Æthelberht II of East Anglia

Aethelberht II (also: Ethelbyrhtus, Æðelberht, Æðelbriht or Æþelbryht; † 794 ) was a king of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia in the late 8th century. He is revered as a martyr and saint.

Life

To Æthelberhts life few historical facts have been handed down. Although the high and late medieval hagiographies testify to its importance as a saint, but their significance to the historical person of Æthelberhts low.

Aethelberht left in the year 794 coins with his name and portrait shape. On the back of the coins and the Capitoline Wolf under the word " Rex" (King) was represented by the Roman model or with reference to the dynasty of the Wuffinger. This self- conscious provocation has probably contributed to its end. Aethelberht was beheaded by order of King Offa of Mercia in 794 command.

Legends and worship

The cult of Aethelberht began immediately after his death. Already around 940 him the church was consecrated in Hoxne ( Suffolk ) and in the year 1000, the Hereford Cathedral. Hereford, whose patron saint is Aethelberht, became the center of worship of the saint who enjoyed high reputation in East Anglia. He was ordained a total of 14 churches. His feast day is May 20 Even after the Welshman had 1055 Hereford Cathedral looted and robbed his relics, his cult was continued. Three medieval hagiographies were written about Aethelberht.

The oldest preserved Vita comes from Matthew Paris from the mid-13th century. According to Richard of Cirencester, a monk and historian of the late 14th century, Aethelberht was the son of King Æthelred I of East Anglia and his wife Leofrana of Mercia. He is said to have contemplated a life in the monastery before he was forced to marry " Altrida " ( Ælfthryth ), the daughter of King Offa. Despite bad omen, he traveled to the courtship of Offa's courtyard Villa Australis in Sutton Walls ( at Hereford ), where he was beheaded by an intrigue of Queen Cynethryth. First Æthelberhts body was buried, but already buried a few days later in a church of Hereford. The head should have been transferred to Westminster Abbey. In the Chronicon of John Brompton ( 1437 ) the legend was further embellished.

Swell

Wuffingas Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England Eadwald of East Anglia
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