This article is about the son of King Æthelwulf. For other persons of that name, see
Æthelstan (disambiguation).
Æthelstan (/ˈæθəlstæn/; died c. 852) was the
King of Kent from 839 to 851. He served under the authority and
overlordship of his father, King
Æthelwulf of Wessex, who appointed him.[1] The late D, E and F versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describe Æthelstan as Æthelwulf's brother, but the A, B and C versions, and
Æthelweard's Chronicon, state that he was Æthelwulf's son.[2] Some historians have argued that it is more probable that he was a brother, including
Eric John in 1966[3] and
Ann Williams in 1978.[4] However, in 1991 Ann Williams described him as Æthelwulf's son,[5] and this is now generally accepted by historians, including
Frank Stenton,[2]Barbara Yorke,[6] and
D. P. Kirby.[7]
When Æthelwulf became
King of the West Saxons in 839 on the death of his father,
Ecgberht, he appointed Æthelstan to rule over Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex. He is styled king in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and
Æthelweard's chronicle calls him "King of the Dwellers in
Kent, of the
East Saxons, of the
South Saxons and of
Surrey". He attested a number of his father's charters as king in the 840s.
In 851, Æthelstan and
EaldormanEalhhere defeated a
Viking fleet and army off
Sandwich, Kent, described by Frank Stenton as "the first naval battle in recorded English history".[8] Æthelstan is not mentioned after 851 and presumably died before Æthelwulf went to Rome in 855 as he was not included in arrangements for government of the kingdom during his father's absence.[9] In 853, Ealhhere died in a disastrous defeat of the men of Kent and Surrey by the Vikings, and as Æthelstan is not mentioned as present at the battle he was probably dead by then.[10]
A mid-ninth century burial found during excavations in the
Old Minster, Winchester contained the body of a young man of 25–35. His headdress and the prestigious location of the burial in the nave suggests royal status, and the "strongest putative candidate" is Æthelstan.[11]
John, Eric (1966). Orbis Britanniae. Leicester University Press.
Keynes, Simon; Lapidge, Michael, eds. (1983). Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources. Penguin Classics.
ISBN978-0-14-044409-4.
Kirby, D.P. (2000). The Earliest English Kings (Revised ed.). Routledge.
ISBN0-415-24211-8.
Williams, Ann (1979). Brown, R. Allen (ed.). "Some notes and considerations on problems connected with the English royal succession 860-1066". Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies. The Boydell Press.
ISBN0-85115-107-8.
Williams, Ann (1991). "Athelstan king of Kent d. c. 852". In Williams, Ann; Smyth, Alfred P.; Kirby, D. P. (eds.). A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain. Seaby.
ISBN1-85264-047-2.
Yorke, Barbara (1990). Kings and Kingdoms in Early Anglo-Saxon England. Seaby.
ISBN1-85264-027-8.
Yorke, Barbara (2021). "Royal Burial in Winchester: Context and Significance". In Lvelle, Ryan; Roffey, Simon; Weikert, Katherine (eds.). Early Medieval Winchester: Communities, Authority and Power in an Urban Space, c.800-c.1200. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books.
ISBN978-1-78925-623-9.