Person

Æthelbald of Mercia

d. 757 · 8th century

Æthelbald was king of Mercia from 716 to 757 and the dominant ruler of southern England for much of his reign. Bede counted all the English kingdoms south of the Humber as subject to him by 731, and a charter of 736 styles him king of Britain. Boniface rebuked him for his treatment of the church, and he was murdered by his own bodyguard at Seckington in 757, to be succeeded after a brief struggle by Offa.

Æthelbald of Mercia
Image: Poliphilo · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Æthelbald of Mercia. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/aethelbald-of-mercia
MLA
“Æthelbald of Mercia.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/aethelbald-of-mercia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Æthelbald of Mercia.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/aethelbald-of-mercia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Æthelbald of Mercia’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/aethelbald-of-mercia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻