Egbert’s descendants were generally accepted as Kings of the English. He was succeeded by his son Æthelwulf, who had previously been sub-king in Kent. Kent was then assigned in turn to Æthelwulf’s eldest son, Æthelstan.
Æthelwulf’s name means ‘noble wolf’, and he is described by chroniclers as being a heavily built man, who was inclined to be sluggish and indolent. Of a gentle and pious nature, he had expressed a desire to be a priest when he was young, his warlike father was said to have found his pacific eldest son a disappointment. He was aided in government by St. Swithin, Bishop of Winchester, at the time a senior statesman but now chiefly remembered as the patron saint of rainy weather.
The new King was crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames in 839. He consolidated the power of Wessex and re-asserted the supremacy over The Kingdom of Mercia. An alliance was formed by marrying his daughter to the Mercian King, which was to prove of lasting value to the House of Wessex.
Much of Æthelwulf’s reign was spent combating the invading Vikings, whom he struggled to contain. They sailed repeatedly up the Thames and pillaged London and the towns of Rochester and Canterbury.
Æthelwulf, along with his son, Æthelbald , met and defeated them in battle in 851 at Achleah, possibly Oakley in Surrey, where according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he inflicted 'the greatest slaughter of a heathen army that was ever heard of to this present day’, thereby Æthelwulf obtained temporary security for his kingdom.
The highly religious Æthelwulf undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, accompanied by his youngest and best loved son, Alfred. On the way back he formed an alliance with Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, taking in marriage his daughter Judith, who was descended from Charlemagne. The pair were married at Verberie sur Oise on 1 October, 856 and the new Queen of Wessex was solemnly crowned by the Bishop of Rheims.
In Æthelwulf’s absence, his eldest surviving son Æthelbald , who strongly suspected that his father wished to make his favourite son, Alfred, heir to Wessex, had taken advantage of the discontent of his subjects and usurped the throne. The practice of recognising the successor as co-king was an established practice among Germanic tribes. Although he retained some support, to avoid bloodshed and civil dissension, Æthelwulf nobly accepted the status quo and reverted to his former position as sub-king of Kent.
During the remaining two years of his life, he did much to alleviate the sufferings of the poor in Kent. His care continued after his death, for he left provisions in his will for his successors to provide food, drink and lodging for one poor man per tenth hide of cultivated land in the kingdom. King Æthelwulf died in 858, much mourned by his people, few monarchs have had such an epitaph. He was buried at Steyning, but his body was later moved to Winchester Cathedral.
Image 3: Detail from a genealogical roll, showing Æthelwulf (centre), his father Ecgberht, King of the West Saxons (above), King Beorhtric (right), and below, 4 roundels containing his sons, Æthelbald, Æthelberht, Æthelred and Alfred, England, 4th quarter of the 13th century, Royal MS 14 B V, Membrane 1.
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