On the 1100th anniversary of the death of King Ælfweard of Wessex

The death of King Ælfweard of Wessex, 2nd August 924

Today sees the 1100th anniversary of the death of King Ælfweard of Wessex, a king most people have never heard of as his reign was just sixteen days in summer 924, and we know almost nothing about him. (According to one source, the Textus Roffensis he is credited with a reign of 4 weeks, which would have made him king before his father’s death. You can see a digital copy of this source here). There are surely many ‘might have beens’ about his reign, and as much as I admire Athelstan, his older halfbrother, I felt it only right to shed what light there is on Ælfweard.

Who was Ælfweard?

He was the son of Edward the Elder (who had died 16 days earlier) and his second wife, Ælfflæd. He was, presumably, the oldest born son with Edward’s second wife, and from a very young age, he can be seen attesting to his father’s charters. We don’t know his exact date of birth because we don’t know when Edward remarried, and whether it was before or after his father’s death in 899.

What do we know about Ælfweard?

Ælfweard begins to attest charters in 901 as filius regis, alongside his famous older halfbrother, Athelstan, although Ælfweard is given precedence and named before him. This precedence for the oldest son from a second marriage would also be mirrored in later years by King Edgar, who presented his oldest son with his third wife, Elfrida, as the legitimate ætheling while acknowledging his oldest son with his first wife.

Ælfweard attests eight of his father’s charters (S365, S375, S376, S377, S378, S381, S382 and S383). The number is small and may not be representative. There’s a lack of surviving charter evidence from the reign of Edward the Elder and none from Ælfweard’s short reign. Indeed, his full brother, Edwin, doesn’t attest any of his father’s charters, although he is named in one of Athelstan’s charters (S1417). This is something that needs explaining and examining in more depth.

Ælfweard’s death ‘allowed’ Athelstan to become king of Wessex

Despite the survival of his full brother, Edwin, Athelstan was, eventually, proclaimed king of Wessex as well as Mercia on the death of Ælfweard, although his coronation was delayed until September 925 (Read about Athelstan here). We must consider what led to Ælfweard’s death at Oxford. Had he been with his father at Farndon in Mercia putting down a revolt or fighting the Norse enemy? Was there some sort of illness? Was he murdered by those loyal to Athelstan to allow him to become king of Wessex as well as Mercia? We do not know. The situation is presented as a fait accompli in the sources.

Edwin, Ælfweard’s younger full brother, would die far from England’s shores, if the information we do have about his death, is correct. It is possible he did rise in rebellion against Athelstan, but alas, we do not know any details.

For more suggestions, and my fictional recreation of how Athelstan became king of Mercia, Wessex and the English, do check out my books, Kingmaker (the story of Lady Eadgifu, Edward the Elder’s third wife), and King of Kings (which begins with the coronation of King Athelstan in September 925). I’ve also written a post about Athelstan becoming king of Mercia which can be accessed here.

And for more information about the tenth century as a whole, do check out my nonfiction title about the Royal Women of the Tenth Century, which also includes information about the royal men.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle quotations from M Swanton, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.