Æthelwulf, Old English for "Noble Wolf", was King of Wessex from 839 to 858.
Æthelwulf's reign has been relatively under-appreciated in modern scholarship. Yet he laid the foundations for Alfred's success. To the perennial problems of husbanding the kingdom's resources, containing conflicts within the royal family, and managing relations with neighbouring kingdoms, Æthelwulf found new as well as traditional answers. He consolidated old Wessex and extended his reach over what is now Devon and Cornwall. He ruled Kent, working with the grain of its political community. He borrowed ideological props from Mercians and Franks alike, and went to Rome, not to die there, like his predecessor Ine, ... but to return, as Charlemagne had, with enhanced prestige. Æthelwulf coped more effectively with Scandinavian attacks than did most contemporary rulers and was a warrior King defending his kingdom from the Viking Invaders.
00:00 King Æthelwulf & The Viking Age
02:03 Early Life
05:52 Æthelwulf is Crowned
07:43 The Vikings Invade
09:52 Pilgrimage to Rome
11:19 Æthelbald's Revolt
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