king of Mercia, who was a benefactor of many churches in his several provinces and at last retired to a monastery.

He succeeded his brother Wulfhere in 675 and early on spent most of his time in warfare. In 676 he ravished Kent, taking Rochester. In 679, in a battle on the banks of the Trent, he defeated the Northumbrians, taking the province of Lindsey. Aelfwine, the brother of Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria, was slain on this occasion, but at the intervention of Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, Aethelred agreed to pay a wergild for the Northumbrian prince and so prevented further hostilities. Aethelred abdicated in 704, choosing his nephew Cenred as his successor. He then became abbot of Bardney.