Æthelstan of Kent
{{Short description|King of Kent}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
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{{about|the son of King Æthelwulf|other persons of that name|Æthelstan (disambiguation)}}
Æthelstan ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|θ|əl|s|t|æ|n}}; died c. 852) was the King of Kent from 839 to 851. He served under the authority and overlordship of his father, King Æthelwulf of Wessex, who appointed him.Nelson, Æthelwulf The late D, E and F versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describe Æthelstan as Æthelwulf's brother, but the A, B and C versions, and Æthelweard's Chronicon, state that he was Æthelwulf's son.Stenton, p. 236, n. 1 Some historians have argued that it is more probable that he was a brother, including Eric John in 1966John, p. 41, n. 1 and Ann Williams in 1978.Williams, "Some notes", pp. 145, 225, n. 10 However, in 1991 Ann Williams described him as Æthelwulf's son,Williams, "Athelstan" and this is now generally accepted by historians, including Frank Stenton, Barbara Yorke,Yorke, 1990, p. 148 and D. P. Kirby.Kirby, p. 160
When Æthelwulf became King of the West Saxons in 839 on the death of his father, Ecgberht, he appointed Æthelstan to rule over Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex. He is styled king in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Æthelweard's chronicle calls him "King of the Dwellers in Kent, of the East Saxons, of the South Saxons and of Surrey". He attested a number of his father's charters as king in the 840s.
In 851, Æthelstan and Ealdorman Ealhhere defeated a Viking fleet and army off Sandwich, Kent, described by Frank Stenton as "the first naval battle in recorded English history".Stenton, p. 244 Æthelstan is not mentioned after 851 and presumably died before Æthelwulf went to Rome in 855 as he was not included in arrangements for government of the kingdom during his father's absence.Keynes and Lapidge, pp. 69, 231-2, 235. In 853, Ealhhere died in a disastrous defeat of the men of Kent and Surrey by the Vikings, and as Æthelstan is not mentioned as present at the battle he was probably dead by then.Smyth, p. 11
A mid-ninth century burial found during excavations in the Old Minster, Winchester contained the body of a young man of 25–35. His headdress and the prestigious location of the burial in the nave suggests royal status, and the "strongest putative candidate" is Æthelstan.Yorke, 2021, p. 65
Citations
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book|first=Eric|last=John|title=Orbis Britanniae|publisher=Leicester University Press|year=1966}}
- {{cite book|editor-first=Simon|editor-last=Keynes |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Lapidge |title=Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources |publisher=Penguin Classics |year=1983|isbn=978-0-14-044409-4}}
- {{cite book|last= Kirby|first= D.P.|title=The Earliest English Kings|publisher=Routledge|edition=Revised|year=2000|isbn=0-415-24211-8}}
- {{cite encyclopedia |first=Janet L.|last =Nelson |authorlink=Janet Nelson| publisher = Oxford University Press | encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | title=Æthelwulf (d. 858), king of the West Saxons | year = 2004 | url =http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8921/8921?back=,8581 | accessdate=23 October 2012 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/39264}} {{ODNBsub}}
- {{cite book|first=Alfred P.|last=Smyth|authorlink=Alfred P. Smyth|title=King Alfred the Great|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|year=1995|isbn=0-19-822989-5}}
- {{cite book|authorlink=Frank Stenton|last=Stenton|first= Frank|year=1971|title=Anglo-Saxon England|publisher= Oxford University Press|edition=3rd|isbn=978-0-19-280139-5}}
- {{cite journal|editor=Brown, R. Allen|journal=Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies|year=1979|isbn=0-85115-107-8|title=Some notes and considerations on problems connected with the English royal succession 860-1066|first=Ann|last=Williams|publisher=The Boydell Press}}
- {{cite encyclopedia|last=Williams|first= Ann|title=Athelstan king of Kent d. c. 852|year=1991|editor-first=Ann|editor-last= Williams|editor2-first= Alfred P. |editor2-last=Smyth|editor3-first= D. P.|editor3-last= Kirby |encyclopedia=A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain|publisher= Seaby|isbn=1-85264-047-2}}
- {{cite book|first=Barbara|last= Yorke|title=Kings and Kingdoms in Early Anglo-Saxon England|publisher=Seaby|year= 1990|isbn=1-85264-027-8}}
- {{cite book|last=Yorke |first=Barbara |chapter=Royal Burial in Winchester: Context and Significance|editor1-first=Ryan|editor1-last=Lvelle |editor2-first=Simon|editor2-last=Roffey | editor3-first=Katherine|editor3-last=Weikert |title=Early Medieval Winchester: Communities, Authority and Power in an Urban Space, c.800-c.1200 |publisher=Oxbow Books |location =Oxford, UK |year=2021|isbn=978-1-78925-623-9}}
External links
- {{PASE|2132|Æthelstan 3}}
{{Kentish Monarchs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelstan Of Wessex}}
Category:9th-century English monarchs