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Ancestors of Martha Jo (Martha) Cross

Generation No. 41


      1799687917568. Pepin I Of France, born April 773 in Of Aachen, Rhineland, Prussia; died July 08, 810 in Milan, Italy. He was the son of 3599375835136. Charlemagne Of France and 3599375835137. Hildegard Of Linzgau. He married 1799687917569. Bertha Of Toulouse.

      1799687917569. Bertha Of Toulouse, died Unknown.

Notes for Pepin I Of France:
PEPIN was the first son born to Charlemagne and Hildegard, his first wife.
Pepin was born with a hunched back. He was less favored by his father than two
other sons- Charles and Louis- because of his deformity. Pepin was appointed
King of Italy at a young age by his father. He died suddenly at his home in
Italy at age 34 from the plague. He had recently been rebuffed by a superior
Venetian Navy in an effort to conquer Venetia. Charles and Louis were
appointed Emperors of the rest of the Roman Empire. Only Louis survived
Charlemagne. Pepin's son BERNARD succeeded him as King of Italy.
(Source: CHARLEMAGNE by Chamberlin)


     
Child of Pepin Of France and Bertha Of Toulouse is:
  899843958784 i.   Bernhard I Of Italy, born Abt. 797; died August 17, 818 in St. Amrosius, Mailand; married Kunigunde Of Italy 813.


      1799687917828. AEthelwulf Of Wessex, born Abt. 806 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died 899 in England. He was the son of 3599375835656. III Ecgbert Of Wessex and 3599375835657. Redburg Of Wessex. He married 1799687917829. Osburga Of Wessex Bef. 828 in Wessex, England.

      1799687917829. Osburga Of Wessex, died Unknown.

Notes for AEthelwulf Of Wessex:
Notes for King of Aethelwulf England, King of:
Aethelwulf, King of England. Aethelwulf was King of England 839 - 858 (Stuart, Royalty for Commoners, Page 171, Line 233-40). AKA: Aethelwulf, King of Wessex. AKA: Aethelwulf, King of Kent. Born: circa 806 in Wessex, England, son of Egbert, King of England and Redburga=Raedburh N? (Stuart, Royalty for Commoners, Page 171). Married circa 839: Osburh of England, daughter of Olac, Princerna Regis of England. Aethelwulf visited Rome in 839. Osburh was his first wife. Annulled he and Osburh of England: in 853. Married on 1 Oct 856 in Wessex, England: Judith, Princess De France, daughter of Charles II, King De France and Ermentrude D'Orleans (Stuart, Royalty for Commoners, Page 171). Ruled Kent for his father and on accession joined Mercia in prolonged wars against Danish Viking invaders, winning a major battle at Oakley in Surrey (851). Ethelwulf's gold ring can be seen in the British Museum. His younger brother Athelstan ruled Sussex, Surrey, and Kent (839-c851). On returning with his fifth son Alfred from a pilgrimage to Rome (856), Ethelwulf was made to share the throne with his son Ethelbald, the first of four in succession who became King of Wessex. Died: on 13 Jan 858 in England (Stuart, Royalty for Commoners, Page 171).

ETHELWULF (d. 858) was the son of King Egbert of Wessex and reigned as sub-king in Kent from 825 and then over Wessex from 839 until 858. During his reign the Danish raids on England increased in size and frequency. There were attacks on Southampton and the coast of Dorsetshire in 840; on Kent in 841; on London, Rochester and Southampton in 842; on Somersetshire in 843 and again in 845; on Devonshire in 850. In that year a Danish army wintered in England for the first time, on Thanet. In 851 they stormed Canter-bury and London before being Defeated by Ethelwulf in Surrey. Kent was attacked again in 853. In 854-55 the Danish host once more wintered in England, on Sheppey. This is to list only the known descents upon the territory of Wessex and its dependencies. Other parts of England suffered too. Lindsey and East Anglia were attack-ed in 841, King Redwulf of Northumbria was killed in 844, King Beorhtwulf of Mercia was Defeated in 851 and we hear of a Danish army active in the inland parts of Mercia, in Shropshire, in 855.
Ethelwulf and his subjects put up a stout resistance to the Danes. But it was exceedingly difficult to make effective provision for resisting an enemy whose forces were big, well-equipped and above all mobile. Other rulers in western Europe faced the same dilemma. It is instructive, as ever, to set the English experience in a continental context. The Viking bases on Thanet and Sheppey were mirrored in those of Dublin and Noirmoutier; attacks on trading communities like Southampton and London were matched in raids on Dorestadt, Quentovic and Rouen; and after wintering in England in 850-51 the Danes crossed to Francia and wintered there in 851-52. The West Saxon kings of the ninth century had much in common with their Frankish neighbours. Not surprisingly, Ethelwulf had Dealings with them. Two letters of the Frankish abbot, Lupus of Ferrieres -himself a pupil of a pupil of Alcuin, reveal that Ethelwulf had a Frankish secretary named Felix. When Ethelwulf married for the second time in 856 his queen was Judith, daughter of the West Frankish king Charles the Bald.
Ethelwulf's second marriage took place while he was on his way back from a pilgrimage to Rome in 855, accompanied by his youngest son Alfred. The contemporary biography of Pope Benedict III (855-58) lists the treasures which Ethelwulf offered at the shrine of St. Peter: they included among much else a golden crown, a sword chased with gold, precious vestments and hangings decorated with gold embroidery. We are also told, by Asser in his Life of Alfred, that Ethelwulf undertook to make an annual payment of three hundred gold pieces to the see of Rome; as Asser pointed out, this was 'a great sum of money.' The pilgrimage and the offerings demonstrate Ethelwulf's piety and generosity. They also show that he was very wealthy. The same impression is given by other sources. The correspondence which Lupus of Ferrieres had with Ethelwulf was occasioned by his desire to secure a present of lead for roofing the monastery church at Ferrieres: and Ferrieres was an important monastic house, not beneath Alcuin's notice, its church probably an ample one with a roof which would require no small quantity of lead.

Ethelwulf's most lavish act of piety at home in England consisted in a series of grants of lands and privileges to the churches of Wessex in 854. The documents which purport to record these grants are peculiarly difficult to interpret, they are the most baffling of all Anglo-Saxon royal charters, and there is no agreement among scholars about what was going on. But what is plain is that Ethelwulf was a king who could afford to be generous where the royal lands were concerned. We can just make out a little of why this should have been so. Asser tells us that Ethelwulf took steps to ensure 'that his sons should not quarrel unnecessarily among them-selves.' He does not tell us exactly what these provisions were, but the will of his son Alfred, drawn up in the 880s, casts a little light on the matter. Ethelwulf planned that his sons should succeed one another as kings of Wessex. Each reigning king was to be permitted by his younger brothers a life-interest in their share of the dynasty's landed wealth. In this way the union between the family property of the royal house and the office of king would be preserved. The reigning monarch would be assured of a substantial royal demesne, that is, of the material resources for effective rule. The constitutional implications of the scheme may not have presented themselves clearly to Ethelwulf. He was perhaps simply seeking a harmonious solution to a new set of circumstances, for while he and his father had been only children, or only survivors, he had fathered five sons, at a time of national danger when the preservation of a strong kingship was essential. Ethelwulf had only to look at his Frankish neighbours to see what might happen if some such steps as these were not taken. What the scheme presupposed was patient restraint on the part both of the temporarily disinherited younger sons and of the children of elder sons.
Harmony within the dynasty was probably a good Deal more frail than our very discreet sources choose to reveal. While Ethelwulf was absent from England in 855-56 his eldest son Ethelbald plotted against him with the Bishop of Sherborne and the ealdorman of Somerset. Whether Ethelbald disapproved of his father's dynastic schemes or feared the possibility of offspring of his father's recent second marriage is not clear; but the results were serious. When Ethelwulf returned, his direct authority was confined to Kent and the south-east, while Ethelbald ruled in Wessex. As it so happened, Ethelwulf's plans did in the event work out well. On his death in 858 Ethelbald succeeded him and his younger brother Ethelbert ruled as a sub-king in Kent. On Ethelbald's death, childless, in 860, Ethelbert succeeded to the whole kingdom. On his death, childless, in 866, his brother Ethelred similarly. On Ethelred's death in 871 the youngest of the brothers, Alfred, succeeded. But Ethelred had not died childless, and his son Ethelwold was to try to supplant his cousin Edward, Alfred's son, a generation later.
Doubtless the success of Ethelwulf's plan owed much to bio-logical accident. Of his five sons one predeceased him, three others died fairly young, and two of these three were childless. Yet that Ethelwulf could diagnose the sources of dynastic insecurity and take effective measures to neutralise them showed intelligence and Political courage. Ethelwulf has been dismissed by an eminent historian of the Anglo Saxon period as 'a religious and unambitious man for whom engagement in war and politics was an unwelcome consequence of rank.' This judgement seriously underestimates him. He was a forceful and capable ruler whose achievement was the essential precondition for the doings of his more famous son Alfred.



  Notes for Osburga Of Wessex:
Notes for Queen of Osburh of England, Queen of Wessex:
Osburh of England (Stuart, Royalty for Commoners). Born: circa 810 in Wessex, England, daughter of Olac, Princerna Regis of England. (Stuart, Royalty for Commoners). Married circa 839: Aethelwulf, King of England, son of Egbert, King of England and Redburga=Raedburh N? Aethelwulf visited Rome in 839, and Osburh was his first wife. Annulled she and Aethelwulf, King of England in 853. Died: after 876 (ibid).


     
Children of AEthelwulf Of Wessex and Osburga Of Wessex are:
  i.   AEthelbert Of Wessex, died 865.
  Notes for AEthelbert Of Wessex:
Very little is known about Aethelbert, who took his rightful place in the line of succession to the throne of Wessex at aroun 30 years of age. Like all other rulers of his day, he had to contend with Viking raids on his territories, and even had to battle them in his capital city of Winchester. Apparently, his military leaderlship was adequate, since, on this occasion, the vikings were cut off on their retreat to the coast and were slaughtered, according to a contemporary source, in a "bloody battle".

He was King of England 860 - 866.

  More About AEthelbert Of Wessex:
Burial: Bef. 830, Wessex, Englalnd

  ii.   AEthelbald Of Wessex, born Abt. 828 in Wessex, England; died Abt. 860; married Judith Princess of Franks; died Unknown.
  Notes for AEthelbald Of Wessex:
While his father Aethelwulf, was on pilgrimage to Rome in 855, Aethelbald plotted with the Bishop of Sherbourne and the ealdorman of Somerset against him. The specific details of the plot are unknown, but upon his return from Rome, Aethelwulf found his direct authority limited to the sub-kingdom of Kent, while Aethelbald controlled Wessex.

Aethelwulf died in 858 and full control passed to Aethelbald. Perhaps Aethelbald's premature power grab was occasioned by impatience, or greed, or lack of confidence in his father's succession plans. Whatever the case, he did not live long to enjoy it. He died in 860, passing the throne to his brother, Aethelbert, just as Aethelwullf had planned.

Aethelbald was King of England 858 - 860.

  Notes for Judith Princess of Franks:
Judith was married to Ethelwulf during a pilgramage to Rome and its return visit to the court of her father, Charles the Bald. He died shortly thereafter, and she then married his son, Ethelbald, to whom Ethelwulf had given half his kingdom. Ethelbald did not live long afterward.

  iii.   AEthelred I Of Wessex, born Aft. 830 in Wessex, England; died Abt. 871.
  Notes for AEthelred I Of Wessex:
Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex, and son of King Aethelwulf, who ruled England during a time of great pressure from the invading Danes. He was an affable man, a devoutly religious man and the other brother of Alfred the Great, his second-in-command in the resistance against the invaders. Together they defeated the Danish Kings Bagseg and Halfdan at the battle of Ashdown in 870.

He ruled as King of England 866 - 871

  899843958914 iv.   the Great AElfred Of Saxony, born 849 in Wantage, Berkshire, England; died October 26, 899 in Kent, England; married AElhswith Sighelm Of Saxony 869.


      1799687917830. AEthelred Mucil Of Saxony, born Bef. 837 in Mercia, England; died Unknown. He married 1799687917831. Edburga Of Mercia.

      1799687917831. Edburga Of Mercia, born Bef. 837 in Mercia, England; died Unknown.
     
Child of AEthelred Of Saxony and Edburga Of Mercia is:
  899843958915 i.   AElhswith Sighelm Of Saxony, born Aft. 852 in Mercia, England; died December 05, 905 in St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Dorset, England; married the Great AElfred Of Saxony 869.


      1799687917952. Rutpert II (Robert) Of Wormgau, born Bef. 770; died Aft. 807. He was the son of 3599375835904. Turincbertus Of Wormgau. He married 1799687917953. Theoderata Of Wormgau Bef. 789 in Wormgau.

      1799687917953. Theoderata Of Wormgau, died Bef. 789.
     
Child of Rutpert Of Wormgau and Theoderata Of Wormgau is:
  899843958976 i.   Rutpert III (Robert) Of Wormgau, born Bef. 789; died Abt. 834; married WIALDRUTH. Of Wormgau in Wormgau.


      1799687918002. Ragnvald Of Agder Gudrodsson, died Unknown. He married 1799687918003. Tora Sigurdsdottir.

      1799687918003. Tora Sigurdsdottir, died Unknown.
     
Child of Ragnvald Of Agder Gudrodsson and Tora Sigurdsdottir is:
  899843959001 i.   Ascrida Ragnvaldsdottir, born 812 in Norway; died Unknown; married Eystein (Glumra) Ivarsson Of Norway.


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