Reign c.840's - 895 AD Spouse(s) Eadburh Died 895 AD Children Ealhswith, Æthelwulf | Predecessor Mucel ? Father Mucel ? Successor Æthelwulf | |
Great grandchildren Æthelstan, Ælfwynn, Eadred, Edmund I Grandchildren Edward the Elder, Æthelflæd, Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders, Æthelweard Similar Ealhswith, Æthelwulf, Edward the Elder, Æthelflæd, Osburh | ||
Æthelred Mucel was an Anglo-Saxon noble from Mercia, who was the father of Ealhswith the wife of Alfred the Great. He is described by Asser as ealdorman of the Gaini, after whom Gainsborough in Lincolnshire is believed to be named.
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Background
Æthelred, witnessed several charters between 867 and 895 AD, and he is probably identical with the Ealdorman Mucel who witnessed Mercian charters between 836 and 866 AD, He may have been the son of another Ealdorman Mucel who witnessed Mercian charters from 814 to the 840s.
Family
In his biography of Alfred the Great, Asser says that in 868 Alfred "was betrothed to and married a wife from Mercia, of noble family, namely the daughter of Æthelred (who was known as Mucil), ealdorman of the Gaini. The woman's mother was called Eadburh, from the royal stock of the king of the Mercians. I often saw her myself with my very own eyes for several years before her death. She was a notable woman, who remained for many years after the death of her husband a chaste widow, until her death."
Two children are recorded: Ealhswith, who married Alfred the Great (at that time heir-apparent) in 868, and her brother Æthelwulf, who would rule as an ealdorman under Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, and was an ancestor of Æthelstan Half-King. He died in 901.