Æthelred Lord of the Mercians

865 – 911 · Generation II

Æthelred Lord of the Mercians (865–911). Married Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians in 886. His ancestry is unknown; his power seems to have rested among the Hwicce around Gloucester, and one historian suggests he was a son of King Burgred. After Ceolwulf II vanished in 879 he took charge of English-held western Mercia, but a defeat he probably suffered at the hands of Rhodri Mawr’s sons on the Conwy in 881 ended his ambitions in north Wales, and by 883 he had accepted Alfred’s lordship. Alfred entrusted him with London in 886, and he restored the riverside quarter once called Æthelred’s Hythe, now Queenhithe. When the Vikings returned in 892 he fought beside the young Edward, leading Mercians, West Saxons and Welsh to victory at Buttington in 893. His court is said to have raised the future King Æthelstan. Some historians think his health collapsed in his last years, leaving Æthelflæd to govern; he was buried with her at St Oswald’s Minster in Gloucester.

Partners

Married Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians (870 – 918) in 886

Life

865 — Born
886 — Married Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians
911 — Died