Æthelberht or
Ethelbert (, meaning "Magnificent Noble") was the third son of
Æthelwulf of Wessex and was born around 835. In 855 he became under-king of Kent while his father,
Æthelwulf, visited
Rome. His brother
Æthelbald was left in charge of the West Saxons. After his father's death in 858 he succeeded him as king of Kent and the other eastern parts of the kingdom, and after his brother's death in 860, became king of Wessex also.
When Æthelbald died childless in 860, the kingship of the West Saxons passed to Æthelberht, possibly because both his younger brothers,
Æthelred and
Alfred, were too young to lead a country facing
Viking attacks.
Reign
Like his father and brother he was also crowned at
Kingston upon Thames. His reign saw a Danish plundering of
Kent and raids in
Northumbria, both led by
Ragnar Lodbrok. They had also penetrated as far as
Winchester in Æthelberht's early reign. One development was that Wessex and its recent south-eastern conquests became a united kingdom. Unlike his predecessors, Æthelberht did not appoint another member of his family as under-king of Kent. A charter issued in the first year of Æthelberht's reign reflects an extraordinary new kind of assembly: it was the first charter of a West Saxon king to include a full complement both of West Saxon and of Kentish witnesses. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes Æthelberht's reign as one of good harmony and lasting peace. Though this was true of internal affairs, the Vikings remained a great threat, unsuccessfully storming Winchester and ravaging vast parts of Kent.
Death
Æthelberht died in 866 and was buried at
Sherborne Abbey in
Dorset beside his brother Æthelbald. At the time of his death, Æthelberht was married (the records of his wife have not survived) and had two young sons: Aldhelm, who was killed, unmarried, during the Viking invasions in
Alfred's reign; and Æthelweard, who was only an infant in 866, but unsuccessfully claimed the throne after Alfred's death in 899. He sought refuge in the
Danelaw, where he was killed the following year.
See also
