1978, R. Allen Brown, ed., Boydell & Brewer, 1979, 144–167.
- Yorke, Barbara. Bishop Æthelwold. His Career and Influence. Woodbridge, 1988.
Further reading
edit- Keynes, Simon (1996). The Liber Vitae of the New Minster and Hyde Abbey in Winchester. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger. pp. 20–22.