Æthelred (Wessex)

Æthelred I. in an illustration from the 13th century

Æthelred I. (also Æþelræd I., Ethelred I., Ethered, Aetheredus, Asser, Ethelwerd ; * around 837, † April 23, 871 near Merton) was king of Wessex and Kent from 865 to 871 .

Live and act

He was the fourth son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and his first wife Osburga and already the third after the death of the father who became king. With his wife Wulfthryth he had two sons Æthelwald and Æthelhelm and their daughter Thyra . The Anglo-Saxon historian Æthelweard was his great-grandson. Æthelred signed his father's documents as the king's son since 854 , a title that he retained under the government of his brothers Æthelbald and Æthelberht .

He succeeded his brother Æthelberht as King of Wessex around 865. Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred (later "the great") were called in 868 by Burgred of Mercia against Vikings who had invaded Mercia and holed up in Nottingham . The fortress could not be taken and peace was made. Æthelred could not master the onslaught of the Great Pagan Army of the Vikings under Halfdan Ragnarsson and Bagsac in Wessex either. He lost to the Danish invading army on January 4, 871 in the Battle of Reading , but also inflicted great losses on the Danes. Then, surprisingly, he was able to defeat them on January 8, 871 at the Battle of Ashdown . On January 22nd, 871 Æthelred were defeated by Wessex and Alfred by the Danes at Basing. Æthelred died a little later in the Battle of Merton on April 23, 871 and was buried in Wimborne Minster . After his death he was venerated by the people as a kind of saint, but never canonized by the Church. Since his two sons Æthelhelm and Æthelwold were too young, his brother Alfred succeeded him. Mount Ethelred , a mountain on the Antarctic Alexander I Island , is named after him .

See also

• Family table of English kings

swell

• Asser , Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum. The life of the Anglo-Saxon King Alfred.
• anonymous, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle .
• Symeon of Durham , Historia regum Anglorum et Dacorum.

literature

• Simeon of Durham: The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham . Translated from Latin with a foreword and notes by Joseph Stevenson (=  Church historians of England . Volume 3 , part 2). Seeley's, London 1855 (English, books.google.com ).
• William Hunt :  Ethelred (d.871) . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 18:  Esdaile - Finan. MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London, 1889, pp 25 - 27 (English).
• Allen Mawer: Æthelred I. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 1 : A-Androphagi . London 1910, p. 290 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
• John Allen Giles: A 657. This year Peada died,… In: The Anglo-Saxon chronicle . G. Bell and sons, ltd., London 1914, p. 19th ff . ( Text archive - Internet Archive ).
• Sean Miller: Æthelred I (d. 871). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Web links

• Life of King Alfred at The Northvegr Foundation (English)

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} article at anglo-saxons.net (English).

predecessor	Office	successor
Æthelberht	King of Wessex 865–871	Alfred the Great