Byrhtnoth.

About Byrhtnoth

Byrhtnoth was a 10th-century Anglo-Saxon magnate who governed as the ealdorman of Essex from late 956 until he died in battle. Byrhtnoth was initially appointed by King Eadwig and supported the young ruler, but after the kingdom was partitioned in 957, he and his lands were under Eadwig's younger brother Edgar, who was ruling England north of the Thames. After Eadwig died, the kingdom was unified, and Byrhtnoth was one of four leaders of Edgar's administration, alongside Æthelwine of East Anglia, Ælfhere of Mercia, and Oslac of York. Byrhtnoth was one of the wealthiest men in the kingdom and a prolific supporter of monasticism, causing monastic writers to celebrate his piety. There was disorder after Edgar's death, with a large-scale reclamation of land from the monasteries. Byrhtferth of Ramsey praised Byrhtnoth and Æthelwine for their defence of the monasteries Edgar's teenage son Edward replaced him after a power struggle, and Byrhtnoth was loyal to the young king, but Edward was murdered in 978. He was succeeded by his younger brother Æthelred, who was crowned after a year. Byrhtnoth was an experienced ealdorman under Æthelred, and Æthelwine's illness in 991 made Byrhtnoth the most senior ealdorman in England.