lord of the Mercians Æthelred

Æthelred, lord of the Mercians (d. 911). Of unknown origins, by 883 Æthelred was in control of western Mercia, left under Anglo-Saxon control when Vikings conquered the rest. Æthelred found it expedient to accept the overlordship of Alfred of Wessex and married his eldest daughter Æthelfleda. The two provinces co-ordinated activities against the Vikings, but Æthelred became increasingly plagued by ill-health so that well before his death in 911 Æthelfleda had become the effective leader of the Mercians.