Ethelbert of East Anglia | |
|---|---|
 Brass plate fromHereford Cathedral | |
| Born | c. 774 |
| Died | 20 May 794 (aged 19–20) Hereford |
| Cause of death | Decapitation |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church, Church of England |
| Majorshrine | Hereford Cathedral, England |
| Feast | 20 May |
| Attributes | A young king, sometimes bearded, holding a church and a palm branch |
| Patronage | Hereford, England |
Æthelberht (Old English:Æðelbrihte,Æþelberhte), also calledSaint Ethelbert the King (c. 774 – 20 May 794) was an 8th-centurysaint and aking ofEast Anglia, theAnglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties ofNorfolk andSuffolk. Little is known of his reign, which may have begun in 779, according to later sources, and very few of the coins he issued have been discovered. It is known from theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle that he was killed on the orders ofOffa of Mercia in 794.
Æthelberht was locallycanonised and became the focus ofcults inEast Anglia and atHereford, where the shrine of the saintly king once existed. In the absence of known historical facts, medievalchroniclers provided their own details for his ancestry, life as king, and death at the hands of Offa. His feast day is 20 May. There are churches in Norfolk, Suffolk, and western England dedicated to him and he is a jointpatron ofHereford Cathedral.
Little is known of Æthelberht's life or reign, as fewEast Anglian records have survived from this period.[1] Æthelberht's reign may have begun in 779, the date provided on the uncertain authority of a much latersaint's life.[2] Medievalchroniclers have provided dubious accounts of his life, in the absence of any real details. The first extensive accounts of his life date to the 12th century and are connected to his cult centred atHereford Cathedral. The earliest of these, thePassio S. Æthelberhti, authored around 1080,[3] records that Æthelberht's parents wereÆthelred I of East Anglia and Leofrana ofMercia.
It narrates in detail a story of Æthelberht's piety, election as king, and wise rule. Urged to marry against his will, he apparently agreed to wedEadburh, the daughter ofOffa of Mercia, and set out to visit her, despite his mother's forebodings and his experiences of terrifying events—an earthquake, asolar eclipse and a vision.[4] This story is recounted in later saints' lives byOsbert of Clare andGerald of Wales, and elements of it were borrowed into the histories ofWilliam of Malmesbury,Roger of Wendover,Matthew Paris andRichard of Cirencester, among other later medieval chroniclers.[5]
Four pennies minted by Æthelberht are known (as of 2014[update])—two of which have been known since the 18th century, and one since the beginning of the 20th century.[6] One of these, a "light" penny, said to have been discovered in 1908 atTivoli, near Rome, is similar in type to the coinage of Offa. On one side is the wordREX, with an image ofRomulus andRemus suckling a wolf: the obverse names the King and his moneyer, Lul, who also struck coins for Offa andCoenwulf of Mercia. The author Andy Hutcheson has suggested that the use of runes on the coin may signify "continuing strong control by local leaders".[7] ThenumismatistMarion Archibald notes that the issuing of "flattering" coins of this type, with the intention to win friends in Rome, probably indicated that as a sub-king, Æthelberht, was assuming "a greater degree of independence than [Offa] was prepared to tolerate".[8]
The coins provide one of the few contemporary sources for Æthelberht. In March 2014,metal detectorist Darrin Simpson found a coin minted by Æthelbert in aSussex field.[6] Such coins, struck as a sign of independence, may have led to Æthelbert's death.[9] It sold at auction on 11 June 2014 for £78,000.[10] According to the British numismatist Rory Naismith, "Æthelberht's coins could have been issued over a number of years, either during a spell when some or all of East Anglia asserted independence from Offa, or by some sort of arrangement to shareminting rights with the Mercian ruler."[11] Offa stopped Æthelberht from minting his own coins.[12]
In 793 the vulnerability of the English east coast was exposed when the monastery atLindisfarne was looted byVikings, and a year laterJarrow was also attacked, which the historian Steven Plunkett reasons would ensure that the East Anglians were "forced to seek firm leadership" in order to strengthen the region's defences.[13] Æthelberht's claim to belong to the rulingWuffingas dynasty, suggested by the use of aRoman she-wolf and the titleREX on his coins, arose from the need for strong kingship in response to the Viking attacks.[13]
Æthelberht was put to death by Offa under unclear circumstances. According to the historian Andy Todd, Æthelberht was killed at the royal estate ofSutton in Herefordshire,[14] whileMichael Lapidge locates the murder at the nearby village ofMarden.[15] According to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, he wasbeheaded.[16] Medieval sources tell how he was captured while visiting his intended brideÆlfthryth and was then murdered and buried. While thePassio S. Æthelberhti implies that Offa's queen,Cynethryth, was complicit in the murder, she becomes the focus of the plot in later versions of the story.[17]
John of Worcester in the 12th century declared that Cynethryth persuaded her husband to kill his guest.Roger of Wendover in the 13th century, whose account is borrowed by Matthew Paris, offers a story in which Cynethryth personally oversees a trap in which Æthelberht falls into a pit in his bedroom, at the bottom of which her executioners were waiting.[17] Roger was based at theAbbey of St Albans which was founded by King Offa. Matthew Firth argues that Roger had vested interest in absolving Offa of his role in the martyrdom of the saint.[18]
Richard of Cirencester, writing in the 15th century, states that Æthelberht was bound and beheaded by a certain Grimbert, at the queen's urging, and disposed of his body. Another 15th-century text,Chronicon attributed toJohn Brompton, reports how the King's detached head fell off a cart into a ditch where it was found, before it restored a blind man's sight. According to theChronicon, Ælfthryth became a recluse atCrowland and her remorseful father foundedmonasteries, gave land to theChurch and travelled on apilgrimage to Rome.[19]
The execution of an Anglo-Saxon king on the orders of another ruler was very rare, although criminals were hanged and beheaded, as has been discovered atSutton Hoo.[20] Æthelberht's death made the possibility of any peaceful union between the Anglian peoples, including Mercia, less likely than before.[21]
After his death, Æthelberht wascanonised by the English Church. He was venerated in religious cults in both East Anglia and at Hereford. The Anglo-Saxon church of theepiscopal estate atHoxne Bishopric was one of several dedicated to him in Suffolk. The church is mentioned in the will ofTheodreusus, Bishop of London and Hoxne (c. 938 – c. 951), which is a possible indication of the existence of areligious cult devoted to the saintly king.[22]
Very few dedications for Æthelberht are near where he died – Hereford Cathedral and, some way off,Littledean in Gloucestershire – the other eleven being in Norfolk or Suffolk. The historian Lawrence Butler has argued that this unusual pattern may be explained by the existence of a royal cult in East Anglia, which represented a "revival of Christianity after theDanish settlement by commemorating a politically 'safe' and corporeally distant local ruler".[23]
The Blessed Virgin Mary and St Ethelbert are jointpatron saints of Hereford Cathedral, where the music for theOffice of St Ethelbert survives in the 13th-centuryHereford NotedBreviary.[24]
St Ethelbert's Gate is one of the two main entrances to the precinct ofNorwich Cathedral. The chapel atAlbrightestone, at a location near an important excavated Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Boss Hall inIpswich, was dedicated to Æthelberht. In Wiltshire, theChurch of England parish church atLuckington is dedicated to St Mary and St Ethelbert. In Norfolk, the Church of England parish churches atAlby,East Wretham,Larling,Thurton,Mundham andBurnham Sutton, where there are remains of the ruined church, are dedicated to St Ethelbert.[25]
The Suffolk churches atFalkenham,Hessett,Herringswell andTannington are all dedicated to the saint. In neighbouringEssex, the parish church atBelchamp Otten is dedicated to St Ethelbert and All Saints. The church atStanway, originally an Anglo-Saxon chapel, is dedicated to St Albright, which is believed to be the same saint.[25] In 1937, St Ethelbert's name was added to theparish church of St George inEast Ham, Essex (now London), at the behest of Hereford Cathedral which had funded the rebuilding of the church, previously a temporary wooden structure.[26]
Media related toÆthelberht II of East Anglia at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by | King of East Anglia | Succeeded by |
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