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Æthelberht (Old English: ''Æðelbrihte''), also called Saint Ethelbert the King, (died 20 May 794 at Sutton Walls, Herefordshire) was an eighth-century saint and a king of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Little is known of his reign, which may have begun in 779, according to later sources, and very few of the coins issued during his reign have been discovered. It is known from the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' that he was killed on the orders of Offa of Mercia in 794. He was subsequently canonised and became the focus of cults in East Anglia and at Hereford, where the shrine of the saintly king once existed. In the absence of historical facts, mediaeval chroniclers provided their own details for Æthelberht's ancestry, life as king and death at the hands of Offa. His feast day is May 20. Several Norfolk, Suffolk and West Country parish churches are dedicated to the saint. == Life and reign == Little is known of Æthelberht's life or reign, as very few East Anglian records have survived from this period. Mediaeval chroniclers have provided dubious accounts of his life, in the absence of any real details. According to Richard of Cirencester, writing in the fifteenth century, Æthelberht's parents were Æthelred I of East Anglia and Leofrana of Mercia. Richard narrates in detail a story of Æthelberht's piety, election as king and wise rule. Urged to marry against his will, he apparently agreed to wed Eadburh, the daughter of Offa of Mercia, and set out to visit her, despite his mother's forebodings and his experiences of terrifying events (an earthquake, a solar eclipse and a vision).〔Internet Archive - (''The Catholic Encyclopedia (Ethelbert)'' )〕 Æthelberht's reign may have begun in 779, the date provided for the beginning of his reign on the uncertain authority of a much later saint's life. The absence of any East Anglian charters prevents it from being known whether he ruled as a king or a sub-king under the power of the ruler of another kingdom. Æthelberht was stopped by Offa of Mercia from minting his own coins, of which only four 〔http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-27795641〕 examples have ever been found. One of these coins, a 'light' penny, said to have been found in 1908 at Tivoli, near Rome, is similar in type to the coinage of Offa. On one side is the word ''REX'', with an image of Romulus and Remus suckling a wolf: the obverse names both the king and his moneyer, Lul, who struck coins for both Offa and Coenwulf of Mercia. Andy Hutcheson has suggested that the use of runes on the coin may signify "continuing strong control by local leaders".〔Hutcheson, ''The Origin of East Anglian Towns'', p. 203.〕 According to Marion Archibald, the issuing of "flattering" coins of this type, with the intention to win friends in Rome, probably indicated to Offa that as a sub-king, Æthelberht was assuming "a greater degree of independence than he was prepared to tolerate".〔Archibald, ''Coinage of Beonna'', p. 34.〕 In 793 the vulnerability of the English east coast was exposed when the monastery at Lindisfarne was looted by Vikings and a year later Jarrow was also attacked, events which Steven Plunkett reasons would ensure that the East Anglians were governed firmly. Æthelberht's claim to be a king descended from the Wuffingas dynasty (suggested by the use of a Roman she-wolf and the title ''REX'' on his coins) could be because of a need for strong kingship as a result of the Viking attacks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Æthelberht II of East Anglia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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