Oslac of Sussex
Oslac (also Osiai; fl. 765-780 ) was a ruler of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Sussex in the second half of the 8th century.
Life
The chronology is very uncertain because of the weak source location of the 8th century for Sussex. Three charters are the only source of information on his dates. Its origin is unknown. Sussex stood since the end of the 7th century clearly in the shadow of the neighboring kingdom of Wessex.
Oslac probably prevailed in the 760er years as king jointly with Ealdwulf, Ælfwald and Osmund. Documented is Osiai ( = Oslac ) as king first detectable at 765. In this year a land grant to his Ealdwulfs comes Hunlaf dated to the construction of a monastery church, signed the Oslac and Ælfwald as witnesses. The copy of this document is indeed mostly regarded as corrupted, but seems to go back to the original and authentic.
During his reign Wessex under King Offa of Mercia ( 757-796 ) was replaced as British hegemony. Offa gained around the year 764 the supremacy over the kingdom of Kent, and sat Ecgberht II (c. 764-779/784 ) in the western and Heahberht ( 764/765-? ) In eastern Kent as a vassal kings. Also on Sussex took the pressure to always on. Beginning of the 770er years the political situation in Sussex was apparently unstable, Offa took for themselves. In 771 Offa defeated Kent coming from the Hæstingas in East Sussex and then threw the entire kingdom of Sussex. Offa could have lands in Sussex, at its discretion in the year 772. The erstwhile kings ( Oswald, Osmund, Ælfwald and Oslac ) contributed in a charter that they signed as witnesses, only the title dux or ealdorman. In this Charter Oswald is titled dux Suðsaxorum ( Ealdorman the South Saxons ). Some historians derive from a certain primacy over the other dukes. A dating from the year 780 Charter Oslacs was co-signed by Ælfwald and Ealdwulf as witnesses. With the year 780 Oslacs name disappeared from the records. Year of his death is unknown.
Swell
- Charter S50
- Charter S108
- Charter S1184