EFL - Enciclopedia delle Famiglie Lombarde

By his father's will he should have succeeded to Wessex on the death o f his eldest brother Aethelbald (d. 860). He seems, however, to have s tood aside in favour of his brother Aethelberht, king of Kent, to whos e joint kingdoms he succeeded in 865 or 866. Aethelred's reign was on e long struggle against the Danes. In the year of his succession a lar ge Danish force landed in East Anglia, and in the year 868 Aethelred a nd his brother Alfred went to help Burgred of Mercia against this host , but the Mercians soon made peace with their foes. In 871 the Danes e ncamped at Reading, where they defeated Aethelred and his brother, bu t later in the year the English won a great victory at a place calle d "Aescesdun." Two weeks later they were defeated at Basing but partia lly retrieved their fortune by a victory at "Maeretun" (perhaps Marde n in Wiltshire), though the Danes held the field. In the Easter of thi s year Aethelred died, perhaps of wounds received in the wars agains t the Danes, and was buried at Wimborne. [Encyclopaedia Britannica C D '97, Aethelred I].[JohnFaye (8 Jun 05).FTW] http://www.bbc.co.uk/d na/h2g2/A292484 Ethelred spent all his time ruling from the battlefie ld, fending off the marauding Danes, where he was assisted by his youn ger brother Alfred. He was married to Wulfthryth and had two sons, Eth elhelm and Ethelwold. When Ethelred was fatally wounded in the battl e of Merton, his sons were still both children and therefore deemed to o young to be king. Alfred succeeded to the throne instead. Ethelred i s buried at Wimbourne Abbey. Of the sons, Ethelhelm is rumoured to ha ve been the man who became Bishop of Wells in 909 and Archbishop of Ca nterbury in 914, dying in 923. Ethelwold rebelled against his cousin E dward the Elder, but was killed in 904 while trying to usurp the thron e. '''From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia''' King Æthelred (Ol d English: Æþelræd, sometimes rendered as Ethelred, "noble counsel" ) was King of Wessex from 865 to 871. He was the fourth son of King Æ thelwulf. He succeeded his brother, Æthelberht (Ethelbert), as King o f Wessex and Kent in 865.[1] He married Wulfrida and had two sons, Æt helwold, the elder, and Æthelhelm, the younger. Æthelred was not ab le to control the increasing Danish raids on England. On 4 January 87 1 at the Battle of Reading, Ethelred suffered a heavy defeat.[2] Altho ugh Æthelred was able to re-form his army in time to win a victory a t the Battle of Ashdown,[3] he suffered another defeat on 22 January a t the Battle of Basing,[4] and was killed at the Battle of Merton on 2 3 April 871. Æthelred is buried at Wimborne in Dorset.[5] Followin g his death, he was popularly regarded as a saint, but never canonised . He was succeeded by his younger brother, Alfred the Great.[6] Fro m Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Battle of Merton was fought i n April 871. It was one of eight known to be fought that year by Kin g Ethelred of Wessex in England, who was defending his kingdom agains t an army of Danish invaders. The Danish invaders defeated King Ethel red's forces, including the King himself, who is reported to have die d on April 23rd. Whether he died in battle, or as a result of wounds s uffered in battle is unclear. The site of the battle is unknown. Sugge stions include the borders of the London Borough of Merton, Merton i n Oxfordshire, Marden in Wiltshire or Martin in Dorset. The more weste rly locations tend to be favoured because King Ethelred was buried i n Wimborne Minster in Dorset shortly afterwards. A further and more l ikely location for the battle is Merriton, on the banks of the River S tour, a few miles downstream of Wimborne, thus providing a simple jour ney by barge with the body of King Ethelred. The medieval manor of Mer riton was situated on what is now the southern perimeter of Bournemout h (Hurn) Airport.[