Æthelwulf of Wessex

Æthelwulf (d.858), King of Wessex, was a deeply pious king who fought the Viking onslaught; winning the great victory of Aclea in 851; and still found time to send his youngest son Alfred to Rome and then go on pilgrimage there himself, granting a tenth of his lands to the Church before departing. Coming home he married Judith, the Frankish emperor's young daughter, and weathered a coup by his eldest son with notable restraint. Four of his sons wore the crown; the youngest was Alfred the Great, our ancestor.