Editing Æthelwulf, King of Wessex (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Southern British Isles 9th century.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|Southern Britain in the middle of the ninth century]]

At the beginning of the 9th century, England was almost completely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons, with [[Mercia]] and [[Wessex]] the most important southern kingdoms. Mercia was dominant until the 820s, and it exercised overlordship over [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]] and [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], but Wessex was able to maintain its independence from its more powerful neighbour. [[Offa]], king of Mercia from 757 to 796, was the dominant figure of the second half of the 8th century. King [[Beorhtric of Wessex]] (786–802), married Offa's daughter in 789. Beorhtric and Offa drove Æthelwulf's father [[Ecgberht, King of Wessex|Ecgberht]] into exile, and he spent several years at the court of [[Charlemagne]] in [[Francia]]. Ecgberht was the son of [[Ealhmund of Kent|Ealhmund]], who had briefly been King of Kent in 784. Following Offa's death, King [[Coenwulf of Mercia]] (796–821) maintained Mercian dominance, but it is uncertain whether Beorhtric ever accepted political subordination, and when he died in 802 Ecgberht became king, perhaps with the support of Charlemagne.{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=1995|1pp=22, 30–37|2a1=Williams|2y=1991b|3a1=Kirby|3y=2000|3p=152}} For two hundred years three kindreds had fought for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. Ecgberht's best claim was that he was the great-great-grandson of Ingild, brother of King [[Ine of Wessex|Ine]] (688–726), and in 802 it would have seemed very unlikely that he would establish a lasting dynasty.{{sfn|Abels|2002|p=85}}

Almost nothing is recorded of the first twenty years of Ecgberht's reign, apart from campaigns against the Cornish in the 810s.{{sfn|Edwards|2004}} The historian [[Richard Abels]] argues that the silence of the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' was probably intentional, concealing Ecgberht's purge of Beorhtric's magnates and suppression of rival royal lines.{{sfn|Abels|2002|pp=86–87}} Relations between Mercian kings and their Kentish subjects were distant. Kentish [[Ealdorman|ealdormen]] did not attend the court of King Coenwulf, who quarrelled with Archbishop [[Wulfred]] of Canterbury (805–832) over the control of Kentish monasteries; Coenwulf's primary concern seems to have been to gain access to the wealth of Kent. His successors [[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf I]] (821–823) and Beornwulf (823–826) restored relations with Archbishop Wulfred, and Beornwulf appointed a sub-king of Kent, [[Baldred of Kent|Baldred]].{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=1993|1pp=113–19|2a1=Brooks|2y=1984|2pp=132–36}}

England had suffered [[Viking]] raids in the late 8th century, but no attacks were recorded between 794 and 835 when the [[Isle of Sheppey]] in Kent was ravaged.{{sfnm|1a1=Ryan|1y=2013|1p=258|2a1=Stenton |2y=1971|2p=241}} In 836, Ecgberht was defeated by the Vikings at Carhampton in Somerset,{{sfn|Edwards|2004}} but in 838, he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the [[Battle of Hingston Down]], reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.{{sfnm|1a1=Stenton|1y=1971|1p=235|2a1=Charles-Edwards|2y=2013|2p=431}}