Aethelwulf

King of Wessex ( 839 - 856 ) It was during his reign that the first Danish invasions took place. Following a defeat at sea in 842, he won a resounding victory against them at the battle of Aclea in 851. He was a religious man and in 856 preferred to abdicate rather than be involved in a civil war against his power crazed brother - Aethelbald. He died in 858.