Æthelwulf of Berkshire (before 825 – 4 January, 871) was a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

ealdorman Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...

. In 860 he and other men of Berkshire fought off a band of pirates near Winchester, Hampshire. Later he mustered a force of 1400 men against an army of

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

, won the 31 December 870 Battle of Englefield on behalf of the then kingdom 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 ...

. He received a

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

in 843/44 from Brihtwulf, king of

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

; and lost his life at the Battle of Reading. Æthelweard, in his account of the battle, reveals a curious fact about Æthelwulf, master of the art of the

ambush An ambush is a surprise attack carried out by people lying in wait in a concealed position. The concealed position itself or the concealed person(s) may also be called an "". Ambushes as a basic military tactics, fighting tactic of soldi ...

: he was a Mercian and not a West Saxon. Not only this, Æthelweard says: "In fact, the body of the '' dux'' (leader) mentioned above was carried away secretly and taken into Mercia to the place called Northworthig, but

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

in the Danish tongue."Paul Hill (2009). ''The Viking Wars of Alfred the Great'', p. 41. .

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelwulf Of Berkshire 871 deaths Anglo-Saxon warriors 9th-century English nobility Year of birth uncertain