Ælfwald II, according to one tradition, reigned as
king of Northumbria following the deposition of
Eardwulf in 806. This information appears only in the anonymous tract ''
De primo Saxonum adventu'' and in the later ''
Flores Historiarum'' of
Roger of Wendover. Roger states that Ælfwald had overthrown Eardwulf.
Ælfwald allegedly reigned for two years before Eardwulf returned, restored to power with the aid of the Emperor
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
and of
Pope Leo III. Alternatively, Eardwulf's son
Eanred may have succeeded to the throne, rather than Eardwulf.
While only late and exiguous written sources for Ælfwald's reign have survived, modest numbers of coins from his reign exist - minted at
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
by a
moneyer
A moneyer is a private individual who is officially permitted to mint money. Usually the rights to coin money are bestowed as a concession by a state or government. Moneyers have a long tradition, dating back at least to ancient Greece. They bec ...
named Cuthheard, who also produced all known coins of Eardwulf's reign.
Lakeland author
W. G. Collingwood in a 1917 book, ''The Likeness of King Elfwald: A Study of Iona and Northumbria'', imagined the life of Ælfwald. The work, based on Collingwood's long study of Northumbria which led to his 1919 work ''Northumbrian Crosses of the pre-Norman Age'', was well regarded and has been reprinted.
References
* Kirby, D.P., ''The Earliest English Kings.'' London: Unwin Hyman, 1991.
*
*
Yorke, Barbara, ''Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England.'' London: Seaby, 1990.
External links
*
* The
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...
'
Corpus of Early Medieval Coin Finds website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aelfwald 02 Of Northumbria
Northumbrian monarchs
8th-century births
9th-century English monarchs
9th-century deaths