Ealdwulf of East Anglia
Ealdwulf was king of East Anglia from 663 to 713. Little is known of Ealdwulf, but his long rule of 49 years— with only Æthelbald of Mercia and Offa of Mercia having comparable longevity—reflects the success of alliances formed in the decades before his ascension. He is recorded as having seen during his boyhood the temple belonging to his ancestor Rædwald.
During Ealdwulf's reign, his country experienced a period of stability and growth, not least in its commercial centre at Gipeswic.
Origins and childhood
Ealdwulf was the son of Æthilric, whose three brothers were all kings of East Anglia, and the grandson of Eni. He belonged to the East Anglian Wuffingas dynasty, who ruled East Anglia, a long-lived independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. His father Æthilric may have been the same person as Ecgric, an East Anglian king who was killed in battle around 636. His mother Hereswitha belonged to the Northumbrian royal family, being the daughter of Hereric and Breguswith, a nephew of Edwin of NorthumbriaReign
Ealdwulf became king in 663, is the last ruler of East Anglia that Bede knew of. His forty-nine year reign was longer than that of any other Anglo-Saxon king, with only two other kings, Æthelbald of Mercia and Offa of Mercia having comparable longevity.A great plague swept across the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms during the start of his period as ruler. At one point, Boniface of Dommoc, the East Anglian diocese, was the only English bishop whose consecration was derived from Canterbury. Boniface died in 669.
Monastic patronage and division of the diocese
In 672, Ealdwulf 's cousin Æthelthryth took religious vows with the help of Bishop Wilfrid, to whom she gave the estate at Hexham, and after a year escaped to her East Anglian estate of Ely, where she founded a double monastery, the origin of the great mediaeval abbey there. In Kent, Seaxburga, Æthelthryth's sister, became established in her double monastery at Minster-in-Sheppey in the Isle of Sheppey. The governance of Ely and Sheppey under two queens of East Anglian birth created an enduring axis of patronage and influence. Theodore notified Ecgfrith that he could not remarry within the Church while Æthelthryth was living, denying him a legitimate heir.Soon afterwards, with Bishop Bisi in declining health, he divided the bishopric of Dommoc, creating a second East Anglian seat in Norfolk at North Elmham. Bishop Æcci was appointed to Dommoc and Baduwine to Helmham. Abbot Botolph died in 674 at Iken and was succeeded by Æthelheah, who later exchanged land-rights with the monastery of Much Wenlock in Shropshire.
It is suggested, but unproved, that the revenue of the East Anglian royal estates centred upon Rendlesham were bestowed upon Ely at its foundation, since they formed the largest share of Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester's re-endowment of Ely in around 970, which later became known as the 'Liberty of St Etheldreda'. Similar doubt surrounds the Papal Privileges later claimed to have been obtained at Rome by Wilfrid in around 680 for Ely and Peterborough. If either or both were authentic, they would show a decisive policy of Ealdwulf to reinforce dynastic authority through ecclesiastical structures. Wilfrid retained close contacts with Ely and Peterborough from his monastery at Oundle. Etheldreda and Hild both died in around 680; Seaxburga transferred to Ely, leaving Sheppey to Eormenhilda.
Marriage
The name and dynastic house of Ealdwulf's queen is unknown. They had at least two children, his heir Ælfwald, and Ecgburga, who later became an abbess. Ealdwulf's marriage probably coloured East Anglia's dealings with Mercia and Northumbria, which were approaching new confrontations.Coinage and commerce
The issue and use of English coins during Ealdwulf's reign followed its development in Kent, at first with gold shillings or thrymsas during the 660s to the 670s, and thereafter, by a debasement linked to the diminishing gold quality of Frankish coin, with silver sceattas or pennies of various types. The distribution of findspots reveals foci of their use and possibly their issue at East Anglian centres of importance, especially in the north-west around Hunstanton, Bawsey in the Thetford area, the Fen edge around Isleworth and Exning, in the east around Burgh Castle, and in the area around Rendlesham, Ipswich and in the River Gipping valley.The status of coinage was not yet as a true currency, nor overtly regnal. The pieces attributed to East Anglian production are found alongside others mainly of Kentish, East Saxon, and Frisian or Netherlandish types, reflecting external communications with those centres. In the same period Gipeswic witnessed the full development of its first major expansion from the quayside north to the Cattlemarket area, with established production of Frisian-inspired Ipswich Ware pottery to the north-east of this area. Its continental trade partners may have been Domburg in Walcheren and Dorestad, the large emporium on the Rhine south of Utrecht. This route gained importance as the Christian mission to Frisia developed from the 680s.
Relations with Kent and Mercia
Ealdwulf is one of three Anglian kings, along with Æthelred of Mercia and Aldfrith, who were addressed by Pope Sergius in a letter of 692 urging their acceptance of Berhtwald of Reculver as the successor to Theodore at Canterbury. Soon afterwards, Kent was twice invaded by Caedwalla of Wessex: during the first invasion, his brother Mul was captured and burnt to death along with his bodyguard. Caedwalla abdicated to lead the life of a monk. It is possible that Ealdwulf assisted Kent against Wessex. In 693-694 Ine obliged Kent to pay recompense for Mul's death, but also, according to William of Malmesbury, banished the East Anglian nobility and then put them to flight in battle. This perhaps occurred in Kent, since Ealdwulf was not overthrown.East Anglian patrimony was restated at Ely in 696, when Seaxburga translated the uncorrupted remains of Æthelthryth into the monastery church. Ealdwulf's position was protected by the complete investment of his kin in the surrounding dynasties and their patronage of leading religious houses.
The closing years of Ealdwulf's reign were coloured by the unsatisfactory rule of Ceolred of Mercia, who depleted monastic assets to support his style of kingship. At this time the Mercian royal hermit Guthlac was living on the island of Crowland. His secluded fenland retreat became a place of refuge for a Mercian royal counter-claimant, Æthelbald, who appears to have received encouragement and protection there from the East Anglian nobility. However this development, extremely important in its outcome, had not fully unfolded when Ealdwulf died in 713, leaving his son Ælfwald to succeed to the East Anglian throne.