Æthelheard (meaning roughly "Noble Stern"), also spelled Ethelheard, Edelard or Æþelheard, was
King
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
of
Wessex
The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886.
The Anglo-Sa ...
from 726 to 740. There is an unreliable record of Æthelheard having been the brother-in-law of his predecessor,
Ine, but his ancestry is unknown, perhaps making him the first King of Wessex not to be descended from
Cynric by blood.
Some sources identify him as the brother of Queen
Æthelburg of Wessex, the wife of his predecessor, King Ine. His own successor
Cuthred is identified in the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons.
The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
'' as 'his relative'.
When Ine
abdicated and went to
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in 726, he left behind no obvious heir, and according to
Bede
Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...
simply left his kingdom "to younger men". In the wake of his departure, the West Saxon throne was disputed between Æthelheard and a rival claimant, Oswald. Oswald may have had the better claim, as the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' calls him a descendant of the early king
Ceawlin, but it was Æthelheard who prevailed. It is possible that his success was due to the support of
Æthelbald of Mercia since he seems to have been subject to Æthelbald afterward. However, Æthelheard's lack of independence does not seem to have prevented Æthelbald from taking considerable territory from Wessex in 733, including the royal
manor of
Somerton.
Æthelheard married
Frithugyth in 729 or before
[Queen Frithugyth is identified in a charter of Æthelheard, king of Wessex, dated 729 indicating that they were at that time married, Charter S25]
/ref> and she is recorded in the ''Chronicle'' as making a pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
to Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in 737.
Æthelheard was succeeded by Cuthred, possibly a brother or other relative.
See also
* House of Wessex family tree
References
External links
*
* (but corresponding charter
S249
an
are considered rather dubious)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelheard Of Wessex
West Saxon monarchs
740 deaths
8th-century English monarchs
Year of birth unknown
House of Wessex