Beorhtric (meaning "magnificent ruler"; also spelled Brihtric) (died 802) was the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

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 ...

from 786 to 802, succeeding

Cynewulf Cynewulf (, ; also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf) is one of twelve Old English poets known by name, and one of four whose work is known to survive today. He presumably flourished in the 9th century, with possible dates extending into the late 8th ...

. During his rule, however, his wife and father-in-law had most of the power.

Early life

The names of his parents are unknown but the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' claims that he was descended from

Cerdic Cerdic (; la, Cerdicus) is described in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as a leader of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, being the founder and first king of Saxon Wessex, reigning from 519 to 534 AD. Subsequent kings of Wessex were each cla ...

. In 786, Cynewulf, the King of Wessex, was killed by Cyneheard, brother of the former King Sigeberht. Cyneheard died soon after.Mike Ashley, ''The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens'' (New york: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 312

Reign

Becoming king

Either with help of his close ally Offa, the

King of Mercia The Kingdom of Mercia was a state in the English Midlands from the 6th century to the 10th century. For some two hundred years from the mid-7th century onwards it was the dominant member of the Heptarchy and consequently the most powerful of the ...

, or quickly coming under his influence, Beorhtric became King of Wessex in 786, but he had to still contend the throne with Ecgberht whom Beorhtric and Offa drove to exile. In 787, Beorhtric held the

Synod of Chelsea There were a number of Synods of Chelsea held in Anglo-Saxon England. They were held at Cealchythe, in Kent, generally identified with modern Chelsea, London. Offa's councils 787 King Offa of Mercia presided over a church council held at Chelsea ...

jointly with Offa, and in 789, he married one of Offa's daughters,

Eadburh Eadburh ( ang, Ēadburh), also spelled Eadburg, ( fl. 787–802) was the daughter of King Offa of Mercia and Queen Cynethryth. She was the wife of King Beorhtric of Wessex, and according to Asser's ''Life of Alfred the Great'' she killed h ...

. Also in 789, it was during Beorhtric's reign that the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' recorded the first

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

raids in England. The Vikings landed on the

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

coast, near the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct fr ...

, where they killed a royal official,

Beaduheard Beaduheard was an Anglo-Saxon reeve who was based in Dorchester in Dorset, who in 789 became the first known person killed by a Viking raid in England. Early life Nothing is known of Beaduheard's early life, including where he was born or who h ...

, the shire reeve, as he is said to have thought that they were traders. Land that had traditionally been on the borders of Mercia and Wessex were administered by the Mercian court, as is seen in Charters of Offa, and his son

Ecgfrith Ecgfrith ( ang, Ecgfrið) was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings in England, including: * Ecgfrith of Northumbria, died 685 * Ecgfrith of Mercia Ecgfrith was king of Mercia from 29 July to December 796. He was the son of Offa, one of the m ...

. West Saxons seem to have used Offa's currency: a recent survey of early medieval single coin finds reveals a trail of Offa

pennies A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

running from the Upper

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

to Wareham, a site connected with Beorhtric. Beorhtric coin1

After Offa's death in 796,

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= , ...

n power over England was weakened, and Beorhtric may have exercised more independence during this period. The only two West Saxon coins to have survived from Beorhtric's reign were produced at this time, suggesting that he had established a new mint. One of these coins was found in 1854, two miles outside of

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andove ...

.Coin article and image
/ref> Within a few years, Offa's successor, Coenwulf, had restored Mercia's position. After 799, Beorhtric's relationship with the Mercians seems to have been similar to the situation before Offa's death.

Death

In later years

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh monk from St David's, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join the circle of learned men whom Alfred was recruiting for his ...

, a scholar at Alfred the Great's court, recorded the story that Beorhtric had died from being accidentally poisoned by his wife, Eadburh. She fled to a nunnery in

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, from which she was later ejected after being found with a man. The provenance of this story is dubious. The '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records that Beorhtric was buried at Wareham in 802, possibly at the church of Lady St. Mary. Beorhtric was succeeded by Ecgberht who was recalled from exile.

References

External links