Æthelmær (Surrey) of Surrey (abt. 955 - 1015)

Born about 0955 in Sussex, Devon, England

Ancestors

Died 1015 at about age 60 in Sussex, Devon, England

Biography

955 Birth and Parents

Æthelmær was the son of Æthelweard the historian, and descended from King Æthelred I. ^[1]

Ealdorman Æthelmær was the son of Ealdorman Æthelweard as indicated in a charter of King Æthelred II dated 1005, which confirms rights to Eynsham Abbey of land which ealdorman Beorhtnoth at an earlier (unspecified) date had bequeathed at Mickleton, Gloucestershire to Ealdorman Æthelmær, son of Ealdorman Æthelweard. ^[2]

Æthelflæd was the mother of ealdorman Æthelmær. ^[2] She married before September 959 Æthelweard, son of Eadric and his wife Ælfgifu.^[2]

Æthelmær was referred to as a kinsman of ealdorman Beorhtnoth in the will (dated to 1000/02) of Beorhtnoth's widow, Ælflæd. Conversely, Æthelflæd in her will (dated between 962 and 991, probably after 975, bequeathed numerous estates to "ealdorman Brihtnoth and my sister". Cawley suggests the likelihood that Ælflæd and Æthelflæd were sisters. ^[2]

Birth Year Estimation

As founder of an abbey in 987, assume he was at least aged 30 at the time, so born, say, 957 or 955. Such a birth would make him 60 when he died at 1015. Placing his birth earlier would require him to be even older at his death. A 955 birth would be consistent with a wife born in 962.

987 Cerne Abbey

Together with his father, he was a patron of the homilist, Ælfric of Eynsham. In 987 Æthelmær founded or re-founded Cerne Abbey in Dorset, and in 1005 founded Eynsham Abbey in Oxfordshire, where he made Ælfric its first abbot,^[3] along with Priory of Bruton in Somerset.^[4] Ælfric dedicated his Lives of the Saints to Æthelmær. ^[5]

993 Counsellor to King Æthelred II

In a charter of 993 in which King Æthelred II laments his past misrule, which had resulted “partly on account of the ignorance of my youth, and partly on account of the abhorrent greed of certain of those men who ought to administer to my interest”, Æthelmaer is acknowledged, along with King’s uncle, Ordulf of Tavistock, as a loyal counsellor, and from the mid 990s he generally appears first among the ministers witnessing charters, followed by Ordulf, Wulfheah and Wulfgeat. ^[1]

998 Death of Father

Upon the death of his father Æthelweard in 998, no ealdorman was appointed to the Western Provinces, though both Æthelmær and Ordulf, whose father Ordgar had preceded Æthelweard, would have been obvious candidates.

1005 Ealdorman

Æthelmær was ealdorman of the western provinces (or south-western England) ^[5] from c. 1005 to 1015.^[6]

From 1006 the notorious Eadric Streona leapfrogs Æthelmaer, Ordulf, Wulfgeat and Wulfheah, to the head of the list of ministers. Wulfheah is known to have been blinded after Eadric murdered his father, ealdorman Ælfhelm of York, while Wulfgeat was deprived of all his lands. Ordulf is another who ceases to witness after 1006, and it is probable that the Æthelmaer who continues to attest charters after this date is another prominent thegn, Æthelmaer son of Æthelwold. Another Æthelmaer who occasionally attests charters at this time in a lower position is possibly one of the brothers of Eadric Streona. ^[7]

1013 Surrenders to Swein Forkbeard

By 1013 Æthelmaer had evidently regained any lost favour as he had assumed his father's old ealdormanry of the Western Provinces. In this year he and his followers surrendered to the Danish invader Swein Forkbeard, who was encamped at Bath. He died in 1015. ^[1]

1015 Death

Æthelmær the Stout (Æthelmær Cild) died in 1015 ^[1]

Issue

1. Æthelnoth, became Archbishop of Canterbury. ^[1]
2. Æthelweard, was killed by Cnut in 1017, ^[1]
3. daughter married a son-in-law also called Æthelweard was exiled in 1020. ^[5]

Note: He is not the father of Wulfnoth Cild ...

Research Notes

Æthelmær has been speculatively identified with the Agelmær named by John of Worcester as brother of Eadric Streona and father of Wulfnoth Cild, who was father of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and grandfather of King Harold II, though the Worcester chronicler makes this Agelmær son of Agelric rather than Æthelweard and the pedigree as a whole has problematic chronology. This theory of the ancestry of the Godwins has been criticized by other genealogists[9] and is rejected by most historians. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Æthelmær the Stout. Accessed 1 May 2020 jhd
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families, Online at Foundation for Medieval Genealogy Website Entries for Beorhtnoth and Aethelflaed Accessed 2 May 2020 jhd
3. ↑ Malcolm Godden, Ælfric of Eynsham, Oxford Online DNB, 2004. Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Æthelmær the Stout. Accessed 1 May 2020 jhd
4. ↑ Society of gentlemen (1780). The Biographical Dictionary, Or, Complete Historical Library: Containing the Lives of the Most Celebrated Personages of Great Britain and Ireland, Whether Admirals, Generals, Poets, Statesmen, Philosophers, Or Divines : a Work Replete with Instruction and Entertainment. F. Newbery. p. 25. Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Æthelmær the Stout. Accessed 1 May 2020 jhd
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Patrick Wormald, Æthelweard, Oxford Online DNB, 2004. Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Æthelmær the Stout. Accessed 1 May 2020 jhd
6. ↑ Frank Barlow, The Godwins, Pearson, 2002, p. 21. Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Æthelmær the Stout. Accessed 1 May 2020 jhd
7. ↑ Simon Keynes, "The Diplomas of King Æthelred 'The Unready' 978-1016", 1980. Cited by Wikipedia. Wikipedia: Æthelmær the Stout. Accessed 1 May 2020 jhd

See also:

• Yorke, Barbara (1988). "Aethelmaer: the Foundation of the Abbey at Cerne and the Politics of the Tenth Century". In Barker, Katherine (ed.). The Cerne Abbey Millennium Lectures. Cerne Abbas, UK: The Cerne Abbey Millennium Committee. pp. 15–26. ISBN 09512191 11.
• Æthelmær 22 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England