Æthelred I, Ealdorman of Mercia

   Research Notes:

Ealdorman of Mercia, ruling in the part of Mercia not ruled by the Danes, from [883] when he appears for the first time in a charter. Alfred King of Wessex was his overlord. He presided over the Mercian council and led the Mercian armies. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 885 "king Alfred occupied London…and he then entrusted the city to ealdorman Æthelred to rule". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 893 "ealdorman Æthelred and ealdorman Æthelhelm and ealdorman Æthelnoth" besieged and later defeated the Danes "at Buttington on Severn shore" [Buttington, near Welshpool, Montgomeryshire], consolidating English gains to the east and extending the authority of Wessex. "Æthelredus principes Merciorum", "Æthelred" and "Æthelredus dux et dominator Merciorum" subscribed charters of King Edward dated [900/04] and [903/04].

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the death in 912 of "Æthelred ealdorman of Mercia". ¹

   Marriage Information:

Æthelred married Æðelflaeda DE WESSEX Queen of Mercia, daughter of Alfred (Ælfræd) "the Great" DE WESSEX King of Wessex & Mercia and Eahlwið of the Gaini, Princess of Mercia, in 889. (Æðelflaeda DE WESSEX Queen of Mercia was born in 869 in Wessex, England, died on 12 Jun 918 in Tamworth, Gloucestershire, England and was buried in St. Peters, Gloucester, England.)