Aethelred of Wessex (840-871) was the King of Wessex from 865 to 871, succeeding Aethelbert of Wessex and preceding Alfred the Great.
Biography[]
Aethelred of Wessex was born in 840 to King Aethelwulf of Wessex and Osburga. Aethelred was the brother of Aethelstan of Wessex, Aethelbald of Wessex, Aethelbert of Wessex, and Alfred the Great. Aethelred accompanied Alfred to Rome in 853, and after the death of his brother Aethelbert of Wessex, he became the new king of Wessex. The same year as his accession to the throne, the Great Heathen Army of the sons of Lodbrok invaded England. They sought to destroy Northumbria and the Kingdom of East Anglia, and Aethelred allied with the English kingdoms against the foreigners. He aided Burgred of Mercia in repelling the Vikings, but in 874 Burgred was deposed by the Vikings. In 871 Aethelred was defeated at the Battle of Reading, and although the won the Battle of Ashdown against the Vikings, he lost at Basing and Meretun. He suffered a deep axe wound to the left shoulder at the Battle of Wilton, and he died of his wounds not long after.
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