Scandals in high places are nothing new. This is King
Aethelbald of Wessex (western and southern England), who shocked 9th
century society by marrying his step-mother.
Aethelbald was the eldest of the four sons of King
Aethelwulf (reigned 839 to 858) – the youngest son is much better known to
history because he would later become King Alfred the Great. Aethelwulf’s first
wife, and the mother of all his sons, was Osburh. However, when Osburh died
(probably in the year 854) Aethelwulf took a new bride, a European princess
named Judith.
Aethelwulf died in 858, to be succeeded by Aethelbald, who
promptly married Judith.
Alfred’s friend and later biographer, Asser, wrote that this
was ‘contrary to God’s prohibition and Christian dignity’. Given that
Aethelbald had also mounted a revolt against his father two years previously,
this act of incest (as it would have been interpreted at the time) did not go
down well with the people of Wessex, and there was general relief when he died
only two years later.
The throne then passed down the line of the other brothers,
ending with Alfred who brought a much-needed restoration of power and dignity to
the affairs of England’s most powerful kingdom.
© John Welford
