Æthelwealh ( ''fl.'' – ) was ruler of the ancient

South Saxon Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English C ...

kingdom from before 674 till his death between 680 and 685. He was baptised in

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= , y ...

, becoming the first Christian king of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

. He was killed by a West Saxon prince, Cædwalla, who eventually became king of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

Background

The legendary foundation of the kingdom of Sussex, was in 477, when according to 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 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...

'',

Ælle of Sussex Ælle (also Aelle or Ella) is recorded in early sources as the first king of the South Saxons, reigning in what is now called Sussex, England, from 477 to perhaps as late as 514. According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Ælle and three of hi ...

and three of his sons are said to have landed at a place called

Cymenshore Cymenshore is a place in Southern England where, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Ælle of Sussex landed in AD 477 and battled the Britons with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing and Cissa, after the first of whom Cymenshore was held to ...

and fought against the local

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

. The foundation story is regarded with some skepticism by most academics. The archaeological evidence, based on the cemeteries of the 5th century, shows that the main area of settlement was between the lower

Ouse Ouse may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Aus ...

and

Cuckmere The River Cuckmere rises near Heathfield in East Sussex, England on the southern slopes of the Weald. The name of the river probably comes from an Old English word meaning "fast-flowing", since it descends over 100 m (328 ft) in it ...

rivers in East Sussex. However, by Æthelwealh's time the kingdom of the South Saxons seems to have been concentrated in the Selsey area, in the south-west of Sussex. Ælle, the first king of the South Saxons was followed by Cissa of Sussex, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. There is a 150-year gap between Ælle, whose ancestry can not be established, and Æthelwealh, whose ancestry is more secure.

Alliance with the Mercians

Mercian power was ascending with

Wulfhere of Mercia Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...

advancing into Jutish southern Hampshire and the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

in about 681. Then according to Bede, Æthelwealh travelled to Mercia to be baptised, becoming the first Christian king of Sussex, with Wulfhere as his godfather. Bede in his ''

Ecclesiastical History of the English People The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict b ...

'' recorded that Æthelwealh, also married Eafe, who was the daughter of Eanfrith, a ruler of the Christian

Hwicce Hwicce () was a tribal kingdom in Anglo-Saxon England. According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', the kingdom was established in 577, after the Battle of Deorham. After 628, the kingdom became a client or sub-kingdom of Mercia as a result of th ...

people. Bede goes on to say that Wulfhere presented the Isle of Wight and Meonwara to Æthelwealh. This alliance between the South Saxons and the Mercians and their control of southern England and the Isle of Wight was a challenge to the West Saxons, whose power base at the time was in the upper Thames area.

Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and ...

, the exiled bishop of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, came to Sussex in 681 and converted the people of Sussex and the Isle of Wight to Christianity. Æthelwealh gave Wilfrid land in

Selsey Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounde ...

where he founded the Episcopal See of the South Saxons with its seat at

Selsey Abbey Selsey Abbey was founded by St Wilfrid in AD 681 on land donated at Selsey by the local Anglo-Saxon ruler, King Æðelwealh of Sussex, Sussex's first Christian king. The Kingdom of Sussex was the last area of Anglo-Saxon England to be evangeli ...

West Saxon takeover

Cædwalla was a West Saxon prince who had apparently been banished by Centwine, king of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

. Cædwalla had spent his exile in the forests of the Chiltern and the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

, and at some point had befriended Wilfrid. Cædwalla vowed that if Wilfrid would be his spiritual father then he would be his obedient son. According to tradition, Cædwalla invaded Sussex in about 686 and was met by Æthelwealh at a point in the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

just southeast of Stoughton, close to the border with

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, and it was here that Æthelwealh was defeated and slain. According to the same tradition, Æthelwealh lies buried in the southern barrow of the group that marks the spot. The invasion stalled when Cædwalla was driven out by two of Æthelwealh's

ealdormen 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 ...

, Berhthun and Andhun. In 687 Cædwalla became King of the West Saxons and a new invasion of Sussex began, this time it was successful. Bede describes how brutally Cædwalla suppressed the South Saxons. After his victory, Cædwalla immediately summoned Wilfrid and made him supreme counsellor over his whole kingdom. Then when Wilfrid returned north, in 686, the see of Selsey was absorbed by the Diocese of the West Saxons, at Winchester. In temporal matters, Sussex was subject to the West Saxon kings, and in ecclesiastical matters, it was subject to the bishops of Winchester.

Relationship with Kent

In Kent,

Hlothhere Hlothhere ( ang, Hloþhere; died 6 February 685) was a King of Kent who ruled from 673 to 685. Hlothhere succeeded his brother Ecgberht I in 673. His parents were Eorcenberht of Kent and Seaxburh of Ely, the daughter of Anna of East Anglia. In ...

had been ruler since 673/4. This was until his nephew

Eadric of Kent Eadric (died August 686/ 687?) was a King of Kent (685–686). He was the son of Ecgberht I. Historical context In the 7th century the Kingdom of Kent had been politically stable for some time. According to Bede: Eorcenberht was succeeded by ...

revolted against him and went to Sussex where, with help from Æthelwealh, he raised a South Saxon army. Eadric was then able to defeat Hlothhere, in about 685 and become ruler of Kent. On Æthelwealh's death, at the hands of Cædwalla, William of Malmesbury suggests that Eadric became king of the South Saxon kingdom. However, in 686, a West Saxon warband invaded Kent, under Cædwalla and his brother Mul, they removed Eadric from power and made Mul king of Kent.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Commissioned in the reign of Alfred the Great * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*, , and . Retrieved 30 March 2007. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelwealh Of Sussex 685 deaths South Saxon monarchs Anglo-Saxons killed in battle 7th-century English monarchs Year of birth unknown Monarchs killed in action Converts to Christianity from pagan religions Anglo-Saxon pagans