Athelred of Wessex

Athelred or Æthelred (–) was King of Wessex from 865 to 871. He succeeded his brother Ethelbert at the time of the invasion of England by the "Great Heathen Army". He was the first of the four sons of Athelwulf not to rule as "under-king" before he became king of Wessex.

 Career 

Athelred was the fourth son of King Athelwulf and his wife Osburga.Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 78 She was the daughter of Oslac, Athelwulf's butler.{{efn|The office of chief butler in an Anglo-Saxon royal household is most likely his title here. He would be a nobleman who held the honorary office of butler.<ref>Laurence Marcellus L's Household in England Before the Norman Conquest, Thesis (Ph. D.), University of Wisconsin (1902), p. 127</ref>}} While his father was in Rome and France, 855-856, his oldest brother Athelstan had died.Eleanor Shipley Duckett, Alfred the Great: The King and His England (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), p. 36 Prior to his death two years later Athelwulf left a will.Asser's Life of King Alfred, trans. L.C. Jane (London: Chatto and Windus, 1908), pp. 13-14 in that will the two eldest sons, Ethelbald and Ethelbert should have the kingdom. When Ethelbald died in 860, Ethelbert became the king of Wessex.John Allen Giles, The Life and Times of Alfred the Great (London, G. Bell, 1848), pp. 69-70 But their father's will had made no provision for Athelred and Alfred, the two youngest sons, to be kings. Possibly for that reason Ethelbert did not appoint his brother Athelred King of Kent. He consolidated everything into the single kingdom of Wessex. In 865 Vikings raided into Kent and the men of Kent agreed to pay them ransom.The Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon, ed. & trans. Thomas Forester (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853), p. 151 But the Vikings ravaged the eastern part of Kent despite the pending treaty.

 King of Wessex 

Athelred had not expected to reign, but when his brother Ethelbert died in 866, Athelred became the king of Wessex. This was just after the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in East Anglia.D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, Second Edition (London; New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 173 For a time they were more interested in Northumbria. They gained control of York and moved south into Mercia then made their winter camp in Nottingham.

It was at this time his younger brother Alfred was given the title of Secundarius'' (Latin for secondary). This meant he was appointed as heir to the throne.R. H. Hodgkin, A History of the Anglo-Saxons (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1935), p. 242 In 868 Burgred, the King of Mercia, asked King Ethelred and Alfred for their help against the Danes (Vikings). When the Danes saw the combined English army against them they asked for peace.The Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon, ed. & trans. Thomas Forester (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853), p. 152 The Vikings withdrew to York where they managed a completely defeat. The next year, 871, the great Viking army grew much larger. They moved on Reading. Ethelred with his brother Alfred arrived with their army to meet the new threat.The Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon, ed. & trans. Thomas Forester (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853), p. 153 In the battle that followed, the Battle of Reading, both sides suffered many casualties. Athelred's army was defeated. Four days later the two armies met again at the Battle of Ashdown. This time the West Saxons won the victory and the Vikings retreated to Reading. Two weeks later Athelred and Alfred led the West Saxons against the Danes at Basing where the Danes won. Two months passed without any fighting between them.Frank Stenton, Anglo Saxon-England (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 249 The next battle was at a place called Merantun. After a day long battle which the English were winning, the Danes were able to regain their lost ground. Just after mid-April in 871,   
Athelred died. He was buried at Wimborne Minster. He was succeeded by his younger brother Alfred.Asser's Life of King Alfred, trans. L.C. Jane (London: Chatto and Windus, 1908), p. 29

 Family 

His wife's name is not known (see note a below). He had two sons:

 Aethelheim
 Aethelwald (died 904)

 Notes 

 References 

 Other websites 
 Britannia: Kings of Wessex 

Category:845 births
Category:871 deaths
Category:Kings of Wessex