ETHELRED  ,

king of Mercia, succeeded his brother Wulfhere in A.D . 675 . In 676 he ravaged Kent with fire and sword, destroying the monasteries and churches and taking Rochester . 'Ethelred married Osthryth, the sister of Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria, but in spite of this connexion a quarrel arose between the two kings, presumably over the possession of the province of Lindsey, which Ecgfrith had won back at the close of the reign of Wulfhere . In a battle on the banks of the Trent in 679, the king of Mercia was victorious and regained the province . 'Elfwine, the brother of Ecgfrith, was slain on this occasion, but at the intervention of Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, 'Ethelred agreed to pay a wergild for the Northumbrian prince and so prevented further hostilities . Osthryth was murdered in 697 and "Ethelred abdicated in 704, choosing Ccenred as his successor . He then became abbot of Bardney, and, according to Eddius, recommended Wilfrid to Ccenred on his return from Rome . "Ethelred died at Bardney in 716 .