The Kingdom of East Anglia, also known as the Kingdom of the East Angles, was a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps the eastern part of The Fens. The kingdom was one of the seven traditional members of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. The East Angles were initially ruled (from the 6th century until 749) by members of the Wuffingas dynasty, named after Wuffa, whose name means 'descendants of the wolf'.[1] The last king was Guthrum II, who ruled in the 10th century. After 749 East Anglia was ruled by kings whose genealogy is not known, or by sub-kings who were under the control of the kings of Mercia. East Anglia briefly recovered its independence after the death of Offa of Mercia in 796, but Mercian hegemony was soon restored by his successor, Coenwulf.[2] Between 826 and 869, following an East Anglian revolt in which the Mercian king, Beornwulf, was killed, the East Angles again regained their independence. In 869 a Danish army defeated and killed the last native East Anglian king, Edmund the Martyr.[3] The kingdom then fell into the hands of the Danes and eventually formed part of the Danelaw.[3] In 918 the East Anglian Danes accepted the overlordship of Edward the Elder of Wessex. East Anglia then became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England.
Many of the regnal dates of the East Anglian kings are considered unreliable, often being based upon computations. Some dates have presented particular problems for scholars: for instance, during the three-year-long period of apostasy that followed the murder of Eorpwald, when it is not known whether any king ruled the East Angles.[4] The main source of information about the early history of the kingdom's rulers is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People.[5]
Chronological list
| Timeline | Dynasty | Reign | King | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Wuffingas | d. 571 | Wehha | Possible ruler;[6] "The first to rule over the East Angles", according to Nennius.[7] Died in 571. | |
| 571–578 (from unknown annal).[6] | Wuffa | Possible ruler;[6] son of Wehha and the king after whom the Wuffingas dynasty is named. | ||
| 578 (from unknown annal).[6] | Tytila | Possible ruler; son of 'Uffa' (Wuffa); acceded in 578, according to the Flores Historiarum.[8] | ||
| Acceded around 616,[9] died before 627.[10] | Rædwald | Son of Tytila;[6] named imperium by Bede, later interpreted as Bretwalda.[11] The Flores Historiarum gives 599 for Rædwald's accession.[12] Rædwald is the first of the Wuffingas of which more than a name is known. | ||
| Died 627 or 628.[10] | Eorpwald | Son of Rædwald; murdered by Ricberht.[4] | ||
| c. 627 to c. 630.[10] | Ricberht | Possible ruler.[6] | ||
| Acceded c. 630.[10] | Sigeberht | Possible son of Rædwald. Abdicated to lead a monastic life; later slain in battle in 637.[6] | ||
| Acceded c. 630 (ruled jointly with Sigeberht until c. 634). | Ecgric | Slain in battle, possibly as late as 641;[13] kinsman or brother of Sigeberht. Possible son of Rædwald. | ||
| early 640s[9] to c. 653.[10] | Anna | Nephew of Rædwald and son of Eni;[6] killed, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.[14] | ||
| c. 653[10] to 655.[6] | Æthelhere | Brother of Anna. Slain at the Battle of the Winwaed.[6] | ||
| 655[10] to 663.[10] | Æthelwold | Brother of Anna. | ||
| 663[10] to 713.[10] | Ealdwulf | Nephew of Anna, Æthelhere and Æthelwold. | ||
| 713[10] to 749[10] | Ælfwald | Son of Ealdwulf. | ||
| East Anglian dynasty | Ruling in 749.[9] | Beonna, Alberht and possibly Hun | Joint kings, of unknown origin[6] Alberht is also known as Æthelberht I.[15] Nothing is known of Hun.[16] | |
| Unknown. | Æthelred I | Possibly succeeded Beonna; sub-king named as the father of Æthelberht II.[17]} | ||
| ?779[10] to 794.[10] | Æthelberht II | Accession date is from a late mediaeval source; East Anglian independence indicated by ability of Æthelberht to mint his own coins.[18] Executed at the command of Offa.[6] | ||
| Mercian dynasty | Offa | Ruled Mercia from 757 to July 796; jointly ruled with his son Ecgfrith from 787 (who succeeded him and died after ruling for less than five months).[6][19] Held dominion over the East Angles.[17] | ||
| East Anglian dynasty | c. 796[20] to c. 800.[20] | Eadwald | Ancestry unknown; emerged as king during a period of instability following the death of Offa.[20] | |
| Mercian dynasty | Coenwulf | Ruled Mercia from 796 to 821:[9] held dominion over the East Angles after Eadwald's brief reign;[21] no precise date is known for the start of his overlordship in East Anglia.[22] | ||
| Ceolwulf | Brother of Coenwulf; ruled Mercia from 821 to 823.[23] | |||
| Beornwulf | Of unknown origin;[24] Ruled Mercia from 823.[9] to 826;[9] killed during an East Anglian revolt.[23] | |||
| East Anglian Dynasty | 827[20] to 845.[9] | Æthelstan | May have led a revolt against the Mercians in 825.[6] East Anglian independence re-established at his accession.[24] | |
| c.845[9] to 855.[9] | Æthelweard | |||
| 855[10] to 869.[9] | Edmund (Eadmund) | Son of Æthelweard. The last native East Anglian king; acceded at the age of 14 (according to Asser);[25] killed by the Vikings 20 November 869;[9] canonised.[26] Political organisation of East Anglia following the death of Edmund is uncertain. | ||
| Kings under Norse suzerainty | c. 869[9] to 875.[9] | Oswald | Underking, known only from numismatic evidence.[9] | |
| c. 875[9] to 878.[9] | Æthelred II | Underking, known only from numismatic evidence.[9] | ||
| Danish kingdom of East Anglia | c. 878[9] to 890.[27] | Guthrum | East Anglia was awarded to him in 878 as part of the Treaty of Wedmore with Alfred the Great of Wessex. Died in 890 at the age of 55. [28] | |
| 890[27] to 902.[9] | Eohric | Killed in battle (along with Æthelwold) in December 902. | ||
| 902[9] | Æthelwold | Sub-king of the Danes; killed in battle in December 902.[29] | ||
| 902[9] to 917. | Guthrum II | East Anglian Danes accepted Edward the Elder's overlordship in 917; killed in battle 918.[30] |
See also
References
Works cited
Further reading
- Astley, Mike (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graff. ISBN 978-0-7867-0692-1.
- Keary, Charles Francis (1887). Poole, Reginald Stuart (ed.). A Catalogue of English Coins in the British Museum. Anglo-Saxon Series. Vol. 1. London: British Museum.
- Newton, Sam (1993). The Origins of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 978-0-85991-472-7.