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Line 1: − + − + − + − + − + + − Æthelbald, King of Wessex (died 860), was the second of five sons of King Æthelwulf of Wessex. In 850, Æthelbald's elder brother Æthelstan defeated the Vikings in the first recorded sea battle in English history, but he is not recorded afterwards and probably died in the early 850s. The next year Æthelwulf and Æthelbald inflicted another defeat on the Vikings at the Battle of Aclea. In 855 Æthelwulf went on pilgrimage to Rome and appointed Æthelbald King of Wessex, while Æthelberht, the next oldest son, became King of Kent, which had been conquered by Wessex thirty years earlier.+ − + − On his way back from Rome, Æthelwulf stayed for several months with Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, whose twelve-year-old daughter Judith he married. When he returned to England in 856, Æthelbald refused to give up the crown. Most historians believe that Æthelbald continued to be king of Wessex while Æthelberht gave up Kent to his father, but some think that Wessex itself was divided, with Æthelbald ruling the west and his father the east, while Æthelberht kept Kent. When Æthelwulf died in 858 Æthelbald continued as (or became again) king of Wessex and his brother resumed (or carried on) his kingship of Kent. − − Æthelbald married his stepmother Judith. Asser, the biographer of his youngest brother, Alfred the Great, denounced the union as being "against God's prohibition and Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans", but the marriage does not seem to have been condemned at the time. Æthelbald and Æthelberht appear to have been on good terms: when Æthelbald died in 860 Æthelberht became king of both Wessex and Kent, and they were never again divided. − − When Æthelbald's grandfather Ecgberht became king of Wessex in 802, it would have seemed very unlikely that he would establish a lasting dynasty. For two hundred years, three families had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. Ecgberht's nearest connection to a king of Wessex was as a great-great-grandson of Ingild, brother of King Ine (688–726), but he was believed to be a paternal descendant of Cerdic, the founder of the West Saxon dynasty, which made him an ætheling, a prince who had a legitimate claim to the throne. However, in the ninth and tenth centuries Ecgberht's line controlled the kingdom, and all kings were sons of kings. − − At the beginning of the ninth century, England was almost wholly under the control of the Anglo-Saxons, and the Midland kingdom of Mercia dominated southern England. In 825 Ecgberht decisively defeated the Mercians at the Battle of Ellendun, ending Mercian supremacy. The two kingdoms became allies, which was important in the resistance to Viking attacks. In 835 the Isle of Sheppey in Kent was ravaged. In 836 Ecgberht was defeated by the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset, but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom. He died in the following year and was succeeded by his son Æthelwulf, who appointed his eldest son Æthelstan as sub-king of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex, in the same year. −
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{{Infobox person
{{infobox person
|name=Ethelbald
|name=Ethelbald
|birth_date=834
|birth_date=c. 833/834
|birth_place=Wessex
|birth_place=possibly England
|death_date=December 860 (aged 25/26)
|death_date=c. July-December 860
|death_place=Sherborne, Dorset
|death_place=possibly England
}}
}}
'''Ethelbald''' (also Æthelbald) king of Wessex (858-860), virtual ruler from 856 was the eldest son of [[Ethelwulf]]. On the death of his father he ruled [[Wessex]] whilst his brother [[Ethelbert]] ruled [[Kent]], [[Surrey]], [[Essex]] and [[Sussex]]. He married his father’s widow. Not much is known about his short reign, or his death. He was succeeded by his younger brother, [[Ethelbert]].
== Life ==
Ethelbald was possibly born around 833 or 834.
== Background ==
Reference: “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” trans. Anne Savage
Reference: “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” trans. Anne Savage