Æthelstan Flashcards
Reign
924-939
Main Subtopics (there are 10)
- Family and early life
- Accession
- Acqusition of Northumbria
- Peace pledge at Eamont (927)
- 934
- Brunanburh
- Kingship
- Foreign contacts
- Religion and learning
- sources, significance and reputation.
Source for Æthelstan’s youth and issues with it
Information about Æthelstan’s youth is found only in the twelfth-century Gesta regum Anglorum by William of Malmesbury; this long account of the king’s life may at least in part be based on pre-conquest sources, although its precise evidential value is questionable. This is because it is largely based upon a poem which cannot have been composed earlier than the 12th century, however Malmesbury was geographically well placed to write about Æthelstan.
What does Malmsbury say about Æthelstan’s parentage?
King Edward had 3 female partners, all of whom produced children and William of Malmesbury reports the rumour that Æthelstan’s mother was Edward’s concubine, not wife, meaning that, although Æthelstan was Edward’s eldest son he may not have been Edward’s legitimate heir.
What does Malmsbury say about Æthelstan’s childhood?
Malmesbury reports that Æthelstan was educated and trained for rulership at the Mercian court; if so, the young man would have gained his military experience in the Mercian campaigns to conquer the Danelaw, indeed Æthelstan may have represented his father’s interests in Mercia after his aunt’s death in 918. It seems possible that this was an attempt, on Edward’s part, to secure the future unity and cooperation between Mercia and Wessex.
What was the effect of his Mercian childhood and why did Æthelstan never marry?
Æthelstan’s Mercian upbringing perhaps meant that in Wessex he was always regarded as somewhat of an outsider. This potential division is perhaps what prompted him to never marry, as it is plausible that he may have offered to remain childless in order to soften his rulership in Wessex i.e. if he made an agreement that his successor would be his brother, Edmund. Alternatively—or additionally—this could have been a decision inspired by a religious vocation to chastity.
What happened upon Edward the Elder’s death
Edward died in 924 and was succeeded in Wessex by his second son Ælfweard and by Æthelstan in Mercia; it is unclear whether such a division had been planned by Edward. On one hand, there is no reason to presume that he wished for the unification of Wessex and Mercia to continue, but alternately, the division may represent the assertions of local loyalties as Æthelstan would have been a more attractive candidate to the Mercians.
What happened to Æthelweard
the Mercian register notes that Ælfweard died ‘very soon’ after his father—only sixteen days after, according to the D version of the chronicle. Æthelstan would have succeeded to the combined kingdom only after his half-brother’s premature death
What indication is there that there was some opposition to Æthelstan’s rule in Wessex?
The bishop of Winchester apparently did not attend Æthelstan’s coronation in 925, nor does he appear among the witness lists on royal charters during 926: it may be appropriate to see Æthelstan as something of an outsider at the West Saxon court even after his accession.
What happened when he succeeded to the throne of the combined Wessex and Mercian polity?
He came into possession of all of his father’s kingdom, Æthelstan found himself heir to a wider realm than that inherited by any previous West Saxon (or indeed Anglo-Saxon) king.
Æthelstan and Northumbria:
The kingdom of the Northumbrians was ruled by the Danish king, Sihtric (formerly king of Dublin) who succeeded his brother Ragnall.
In 926 Æthelstan and Sihtric met at Tamworth where they made an alliance sealed by Sihtric’s marriage to a sister of Æthelstan.
But Sitric then dies in 927 and, according to the D version of the chronicle, Æthelstan succeeds to the Northumbrian throne and the E version records that Æthelstan drove out Guthfrith (Sitric’s son):
Sitric’s death leaves a political vacuum which Æthelstan exploits and which made him the first Anglo Saxon ruler to have a border with the Scots.
Issues regarding sources for his reign…?
Yet there are few contemporary or near-contemporary narrative accounts of his reign, with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle being particularly sparse in this period.
the poem Rex pius Aðelstan…
But the poem Rex pius Aðelstan, entered in a continental hand in manuscript Tiberius A.ii, the gospel book presented by Otto the Great, gives an idea of the lavish praise heaped upon Æthelstan during his lifetime; it opens with the lines: ‘Holy King Æthelstan, renowned through the wide world’.
how does the annalist of ulster describe him?
as a ‘pillar of the dignity of the western world’.
conclusion about him
Beyond his undoubted military achievements, and the administrative and governmental advances made notably in the centralisation of charter production and the tighter royal control of the coinage, Æthelstan stands out most remarkably for the extent of European diplomatic activity promoted through his court, to which the marriage alliances and the intellectual energy of his circle both bear witness and attest to his standing.
