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Bierbrier and other historians believe this is the same Ealhmund found in two pedigrees in the Winchester (Parker) Chronicle, compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great. [1]
The existence of Ealhmund is confirmed by a charter in which, in 784, Ealhmund granted land to the Abbot of Reculver. [2][3][4] This is the only contemporary evidence of Ealhmund's existence.
Reigned in 784, subject to Mercian overlordship
By the following year, 785, Offa of Mercia seems to have been ruling directly, as he issued a charter without any mention of a local king. [5]
Ealhmund & his unknown wife were probably the parents of:
Experts disagree on whether Ealhmund was of Wessex or Kentish origins. There is a lack of hard evidence to determine which is right.
Historian Heather Edwards acknowledges that scholars disagree on Ecgberht's parents, but suggests that Ealhmund was probably a Kentish royal scion, whose pedigree was forged to give his son Egbert the descent from Cerdic requisite to reigning in Wessex.[6] This part of the ODNB entry for Ecgberht contains some surmise and speculation.
The referenced pedigree is provided in the genealogical preface to the Winchester (Parker) Chronicle and also in the annual entry (covering years 855–859) describing the death of Æthelwulf as follows: [7]
Charles Cawley has expressed doubts about Ealhmund's ancestry, noting that: "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names Ealhmund as son of Eafa, in a late passage which sets out the ancestry of Æthelwulf King of Wessex. However, Ealhmund's predecessor as king of Kent, and Ealhmund's own son, were both named Ecgberht, a name which was not particularly common in any of the Anglo-Saxon royal families. In view of the general practice of name inheritance within the ruling families, and the absence of the name "Ecgberht" from the house of Wessex as recorded in the traditional genealogies, it is not impossible that Ealhmund's origins lay in Kent and not in Wessex. This would of course mean that the usually represented ancestry of Ecgberht King of Wessex would require reconsideration. Mercian involvement in Kentish affairs appears to have increased again in 785-89. Presumably King Ealhmund was deposed as king of Kent by Offa King of Mercia as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that "the Kentishmen … formerly … had been wrongly forced away from their allegiance to [Ecgberht King of Wessex's] kinsmen". This event may have taken place in 789, the date when King Ealhmund's son Ecgberht is later described as having been expelled from England by Beorhtric King of Wessex and Offa King of Mercia." [8]
The Henry Project has a fairly detailed discussion of the issues. It acknowledges scholarly disagreements, recognises that Ecgberht of Wessex had Kentish connections according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, but comments that "the most obvious parentage for Ealhmund would be to accept the orthodox genealogy as it stands", that is, the traditional view that his father was Eafa and that he was descended from the royal line of Wessex. It rightly mentions the possibility that Ealhmund may have either married a member of the Kentish royal family, or that his descent from the Kentish royal family was matrilineal rather than patrilineal - either theory would reconcile the traditional genealogy with the evidence that Ealhmund was linked to a Kentish ruling dynasty.[9]
The possibility of a matrilineal connection to the royal house of Kent is supported by David Kelley[10] but has been disputed by M L Bierbrier, with little more than assertion, in a talk in 2007.[1] Medlands mentions that Ealhmund may have had a Kentish wife.[8]
In the absence of firmer information, it is not possible to draw definitive conclusions.
See also:
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I recommend however, that whoever Giselle the Frankish nun is, she be detached as a wife of Ealhmund.
That will leave Ealhmund with one wife.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelburh_of_Wilton
See: Wessex-249 Van Kent-1 Northumbria-61
http://circlevirtuous.com/fam2648.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ealhmund_of_Kent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86lla_of_Northumbria
See: Wessex-249, Van Kent-1, Northumbria-61
http://circlevirtuous.com/fam2648.html http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Ealhmund_of_Kent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86lla_of_Northumbria