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ETHELBALD

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 289 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ETHELBALD , See also:

king of Wessex, was the son of rzEthelwulf, with whom he led the See also:West See also:Saxons to victory against the Danes at Aclea, 851. According to See also:Asser he rebelled against his See also:father on the latter's return from See also:Rome in 856, and deprived him of Wessex, which he ruled until his See also:death in 86o. On his father's death in 858 he married his widow, See also:Judith. See Asser, See also:Life of See also:Alfred (W. H. See also:Stevenson, 1904), 12; Saxon See also:Chronicle, s.a. 851, 855, 86o. 1ETHELBERHT, king of See also:Kent, son of Eormenric, probably came to the See also:throne in A.D. 560. The first recorded event of his reign was a serious See also:reverse at the hands of See also:Ceawlin of Wessex in the See also:year 568 (Chronicle) at a See also:place called Wibbandune. iEthelberht married Berhta, daughter of See also:Charibert, king of See also:Paris, who brought over See also:Bishop Liudhard as her private See also:confessor. According to See also:Bede, sEthelberht's supremacy in 597 stretched over all the See also:English kingdoms as far as the See also:Humber. The nature of this supremacy has been much disputed, but it was at any See also:rate sufficient to See also:guarantee the safety of See also:Augustine in his See also:conference with the See also:British bishops.

AEthelberht exercised a stricter sway over See also:

Essex, where his See also:nephew Saberht was king. In 597 the See also:mission of Augustine landed in See also:Thanet and was received at first with some hesitation by the king. He seems to have acted with prudence and moderation during the See also:conversion of his See also:kingdom and did not countenance compulsory proselytism. £Ethelberht gave Augustine a dwelling-place in See also:Canterbury, and z. zo See also:Christ See also:Church was consecrated in 603. He also made grants to found the see of See also:Rochester, of which Justus became first bishop in 604, and his See also:influence established See also:Mellitus at See also:London in the same year. A See also:code of See also:laws issued' by him which is still extant is probably the See also:oldest document in the English See also:language, and contains a See also:list of See also:money fines for various crimes. Towards the See also:close of his reign his pre-See also:eminence as See also:Bretwalda was disturbed by the increasing See also:power of Rxdwald of See also:East Anglia. He died probably in 616, and was succeeded by his son See also:Eadbald. See Bede, Hist. Ecc. (Plummer) i. 25, 26, ii.

3, 5; Saxon Chronicle (See also:

Earle and Plummer), s.a. 568. (F. G. M. B.) 1ETHELBERHT, king of the West Saxons, succeeded to the sub-kingdom of Kent during the lifetime of his father iEthelwulf, and retained it until the death of his See also:elder See also:brother IEthelbaid in 86o, when he became See also:sole king of Wessex and Kent, the younger See also:brothers iEthelred and Alfred renouncing their claim. He ruled these kingdoms for five years and died in 865. His reign was marked by two serious attacks on the See also:part of the Danes, who destroyed See also:Winchester in 86o, in spite of the resistance of the ealdormen Osric and sEthelwulf with the levies of See also:Hampshire and See also:Berkshire, while in 865 they treacherously ravaged Kent. See Saxon Chronicle (Earle and Plummer), s.a. 86o, 865; King Alfred's Will; W. de G. See also:Birch, Cartul. Saxon.

553. 1ETHELFLAED (ETIHELFLEDA), the " See also:

Lady of the Mercians," the eldest See also:child of Alfred the See also:Great, was educated with her brother See also:Edward at her father's See also:court. As soon as she was of marriageable See also:age (probably about A.D. 886), she was married to /See also:Ethelred, See also:earl of See also:Mercia, to whom Alfred entrusted the See also:control of Mercia. On the See also:accession of her brother Edward, FEthelflaed and her See also:husband continued to hold Mercia. In 907 they fortified See also:Chester, and in 909 and 910 either 'Ethelflaed or her husband must have led the Mercian See also:host at the battles of Tettenhall and Wednesfield (or Tettenhall-Wednesfield, if these battles are one and the same). It was probably about this See also:time that /Ethelred See also:fell See also:ill, and the Norwegians and Danes from See also:Ireland unsuccessfully besieged Chester. FEthelflaed won the support of the Danes against the Norwegians, and seems also to have entered into an See also:alliance with the Scots and the Welsh against the pagans. In 911 'Ethelred died and Edward took over See also:Middlesex and See also:Oxford-See also:shire. Except for this IEthelflaed's authority remained unimpaired. In 912 she fortified " Scergeat " and Bridgenorth, See also:Tamworth and See also:Stafford in 913, Eddisbury and See also:Warwick in 914, Cherbury, " Weardbyrig " and See also:Runcorn in 915. In 916 she sent an expedition against the Welsh, which advanced as far as Brecknock.

In 917 See also:

Derby was captured from the Danes, and in the next year See also:Leicester and See also:York both submitted to her. She died in the same year at Tamworth (See also:June 12), and was buried in St See also:Peter's church at See also:Gloucester. This See also:noble See also:queen, whose career was as distinguished as that of her father and brother, See also:left one daughter, IElfwyn. For some eighteen months £Elfwyn seems to have wielded her See also:mother's authority, and then, just before the See also:Christmas of 919, Edward took Mercia into his own hands, and IElfwyn was " led away " into Wessex. 'Ethelflaed and her husband wielded almost kingly authority, and the royal See also:title is often given them by the chroniclers. See The Saxon Chronicle, sub See also:ann. (especially the Mercian See also:register in See also:MSS. B, C and D); See also:Florence of See also:Worcester; Fragments of Irish See also:Annals (ed. O'Conor), pp. 227-237; D.N.B., s.v. (A.

End of Article: ETHELBALD

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