Aethelstan Half-King (885-956) was the English ealdorman of East Anglia from 936 to 956.
Biography[]
Aethelstan was born in 885, the son of Ealdorman Aethelfrith of Mercia and Princess Aethelgyth of Wessex, and the brother of Eadric, Aelfstan, and Aethelwald. He was the maternal nephew of King Alfred the Great, and his father owned lands in Somerset, Berkshire, and Middlesex. He and his brother Eadric participated in their cousin Aethelstan of England's invasion of Scotland in 934, and Aethelstan and his siblings became ealdormen during the 930s, with Aethelstan coming to govern East Anglia in 936. He adopted the future King Edgar the Peaceful as his son, but, on the death of King Eadred of England in 955, he was forced to become a monk at Glastonbury Abbey, ending his influence over English politics.