Genealogical relations are uncertain, but information gleaned mainly from royal coinage and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests the following sequence of names:

BEONNA (c.749- ?); known especially from the many runic coins bearing his name; found particularly in East Suffolk sites such as Burrow Hill, Butley.

ST ÆTHELBERHT (?- 20th May, 793); killed by Offa of Mercia near Sutton Walls in Herefordshire, apparently while seeking the hand of Offa’s daughter in marriage; buried first at Marden; later translated to Hereford Cathedral, which is still dedicated to him.

EADWALD (? -c.798?); known only by his coinage; his brief rule appears to have been followed by period of Mercian dominance.

ÆTHELSTAN (c.827-c.841); known by his coinage; perhaps son of Ecgberht of Wessex – see the discussion of this possibility in chapter six of my Beowulf book.

ÆTHELWEARD (c.841-c.853); known only by his coinage.

EADMUND (ST EDMUND) (c.853-20th Nov., 869); killed by the Danes, possibly in battle near Thetford, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle seems to say; eventually buried at Beodericsworð (Bury St Edmund’s); the cult of St Edmund became one of the most powerful in Medieval England.

© Copyright Dr Sam Newton, Blotmonaþ AD 2000