Alberht of East Anglia

Alberht
King of the East Angles
Reign	749  – about 760, jointly with Beonna and possibly Hun
Predecessor	Ælfwald
Successor	Æthelred I

Alberht (also Ethælbert, Albert or Æthelberht I; ruled from 749) was an eighth century king of East Anglia. He shared the kingdom with Beonna and he is believed to have also shared rule with a supposed ruler named Hun. He may still have been king in around 760.

Historians have accepted that Alberht was a real historical figure who was possibly an heir of Ælfwald of East Anglia. At Ælfwald's death in 749, the kingdom was divided between Alberht and Beonna, who was perhaps a Mercian and who took the lead in issuing regnal coinage and maintaining a military alliance with Æthelbald. East Anglia was probably drawn into the affairs of 757, when Beornred ruled in Mercia, but after Offa seized power, Beonna was still ruling in East Anglia. The evidence of Alberht's single discovered coin indicates that he had sufficient authority to issue his own coinage, a degree of independence that was soon eclipsed by the rapid growth of Offa's power in East Anglia.

Alberht's predecessor Ælfwald died in 749 after ruling his small kingdom for thirty-six years. During Ælfwald's rule, East Anglia enjoyed sustained growth and stability, albeit under the senior authority of the Mercian king Æthelbald, who ruled his kingdom from 716 until he was murdered by his own men in 757. Ælfwald was the last of the Wuffingas dynasty, who ruled East Anglia since the 6th century. The East Anglian pedigree in the Anglian collection, which was probably compiled for Ælfwald, lists his descendants.

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.

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