Æthelred of Mercia

The right-⁠believing Æthelred was king of Mercia in England from 675 to 704. After a long reign he laid down his crown and became a monk at the monastery of Bardney, where he became abbot and where he reposed in 716.

He was the son of King Penda, one of the last great pagan kings of the English, but he grew up at a time when Christianity was spreading in Mercia. He came to the throne in 675, after the death of his brother Wulfhere.

The beginning of his reign was marked by wars. In 679 he defeated King Ecgfrith of Northumbria in the battle near the River Trent, and peace between the two kingdoms was made through the mediation of Saint Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury.

Æthelred was known as a devout king, who gave the Church many lands and supported the founding of monasteries. In his time Saint Theodore reorganised the dioceses of Mercia. He was a friend of Saint Wilfrid, to whom he gave refuge when Wilfrid was driven out of Northumbria.

His wife Osthryth brought to Bardney the relics of her uncle, Saint Oswald, king of Northumbria. In 704 Æthelred gave up the throne in favour of his nephew Coenred and withdrew to Bardney, where he lived as a monk and then as abbot. He reposed in 716 and was buried in the monastery. He is commemorated on 1 May.