King Ethelred WESSEX, I

   Another name for Ethelred was Aethelred.

   Ancestral File Number: FLGQ-L8.

   General Notes:

Aethelred I, King of WESSEX Reigned 865/866-871.

Killed in Battle of Merton 871, KQGB.

BOOKS
Kings and Queens of Great Britain, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute, 1990: "AethelredI, Son of Aethelwulf King of Wessex, King of Wessex 866-871, Mar ?Wulfthryth, Killed in Battle of Merton 871."

A History of the English Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill, 1956, Vol I, p100-102: "...Ivar `the Boneless' was a warrior of command and guile. He was master-mind behind the Scandinavian invasion of England in the last quarter of the ninth century. He it was who planned the great campaigns by which East Anglia, Deira in Northumbria, and Mercia were conquered...
"...But Ivar's object was nothing less than the conquest of Mercia, which, as all men knew, had for nearly a hundred years represented the strength of England. Ivar lay before Notingham. The King of Mercia called for help from Wessex. The old King of Wessex was dead, but his two sons, Ethelred and Alfred, answered the appeal. They marched to his aid, and offered to join him in his attack upon the besiegers' lines; but the Mercians flinched, and preferred a parley. Ivar warred with policyas well as arms...He was content to set up a vassal king, one Egbert, in Northumbria, and after ending the campaign of 868 by a treaty which left him master of Nottingham he spent the winter fortifying himself in York.
"While the Danes intheir formidable attempt at conquest spread out from East Anglia, subdued Mercia, and ravaged Northumbria, the King of Wessex and his brother Alfred quietly built up their strength. Their fortunes turned on balances so delicate and precarious that even the slightest addition to their burdens must have fatal. It was therefore a deliverance when Ivar, after breaking the Treaty of Nottingham and subjecting King Edmund of East Anglia to martyrdom, suddenly quitted England forever..."
p104: "...Alfred began a second-in-command to his elder brother, the King. There were no jealousies between them, but a marked difference of temperament. Ethelred inclined to the religious view that faith and prayer were the prime agencies by which the heathen would be overcome. Alfred, though also devout, laid the emphasis upon policy and arms."
p105: "...In January 871, was fought the battle of Ashdown...The King was still at his prayers. God came first, he declared to those who warned him that the battle must soon be joined...`At last, like a wild boar, [Alfred] led theChristian forces boldly against the army of the enemy...inspite of the fact that the King had not yet arrived'...The fight was long and hard. King Ethelred, his spiritual duty done, soon joined his brother..."
p106: "All through the year 871 the two armies waged deadly was. King Ethelred soon fell sick and died. Although he had young children, there was no doubt who his successor must be. At twenty-four Alfred became King, and entered upon a desperate inheritance..."

Roman Britain and Early England 55BC-AD871, Peter H Blair, 1963, Norton Library History of England, p274: "Appendix A, Table of Dates...866-867 Danes attack Northumbria...867-868 Danes move into Mercia..."
p275: "Appendix B, Passages in Old English. The two prose passages which follow are taken from the A text of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. They describe the arrival of the great Danish army of invasion and its first campaign against Northumbria. The landing itself was in the autumn of 865 and the entry into York on 1 Nov 866...
"(i) `[866] Her feng Ae&ered Ae&elbryhtes bro&ur to Wesseaxna rice; ond &y ilcan geare cuom micel here on Angelcynnes lond, ond wintersetl namon on East Englum, ond &aer gehorsude wurdon, ond hie him fri& wi& namon.'
"[866] In this year Ethelbert's brother Ethelred succeeded to the kingdom of the West Saxons. And in the same year a great heathen army came into the land of the English and took winter quarters in East Anglia; and they were provided with horses there and the men of East Anglia made peace with them..."

The Formation of England 550-1042, HPR Finberg, 1974, Paladin, p122-123: "...Of more immediate practical consequence was the family compact by which Ethelwulf bound his four sons. The details are complex and ambiguous, but the brothers apparently agreed that whichever of them lived the longest should suc- ceed to the undivided inheritance, thus excluding from the kingship any children the others might leave. In the event that only one of Ethelwulf's grandsons lived to dispute this arrangement, which ensured that the estate of the royal house should not be dissipated by division among the coheirs, and that future kings of Wessex should dispose of ample resources in land and money, enabling them to reward their trusty thegns and to surround the monarch with unprecedented splendour...
"...The next brother, Ethelbert, reigned from 860 to 865..."

The Wall Chart of World History, Edward Hull, 1988, Studio Editions, England 857: "Ethelbert, brother of Ethelbald, King of England 860-866..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol I, p116, Aethelred I: "Also Ethelred, Died 871, King of Wessex, Reigned 866-871."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Bk IV, The Dark Ages, Ch XX, The Rise of the North, Sec I, England, p483: "By 871 most of England north of the Thames was subject to the Danish invaders. In that year a Danish army under Gunthrum marched southward to attack Reading, the Wessex capital; Ethelred the King and his young brother Alfred met the Danes at Ashdown and won; butin a second engagement at Merton Ethelred was mortally wounded, and the English fled."

The Formation of England 550-1042, HPR Finberg, 1974, Paladin, p122-124: "...Of more immediate practical consequence was the family compact by which Ethelwulf bound his four sons. The details are complex and ambiguous, but the brothers apparently agreed that whichever of them lived the longest should suc- ceed to the undivided inheritance, thus excluding from the kingship any chilren the others might leave. In the event that only one of Ethelwulf's grandsons lived to dispute this arrangement, which ensured that the estate of the royal house should not be dissipated by division among the coheirs, and that future kings of Wessex should dispose of ample resources in land and money, enabling them to reward their trusty thegns and to surround the monarch with unprecedented splendour...
"...The next brother [after Ethelbald], Ethelbert, reigned from 860 to 865, and the third,Ethelred I, from 865 to 871. Ethelred's accession coincided with a decisive change in the character of the Viking menace. No longer content with sporadic raids, the Danes were now prepared to stay year after year in England, striking at everyweak point with the object of seizing land on which to settle. In 865 a great host landed in East Anglia, and within a year received the submission of that kingdom. Then they proceeded to Northumbria, captured York, and set up a vassal king ofthe region beyond the Tyne. Next they invaded Mercia, and from a base in Nottingham compelled King Burgred to buy peace. Towards the end of 869 they returned to East Anglia and defeated an army led by the young King Edmund, whom they took prisoner and killed. Revered as a martyr for his death at heathen hands, Edmund has given his name to Bury St Edmunds, where a great abbey was later founded in his honour.
"The Danes were now in a position to strike at Wessex. Entrenching themselves at Reading, they attacked King Ethelred and his brother Alfred. The West Saxons gained a memorable victory at Ashdown, but in a series of general engagements which followed neither side gained a decisive victory. In April 871 Ethelred died, leaving Alfred, now about twenty-three years old and already an experienced warrior, to reign over a kingdom fighting for its life..."

From Alfred to Henry III 871-1272, Christopher Brooke, 1961, Norton Library History of England, p32: "...[According ot the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle] in 865 `Ethelred [Aethelwulf's third son] succeeded to the kingdom of Wessex. And this same year came a great host to England and took winter-quarters in East Anglia.' In 866 the host moved into Northumbria, and in 867 into Mercia; `and Burhred, king of Mercia, and his councillors begged Ethelred, king of Wessex, and his brother Alfred to help them fight against the host...'"

The Wall Chart of World History, Edward Hull, 1988, Studio Editions, England 866: "Ethelred, brother of Ethelbert, King of England 866-871..."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.10 FLGQ-L8 Ethelred I King of WESSEX Born Abt 844 Of Wantage Berkshire England Died Apr 871.

   Marriage Information:

Ethelred married Queen Wulfthryth WESSEX.