Æthelwealh (fl. c. 660-685) (also written Aedilualch, Aethelwalch, Aþelwold, Æðelwold, Æþelwald, or Ethelwalch) was the first historical king of Sussex. All known information about him comes from brief mentions in Eddius's The Life of Bishop Wilfrid, Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England, and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In fact, Aethelwalh was the third recorded ruler of the South Saxons in Sussex. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles record Aelle as both the first Bretwalda and king of the South Saxons, although Slaughter refers to Bede on ancestral Saxon aldermen and argues that Aelle was probably the South Saxon Warlord (Rulers of the South Saxons before 825). The second ruler of the South Saxons in Sussex is recorded by Roger of Wendover as King Cissa. So Aethelwalh was the third recorded ruler of the South Saxons in Sussex. One must remember that the Kingdom of the South Saxons was devolved on Ceawlin of Wessex on Cissa's Death (Roger of Wendover) and he would have been the overlord in Sussex. An emendation in the Wendover text from 'died' in 590' to 'died aged 90' would give a date of 567 for the devolvement on Wessex, assuming Cissa was born in 477 (Slaughter). A case can be made (Slaughter) that Aethelwalh was installed by Penda in 645, when Cenwalh was driven out of his kingdom by Penda for divorcing the latter's sister. According to Roger of Wendover Sussex was devolved on Ceawlin of Wessex after the death of King Cissa. There is no reason to suppose this devolvement did not continue under Ceawlin's successors and yet Aethelwalh is recorded as the King in sussex in 661. Cenwalh is unlikely to have given up his guardianship of Sussex, her borders were too near his royal centre at Winchester. According to Saxon dooms, recompense depended on the status of the offended person. Cenwalh had deprived Penda's sister of her queenly status, a just recompense when Penda invaded Wessex would have been for him to have deprived Cenwalh of the kingdom in Sussex. Penda was a decisive man. There is also a case to be made that Aethelwealh was a son of Cynegils. The case is based on a) the second-element naming pattern used for the children of King Oswy in Northumbria, Alhfrith, Egcrith, Alhflaed and Aelflaed and comparing the series Cenwalh, Aethelwalh, Centwine and Aethelwine, b) the common '-wealh' or Briton element in the names of Cen'wealh' and Aethel'wealh' and c) the connection of Athelney, near the Britons of Creech, with Cynegils' hermit son, St Aethelwine.This can be best demonstrated, to begin with, by comparing the earlier AETHEL-/EALD dynasty that appears to be found in Sussex with the later AETHEL/AELF dynasty that ruled over Wessex. In the table above, the seventh and eighth century names are in the first column and both columns are divided by the four generations concerned: Generation I Aethelwalh, compare Aethelwulf. Generation II Aethelthryth/Aethelstan, compare Aethelred/Aelfred. Generation III Aethelberht/Ealdberht, compare Aethelwold/Aethelhelm, Aethelthryth/Aethelweard. Generation IV Ealdwulf/Aethelwulf, compare Aelfwine/Aethelwine.This can be best demonstrated, to begin with, by comparing the earlier AETHEL-/EALD dynasty that appears to be found in Sussex with the later AETHEL/AELF dynasty that ruled over Wessex. In the table above, the seventh and eighth century names are in the first column and both columns are divided by the four generations concerned: Generation I Aethelwalh, compare Aethelwulf. Generation II Aethelthryth/Aethelstan, compare Aethelred/Aelfred. Generation III Aethelberht/Ealdberht, compare Aethelwold/Aethelhelm, Aethelthryth/Aethelweard. Generation IV Ealdwulf/Aethelwulf, compare Aelfwine/Aethelwine. Potentially there could be other memebers of this dynasty who were Aethelwealh's natural sons. They were aldermen who held high status in Sussex, King Watt, Aethelwealh's personal aldermen Berhthun and Andhun, and Bryni Duke of the South Saxons. Moreover their names alliterate, suggesting they were indeed brothers. If we assume that Aethelwalh was an older brother of Centwine and Aethelwine, then he could have been born in the early 620s. If we also assume that it was in 661 Aethelwalh married Eafe, on the insistance of Wulfhere, then it is possible that he had lived with a concubine by whom he had earlier sons. See Slaughter, Rulers of the South Saxons before 825.
Æthelwalh became a Christian while in Mercia where King Wulfhere sponsored his baptism. At this time the people of Sussex were pagans.
In 661, Wulfhere gave Æthelwealh the territories of Meonwara and the Isle of Wight.
Æthelwealh's queen was Eafe (also written Eabae or Ebba), the daughter of Eanfrith (Eanfrid or Eanfridi), a ruler of the Christian Hwicce people.
Wilfrid, the exiled bishop of York, came to Sussex in 681 and converted the people to Christianity with King Æthelwealh's approval. Æthelwealh gave Wilfrid land in Selsey where he founded Selsey Abbey. Wilfrid, however met with Caedwalla a prince of the Gewisse, then operating as a bandit in Sussex (where is the evidence for this statement?), and came to a mutual agreement to advance one another's interests. According to Bede, Caedwalla (the exiled West Saxon atheling) invaded South Saxon territory and killed Caedwalla. He was then driven out by Berhthun and Andhun. When Caedwalla became King of the West Saxons, the following year, he conquered Sussex and appears to have appointed an Ecgwald as a sub-regulus (on cartulary evidence). But see the following statement:
Shortly after this, probably in 685, Cædwalla, a West Saxon prince, invaded Sussex and killed Æthelwealh.
His name means "noble foreigner", which indicates that he might have been a Saxo-Briton nobleman as might have been Cenwealh Cynegilsing, earlier King of the West Saxons (A-S Chronicles).
References
- "Æthelwalh 1". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. http://eagle.cch.kcl.ac.uk:8080/pase/DisplayPerson.jsp?personKey=652. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
- Bede. "Book 4". Ecclesiastical History of England. Medieval Sourcebook. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book4.html. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
- "Eafe 1". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. http://eagle.cch.kcl.ac.uk:8080/pase/DisplayPerson.jsp?personKey=1629. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
- "Eanfrith 3". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. http://eagle.cch.kcl.ac.uk:8080/pase/DisplayPerson.jsp?personKey=1637. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
- Ingram, J.H. trans. (1996-09-01). "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle". Project Gutenberg. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/angsx10.txt. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
External links
- (Latin) Bede. "Liber Quartus". Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum. The Latin Library. http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bede/bede4.shtml. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
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