EFL - Enciclopedia delle Famiglie Lombarde

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20AngloSaxon%20&%20Danish%20K ings.htm EALHMUND, son of [EAFA & his wife ---] (-after 784, maybe af ter 801). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that "rex Ealhmundus" wa s "in Cantia rex" in 784, adding that "this king Ealhmund was the fath er of Egbert, the father of Æthelwulf" [1]. He succeeded as EALHMUN D King of Kent, in 784 or before. The generally accepted parentage o f Ealhmund, according to which he was descended from Ingeld, brother o f Ine King of Wessex, is open to debate. This supposed parentage is se t out in a later passage, dated 855, in another manuscript of the Chro nicle, which lists the ancestors of Æthelwulf King of Wessex, state s that Ealhmund was "son of Eafa, son of Eoppa, son of Ingeld… broth er of Ine king of Wessex", adds their alleged direct line of ancestor s back to Cerdic, first King of Wessex, Cerdic´s mythical ancestry ba ck to Woden, and even Woden´s alleged descent from Noah and "Adam th e first man" [2]. This is clearly one of the dubious lines of descen t of the kings of Wessex which are discussed in the introduction to th e Chapter. The problem is to decide the point at which fact gives wa y to fabrication. It is possible that this point occurs very early i n the line of ancestry, and that there is doubt whether Ealhmund was e ven the son of "Eafa" as claimed in this passage. "Eafa" and his suppo sed father "Eoppa" are not named in any other sources which have so fa r been identified, although "Ingeld… brother of Ine" is noted in a s ingle passage of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dated 718 which records hi s death. The absence of any mention of Ealhmund´s parentage in the ea rlier passage in the Chronicle dated 784 certainly suggests doubt abou t the line of ancestry which is reported in 855. By the latter date, f ew people alive could have challenged Ealhmund´s reported parentage f rom personal acquaintance with his parents. This suggestion of cours e assumes that the Chronicle was a living document which was compose d over time, with successive passages being added by different author s as time passed. This hypothesis is plausible, but is impossible to p rove or disprove. If it is correct, it is possible that Ealhmund was n ot related to the family of the earlier kings of Wessex at all. Lookin g elsewhere for his possible ancestry, it is interesting to note tha t Ealhmund's predecessor as king of Kent was named Ecgberht, the nam e which Ealhmund gave to his own son, and which was a name not previou sly used in the royal families of Wessex, at least so far as can be as certained from the surviving primary sources. If this speculation is c orrect, it would of course mean that the usually represented ancestr y of Ecgberht King of Wessex would require reconsideration. "Ealmundu s rex Canciæ" granted land at Sheldwich, Kent to Hwitrede abbot of Re culver by charter dated 784 [3]. Mercian involvement in Kentish affair s appears to have increased again in 785-789 [4]. Presumably King Ealh mund was deposed as King of Kent by Offa King of Mercia as the Anglo-S axon Chronicle in a much later passage recalls that "the Kentishmen