Ceolred(died 716) was king ofMerciafrom 709 to 716.
| Ceolred | |
|---|---|
 Oil painting byMargaret Dovastondepicting Ceolred in a fit of madness | |
| King of Mercia | |
| Reign | 709–716 |
| Predecessor | Coenred |
| Successor | Æthelbald |
| Died | 716 AD |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Werburgh?[1] |
| Dynasty | Iclingas |
| Father | Æthelred |
| Mother | Osthryth? |
Mercia at the end of the 7th century
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By the end of the 7th century, England was almost entirely divided into kingdoms ruled by theAnglo-Saxons,who had come to Britain two hundred years earlier. The kingdom ofMerciaoccupied what is now theEnglish Midlands,[2]bordered byNorthumbriato the north,East Angliato the east, andWessex,the kingdom of the West Saxons, to the south.Essex,the kingdom of the East Saxons, included London and lay between East Anglia and thekingdom of Kent.[3]
The main source for this period isBede'sHistoria ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum(Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed in about 731. Despite its focus on the history of the church, this work provides valuable information about the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Bede had informants who supplied him with details of the church's history in Wessex and Kent, but he appears to have had no such contact in Mercia.[4]Charters of Ceolred's, recording royal grants of land to individuals and to religious houses, also survive,[5][6][7]as does theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle,compiled in Wessex at the end of the 9th century, but incorporating earlier material.[8]
Ancestry and reign
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Ceolred's father,Æthelred,came to throne of Mercia in 675 on the death of his brother,Wulfhere.Æthelred abdicated in 704 and went to Rome, leaving the kingdom to his nephewCoenred,Wulfhere's son.
The reduced prestige of both Ceolred and his predecessor, Coenred, may have stirred unrest among the Mercian nobility: Æthelbald was in exile during Ceolred's reign, and the survival of a hostile account of Ceolred may indicate a more general dissatisfaction with the ruling line.[9]
In 709 Coenred abdicated in favour of Ceolred.[10]Coenred went to Rome and was made amonkthere byPope Constantine.[11]Historians have generally accepted Bede's report of Coenred's abdication, butBarbara Yorkehas suggested that he may not have relinquished his throne voluntarily. There are instances of kings being forcibly removed and placed in holy orders to make them ineligible for kingship; one such was KingOsred IIof Northumbria, who was forced into a monastery.[11]
Ceolred wasÆthelred's son, but his mother was notOsthryth,Æthelred's only recorded wife.[12]He may have still been young at the time of his accession. Much of what is recorded about Ceolred is highly negative, accusing him of crimes and immorality; this may reflect poor treatment of the Church.[12][13]In 715, the Mercians under Ceolred fought abattle at "Woden's Barrow",either against theWest SaxonsunderIneor together with them against an unnamed opponent, possibly the British;[14]the outcome of this battle was not recorded.
Charters
editCeolred confirmed a grant to Waldhere, the Bishop of London, evidence that London was firmly under Mercian overlordship.[15]Later Mercian kings treated London as their direct possession, rather than as a province ruled by an underking, but Ceolred did not go that far.[16][17]Three possibly genuine charters of Ceolred's have survived.[18]
Death and succession
editIn the next year, Ceolred died;Saint Bonifacelater described him as dying in a crazed frenzy at a banquet, "gibbering with demons and cursing the priests of God".Æthelbald,a member of another branch of the Mercian royal line who had been forced into exile during Ceolred's rule, succeeded him.[12]
Family
editHe was related to Coenred, the brother of Saint Werburgh of Mercia.
References
edit- ^J. A. Giles,ed. (1914). "Anno 782".The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.London: G. Bell and Sons LTD.
- ^Yorke,"The Origins of Mercia" in Brown & Farr,Mercia,pp. 15–16.
- ^Yorke,Kings and Kingdoms.
- ^Yorke,Kings and Kingdoms,p. 100.
- ^"Anglo-Saxons.net: S 54".Sean Miller.Retrieved11 March2009.
- ^"Anglo-Saxons.net: S 65".Sean Miller.Retrieved11 March2009.
- ^"Anglo-Saxons.net: S 81".Sean Miller.Retrieved11 March2009.
- ^Simon Keynes, "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", inBlackwell Encyclopedia,p. 35.
- ^Yorke,Kings and Kingdoms,p. 112.
- ^Kelly, "Coenred"
- ^abYorke,Kings and Kingdoms,p. 174.
- ^abcD. P. Kirby,The Earliest English Kings(1991, 2000 paperback), pages 108–109.
- ^Frank Stenton,Anglo-Saxon England(1943, 1971, 1998 paperback), page 203.
- ^The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,translated by Michael Swanton (1996), manuscripts A and E, years 715 and 716.
- ^Kirby,Earliest English Kings,pp. 123–124.
- ^Stenton,Anglo-Saxon England,pp. 203–205.
- ^Wormald, "The Age of Bede and Æthelbald", p. 95.
- ^"Ceolred 1".Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.Retrieved11 March2009.