Æthelweard (historian)
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Æthelweard (also Ethelward; d. ) was an
ealdorman Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...
and the author of a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
version of 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 ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
'' known as the '' Chronicon Æthelweardi''. He was a kinsman of the royal family, being a descendant of the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
King Æthelred I of
Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...
, the elder brother of
Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...
.


Career

Æthelweard first witnessed charters as a
thegn In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane (Latin minister) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen. He had to be a substantial landowner. Thanage refers to the tenure by which lands were ...
after the accession of Eadwig in 955, probably because he was the brother of the king's wife,
Ælfgifu Ælfgifu (also ''Ælfgyfu''; ''Elfgifa, Elfgiva, Elgiva'') is an Anglo-Saxon name, Anglo-Saxon feminine personal name, from ''ælf'' "elf" and ''gifu'' "gift". When Emma of Normandy, the later mother of Edward the Confessor, became queen of Engla ...
, although the relationship is unproven. The marriage was annulled on the grounds of consanguinity, and Æthelweard's position was threatened when Eadwig died in 959 and was succeeded by his half-brother
Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...
, who was hostile to the faction associated with Eadwig. Æthelweard survived, although he was not appointed to the position of
ealdorman Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...
until after Edgar's death. In the view of Shashi Jayakumar, "One receives the impression that Æthelweard played his cards right in Edgar's reign, perhaps by treading warily and displaying the same maddening discretion that one finds in his ''Chronicon''. Æthelweard probably became ealdorman of south-west England after Edgar's death in 975, although there is evidence, described by
Simon Keynes Simon Douglas Keynes ( ; born 23 September 1952) is a British historian who is Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon emeritus in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Trini ...
as "rather poor", that he was appointed in 973. He was accorded primacy among the ealdormen after 993. He continued to witness until 998, about which time his death may have taken place. Æthelweard's ealdormanry was the Western Provinces, probably the southwest peninsula. His brother Ælfweard, a royal ''discthegn'', or household official, continued to sign as ''minister'' until 986. In 991 Æthelweard was associated with
archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Sigeric in the conclusion of a peace with the victorious Danes from
Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...
, and in 994 he was sent with Bishop Ælfheah of Winchester to make peace with
Olaf Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken ( Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King ...
at Andover.Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
/ref> Æthelweard was the friend and patron of
Ælfric of Eynsham Ælfric of Eynsham (; ; ) was an English abbot and a student of Æthelwold of Winchester, and a consummate, prolific writer in Old English of hagiography, homilies, biblical commentaries, and other genres. He is also known variously as '' ...
, who in the preface to his Old English ''Lives'' of saints, addressed Æthelweard and his son Æthelmær.


Family

In the introduction to his Latin Chronicle Æthelweard claims to descend from King Æthelred, while in Book IV he calls Æthelred his ''atavus'', then uses the same term to describe the relationship between the chronicle's recipient, Mathilde, Abbess of Essen, and her great-great-grandfather, King Alfred.Alfred Anscombe, "The Pedigree of Earl Godwine" in ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', 1913, 3rd Series, vol. 7, pp. 129-150 According to Patrick Wormald, Æthelweard may have meant that Æthelred was his great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-great-grandfather, or merely ancestor,Wormald, Æthelweard but Sean Miller specifies great-great-grandfather. In 957 King Eadwig, the great-grandson of King Æthelred I's brother, Alfred the Great, was obliged to divorce Æthelweard's likely sister Ælfgifu on the grounds of consanguinity. It has been postulated that Æthelweard and his siblings Ælfweard, Ælfgifu and Ælfwaru were the children of Eadric, ealdorman of Hampshire. This identification rests on Ælfgifu's possession of the estate of Risborough, which had belonged to Eadric's mother, Æthelgyth, the wife of ealdorman Æthelfrith of Mercia. One possible construction is that his putative grandfather Æthelfrith was the grandson of King Æthelred I through his son Æthelhelm.Barlow, Lundie W. "The Antecedents of Earl Godwine of Wessex" in ''New England Historical and Genealogical Register'', 1957, vol. 111, pp. 30-38 This royal connection would go some way to explaining the enormous prestige enjoyed by Æthelfrith's sons. Assuming that the identification of Æthelweard as the brother of Ælfgifu is correct, his mother was the Æthelgifu whose company Eadwig enjoyed along with her daughter whilst escaping his coronation. Ælfgifu left a bequest to an Æthelflaed, who was either Æthelweard's wife or his sister-in-law. The historian Ann Williams suggests that Æthelweard was descended from a daughter of Æthelred I and Odda, Ealdorman of Devon. Æthelweard was father of
Æthelmær the Stout Æthelmær the Stout or Æthelmær the Fat (died 1015) a leading thegn from the 980s, ''discðegn'' (dish-bearer or seneschal) to King Æthelred the Unready, and briefly ealdorman of the Western Provinces in 1013. He was the founder of Cerne Abbey ...
, who was ealdorman of the Western provinces towards the end of Æthelred II's reign. Æthelmær was the father of Æthelnoth, who became
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
in 1020, and was later regarded as a saint,Mason, Emma "Æthelnoth (d. 1038)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Oxford University Press, 200
Online Edition
accessed 7 November 2007
and of the Æthelweard executed by King
Cnut Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...
in 1017. Æthelmær has been speculatively identified with the Agelmær named by
John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is now usually held to be the author of the . Works John of Worcester's principal work was the (Latin for "Chronicle from Chronicles") or ...
as brother of Eadric Streona and father of Wulfnoth Cild, who was father of
Godwin, Earl of Wessex Godwin of Wessex (; died 15 April 1053) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great (King of England from 1016 to 1035) and his successors. Cnut made Godwin the first ...
and grandfather of King Harold II, though the Worcester chronicler makes this Agelmær son of Agelric rather than Æthelweard and the pedigree as a whole has problematic chronology.


Works

After 975 and probably before 983, Æthelweard wrote the ''Chronicon'', a Latin translation of a lost version of 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 ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...
'', including material not found in surviving Old English versions.Miller, Sean, "Æthelweard" in ''The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', ed.
Michael Lapidge Michael Lapidge, FBA (born 8 February 1942) is a scholar in the field of Medieval Latin literature, particularly that composed in Anglo-Saxon England during the period 600–1100 AD; he is an emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow ...
, 2001
In the view of Ann Williams, the ''Chronicon'' for the tenth century is not merely a version of the ''Chronicle'', but also includes passages based on his own researches and opinions. Æthelweard wrote his work at the request of his relative Mathilde, abbess of the Essen Abbey and granddaughter of emperor
Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...
and Eadgyth of Wessex. The text only survives in a single copy now in the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, which was badly damaged in the Cotton Library fire in 1731, but it had been printed by
Henry Savile Henry Savile may refer to: *Henry Savile (died 1558) (1498–1558), MP for Yorkshire *Henry Savile (died 1569) (1518–1569), MP for Yorkshire and Grantham *Henry Savile (Bible translator) (1549–1622), English scholar and Member of the Parliament ...
in 1596. Mathilde probably rewarded him with a copy of
Vegetius Publius (or Flavius) Vegetius Renatus, known as Vegetius (), was a writer of the Later Roman Empire (late 4th century). Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what is contained in his two surviving works: ''Epitoma rei militaris'' (also r ...
' work '' De Re Militari'' which was written in
Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
and has long been in England. The ''Chronicon'' was composed in the ''hermeneutic'' style almost universally adopted by English scholars writing in Latin in the tenth century.
Michael Lapidge Michael Lapidge, FBA (born 8 February 1942) is a scholar in the field of Medieval Latin literature, particularly that composed in Anglo-Saxon England during the period 600–1100 AD; he is an emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, a Fellow ...
defines it as "a style whose most striking feature is the ostentatious parade of unusual, often very arcane and apparently learned vocabulary."Lapidge, pp. 105, 135–136, 139 The twelfth century historian
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...
, writing at a time when the style had come to be seen as barbarous, wrote about him "... of Elward, a noble and illustrious character, who attempted to arrange these chronicles in Latin, and whose intention I could applaud if his language did not disgust me, it would be better to be silent".


See also

*
House of Wessex family tree This is a list of monarchs of the Kingdom of the West Saxons (Wessex) until 886 AD. While the details of the later monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources, the earlier ones are in many cases obscure. The names are given in modern English f ...


References


Primary sources


Rerum anglicarum scriptores post Bedam praecipui. Chronicorum Ethelwerdi Libri IV. Londini, 1596.
*Æthelweard, ''Chronicon'', ed. and tr. Alistair Campbell, ''The Chronicle of Æthelweard''. London, 1961. *Barker, E.E. (ed.). "The Cottonian fragments of Æthelweard's Chronicle." ''Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research 24'' (1951): 46–62. *
Ælfric Ælfric (Old English ', Middle English ''Elfric'') is an Anglo-Saxon given name, consisting of the elements ''ælf'', "elf" and ''ric'', "a powerful person, ruler". Churchmen * Ælfric of Eynsham (c. 955–c. 1010), late 10th century Anglo-Sax ...
, preface to ''Lives'' of Saints, ed. and tr. W.W. Skeat,'' Ælfric's Lives of Saints''. 2 vols: vol. 1. Oxford, 1881–1900. 2–7. *
Ælfric Ælfric (Old English ', Middle English ''Elfric'') is an Anglo-Saxon given name, consisting of the elements ''ælf'', "elf" and ''ric'', "a powerful person, ruler". Churchmen * Ælfric of Eynsham (c. 955–c. 1010), late 10th century Anglo-Sax ...
, preface to his Old English homilies, ed. and tr. Benjamin Thorpe, ''The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church. The First Part, Containing the Sermones Catholici, or Homilies of Ælfric''. 2 vols: vol 1. London, 1844–1846. *
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...
, ''Gesta regum Anglorum'', ed. and tr. R.A.B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom, ''William of Malmesbury. Gesta Regum Anglorum. The History of the English Kings.'' OMT. 2 vols. Oxford, 1998. *John of Worcester, ''Chronicon ex chronicis'', ed. Benjamin Thorpe, ''Florentii Wigorniensis monachi chronicon ex chronicis''. 2 vols. London, 1848–1849.


Secondary sources

*Campbell, James. "England, ''c''. 991." In ''
The Battle of Maldon "The Battle of Maldon" is the name given to an Old English Old English literature, poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which an Anglo-Saxon army failed to repulse a Viking raid. Only 325 lines of the poem are ...
: Fiction and Fact'', ed. Janet Cooper. London and Rio Grande, 1993. 1–17. *Houts, Elisabeth van. "Women and the Writing of History in the Early Middle Ages: The Case of Abbess Mathilda of Essen and Æthelweard." ''Early Medieval Europe'' 1 (1992): 53–68. *Howlett, D.R. "The Verse of Æthelweard's Chronicle." ''Bulletin Du Cange'' 58 (2000): 219–24. *Jezierski, Wojtek. "Æthelweardus redivivus." ''Early Medieval Europe'' 13.2 (2005): 159–78. * * *Lutz, Angelika. "Æthelweard's ''Chronicon'' and Old English poetry." ''Anglo-Saxon England'' 29 (2000): 177–214. *Meaney, Audrey L. "St. Neots, Æthelweard and the Compilation of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'': a Survey." ''Studies in Earlier Old English Prose'', ed. Paul E. Szarmach. Albany, 1986. 193–243. *Stenton, Frank Merry. "Æthelweard's Account of the Last Years of King Alfred's Reign." In ''Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England, being the Collected Papers of Frank Merry Stenton'', ed. D.M. Stenton. Oxford, 1970. 8–13. Published previously in ''English Historical Review'' 24: 79–84. *Whitbread, L. "Æthelweard and the Anglo-Saxon chronicle." ''English Historical Review'' 74 (1959): 577–89. * * *Winterbottom, Michael. "The Style of Æthelweard." ''Medium Aevum'' 36 (1967): 109–18. *


External links

*
Æthelweard’s ''Chronicon''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aethelweard (Historian) Anglo-Saxon royalty Anglo-Saxon writers 10th-century English historians 10th-century writers in Latin Texts of Anglo-Saxon England in Latin Anglo-Saxon ealdormen Year of birth unknown 990s deaths House of Wessex