• General Notes

  Children
  Aethelhelm Ealdorman of Wiltshire b: ABT. 845 in Wiltshire, England
  Elfgifu Princess of Wessex b: ABT. 850 in Wessex, England
  
  Ruled Wessex, 865/6-23 April 871.
  The third son of ATHELWOLF, he was born about the year 837. His father had bequeathed Wessex to Athelred in his will, should ATHELBALD die childless, but Athelred had probably not expected to become king. He had little time to think about the consequences, for from the start of his reign he was confronted with a series of Danish raids and invasions, which had become considerably more aggressive since the co-ordinated attacks of IVARR THE BONELESS and his brother HALFDAN. These two Danes lived in Dublin from where they co-ordinated their fleet, but they became incensed when their father Ragnar Lodbrok, who had been harrying the eastern coat of Britain for the last year, and had wintered during 865/6 in East Anglia, was killed in York by AELLE. The two brothers now brought all their forces to bear upon England. They conquered York in November 866, rebuffing a counter-attack by AELLE in March 867. Deira became a Viking kingdom (Jorvik). The army marched south and occupied Nottingham. BURGRED of Mercia sought Athelred's help in dislodging the Danes but this proved impossible, and they were forced to negotiate. The Danes returned to York in 868 and then sailed south to East Anglia in 869, where the local king EDMUND was killed. By 870 they were prepared to advance on Wessex. They were now joined by another army under the leadership of GUTHRUM. This was a major invasion force. If the Danes could conquer Wessex, England would fall to them. The first battle was at Reading, where the Danes occupied a royal villa. The ealdorman Athelwolf, who had bravely fought the Danes on several previous occasions, met them again at Englefield, where he put a raiding party to flight. However, a few days later the Danes caught the Saxons by surprise and Athelwolf was killed. Athelred and his brother ALFRED had just arrived at this point and only narrowly escaped. The Saxon forces regrouped at Ashdown in Wiltshire, which was the site of the next engagement. The Saxons celebrated this as a victory, because they killed many of the Danish earls including one of their kings, Bacseg, but the Danes were able to regroup just two weeks later for the battle of Basing, and this time the Danes were victorious. The winter of 870/871 was a harrowing one in England as the Danes sacked and plundered their way through the countryside. The next major engagement was in early 871 at Meredune, believed to be Martin in Hampshire. This was another indecisive battle, with considerable slaughter on both sides, and the advantage going first to the Saxons but ultimately to the Danes. Athelred was seriously injured in the battle and died of his wounds a few weeks later at Witchampton, near Wimborne, where he was buried. The nation had no time for mourning, although the shock of Athelred's death must have reverberated about the kingdom. He had married Wulfrida in 867 or 868 and had two infant sons (see ATHELWOLD), but their future looked bleak. As the spring of 871 came to England the fate of the Saxons rested in the hands of one man: Alfred.

Details of Aethelred's family with Wulfthryth