IMC 2019: Sessions
Session 802: The Reign of King Æthelwulf of Wessex: New Insights and New Perspectives
Tuesday 2 July 2019, 16.30-18.00
| Sponsor: | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH) Early Medieval Britain & Ireland Network, University of Oxford |
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| Organiser: | Robert Gallagher, St Cross College, University of Oxford |
| Moderator/Chair: | Charles Insley, Department of History, University of Manchester |
| Paper 802-a | The Sons of Æthelwulf: Some Considerations on the Ecgberting Succession as Reflected in the Charter Evidence (Language: English) Index terms: Political Thought, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Paper 802-b | Æthelwulf, Asser, and Wales (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Celtic, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Paper 802-c | Æthelwulf and Francia Reconsidered (Language: English) Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Abstract | Marked most famously by his marriage to Judith, the daughter of the West Frankish King Charles the Bald, King Æthelwulf of Wessex (839-58) achieved political clout on an international scale, and his reign plays a crucial role in our understanding of 9th-century political developments in Britain. His reign is, however, greatly overshadowed by that of his son Alfred the Great, not least because of a relative lack of contemporary narrative accounts. This session therefore aims to shine new light on this often-neglected king and his times. The three papers respectively consider the vital issues of West Saxon royal succession, contemporary Anglo-Welsh relations, and the connections with and possible influences of the Carolingian world on activities within the West Saxon royal household. In doing so, these papers will offer a variety of new perspectives on this most dynamic of reigns, and collectively they will serve as an important opportunity to interrogate traditional historiographical framings of 9th-century Britain. |