Aethelred I ruled the Kingdom of Wessex (southern England) from 865 to 871 and led the English resistance to the Viking invasions of Britain. He won the first English victory over the Great Heathen Army at the Battle of Ashdown (871), for which Victorian historian Edward Augustus Freeman marked him out as "the first of a long line of West-Saxon hero kings" (46). Yet, today, he is primarily remembered as Alfred the Great's (reign 871 to 899) older brother and predecessor.
Much of what we know of Aethelred comes from texts commissioned by Alfred, such as Bishop Asser's Life of King Alfred and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. While their principal focus is on Alfred's accomplishments, Aethelred is nevertheless presented as a pious man and a brave soldier. We are further informed about Aethelred's life from contemporary coins and charters (documents recording royal grants of land or privileges).
Aethelred's family had held the Kingdom of Wessex since 802. His grandfather, King Egbert of Wessex (reign 802 to 839), ruled for almost four decades, expanding Wessex's borders east into Kent and west into Devon. England was at the time divided into several kingdoms, yet thanks to Egbert, Wessex was now its leading power. However, the West Saxons did begin to suffer from Viking attacks toward the end of his reign. Viking raids in Britain began in the late 8th century, as small groups of Scandinavian pirates began looting coastal monasteries. Yet by the reign of Egbert's son, King Aethelwulf of Wessex (reign 839 to 858), they had gathered into huge fleets commanded by powerful sea-kings, attacking large and wealthy towns.
Aethelred was born circa 847 and was the fourth son of Aethelwulf and his first wife, Osburh. He first appears in the historical record as a boy, when he and his younger brother, Alfred, were sent on a pilgrimage to Rome in 853 (it is traditionally thought that Alfred travelled without his brother, but a Brescia record book shows that Aethelred was present). This journey gave the boys an extra layer of legitimacy and prestige, ensuring that after their father's death, their older brothers would not force them into the church to rid themselves of dynastic rivals.
Aethelred's education likely consisted of learning poems, the psalms, and the history of the great kings and saints of Wessex. He was also taught to be a warrior, first learning to hunt, then mastering weapons and studying strategy. From the age of seven, he became a regular member of the king's council, where he would watch and learn as his father planned wars, controlled his nobles, and managed his alliances with the Kingdom of Mercia (the Midlands) and the Kingdom of West Francia. As a fourth son, Aethelred was not expected to ever rule as king. Yet from a young age, he was being prepared to advise his older brother(s) at council and command troops on their behalf.
King Aethelwulf died in 858. As his eldest son, Aethelstan, was already dead, his kingdom was split into two. Wessex went to his second son, Aethelbald, and the Kingdom of Kent to the third son, Aethelberht. Yet, when Aethelbald died in 860, both kingdoms were again united under Aethelberht.
It was during Aethelberht's reign in Wessex (860 to 865) that Aethelred first acquired royal responsibilities. In 862, aged 15, he was already deputising as king, overseeing royal councils when his brother was absent (perhaps he was ill or out of the kingdom). Like his older brothers, Aethelberht would also die young, and in 865, son number four, 18-year-old Aethelred, was elevated as the new ruler of Wessex and Kent. Though he was young, Aethelred had already played a significant role in his brother's administration and likely fought in his army as well.
Yet, 865 is better remembered today as the year the Great Heathen Army arrived in England. This mighty coalition of sea-kings and raiders from Scandinavia and Norse settlements in Ireland, Frisia, and France formed the largest Viking fleet ever to invade England. In 866, it invaded the Kingdom of Northumbria, conquering its capital, York. Next, they progressed south and captured Nottingham in Mercia.
The Mercian king, Burgred (reign 852 to 874), had long been an ally of Wessex and was married to Aethelred's sister, Queen Aethelswith. Aethelred thus raised what Bishop Asser described as an "immense army," journeying over 160 kilometres (100 mi) north to assist his brother-in-law. (77). Yet, upon arrival, he realised the situation was hopeless. Nottingham had been fortified. The kings were unable to breach its walls and were forced to pay tribute for the Danes to return to York. This was a harrowing moment for English. If Aethelred and Burgred together could not defeat the great army, perhaps no one could.
Early in his reign, Aethelred married Wulfthryth of Wiltshire, a lady from one of the most prestigious noble families in Wessex. The union proved fruitful, producing two sons, Aethelhelm and Aethelwold. Yet, if Wulfthryth harboured hopes that her sons would inherit the throne, she would be bitterly disappointed. Father-to-son succession was not a certainty, especially when the son(s) in question were still children. The leader of Wessex, now more than ever, had to be a warlord. Indeed, the king had already named his brother, Alfred, as his heir. Although he was a scholarly young man who suffered from a mysterious illness, he would prove to be a brave and trustworthy commander.
It had often been the custom for the appointed heir to be assigned rule over Kent on behalf of the King of Wessex, allowing the Kentish a degree of autonomy. Yet, Aethelred maintained direct control over Kent and sought to further integrate it into the West Saxon kingdom. This is revealed in his charters, which initially style him as "King of Wessex and Kent" but later adopt the simpler title "King of Wessex." Kent, then, was increasingly becoming a province of Wessex, rather than a separate kingdom (Sawyer Charters). These same charters show Aethelred granting lands and privileges to the clergymen of Kent. This was perhaps the price for the erosion of Kent's autonomy.
The coins surviving from Aethelred's reign also point to two key developments. Around the year 867, Aethelred adopted the Mercian coinage design (the 'lunette' style), forming what has been described as a "monetary union" between the two kingdoms (Lyons & Mackay, 99). Closer economic ties were supplemented by Alfred's marriage in 868 to a Mercian noblewoman, Ealhswith, a further long-term commitment by Wessex to the Mercian alliance. Coinage in Wessex, however, was becoming progressively debased before, during, and after Aethelred's reign, indicating that royal revenues were increasingly funnelled toward warfare and peace payments to the Vikings. Aethelred might have centralised power and deepened his alliances, but the Vikings would remain an existential threat to his kingdom.
After Nottingham, the Vikings marched eastward and conquered the Kingdom of East Anglia in 869. Next, they turned to Wessex. In the winter of 870, they crossed the River Thames, establishing a fortified base at Reading, on Wessex's northern frontier. The leader of the invasion was Halfdan. Known to the English as "the Tyrant," he was a Danish ruler who had left behind his kingdom to carve out a new one amongst the wealthier English territories (Campbell, 41).
An exchange of battles quickly followed his arrival. A few days after taking Reading, a Viking raiding party was ambushed and defeated in battle at Englefield by the veteran commander Ealdorman Aethelwulf of Berkshire. King Aethelred joined Aethelwulf shortly after to besiege Reading. Yet, as Asser writes:
like wolves, they burst out of all the gates and joined battle with all their might… the Christians eventually turned their backs, and the Vikings won the victory and were masters of the battlefield, and the Ealdorman Æthelwulf mentioned above fell there.
(78)
Aethelred was forced to retreat westward into the Berkshire hills. For Halfdan, this seemed the perfect opportunity to finish off Wessex. A second defeat in battle and the king's death, he suspected, would leave a disorganised and weakened realm ripe for the taking.
The two armies met on 8 January 871, at 'Ashdown' (thought to be on the Oxfordshire-Berkshire border near the modern-day village of Moulsford). Both armies were likely of similar size, perhaps around 1,000 soldiers each. The Vikings took the higher ground. Halfdan then gave the first order of the day. His army was to be split into two units. One led by himself and his ally, King Bagsec. The other by several of his earls. Then Halfdan formed his army into two shield walls – a defensive formation to guard against incoming attacks. From the lower ground, Aethelred closely watched his enemies' movements and mirrored them. He divided the West Saxons into two shield walls, taking command of one, and leaving the other to Alfred.
Yet, before the fight could begin, Aethelred returned to his tent to attend mass and pray for victory. It was not an unusual custom. The English, after all, believed the Vikings were sent by God as punishment for their sins. Aethelred might have explained that victory was not possible without his most earnest prayers.
Halfdan was perhaps at first amused by his opponent's pre-battle pieties. His gods, the pagan deities of Norse mythology, required no such submission. But he then seized the opportunity which lay before him. With Aethelred preoccupied, the Vikings abandoned the advantage of the higher ground, and both units marched on Alfred's position.
When Alfred sent a messenger to his brother crying for help, the envoy was told the king "would not leave that place alive before the priest had finished mass and that he would not forsake divine service for that of men" (Keynes & Lapidge, 79). It fell to Alfred's division alone to face the incoming and overwhelming attack. Asser again explains how Alfred "acting courageously, like a wild boar," led the charge against the Viking advance.
Only then, with both sides fully engaged, did Aethelred's army suddenly arrive. Perhaps attacking from the flank or rear, his assault cut deep, slaying several of the Viking leaders. King Bagsec fell, along with five Norse earls. This may have been Aethelred's plan all along, a late entry to surprise and attack the Vikings where they least expected it. With such devastating losses, Halfdan was unable to withstand any longer and ordered a full retreat, fleeing back to the safety of Reading.
This was a remarkable achievement. The Viking army had seemed unstoppable. East Anglia and Northumbria had been conquered, and tribute was taken from the Mercians and West Saxons. But Aethelred had now proven they were, in fact, beatable. Alas, there was no time to bask in the glories of his triumph. The invading army was wounded but not destroyed. Only two weeks after Ashdown, Halfdan led a raid into Wessex. Marching beyond the peripheral county of Berkshire and into Wiltshire, he defeated Aethelred in battle outside Basing, before taking control of the village, establishing a base deep in the heart of the West Saxon kingdom.
After four battles in three weeks, the fighting came to a standstill. Exhaustion or winter weather, or perhaps both, allowed for a two-month truce. But by March, Halfdan was on the move again, leading his army westward deeper in the heart of Wessex. In Hampshire, he defeated Aethelred again at the Battle of Merton. As the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle explains, "there was much slaughter on either hand, but the Danes became masters of the field" (49). Wessex was quickly losing its best soldiers. Ealdorman Aethelwulf was gone, and now at Merton, another commander, Bishop Heahmund of Sherborne, died too. Worse still, the king was mortally wounded. He would hang onto life for another couple of weeks, but in April 871, around the age of 24, King Aethelred succumbed to his wounds. He was buried at the nearby Wimborne Minster in Dorset.
As had long been planned, Alfred immediately succeeded as king. Aethelred's sons, Aethelhelm and Aethelwold, were still too young to rule. For now, they were quietly and carefully cast aside. Wessex needed strength, and they found it in their new king. Alfred would prove an incredibly effective ruler. Although he quickly paid off Halfdan to leave Wessex, Alfred inflicted a mighty defeat upon the Vikings at the Battle of Edington in 878, ensuring Wessex's safety and survival.
Yet, what of Alfred's own succession? Upon his death in 899, his own son, Edward the Elder, would fight with Aethelred's son, Aethelwold, for the throne (Aethelhelm had already died at this point). As the son of their beloved and respected king, the lords of Wessex backed Edward. Aethelwold, the son of a long-forgotten victor of a long-forgotten battle, was expelled from the kingdom. He would return in 902, this time with Viking support, but after several months of fighting, he died fighting Edward's army at the Battle of Holme in 902. Wessex's future was thereby secured by Alfred's descendants, and Aethelwold would be remembered as a treasonous rebel, rather than a failed but perfectly legitimate claimant to the throne.
King Aethelred was a figure of great potential who made his mark on history at Ashdown, but ultimately died too young to be a well-remembered king of the period. Although Aethelred's descendants would not enjoy royal titles, they remained important figures in Wessex, serving as ealdormen, bishops, and court officials until the 11th century.