Æthelbald’s Wars
Æthelbald’s Wars refer to the military campaigns led by Æthelbald, King of Mercia, during the 8th century as he sought to establish and maintain dominance over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Ascending to the throne in 716 after a period of exile, Æthelbald capitalized on the internal strife of neighboring kingdoms, notably capturing territories such as Essex and parts of Wessex. His military tactics included fostering rebellion among rival kingdoms, which allowed him to expand Mercian influence significantly. Æthelbald's reign saw him engaging in multiple campaigns against Northumbria and the Welsh, although these efforts met with mixed success. He declared himself "king of the South English" and embraced the title of bretwalda, reflecting his ambitions for broader control. His eventual defeat by Cuthred of Wessex in 750 marked the decline of his power, culminating in his assassination in 757. Despite personal controversies, including criticisms from religious leaders regarding his conduct, Æthelbald's reign laid the groundwork for the later successes of his successor, Offa.
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Æthelbald’s Wars
At issue: Supremacy among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
Date: 733-750
Location: Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, Sussex, Northumbria (central and south England)
Combatants: Mercians vs. Wessexians, East Anglians, Sussexians, Kentish, Northumbrians, Welsh
Principal commanders:Mercian, Æthelbald (c. mid-680’s-757); West Saxon/Wessex, Æthelheard (r. 726-740), Cuthred (d. 756); Northumbrian, Eadbert (d. 768)
Principal battle: York
Result: The Mercian dynasty emerged dominant among the Anglo-Saxons
Background
Since their establishment in Britain in the fifth century, the various Germanic tribes known as Anglo-Saxons (Angles in East Anglia, Jutes in Kent, and Saxons in south and central England) had been engaged in incessant small-scale warfare among themselves and with the native Celts. They also experienced internal feuds, intrigues, and dynastic struggles within kingdoms. About a dozen independent kingdoms had been established by the seventh century, though no single monarchy had achieved a decisive hegemony for long. In the eighth century, this pattern began to change when Mercia emerged as a dominant power because of the aggressive leadership of its kings and the internal problems of neighboring kingdoms. Æthelbald ascended to the Mercian throne in 716, returning from a long period of exile (the result of intrigues to seize the throne) imposed by his predecessor, Ceolred. Æthelbald continued the aggressive policy of Mercian hegemony initiated by his predecessors, taking advantage of internal problems within neighboring kingdoms. By 731, Æthelbald controlled Essex, including London.
Action
The innumerable battles fought in the Anglo-Saxon wars were small by most standards, the average military unit or thegn being 300-500 men, and 1,000 men or more would have been considered large. Æthelbald often used the tactic of exploiting and fomenting rebellion and discord among neighboring kingdoms before attacking them, as he did in 733, when he invaded Somerset. He captured the town of Somerton from Wessex’s control despite the tenacious resistance of Æthelheard, king of the West Saxons. This began a period of Mercian dominance over the West Saxon kings, which lasted until 750. By 736, Æthelbald titled himself “king of the South English.” In 737, Æthelbald invaded Northumbria while its king, Eadbert, was busy in the north fighting the Picts, suggesting to some that Æthelbald had conspired previously with the Picts to divert Eadbert’s attention. However, despite destroying York (740), this raid failed to bring Northumbria under Æthelbald’s control.
Æthelbald also engaged in at least three major campaigns against the Welsh, most notably in 743, when he joined with King Cuthred of Wessex. These campaigns apparently had little success, however, as the Welsh kings never acquiesced to Mercian dominance.
In 750, Cuthred, then king of the West Saxons, rebelled successfully against Æthelbald’s control, putting him to flight at the Battle of Beorhford in 752, ending Æthelbald’s dominance over the West Saxons.
Æthelbald was assassinated by his own bodyguard in 757, a not-uncommon fate for a leader in the treacherous political atmosphere of his time. During his reign, he dominated a confederation of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and called himself bretwalda, or king of the Britons, indicating that his ambitions for suzerainty were more than just local and parochial. He cemented the alliance of the Mercian dynasty with the church by appointing Mercian bishops to the archbishopric of Canterbury. Despite his support of the church, he was censured for being a notorious debaucher. Saint Boniface chastised him in a letter in 746-747 citing his violation of “monasteries with holy nuns and virgins.” To appease ecclesiastical wrath, Æthelbald shrewdly exempted churches and monasteries from taxation in a synod of 749.
Aftermath
Æthelbald was the most powerful Anglo-Saxon monarch of his time and established a solid foundation for his cousin and successor, Offa, who was declared the “king of all England” in 779, bringing the Mercian dynasty to its zenith by the end of the eighth century.
Bibliography
Dutton, Leonard. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: The Power Struggles from Hengist to Ecgberht. Hanley Swan, Worcestershire, England: SPA & Leonard Dutton, 1993.
Ellis, Peter Berresford. Celt and Saxon: The Struggle for Britain, a.d. 410–937. London: Constable & Co., 1993.
Evans, Stephen S. The Lords of Battle: Image and Reality of the Comitatus in Dark-Age Britain. Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Boydell Press, 1997.
Yorke, Barbara. Wessex in the Early Middle Ages. London: Leicester University Press, 1995.