Æthelhelm

Æthelhelm or Æþelhelm (c. 859–923) was the younger son of Æthelred of Wessex (Æþelræd).

Both he and his brother were too young to inherit the throne in 871 and it passed to their uncle King Alfred the Great (Ælfred) who granted them both lands. On Alfred's death in 899 his elder brother Æthelwold contested the succession and was killed. However, Æthelhelm did not and seemed content to remain Ealdorman of Wiltshire.

Two children have been attributed to Æthelhelm:

• Ælfflæd (c.890-918), consort to King Edward the Elder (c.871-924), is called by one source daughter of Ealdorman Æthelhelm (although there there were several Ealdormen of this name at the time, this has been taken to refer to the Ealdorman of Wiltshire); and
• Æthelfrith of Wessex (c.900-927), a landholder, father to four Ealdormen: Æthelstan Half-King (East Anglia), Ælfstan (Mercia), Æthelwald (Kent), and Eadric (Wessex). Æthelfrith is hypothesized to be son of Æthelhelm because Ealdorman Æthelweard 'the Historian', who is thought to be son of Eadric, called himself 'grandson's grandson' of Æthelhelm's father Æthelred I and held lands originally granted to Æthelhelm by Alfred. From Æthelweard the reconstructed pedigree is traced through Æthelmar Cild (c.960-1015), a benefactor of Eynsham Abbey; and Wulfnoth Cild (c.983-1015), Thegn of Sussex; to Earl Godwin, thereby making Æthelhelm ancestor of King Harold II, Godwin's son.

See also

• House of Wessex family tree

Sources

• Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 1B-16.

With reference to: Godwine Biography

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