Æthelbald (also spelled
Ethelbald, or
Aethelbald) (died 757) was the
King of
Mercia, in what is now the
English Midlands from 716 until he was killed in 757. Æthelbald was the son of Alweo and thus a grandson of
Eowa, who was the brother of
Penda. Æthelbald came to the throne after the death of his cousin, King
Ceolred, who had driven him into exile. During his long reign, Mercia became the dominant kingdom of the
Anglo-Saxons, and recovered the position of pre-eminence it had enjoyed during the seventh century under the strong Mercian kings Penda and
Wulfhere.