XII — THE POWER BEHIND THE THRONE (976–988)
by Tom Lovell
Immediately following the Anglo-Saxons' conflict with the Scots in late-976, an impressive force of Norsemen had travelled from Scandinavia and had made landfall in East Anglia, with the intention to subjugate the territory for their own purposes. These Vikings, under the command of a grizzled leader by the name of Þorbjörn, had journeyed through much of Suffolk before sacking Ely Abbey — an important religious site within the Fenlands of East Anglia — and proceeding to Cambridge with, what the Anglo-Saxons perceived as barbarous intent. Some eight-thousand Northmen had laid siege to the market town and had, supposedly, laid waste to the surrounding hamlets. During this tumultuous moment in English history, Wulfstan had been dealt a double-tragedy. Adrien of Auxerre, his father, had passed away on the 6th of September, and his first son, Æthelred suffering a debilitating injury — and as a result of his haemophilia — passing away sometime before 977, proving to be a troubling moment for the now thirty-year-old Ealdorman as a funeral ceremony was hurriedly organised in Nottingham on the 16th of October — with the Ealdorman understandably finding difficulties in juggling both his father and son's funeral and the resummoning of his fyrd to protect his family's control over East Anglia.
While a serious threat to England's sovereignty, Swithræd had recognised that his host, and even perhaps his vassals' hosts could not lift Cambridge's siege. Instead, the King wisely chose to call upon the armies of his brother-in-law, the King of Norway, who boasted a sizeable throng of near five-thousand warriors. Wulfstan had met with Swithræd's fyrd outside of Berkhamsted with his retinue, with Thegn Osweald of York journeying from Bedford to engage Þorbjörn's eight-thousand strong host outside of Cambridge. Soon, Swithræd's force engaged the besieging Norseman Army on the 1st of December, 976, with intermittent fighting occurring until the twentieth, when both Osweald and Hróðgeirr's infantry had met with Swithræd to force Þorbjörn's Northmen out of East Anglia in a decisive battle on the 20th.
Battle of Cambridge, 20th of December, 976, and the death of Swithræd, 17th of March 977
While Swithræd had won a great victory at Cambridge, celebrations were not to last long — the King had suffered from a myriad of health complications since ascension to the throne in 946, and had suffered a series of debilitating strokes during his stay in Lewes, resulting in his death in March of 977 at the age of 64. The Witan had convened in Lewes shortly after on the 5th of April, almost unanimously choosing Swithræd's second son, Sigeræd as the new monarch — overlooking the late-King's eldest son, the Ealdorman of Wessex, Petre for the position. Sigeræd, while a reasonable choice to succeed his father, was a strategic move by many noblemen to weaken the Cerdicing's grip on the realm. Petre, being the Ealdorman of Wessex, was Swithræd's first choice to become King of the English; he was skilled in both matters of court and war, and had inherited the ancestral core of the Cerdicings' territories. Sigeræd, however, had been left with much of Sussex — an inheritance dwarfed by his older brother.
It would be understandable to assume that Wulfstan, while a trusted ally and friend of Swithræd, had voted for Sigeræd at the Witenagemot; he was familiar with much of the late-King's family, and expectedly understood that his privileges as an Ealdorman would be stifled should a strong, wealthy monarch succeed Swithræd.
The death of 'King' Mærleswegn of the Anglo-Saxons, c. 983 & the death of Wulfstan's son, Wulfstan, c. 984
In early-December of 983, the line of Anglo-Saxon 'Kings' in Wales had ended, with the death of Mærleswegn at the age of 41, providing inconvenient circumstances for Sigeræd. Mærleswegn, though a determined enemy of both Wulfstan and the Cerdicings, had unwittingly prevented the Welsh from unifying under the banner of a single Welsh entity, with his overlordship over Gwynedd the primary contributor to thwarting the Principality's domination over their southern neighbours. However, with his death, the Prince of Gwynedd had strong-armed Powys and Deheubarth into submission. Despite these troubles in Wales for Wulfstan, his third son, Wulfstan, was diagnosed with cancer in early-May of 985, with the boy passing away shortly after the diagnosis of his condition in June. Many in the Ealdorman's court had considered the boy a very bright individual, and assumed that the son with his father's namesake would be the one to succeed to the large Ealdormanries of both Merica and Northumbria—which had very similar privileges and responsibilities of the later position of
Earl—upon the Ealdorman's passing.
Despite yet another tragedy seriously affecting the Ealdorman's own mental health — being seen significantly less by both family members and friends — an opportunity would open up for Wulfstan to further cement his control over the throne. Expectedly, Sigeræd was struggling with the heavy burden of governance, and did not have the same level of control over his subjects as his father. This crumbling of royal authority had culminated in a list of demands by his brother, Petre of Wessex alongside other notable members of the Witan which greatly diminished the crown's authority over his nobility; demands which Sigeræd viewed as unacceptable. By August, these rebellious vassals had taken up arms against the King, and together, had a force comparable to Sigeræd and his ally — the Bretons, and in a fashion similar to Beornwulf's situation during the Battle of Ashdown — Wulfstan's great-grandfather — the Ealdorman would tip the scales by a significant margin, should he decide to choose either side of the conflict.
Ultimately, Wulfstan chose to side with Sigeræd in the conflict — a conflict the King was losing. Lewes, Sigeræd's residence, was being besieged by a West Saxon host nearing three-thousand, and a unified Welsh Principality was rearing to aid the rebellious nobles militarily. Wulfstan had travelled south to London to gather a fyrd to break the siege of Lewes, ultimately succeeding on the 15th of December, 985 as his infantry crushed Petre's sorely outnumbered coalition outside of the town. This had given Sigeræd and his Breton allies room to break out of the settlement and sack both Reading and Oxford in mid-986, as Wulfstan had broken yet another siege of Lewes in April, almost completely eliminating Petre's army, leaving none but three survivors in the ensuing battle.
During the instability of 985–86, the Scots in the north — rejuvenated by the accession of a new monarch — Dubáed MacMathgamain, sought to re-conquer the territories they had lost during their conflict with Wulfstan almost a decade earlier. As a result, Scottish armies numbering between two-thousand and five-thousand begun razing the English settlements in Lothian and Bernicia, occupying Selkirk somewhere between 985 and 987.
Left: State of England in 985, before Wulfstan's intervention in the conflict
Meanwhile, Margaret of Banbury, the Granddaughter of Godgifu of Deerhurst, was the only notable fighting force left in the conflict after a Breton army of two-thousand smashed any hope of Welsh relief in September, with Wulfstan's host trouncing her routing force sometime in May of 986. While the year had proven to be in Sigeræd's favour, Wulfstan had urged the King — as his most important ally — to make peace with his brother, and focus on the external troubles affecting the kingdom. While this was an understandable request from Wulfstan, the Scottish occupation of Lothian and Bernicia were only truly affecting Wulfstan's own wealth and Thegns, and the loss of any Anglo-Saxon control over the Lowlands would, with hindsight, prove to be inconsequential to the stability of the English monarchy. However, Sigeræd could recognise that by ignoring Wulfstan's plea for an end to the conflict, he would lose his most important ally in maintaining his authority. On the 19th of December, 986, the King negotiated with both Margaret and Petre, culminating in the agreement of maintaining the status quo prior to the war.
With the conclusion of Sigeræd's war with his brother, this had given the opportunity for the resummoning of fresh fyrds and an uninterrupted journey north with a coalition of Wulfstan, Sigeræd and his Breton allies. While the Scots had achieved a pyrrhic victory against Osweald of York in 987, the following Battle of Selkirk in January of 988 heralded the tipping of the scales toward the Anglo-Saxon hosts in Lothian. After the Battle on the River Clyde, where Sigeræd had defeated Dubáed MacMathgamain, the two Kings made peace outside of Lanark on the 10th of August, 988. As Sigeræd struggled to maintain the throne's integrity, he began to rely on the military might and cunning of his northern vassal, cementing Wulfstan's importance as an asset and ally to the King, for if Sigeræd were to use his own military might to strong-arm others, he would almost certainly fall short without the support of his Mercian ealdorman.
