Editing Æthelred I of Wessex (section)

== Death and aftermath ==
Shortly after Easter 871, which fell on 15 April in that year, Æthelred died. According to Asser, he "went the way of all flesh, having vigorously and honourably ruled the kingdom in good repute, amid many difficulties, for five years".{{sfn|Keynes and Lapidge|1983|p=80}} He was buried at the royal [[Minster (church)|minster]] at [[Wimborne Minster (church)|Wimborne]] in [[Dorset]], which had been founded by Saint [[Cuthburh]], a sister of his ancestor, [[Ingild]].{{sfnm|1a1=Yorke|1y=1995|1p=187|2a1=Thacker|2y=2001|2p=250}} While Alfred was attending his funeral, the West Saxons suffered another defeat at Reading, and Alfred himself was then defeated at [[Wilton, Wiltshire|Wilton]]. He was forced to buy off the Vikings, who then withdrew to London.{{sfn|Abels|1998|pp=134–40}} In 876, the [[Vikings]] returned, and Alfred fought a guerrilla war until he won a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Edington]] in 878.{{sfn|Wormald|2006}}

Æthelred had two sons, and if he had lived until they were adults it is unlikely that Alfred would ever have become king, but as they were still young children, Alfred succeeded.{{sfn|Kirby|2000|p=170}} Æthelhelm died before Alfred, and Æthelwold unsuccessfully disputed the throne with [[Edward the Elder]] after Alfred's death in 899.{{sfnm|1a1=Yorke|1y=2001|1p=31|2a1=Miller|2y=2004}} One of the two places where Æthelwold launched his rebellion was Wimborne, which was symbolically important as his father's burial place.{{sfn|Lavelle|2009|pp=61–62}} Æthelred's descendants played an important role in governing the country in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries.{{sfn|Yorke|1995|p=101}} They include Ealdorman [[Æthelweard (historian)|Æthelweard]], who recorded in his Latin version of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' that he was Æthelred's great-great-grandson. King [[Eadwig]] was forced to accept annulment of his marriage to [[Ælfgifu, wife of Eadwig|Ælfgifu]] due to consanguinity; she may have been Æthelweard's sister, which would make her Eadwig's third cousin once removed due to her descent from Æthelred, and thus within the forbidden degrees of relationship according to the church.{{sfnm|1a1=Yorke |1y=1997|1pp=76–77|2a1=Bouchard|2y=1981|2pp=269–70}} Æthelweard and his son [[Æthelmær the Stout|Æthelmær]] were leading magnates who governed west Wessex as ealdormen of the western provinces. The family lost their positions and property after [[Cnut]] conquered England in 1016, and one of Æthelmær's sons was executed by Cnut in 1017, while a son-in-law was banished in 1020.{{sfn|Yorke|1995|pp=100–01, 141–42}} Another son, [[Æthelnoth (archbishop of Canterbury)|Æthelnoth]], was [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], and he lived until 1038.{{sfn|Mason|2004}}