Editing Æthelberht, King of Wessex (section)

== Death and reputation ==
[[File:Memorial to Ethelbald and Ethelbert in Sherborne Abbey.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Memorial to Ethelbald and Ethelbert in [[Sherborne Abbey]]]]
Æthelberht died of unknown causes in the autumn of 865. He was buried at [[Sherborne Abbey]] in [[Dorset]] beside his brother Æthelbald{{sfn| Miller|2004b}} but the tombs had been lost by the sixteenth century.{{sfn|Page|1908}} He had no known children{{efn|It is possible that Æthelberht had a son called Oswald or Osweald, who attested two charters in 868 and one in 875 as ''filius regis'' (king's son). It is not known who his father was and it could have been Æthelberht.{{sfnm|1a1=Dumville|1y=1979|1p=11|2a1=Foot|2y=2011|2p=xv}} }} and was succeeded by his brother [[Æthelred of Wessex|Æthelred]].{{sfn|Stenton|1971|p=245}}

According to Asser, who based his account of events before 887 mainly on the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'': "So after governing in peace, love and honour for five years, Æthelberht went the way of all flesh, to the great sorrow of his people; and he lies buried honourably beside his brother, at Sherborne."{{sfn|Keynes and Lapidge|1983|pp=55, 74}} Asser's view was followed by post-[[Norman conquest of England|Conquest]] historians. [[John of Worcester]] copied Asser's words,{{sfn|Darlington, McGurk and Bray|1995|p=277}} while [[William of Malmesbury]] described him as "a vigorous but kindly ruler".{{sfn|Mynors, Thomson and Winterbottom|1998|p=179}} The 20th-century historian [[Alfred P. Smyth|Alfred Smyth]] points out that the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', which was first written in Alfred the Great's reign, only recorded two events in Æthelberht's reign, the attacks on Winchester and eastern Kent, and does not associate the king personally with either of them. Smyth argues that this reflected an agenda by Alfred's propagandists to play down the achievements of his brothers to enhance the reputation of Alfred himself.{{sfn|Smyth|1995|pp=470–71}}