Æthelwine (died 992) was
ealdorman of
East Anglia and one of the leading noblemen in the
kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, ...
in the later 10th century. As with his kinsmen, the principal source for his life is
Byrhtferth
Byrhtferth ( ang, Byrhtferð; ) was a priest and monk who lived at Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire) in England. He had a deep impact on the intellectual life of later Anglo-Saxon England and wrote many computistic, h ...
's
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
of
Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester (died 29 February 992) was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of ye ...
. Æthelwine founded
Ramsey Abbey in 969,
and Byrhtferth and
Ramsey Abbey remembered him as ''Dei amicus'' (friend to God), but the monks of nearby
Ely saw him as an enemy who had seized their lands.
Æthelwine was a son of
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 ...
, but probably not the eldest son as his brother
Æthelwald seems to have succeeded their father on his retirement in 956. Æthelwine appears to have followed Æthelwald in office from 962. He was a benefactor of the
New Minster at
Winchester, and of
Ramsey Abbey.
Following the death of King
Edgar, Æthelwine was, with Oswald of Worcester and
Dunstan, a leader among the supporters of Edgar's oldest son
Edward, which placed him in opposition to his former sister-in-law Dowager Queen
Ælfthryth and
Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia
Ælfhere (died in 983) was Ealdorman of Mercia. His family, along with those of Æthelstan Half-King and Æthelstan Rota, rose to greatness in the middle third of the 10th century. In the reign of Edward the Martyr, Ælfhere was a leader of the ant ...
. During the anti-monastic reaction in Edward's short reign, Æthelwine is portrayed as a stalwart supporter of the monks, but the record suggests that he took advantage of the weakness of royal government to dispossess the monks of Ely of lands.
Following the death of Ælfhere in 983, and the withdrawal of the queen-mother from court soon after the death of Bishop
Æthelwald of Winchester in 984, Æthelwine became the leading lay figure at the court of the young King
Æthelred
Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to:
Anglo-Saxon England
* Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary prin ...
. His death in 992 probably marks the beginning of Æthelred's personal reign.
Æthelwine's death is recorded by the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. Byrhtferth provides more detail, reporting that, perhaps following a lengthy illness, Æthelwine was attended at his death by Germann, Abbot of Ramsey, and
Ælfheah Ælfheah is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Ælfheah of Canterbury (died 1012), martyred Saint and Archbishop of Canterbury
*Ælfheah the Bald (died 951), Saint, and the first Bishop of Winchester
*Alphege of Wells (died ), thir ...
, later
Archbishop of Canterbury. His remains were moved to Ramsey where the monks kept a vigil overnight before he was buried there.
The name of Æthelwine's wife is not recorded, but the names of three sons are known. Byrhtferth mentions Edwin; another son named Leofric appears to have witnessed a will in 986, while Æthelweard was killed fighting for
Edmund Ironside
Edmund Ironside (30 November 1016; , ; sometimes also known as Edmund II) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York. Edmund's reign was marred by ...
at the
Battle of Ashingdon
The Battle of Assandun (or Essendune) was fought between Danish and English armies on 18 October 1016. There is disagreement whether Assandun may be Ashdon near Saffron Walden in north Essex, England, or, as long supposed and better evidence ...
in 1016.
Citations
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aelfwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
10th-century births
992 deaths
Earls and ealdormen of East Anglia
Year of birth unknown
Place of birth unknown
Date of death unknown
Place of death unknown