Aethelstan Ch 5

Question 1

924

Answer 1

Aethelstan named king of Merica
Half- bro Aethelweard named king of Wessex
Aethelweard died; Aethelstan became king of Wessex and Merica (but there was some resistance in Wessex)

Question 2

925

Answer 2

Aethelstan finally felt secure enough to be crowned King of England (on Wessex-Merican border)
Aethelstan seems to have fostered several Continental royal sons at Court

Question 3

926

Answer 3

Aethelstan used marriage as a diplomatic tool. He arranged the marriage of his sister to Sihtric the Danish king of York. (The agreement was made in Merica, suggesting that Aethelstan was Sihtric’s superior)
Sihtric died
Sihtric’s son (Olaf Sihtricsson) was too young to become king, so Guthfrith (king of Dublin) took over kingdom of Northumbria for him

Question 4

927

Answer 4

Aethelstan stormed York defeating Guthfrith
Aethelstan claimed to be King of Northumbria
Constantine (King of Scots,) Eadred of Bamburg and 2 Kings of Wales ‘submitted’ to Aethelstan at Eamont, Cumbria
Aethelstan forced Welsh kings to pau tribute and accept his overlordship at Hereford
Aethelstan crushed Cornish resistance to his rule

Aethelstan was the first true king of all Anglo Saxon peoples and overlord of Britain
Peace lasted for 7 years

Question 5

928

Answer 5

Aethelstan’s 6 Law Codes

Question 6

933

Answer 6

Aethelstan’s brother Edwin drowned at sea (Edwin may have been plotting to overthrow Aethelstan since 920s)
Harold Finehair acknowledged Aethelstan as overlord; Harold’s son, Hakon, sent to Aethelstan’s Court; Hakon later secured his position as King of Norway with military support from Aethelstan

Question 7

934

Answer 7

Guthfrith died (Aethelstan may have decided to march north to establish better control of Vikings in Northumbria now Guthfrith was dead)
Constantine (King of Scots) broke treaty with Aethelstan and refused to pay tribute; Owain King of Strathclyde probably did the same
Aethelstan’s revenge: joint naval-land invasion and harrying of Kingdom of the Scots (as gar north as Caithness)
Aethelstan presented expensive gifts and texts to the Cult of St Cuthbert, Durham
Aethelstan had established himself as ‘basileus’ / emperor

Question 8

935

Answer 8

‘Imperial’ Court at Cirencester : Scots and Welsh kings forced to attend and pay tribute

Question 9

937

Answer 9

Coalition of Constantine King of Scots, Owain King of Strathclyde and Olaf Guthfrithsson leader of Irish-Norse invaded Aethelstan’s kingdom
Aethelstan won a risky, bloody and decisive victory at Brunanburh

Question 10

939

Answer 10

Aethelstan died