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- Ethelred I King Of Wessex King Ethelred of Wessex (Old English: Æþelræd) (c. 840 - April 23, 871) was the fourth son of King Ethelwulf of Wessex, and an older brother of Alfred the Great. He is sometimes referred to as King Ethelred I of England, but it is open to question whether he should be regarded as a king of England, since in his time the English were still divided into a number of kingdoms, not all of which recognised him as overlord (e.g. Mercia).
He succeeded his brother, Ethelbert, as King of Wessex and Kent in 865 [1] [2]. He married Wulfrida and had two sons, Aethelwold being the elder and Aethelhelm being the younger. Ethelred was not able to control the increasing Danish raids which devastated England. On January 4, 871 at the Battle of Reading, Ethelred suffered a crushing defeat, although he did hand the Danes a Pyrrhic victory. Soon after, however, Ethelred was able to re-form his army in time to win a stunning victory at the Battle of Ashdown. However, he suffered another defeat on January 22 at the Battle of Basing and was killed at the Battle of Merton on April 23, 871.
Ethelred is buried at Wimborne in Dorset. Following his death, he was popularly regarded as a saint, but never canonised. He was succeeded by his brother, King Alfred the Great. (See House of Wessex family tree.)
Ethelred is not to be confused with the later king Ethelred the Unready.
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Abt 844 - 871 (~ 27 years)