Æthelstan Half-King (fl. 932 – 956) was an important and influential
Ealdorman of
East Anglia who interacted with five
kings of England, including his adopted son King
Edgar the Peaceful. Many of Æthelstan's close relatives were also involved in important affairs, but soon after the death of King
Eadred in 955, he left his position and became a monk at
Glastonbury Abbey.
Origins
Æthelstan was the son of
Æthelfrith, an Ealdorman who held lands in
Somerset,
Berkshire, and
Middlesex.[1] His mother was Æthelgyth, daughter of Æthelwulf.[2] His elder brother Ælfstan and his younger brothers Æthelwold and
Ædric were Ealdormen of south and east
Mercia,
Kent and central
Wessex, respectively.[3] Æthelfrith was an ealdorman in Mercia in the late ninth and early tenth centuries.
Career
Æthelstan seems to have been appointed Ealdorman of East Anglia and other parts by King
Æthelstan in about 932. The lands King Æthelstan gave him had mostly been part of the
Danelaw which had only been forced out of the area after the
Battle of Tempsford in
Bedfordshire fifteen years earlier in 917. Æthelstan's brother Ælfstan inherited his father's ealdormandom but died in 934. Æthelwold became an ealdorman in 940 and Eadric in 942.[3]
Æthelstan and his family were supporters of the monastic reforms of
Saint Dunstan which introduced the
Benedictine rule to Glastonbury. Both Glastonbury, and
Abingdon Abbey, were endowed by Æthelstan.[4]
The epithet 'Half-King' is first recorded in
Byrhtferth of Ramsey'sLife of St Oswald, written between 997 and 1002. Byrhtferth referred to "Ealdorman Æthelstan, whom the elders and all the populace called 'Half-King', since he was a man of such authority that he was said to maintain the kingdom and its rule with his advice to the king".[5] Byrhtferth devoted considerable space to Æthelstan's family, several of whom were buried at Ramsey. The epithet Half-King comes from Byrhtferth's writings. Several members of the family were buried, or reburied, at Ramsey.
The position of Æthelstan and his brothers in the middle of the 10th century has been compared with the similar dominance of the family of
Godwin, Earl of Wessex in the 11th century.[6] It is possible that Æthelstan's withdrawal to Glastonbury may not have been voluntary.[7] However, the death of Æthelwald in 962 resulted in the family's offices in Wessex passing to their chief rivals, the family of Ealdorman
Ælfhere. The result of this was that the two families were roughly equal in influence. Ælfhere's death in the early 970s did not result in a return of the old dominance of Æthelstan's family.[8]
Family
People associated with Æthelstan's family include Ealdorman
Byrhtnoth, whose defeat at the
Battle of Maldon is commemorated in
verse.[9]
Æthelstan's children included:
Æthelwald (died c. 962), Ealdorman of Essex, then of East Anglia after his father became a monk. Queen
Ælfthryth, daughter of Ealdorman
Ordgar, who was later the third wife of King Edgar, was first married to Æthelwald.
Ælfwald, called dux in charters.[10] He married Elfhild, perhaps the daughter of Ealdorman Elfsige.[11]
Æthelwig, Ealdorman.
Æthelsige, became King Edgar's
chamberlain (died c.986).
Æthelwine (died 992), Ealdorman of East Anglia after Æthelwald, youngest son of Æthelstan. Chief Ealdorman from 983.[12] He married three times, firstly to Ethelflaed who died in 977, secondly to Ethelgifu (d. 985) and thirdly to Wulfgifu (d. 994).[13]
^Byrhtferth of Ramsey (The Life of Saint Oswald, iii, 14) writes of Ælfwald: "He was exalted with such great authority, that he even disdained to become an ealdorman;
Ælfwald 42 at
Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England, retrieved 28 January 2007. Ælfwald was a prominent supporter of the monasteries and ordered the death of one Leofsige who was attempting to claim lands belonging to the monastery of
Peterborough.
^ Andrew Wareham, Lords and Communities in Early Medieval East Anglia, Institute of Historical Research
^Byrhtferth of Ramsey (The Life of Saint Oswald, iii, 14) presents Æthelwine as a key supporter of the monasteries in land disputes, along with Ælfwald; Miller; Williams.
^ Andrew Wareham, Lords and Communities in Early Medieval East Anglia, Institute of Historical Research