Æthelred II was king of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

in the middle of the ninth century, but his dates are uncertain. N. J. Higham gives 840 to 848, when he was killed, with an interruption in 844 when Rædwulf usurped the throne, but was killed the same year fighting against the Vikings.

Barbara Yorke Barbara Yorke FRHistS FSA (born 1951, Barbara Anne Elizabeth Troubridge) is a historian of Anglo-Saxon England, specialising in many subtopics, including 19th-century Anglo-Saxonism. She is currently emeritus professor of early Medieval histo ...

agrees, and adds that Æthelred was the son of his predecessor, Eanred, but dates his death 848 or 849. D. P. Kirby thinks that an accession date of 844 is more likely, but notes that a coin of Eanred dated stylistically no earlier than 850 may require a more radical revision of dates. David Rollason accepts the coin evidence, and dates Æthelred's reign from c.854 to c. 862, with Rædwulf's usurpation in 858.Rollason, Eardwulf Relatively little is known of his reign from the surviving documentary record. He appears to have been expelled in favour of Rædwulf, whose reign is confirmed by the evidence of

coinage Coinage may refer to: * Coins, standardized as currency * Coining (mint), the process of manufacturing coins * '' COINage'', a numismatics magazine * Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin * Coinage, a protologism or neologism In linguistics, a neolo ...

. However, Rædwulf was killed the same year, fighting against

Vikings Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

, and Æthelred was restored to power. He was assassinated a few years later, but no further details are known of his murder. The new ''

styca The styca (; . ''stycas'') was a small coin minted in pre-Viking Northumbria, originally in base silver and subsequently in a copper alloy. Production began in the 790s and continued until the 850s, though the coin remained in circulation until th ...

'' coinage, small

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

coins containing very little silver and much

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

, which began in his father's reign, continued in Æthelred's. Large numbers of his ''styca'' coins have been found, again minted in

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 number of

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 ...

s. A moneyer active in this period named Eardwulf was sometimes confused with Æthelred's grandfather King

Eardwulf Eardwulf or Eardulf is an Anglo-Saxon male name. Notable people with the name include: * Eardwulf of Northumbria, (floruit late 8th/early 9th century), ruler of Northumbria * Eardwulf of Kent (floruit middle 8th century), ruler of Kent * Eardwulf ...

in older works on numismatics. Written and numismatic evidence agrees that Æthelred was succeeded by Osberht.

References

Bibliography

* Higham, N.J., ''The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350–1100.'' Stroud: Sutton, 1993. * * * 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
860s deaths Anglo-Saxon warriors Northumbrian monarchs Year of birth unknown 9th-century English monarchs 9th-century murdered monarchs {{England-bio-stub