849-864: Heathen Depredations & The Catholic Community

The kings of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms come and go but we should note the birth of Alfred in 849, fifth son of Ethelwulf, King of Wessex. Ethelwulf will die in 858 to be succeeded by his son Ethelbald (co-ruler since 855). Ethelbald dies in 860 and is succeeded by his brother Ethelbert but it is Alfred who is eventually going to be seen as the first English hero-king in the struggle against the Danes. The Wessex dynasty passes relatively smoothly from Ethelwulf through a line of brothers that will end up (via Ethelred next) with Alfred, suggesting an essential stability to Wessex that helps ensure its ability to unify the Anglo-Saxons against the Danish threat. Meanwhile, Mercian heirs are still being murdered by their godfathers as Wystan was in 849 and Mercia remains as preoccupied with fighting the Wealhas (Welsh) as the Danes. The marriage of Ethelwulf's daughter to Burgred of Mercia suggests that Wessex was keen to make sure that Mercia remained at least neutral in the struggle with the Heathens.

The next major Danish challenge after their defeat in 845 came in 851 when they overwintered in Southern England with 350 shiploads of men, sailed up the Thames and sacked London. They pillaged Canterbury and defeated King Beorhtwulf of Mercia. From there, they moved into Surrey (Middlesex) where they were met by Ethelwulf supported by Ethelbald who managed, after a major battle, to defeat them. This is followed up with a Saxon naval victory off Sandwich in which the Saxons were led by Athelstan - nine ships were captured and the rest scattered.

Thanet in Kent was a front line part of the county and became the Danes' forward base. There was a further major battle there in 853 in which the men of Kent (under Ealhere) and of Surrey (under Hutha) engagde in a fierce struggle with the Danes in which both Ealdormen are killed. The Danes appear not to have been dislodged and, in 855, they wintered on the Isle of Sheppey and, in 860, attacked Winchester. Whichever way we look at it, the Anglo-Saxons were holding their own by the mid-860s but were not able to dislodge the Danes or stop them from undertaking serious assaults on their major towns. This state of violent equilibrium was not going to last long.

The Saxons are seen by Rome as their front line against Northern Heathenism. Four year old Alfred visits Rome in 853 and is honoured by the Pope. There is another state visit in 855 when he is six, this time with his father Ethelwulf. Alfred stayed a full year. One suspects that, as a fifth son who might not be expected to come to the throne, he was being lined up for a senior Church position although the Church was not generally keen to have Church and State under the control of one family in one location. This mission to save Christendom is to be taken seriously by Alfred much later in our story.

In another dynastic manouevre, Ethelwulf on his return homewards married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bold, King of the Franks, indicating a more adroit diplomacy than that of Offa. Bit by bit Wessex is becoming not merely the dominant indigenous state in England but also part of the 'international community' of the day, one which saw Heathenism much as the modern 'international community' sees Islamism. Interestingly, to maintain this system, Ethelwulf's successor, Ethelbald, his son, will marry Judith, his Frankish step-mother.