Æthelwold of Wessex Information & Æthelwold of Wessex Links at HealthHaven.com

Æthelwold was the eldest son of King Æthelred of Wessex. As was common practice at the time, when Æthelred died in 871 he was succeeded not by his son but by his younger brother, Alfred the Great. On Alfred's death in 899, Æthelwold tried to seize the throne but his bid for power was defeated by Alfred's son Edward the Elder and he sought refuge with the Danes of Northumbria. In 902 he sailed to Essex, and in 903 he convinced the Danes of East Anglia to wage war against Alfred, joining them in a raid on Mercia and Wessex. He had apparently been acknowledged as their king by the Danes. Returning from their raid they were pursued by an army led by Edward, which ravaged Danish territory as far as the Fens. The Danes managed to surround the men of Kent, who had become separated from the rest of Edward's army, but while the Kentishmen suffered very heavy losses even more men were killed on the Danish side. Æthelwold was among them. His younger brother Æthelhelm chose not to challenge Edward for the throne and continued to reside in Wessex, where he may have become Ealdorman of Wiltshire.

[edit] References

History of Anglo Saxon England by F. Stenton
History of the Anglo Saxons by F. Palgrave

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] See also

English royalty
Preceded by Eohric	King of East Anglia ? 902	Succeeded by Guthrum II
Preceded by ?	King of Northumbria ? 899– 902	Succeeded by Eowils and Halfdan

This article related to British royalty is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.