Ethelbald (or Æthelbald) (died 757) was the King of Mercia in England from 716 until he was murdered by his bodyguard in 757. His long reign began a period of Mercian domination of England, which was continued by Offa, who reigned from 757 to 796.

Ethelbald came to the throne on the death of Ceolred. Both Wessex and Kent were ruled by strong kings at that time, but within fifteen years Ethelbald is described by Bede as ruling all England south of the Humber. Ethelbald is not listed as a bretwalda, or "Ruler of Britain", in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, though this may be an error on the annalist's part.

In a letter sent in about 745, Ethelbald was reproved by St Boniface for various dissolute and irreligious acts. The subsequent council at Clovesho, in 747, and a charter Ethelbald issued at Gumley in 749, which freed the church from some obligations, may have been reforms begun in response to Boniface's letter.

Ethelbald was killed in 757 by his bodyguard. He was succeeded briefly by Beornrad, of whom little is known, but within a year Offa had taken the throne.

Early life and accession

Ethelbald was the son of Alweo and was a grandson of Eowa, a brother of Penda. Ethelbald spent his early years exiled from Mercia, according to the Life of Guthlac of Crowland, who often provided him and his followers shelter. Guthlac prophesied greatness for him, and Ethelbald later rewarded Guthlac with a shrine when he had become king. Bishop Haedde of Lichfield, an influential Mercian, was also a visitor of Guthlac's, and it may be that Guthlac's support was politically useful to Ethelbald in gaining the throne. Ceolred, a grandson of Penda's, and hence a second cousin of Ethelbald's, was king of Mercia until 716; when he died of a fit at a banquet,[3] Ethelbald returned to Mercia and became king.

Mercian dominance

Ethelbald's accession marked the beginning of a long period of Mercian dominance, which would last till the end of the eighth century. For eighty years, from 716, when Ethelbald came to the throne, until the death of Offa in 796, Mercia was ruled by two strong kings, with Beornrad's very brief reign of less than a year between the two in 757. These long reigns are surprising at this early date: during the same period there were eleven kings in Northumbria, many of them dying violent deaths.

above: The Ismere Diploma, a charter of King Aethelbald's to Ealdorman Cyneberht in 736.

At the start of this period, Wessex and Kent were ruled by strong kings; Ine and Wihtred, respectively. Wihtred of Kent died in 725, and Ine of Wessex, one of the most formidable rulers of his day, abdicated in 726 to go on a pilgrimage to Rome. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, his successor, Aethelheard, fought that year with Oswald.[8] There are subsequent indications that Aethelheard ruled subject to Mercian authority, and it may be that Ethelbald helped establish both Aethelheard and his brother, Cuthred, who succeeded Aethelheard in 739.[9] There is also charter evidence from Kent showing that Ethelbald was in control of London, and a patron of Kentish churches.[1] By 731, Bede was able to summarize a list of bishops in office in southern England by adding that "all these provinces, together with the others south of the river Humber and their kings, are subject to Ethelbald, King of the Mercians."

An important charter of 736, the Ismere Diploma, which survives in a contemporary (and possibly original) copy, starts by describing Ethelbald as "king not only of the Mercians but also of all the provinces which are called by the general name South English"; in the witness list he is further named "Rex Britanniae", "King of Britain". It may be that at that time these titles would not have been acknowledged much beyond Worcester, where this and other documents from the 730s that use similar titles were written. It is notable that Ethelbald's dominance did not earn him the title of "bretwalda" ("Wide-Ruler", or "Ruler of Britain") from the anonymous annalist of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, who listed eight kings as bearing this title. It should be noted that the chronicler, a West Saxon, was probably merely adding Egbert's name to Bede's original list of seven, rather than claiming that no other kings achieved similar power in England -- in addition to Ethelbald, Penda and Offa were similarly dominant, but were not kings of Wessex and so, perhaps, the chronicler does not mention them from regional pride. The meaning of the title of "bretwalda" is still the subject of a great deal of academic debate, but it seems clear that from whatever cause this is an error on the annalist's part.

There is evidence that Ethelbald had to go to war to maintain his dominance. In 733 Ethelbald undertook an expedition against Wessex and captured the royal manor of Somerton. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle also tells how when Cuthred succeeded Aethelheard to the throne of Wessex, in 740, he "boldly made war against Aethelbald, king of Mercia". Three years later, Cuthred and Aethelbald are described as fighting against the Welsh. This could have been an obligation placed on Cuthred by Mercia; earlier kings had similarly assisted Penda and Wulfhere. In 752 they are again on opposite sides of the conflict, and according to one version of the manuscript, Cuthred "put him [Ethelbald] to flight." Ethelbald seems to have reasserted his authority over the West Saxons by the time of his death, since a later West Saxon king, Cynewulf, is recorded as witnessing a charter of Ethelbald at the very beginning of his reign, in 757.

In 740, a war between the Picts and the Northumbrians is reported. Ethelbald, who may have been allied with Óengus, the king of the Picts, took advantage of Eadberht's absence from Northumbria to ravage his lands, and perhaps burn York.

Relations with the church

In 745-746 St Boniface, along with seven other bishops, sent Ethelbald a reproachful letter. In it, they accused Ethelbald of many sins -- fornication with nuns, stealing ecclesiastical revenue, violating church privileges, and requiring forced labour from the clergy. Boniface also praises Ethelbald's faith, and alms-giving, but the criticisms have strongly coloured subsequent opinion of Ethelbald. Two years later, perhaps in response to this letter, Ethelbald attended, and perhaps presided over, the council of Clovesho, which was concerned with the relationship between the church and the secular world. The council limited relations between monks and laymen, and generally ruled that secular activities were impermissible for monks -- secular songs and secular business were both forbidden, in addition to "ludicrous songs". The council also objected to secular suspicion of the clergy. Two years after this, at Gumley, in 749, Ethelbald issued a charter that freed ecclesiastical lands from all obligations except the requirement to build forts and bridges -- obligations which lay upon everyone, as part of the trinoda necessitas. This charter was witnessed only by Mercian bishops, and it is possible it had no effect outside Mercia, but it is also possible that it was essentially part of a reform programme inspired by Boniface and instigated at Clovesho.

Death

In 757, he was killed at Seckington, Warwickshire, near the royal seat of Tamworth. According to a later continuation of Bede's, he was "treacherously murdered at night by his own bodyguards", but the reason why is unrecorded. He was succeeded, briefly, by Beornrad. Ethelbald was buried at Repton, in a crypt which still can be seen (picture above). The monastery church on the site at that time was probably constructed by Ethelbald to house the royal mausoleum; other burials there include that of Wigstan.