father predecessor death_date successor title queen article_title name reign
eni of east anglia Æthelhere of east anglia 664 ealdwulf of east anglia king of the east angles unknown Æthelwold of east anglia
 Æthelwold c. 654 -- 664
Æthelwold of east anglia

Æthelwold , also known as Æthelwald or Æþelwald -lrb- old english : '' Æþelwald '' `` noble ruler '' ; reigned c. 654 -- 664 -rrb- , was a 7th-century king of east anglia , the long-lived anglo-saxon kingdom which today includes the english counties of norfolk and suffolk .
he was a member of the wuffingas dynasty , which ruled east anglia from their `` regio '' -lrb- centre of royal authority -rrb- at rendlesham .
the two anglo-saxon cemeteries at sutton hoo , the monastery at iken , the east anglian see at dommoc and the emerging port of ipswich were all in the vicinity of rendlesham .
Æthelwold lived during a time of political and religious upheaval in east anglia , whose christian kings in the decades prior to his succession all died violent deaths , having proved unworthy of the task of defending the newly converted kingdom against attacks from its neighbouring kingdom , mercia , led by its pagan king , penda .
Æthelwold was the last of the nephews of rædwald to rule east anglia .
he died in 664 and was succeeded by ealdwulf , the son of his brother Æthelric .
few records relating to east anglia have survived and almost nothing is known of Æthelwold 's life or reign .
he succeeded his elder brother Æthelhere , after Æthelhere was killed with penda of mercia at the battle of the winwæd in about 655 .
during his rule he witnessed a setback in the aspirations of mercia to dominate its neighbours , following the battle of the winwæd and the murder of penda 's son , peada .
he was king during the last decade of the co-existence in england of the christian roman rite , centred at canterbury , and the celtic rite based in northumbria .
at the synod of whitby , in 664 , the roman cause prevailed and the division of ecclesiastical authorities ceased .
in 662 , swithelm of essex was persuaded to adopt christianity and was baptised at rendlesham , with Æthelwold present as his sponsor .
east anglia became more closely allied to northumbria , kent and lands in the fens by means of royal marriages such as that between the northumbrian hereswitha and the east anglian Æthilric .
