blaming this event on the sins of Æthelred and his nobility. On 29 September 792 Æthelred married Ælfflæd the daughter of Offa of Mercia at Catterick. Death and succession While Æthelred was in Corbridge a group of conspiring nobles murdered him on 18 April 796. As a result, Osbald, an ealdorman and a friend of Alcuin, Æthelred's former adviser, became king, but within 27 days he abdicated. References Further reading Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350-1100. Stroud: Sutton, 1993. Kirby, D.P., The Earliest English Kings. London: Unwin, 1991. Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Seaby, 1990. See also List of monarchs of Northumbria External links 760s births 796 deaths Anglo-Saxon warriors Northumbrian monarchs 8th-century English monarchs 8th-century murdered monarchs