Alberht of East Anglia - Joint Rule With Beonna

Joint Rule With Beonna

Alberht was so obscure that for many centuries he was known only from a single statement in a late compilation of material. A reference derived from tradition can be found in the annal for 749 in the Historia Regum, a mediaeval work possibly produced in part by Byrhtferth of Ramsey. In the annal, it is stated that "Hunbeanna and Alberht divided the kingdom of the East Angles between themselves". Until about thirty years ago, this record stood alone and unverifiable, with the exception of a single coin attributed to Beonna and two other brief mentions of him. Since then, well over a hundred coins attributed to Beonna have been found, many in archaeologically secure contexts, so that it is now clear that a ruler named Beonna did rule in East Anglia at that time. The historian Steven Plunkett has suggested that the 'Hun' element in the annal was at some time joined with the 'Beonna' element in error by a scribe.

Scholars have since realized that these exceedingly sparse references were in fact accurate, and that East Anglia was indeed ruled jointly after 749. As a result, Alberht has become a more substantial reality. The identity of these two rulers (or possibly three, if Hun is included) and the reason for this division of power remain unknown. The historian Barbara Yorke suggests the possibility that the kings each ruled a separate part of the kingdom at this time, but acknowledges that the political landscape of 749 is not well understood. D. P. Kirby gives an alternative view of the events that may have occurred following the death of Ælfwald. He connects Alberht with Æthelberht II of East Anglia and states that Alberht was still ruling in 794, which would imply that he reigned for around forty-five years.

Beonna is not a typical East Anglian Wuffingas name, but might be connected with a powerful Mercian family. The name Alberht alliterates suitably with several Wuffingas names and could be accepted as a shortened form of the name Æthelberht. It is therefore possible that when Ælfwald died, Alberht continued the dynastic line, being a direct descendant or from a cadet line, and accepted a division of power with a Mercian royal representative in order to continue the rule of the Wuffingas.

Beonna's seniority in this arrangement is suggested by the large number of coins bearing his name and by the co-operation between the East Anglians and the Mercians in the Battle of Burford Bridge against Cuthred of Wessex in 752. Beonna may also be connected with Beornred, who for a few months ruled Mercia after Æthelbald's assassination in 757.