Æthelred was the fourth of five sons of King Æthelwulf.

His mother, ​Osburh​, was of West Saxon

royal descent. According to the historian Sean Miller, Æthelred was probably a year or so older than
his younger broth

Sounds good ok sounds good ok sounds good

er, the future ​Alfred the Great​, who was born 848–9,​[16]​ but Richard Abels says that Æthelred was
around eight years old in 853, which would mean he was born about 845.​[17]​ Manuscript A of the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle​, which was written in the 890s, states that in 853 Alfred was sent by his
father to Rome and was consecrated by the Pope as king. Historians do not believe that he was
consecrated king