Æthelstan (

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

940–970) was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

nobleman. He served as an

Ealdorman Ealdorman (, ) was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king. It evolved in meaning and in the eighth century was sometimes applied ...

in southern

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

in the reigns of Kings

Eadwig Eadwig (also Edwy or Eadwig All-Fair, 1 October 959) was King of England from 23 November 955 until his death in 959. He was the elder son of Edmund I and his first wife Ælfgifu, who died in 944. Eadwig and his brother Edgar were young ...

and

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

. He is referred to as Æthelstan Rota (Æthelstan the Red) in one charter, and is so known to distinguish him from

Æthelstan Half-King Æthelstan Half-King (fl. 932 – 956) was an important and influential Ealdorman of East Anglia who interacted with five kings of England, including his adopted son King Edgar the Peaceful. Many of Æthelstan's close relatives were also involved i ...

, and another Æthelstan ( fl. 940–949), who were Ealdormen in the same period. Æthelstan rose to prominence in the reign of King Eadwig;

Æthelflæd of Damerham Æthelflæd of Damerham was Queen of the English as the second wife of King Edmund I from their marriage 944 until Edmund died in 946. Æthelflæd was a daughter of ealdorman Ælfgar, probably the ealdorman of Essex. Her mother's name is not ...

, second wife of Eadwig's father King

Edmund I Edmund I or Eadmund I (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death in 946. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. After ...

, and thus Eadwig's stepmother, was married to this Æthelstan. Æthelflæd was a woman of considerable influence, and not merely as a relict of King Edmund; her father Ælfgar is described as a ''dux'' and Ealdorman of Essex. Æthelstan appears to have had lands in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. He is a frequent witness to charters of Kings Eadwig and Edgar. The ''Life of Saint Dunstan'' records a vision by a nobleman named Æthelstan and

Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restor ...

's interpretation of it as presaging the death of the king and ill times to come. It is not known whether this Æthelstan or

is the Æthelstan referred to.

References

* Hart, Cyril, ''The Danelaw.'' Hambledon, 1992. * Williams, Ann, Smyth, Alfred P., and D.P. Kirkby, ''A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain.'' Seaby, 1991.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelstan Rota Anglo-Saxon ealdormen 10th-century English people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown