15
15
0
On April 14, 979, Aethelred II was crowned King of England at Kingston Upon Thames. From the article:
"Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English
by Susan Flantzer
Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English was from the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex. He was a great-great-grandson of King Alfred the Great and the father of two kings, Edmund Ironside and Edward the Confessor. His nickname in Old English was unræd which means “no counsel” and describes the poor quality of advice which Æthelred received throughout his reign. Æthelred is number eight on the top ten list of longest-reigning British monarchs. He reigned for two separate periods (March 18, 978 – December 25, 1013 and February 3, 1014 – April 23, 1016) for a total of 37 years, 362 days.
Æthelred was born circa 966 – 968 to King Edgar the Peaceful and Ælfthryth, daughter of Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon.
He had three elder siblings:
•Eadgyth, a half-sibling (961 – 984), later known as Saint Edith of Wilton
•Edward the Martyr, King of England, a half-sibling (c. 962 – 978)
•Edmund, a full sibling who died young, circa 970
In 975, King Edgar died and left two sons, Edward around 13 years of age and Æthelred around 8 years old. Various nobles and clergy formed factions which supported each of the brothers’ succession to the crown. Both boys were too young to have played any significant role in political maneuvering, and so it was the brothers’ supporters who were responsible for the turmoil which accompanied the choice of a successor to the throne. In the end, Edward’s supporters proved the more powerful and persuasive, and he was crowned king before the year was out.
Edward’s reign was short-lived. On March 18, 978 while visiting Æthelred and his mother, Edward was stabbed to death. Although Æthelred was not personally suspected of participation, it appears that the murder was committed by his supporters, and the specter of his half brother’s murder hung over him for the rest of his life. Edward is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Church, and is known as Saint Edward the Martyr.
Æthelred was crowned on April 14, 979 at Kingston Upon Thames, now in southwest London, then an ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned. In an Icelandic saga, by Gunnlaugr Ormstunga (Gunnlaugr “Serpent-Tongue” or “Wormtongue”), Æthelred is described as, “[A] tall, handsome man, elegant in manners, beautiful in countenance, and interesting in his deportment.” Gunnlaugr’s travels took him to England and he apparently met Æthelred.
Around 985, Æthelred married Ælfgifu of York, daughter of Thored, Ealdorman of York. Ælfgifu appears to have died by 1002, possibly in childbirth. Æthelred and Ælfgifu’s known children are:
(Note: Ætheling was used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.)
•Æthelstan Ætheling (died 1014)
•Ecgberht Ætheling (died c. 1005)
•Edmund Ironside, King of the English (died 1016), married Ealdgyth, had issue
•Eadred Ætheling (died before 1013)
•Eadwig Ætheling (died 1017)
•Edgar Ætheling (died c. 1008)
•Eadgyth or Edith, married Eadric Streona
•Ælfgifu, married Uhtred the Bold, Ealdorman of Northumbria
•Wulfhilda, married Ulfcytel Snillingr
•Name unknown, Abbess of Wherwell Abbey
In 1002, Æthelred married Emma of Normandy, the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Emma’s brother, Richard II, Duke of Normandy, attempted to improve relations with England through his sister’s marriage to King Æthelred. This marriage was also important because it gave Richard II’s grandson, William the Conqueror, the basis of his claim to the throne of England. Æthelred and Emma had three children:
•Edward the Confessor, King of the English (between 1003 and 1005 – January 5, 1066), married Edith of Wessex, no issue
•Alfred Ætheling (died 1036–7)
•Goda of England (1004 – c. 1047), married (1) Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Véxin, had issue and (2) Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, no issue
After Æthelred’s death, Emma married Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark and Norway and their son Harthacnut was King of England and Denmark.
In England, the beginning of the Viking Age is dated to June 8, 793, when Vikings destroyed Lindisfarne Abbey, a center of learning on an island off the northeast coast of England in Northumberland. The Scandinavians’ desire for goods led to the exploration and development of extensive partnerships in new territories. In addition, it has been suggested that the Scandinavian population was too large for their home peninsula and there was not enough good farmland for everyone. This led to a hunt for more land. This hunt for trade and farming land was often violent and there were many conflicts and battles between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons. In 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalized, defining the boundaries of the English kingdoms and Danish or Norse kingdoms (called Danelaw), with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings.
England had experienced a period of peace after the reconquest of the Danelaw in the mid-10th century by King Edgar, Æthelred’s father. King Edgar allowed for limited autonomy in the Danelaw. However, in 980 a series of Viking coastal raids began. During this time, the Normans (comes from the French Normans/Normanz meaning Norseman) who were descended from Viking conquerors, allowed the Viking raiders to take refuge in their ports. This led to tension between the English and Norman courts, and Pope John XV had to negotiate peace between England and Normandy, which was ratified in Rouen, Normandy in 991.
In August of 991, a large Danish fleet invaded southeast England and headed up the Thames estuary toward London. The Battle of Maldon ensued which ended in the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons. Æthelred and his council bought the Danes off with 22,000 pounds of gold and silver, thereby instituting the policy of regular protection money called Danegeld to the Danes. These raids and the subsequent payment of Danegeld continued for several years.
According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 1002 King Æthelred was told that the Danish men in England “would faithlessly take his life, and then all his councilors, and possess his kingdom afterward.” In response, Æthelred “ordered slain all the Danish men who were in England.” St. Brice’s Day Massacre occurred on November 13, 1002, the feast day of St. Brice, fifth-century Bishop of Tours. There was a significant loss of life including Gunhilde, the sister of King Sweyn I of Denmark (Sweyn Forkbeard). In retaliation, Sweyn attacked England in 1003 – 1004, burning Norwich, but famine in 1005 caused him to retreat.
The Danish invaders returned and within a few years, all of England came under Danish rule. In 1013, Sweyn was acknowledged as King of England. Æthelred fled to the Isle of Wight and then to Normandy. Sweyn died on February 3, 1014, and the Danes in England swore their allegiance to Sweyn’s son Cnut the Great, but leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred to negotiate his restoration to the throne. Æthelred launched an attack against Cnut and his allies, but Cnut’s army had not completed its preparations and, in April 1014, he decided to withdraw from England without a fight. Æthelred returned to England and reigned until his death in London on April 23, 1016. He was buried in Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London, but his tomb was destroyed along with the cathedral in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Æthelred’s son Edmund Ironside was now King but had to fight Cnut to keep the Kingdom of England. The war between Edmund and Cnut ended in a decisive victory for Cnut at the Battle of Assandun on October 18, 1016. Because Edmund’s reputation as a warrior was great, Cnut agreed to divide England, Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest of the country beyond the River Thames. However, Edmund died on November 30, 1016, and Cnut the Great became King of England. Cnut later became King of Denmark and King of Norway and married Æthelred’s widow Emma of Normandy."
"Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English
by Susan Flantzer
Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English was from the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex. He was a great-great-grandson of King Alfred the Great and the father of two kings, Edmund Ironside and Edward the Confessor. His nickname in Old English was unræd which means “no counsel” and describes the poor quality of advice which Æthelred received throughout his reign. Æthelred is number eight on the top ten list of longest-reigning British monarchs. He reigned for two separate periods (March 18, 978 – December 25, 1013 and February 3, 1014 – April 23, 1016) for a total of 37 years, 362 days.
Æthelred was born circa 966 – 968 to King Edgar the Peaceful and Ælfthryth, daughter of Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon.
He had three elder siblings:
•Eadgyth, a half-sibling (961 – 984), later known as Saint Edith of Wilton
•Edward the Martyr, King of England, a half-sibling (c. 962 – 978)
•Edmund, a full sibling who died young, circa 970
In 975, King Edgar died and left two sons, Edward around 13 years of age and Æthelred around 8 years old. Various nobles and clergy formed factions which supported each of the brothers’ succession to the crown. Both boys were too young to have played any significant role in political maneuvering, and so it was the brothers’ supporters who were responsible for the turmoil which accompanied the choice of a successor to the throne. In the end, Edward’s supporters proved the more powerful and persuasive, and he was crowned king before the year was out.
Edward’s reign was short-lived. On March 18, 978 while visiting Æthelred and his mother, Edward was stabbed to death. Although Æthelred was not personally suspected of participation, it appears that the murder was committed by his supporters, and the specter of his half brother’s murder hung over him for the rest of his life. Edward is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Church, and is known as Saint Edward the Martyr.
Æthelred was crowned on April 14, 979 at Kingston Upon Thames, now in southwest London, then an ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned. In an Icelandic saga, by Gunnlaugr Ormstunga (Gunnlaugr “Serpent-Tongue” or “Wormtongue”), Æthelred is described as, “[A] tall, handsome man, elegant in manners, beautiful in countenance, and interesting in his deportment.” Gunnlaugr’s travels took him to England and he apparently met Æthelred.
Around 985, Æthelred married Ælfgifu of York, daughter of Thored, Ealdorman of York. Ælfgifu appears to have died by 1002, possibly in childbirth. Æthelred and Ælfgifu’s known children are:
(Note: Ætheling was used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.)
•Æthelstan Ætheling (died 1014)
•Ecgberht Ætheling (died c. 1005)
•Edmund Ironside, King of the English (died 1016), married Ealdgyth, had issue
•Eadred Ætheling (died before 1013)
•Eadwig Ætheling (died 1017)
•Edgar Ætheling (died c. 1008)
•Eadgyth or Edith, married Eadric Streona
•Ælfgifu, married Uhtred the Bold, Ealdorman of Northumbria
•Wulfhilda, married Ulfcytel Snillingr
•Name unknown, Abbess of Wherwell Abbey
In 1002, Æthelred married Emma of Normandy, the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Emma’s brother, Richard II, Duke of Normandy, attempted to improve relations with England through his sister’s marriage to King Æthelred. This marriage was also important because it gave Richard II’s grandson, William the Conqueror, the basis of his claim to the throne of England. Æthelred and Emma had three children:
•Edward the Confessor, King of the English (between 1003 and 1005 – January 5, 1066), married Edith of Wessex, no issue
•Alfred Ætheling (died 1036–7)
•Goda of England (1004 – c. 1047), married (1) Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Véxin, had issue and (2) Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, no issue
After Æthelred’s death, Emma married Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark and Norway and their son Harthacnut was King of England and Denmark.
In England, the beginning of the Viking Age is dated to June 8, 793, when Vikings destroyed Lindisfarne Abbey, a center of learning on an island off the northeast coast of England in Northumberland. The Scandinavians’ desire for goods led to the exploration and development of extensive partnerships in new territories. In addition, it has been suggested that the Scandinavian population was too large for their home peninsula and there was not enough good farmland for everyone. This led to a hunt for more land. This hunt for trade and farming land was often violent and there were many conflicts and battles between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons. In 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalized, defining the boundaries of the English kingdoms and Danish or Norse kingdoms (called Danelaw), with provisions for peaceful relations between the English and the Vikings.
England had experienced a period of peace after the reconquest of the Danelaw in the mid-10th century by King Edgar, Æthelred’s father. King Edgar allowed for limited autonomy in the Danelaw. However, in 980 a series of Viking coastal raids began. During this time, the Normans (comes from the French Normans/Normanz meaning Norseman) who were descended from Viking conquerors, allowed the Viking raiders to take refuge in their ports. This led to tension between the English and Norman courts, and Pope John XV had to negotiate peace between England and Normandy, which was ratified in Rouen, Normandy in 991.
In August of 991, a large Danish fleet invaded southeast England and headed up the Thames estuary toward London. The Battle of Maldon ensued which ended in the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons. Æthelred and his council bought the Danes off with 22,000 pounds of gold and silver, thereby instituting the policy of regular protection money called Danegeld to the Danes. These raids and the subsequent payment of Danegeld continued for several years.
According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 1002 King Æthelred was told that the Danish men in England “would faithlessly take his life, and then all his councilors, and possess his kingdom afterward.” In response, Æthelred “ordered slain all the Danish men who were in England.” St. Brice’s Day Massacre occurred on November 13, 1002, the feast day of St. Brice, fifth-century Bishop of Tours. There was a significant loss of life including Gunhilde, the sister of King Sweyn I of Denmark (Sweyn Forkbeard). In retaliation, Sweyn attacked England in 1003 – 1004, burning Norwich, but famine in 1005 caused him to retreat.
The Danish invaders returned and within a few years, all of England came under Danish rule. In 1013, Sweyn was acknowledged as King of England. Æthelred fled to the Isle of Wight and then to Normandy. Sweyn died on February 3, 1014, and the Danes in England swore their allegiance to Sweyn’s son Cnut the Great, but leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred to negotiate his restoration to the throne. Æthelred launched an attack against Cnut and his allies, but Cnut’s army had not completed its preparations and, in April 1014, he decided to withdraw from England without a fight. Æthelred returned to England and reigned until his death in London on April 23, 1016. He was buried in Old St Paul’s Cathedral in London, but his tomb was destroyed along with the cathedral in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Æthelred’s son Edmund Ironside was now King but had to fight Cnut to keep the Kingdom of England. The war between Edmund and Cnut ended in a decisive victory for Cnut at the Battle of Assandun on October 18, 1016. Because Edmund’s reputation as a warrior was great, Cnut agreed to divide England, Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest of the country beyond the River Thames. However, Edmund died on November 30, 1016, and Cnut the Great became King of England. Cnut later became King of Denmark and King of Norway and married Æthelred’s widow Emma of Normandy."
Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English
Posted from unofficialroyalty.com
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 8
Edited 3 y ago
Posted 3 y ago
King Æthelred the Unready and the Viking Conquest of England ~ Dr. Richard Abels
The Second Viking War dominated and doomed the reign of King Æthelred II “the Unready.” This is lecture one.A prosperous and militarily ill-prepared England ...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on April 14, 979 Aethelred II of England was crowned King of England at Kingston Upon Thames.
King Æthelred the Unready and the Viking Conquest of England ~ Dr. Richard Abels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqrT_nVKRGM
Images:
1. Aethelred King of the English 978-1016
2. A detail from the New Minster Liber Vitae, showing the name of King Æthelred
3. Aethelred II 'the Unready' Anglo-Saxon King of England coin made in York
4. King Ethelred the Unready.
Background from {[https://www.bl.uk/people/aethelred-the-unready]}
Æthelred the Unready
A detail from the New Minster Liber Vitae, showing the name of King Æthelred (Stowe MS 944, f. 25r)
King Æthelred, known as Æthelred the Unready, was the king of England from 978 to 1016, giving him one of the longest reigns (approximately 38 years) of any early medieval English monarch. Despite his long reign, he gained the reputation as an incompetent ruler.
Æthelred’s early life
Æthelred was the son of King Edgar of England (reigned 959–975). Edgar’s reign was remembered as a time of peace and prosperity, which saw a flourishing of learning and reform of the English Church and government. Æthelred’s mother, Queen Ælfthryth (died 999–1001), was a key part of this process, as an ally and patron of the reformers.
When Edgar died in 975, he was succeeded by his son, Edward. King Edward the Martyr was murdered by nobles near Corfe Castle in Dorset in 978, and was succeeded by Æthelred, aged about 10. In later years, Æthelred helped to promote the cult of Edward the Martyr.
In the early years of Æthelred’s reign, two of the most powerful forces in the kingdom were Ælfthryth, the king’s mother, and Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester. When Æthelwold died in 984, Æthelred took advantage of the situation to seize more power, sending his mother away from court and promoting new advisors. This was the first of several upheavals at the royal court during Æthelred’s reign.
The second Viking Age
These changes at court coincided with renewed Viking attacks in the 980s and 990s. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 980 or 981 ‘for the first time seven ships [from the North] came and ravaged Southampton’. Further attacks were recorded in 982, 987, 988 and 991, when the English suffered a huge defeat at the Battle of Maldon.
There was a brief respite in attacks in 994/5, when Æthelred concluded a peace agreement with the Scandinavian leader, Olaf Tryggvason. Æthelred’s officials, including the archbishop of Canterbury, arranged for the English to pay money known as ‘Danegeld’ to the Scandinavian forces in order to avoid further attacks.
Meanwhile, Æthelred improved diplomatic relations with Richard II, duke of Normandy (reigned 996–1026), whom he had accused of harbouring the Viking forces that were attacking England. After Æthelred’s first wife died, he married Richard’s sister, Emma of Normandy.
Æthelred’s later years
The Scandinavian attacks on England resumed in the first decade of the 11th century, despite the payment of Danegeld. By late 1013, Æthelred was forced to flee to Normandy, as the forces of the Scandinavian leader, Swein Forkbeard, swept through the kingdom.
After Swein’s death in 1014, King Æthelred was invited to return from exile by the Anglo-Saxon nobles, on the condition (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) that ‘he would govern them more justly than he did before’.
Æthelred’s luck did not change for the better. His eldest son, the Atheling Æthelstan, died suddenly in June 1014, and the Scandinavian forces continued their attacks. Æthelred increasingly relied on the treacherous English nobleman, Eadric Streona, who would switch sides multiple times during the war.
Æthelred was also in ill health. He died on 23 April 1016, as the future King Cnut (reigned 1016–1035) advanced on London. For a brief period, Æthelred was succeeded as king by his son, Edmund Ironside, who died in November 1016.
Æthelred’s reputation
Æthelred’s nicknames, ‘Unræd’ and ‘Unreddi’, are first attested in sources written many decades after his death. But he did not have a glowing reputation in historical accounts written shortly after his reign. The longest description of Æthelred’s reign is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This account was apparently composed after Æthelred’s death by someone who was bitter about the repeated invasions:
He ended his days on St George’s Day, and he had held his kingdom with great toil and difficulties as long as his life lasted.
Translated by Dorothy Whitelock and others, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Revised Translation (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1961), p. 95.
Æthelred was completely written out of other narratives associated with the new regime of King Cnut, including, most notably, the first version of a work written in praise of his wife, Queen Emma.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick SGT Denny Espinosa SPC Matthew Lamb LTC (Join to see)Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Woody Bullard TSgt David L. SPC Michael Terrell SFC Chuck Martinez CSM Charles HaydenSSG Bill McCoy SGT Herbert Bollum
King Æthelred the Unready and the Viking Conquest of England ~ Dr. Richard Abels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqrT_nVKRGM
Images:
1. Aethelred King of the English 978-1016
2. A detail from the New Minster Liber Vitae, showing the name of King Æthelred
3. Aethelred II 'the Unready' Anglo-Saxon King of England coin made in York
4. King Ethelred the Unready.
Background from {[https://www.bl.uk/people/aethelred-the-unready]}
Æthelred the Unready
A detail from the New Minster Liber Vitae, showing the name of King Æthelred (Stowe MS 944, f. 25r)
King Æthelred, known as Æthelred the Unready, was the king of England from 978 to 1016, giving him one of the longest reigns (approximately 38 years) of any early medieval English monarch. Despite his long reign, he gained the reputation as an incompetent ruler.
Æthelred’s early life
Æthelred was the son of King Edgar of England (reigned 959–975). Edgar’s reign was remembered as a time of peace and prosperity, which saw a flourishing of learning and reform of the English Church and government. Æthelred’s mother, Queen Ælfthryth (died 999–1001), was a key part of this process, as an ally and patron of the reformers.
When Edgar died in 975, he was succeeded by his son, Edward. King Edward the Martyr was murdered by nobles near Corfe Castle in Dorset in 978, and was succeeded by Æthelred, aged about 10. In later years, Æthelred helped to promote the cult of Edward the Martyr.
In the early years of Æthelred’s reign, two of the most powerful forces in the kingdom were Ælfthryth, the king’s mother, and Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester. When Æthelwold died in 984, Æthelred took advantage of the situation to seize more power, sending his mother away from court and promoting new advisors. This was the first of several upheavals at the royal court during Æthelred’s reign.
The second Viking Age
These changes at court coincided with renewed Viking attacks in the 980s and 990s. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 980 or 981 ‘for the first time seven ships [from the North] came and ravaged Southampton’. Further attacks were recorded in 982, 987, 988 and 991, when the English suffered a huge defeat at the Battle of Maldon.
There was a brief respite in attacks in 994/5, when Æthelred concluded a peace agreement with the Scandinavian leader, Olaf Tryggvason. Æthelred’s officials, including the archbishop of Canterbury, arranged for the English to pay money known as ‘Danegeld’ to the Scandinavian forces in order to avoid further attacks.
Meanwhile, Æthelred improved diplomatic relations with Richard II, duke of Normandy (reigned 996–1026), whom he had accused of harbouring the Viking forces that were attacking England. After Æthelred’s first wife died, he married Richard’s sister, Emma of Normandy.
Æthelred’s later years
The Scandinavian attacks on England resumed in the first decade of the 11th century, despite the payment of Danegeld. By late 1013, Æthelred was forced to flee to Normandy, as the forces of the Scandinavian leader, Swein Forkbeard, swept through the kingdom.
After Swein’s death in 1014, King Æthelred was invited to return from exile by the Anglo-Saxon nobles, on the condition (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) that ‘he would govern them more justly than he did before’.
Æthelred’s luck did not change for the better. His eldest son, the Atheling Æthelstan, died suddenly in June 1014, and the Scandinavian forces continued their attacks. Æthelred increasingly relied on the treacherous English nobleman, Eadric Streona, who would switch sides multiple times during the war.
Æthelred was also in ill health. He died on 23 April 1016, as the future King Cnut (reigned 1016–1035) advanced on London. For a brief period, Æthelred was succeeded as king by his son, Edmund Ironside, who died in November 1016.
Æthelred’s reputation
Æthelred’s nicknames, ‘Unræd’ and ‘Unreddi’, are first attested in sources written many decades after his death. But he did not have a glowing reputation in historical accounts written shortly after his reign. The longest description of Æthelred’s reign is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This account was apparently composed after Æthelred’s death by someone who was bitter about the repeated invasions:
He ended his days on St George’s Day, and he had held his kingdom with great toil and difficulties as long as his life lasted.
Translated by Dorothy Whitelock and others, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Revised Translation (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1961), p. 95.
Æthelred was completely written out of other narratives associated with the new regime of King Cnut, including, most notably, the first version of a work written in praise of his wife, Queen Emma.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick SGT Denny Espinosa SPC Matthew Lamb LTC (Join to see)Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Woody Bullard TSgt David L. SPC Michael Terrell SFC Chuck Martinez CSM Charles HaydenSSG Bill McCoy SGT Herbert Bollum
(9)
Comment
(0)
LTC Stephen F.
3 y
Kings of England part 3: Æthelred the unready & Sweyn Forkbeard
OMG this video... I wanted to release this video last week but I kept finding out more info about these two kings. Then I had a problem with my video editor ...
Kings of England part 3: Æthelred the unready & Sweyn Forkbeard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP3cSdJ2w5Q
Image:
1. Detail of Queen Emma of Normandy [wife of Arethelred] before an altar
2. Queen Emma's crown
3. Emma and her children fleeing from Sven Forkbeard’s conquest of England. Manuscript Miniatures Cambridge.
4. Emma of Normandy receiving the ‘Encomium Emmae Reginae’ from its author, with her sons Harthacanute and Edward the Confessor in the background.
Background from {[https://historytheinterestingbits.com/tag/aethelred-ii-the-unready/]}
Emma of Normandy, Queen of England
In the years leading up to the Norman Conquest of 1066 one woman, in particular, stands out as the matriarch of the period: Emma of Normandy.
As wife of both Æthelred II and King Cnut, Emma of Normandy was the lynchpin of the story of the 11th century. As a Norman, and the mother of both a Danish king of England and a Saxon King of England, it was Emma who bound all three sides together in the conflict of 1066. Her story is suitably dramatic; with exile, tragedy and scandal all playing their part, starkly contrasting with the wealth and privilege of her role as the only twice-crowned Queen of England.
Emma was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and his wife, Gunnora. Born in around 985/987, she was married to Æthelred at Winchester on 5 April 1002, at which time she was given the English name Ælfgifu, although in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle she is often referred to, simply, as ‘The Lady’. Her marriage with Æthelred was an attempt to seal a peace between England and Normandy, and to persuade the Normans not to allow the Viking raiders, who tormented England’s shores, to winter in their lands between raids into England. Despite the fact the Vikings continued to shelter in Normandy every winter, and raiding into England continued throughout the early years of the 11th century, the marriage was a success in that it produced two more sons and a daughter for Æthelred; a second family considering he was the father of as many as thirteen children by his first wife, Ælfgifu of York, including at least six sons.
Of Emma and Æthelred’s two sons the eldest, Edward, would eventually succeed his half-brother, Harthacnut, to the English throne in 1042, ruling until his death on 5 January 1066. Edward’s younger brother, Alfred, was cruelly murdered during the reign of his step-brother, Harold I Harefoot. Harold was the son of Cnut by his first, handfast wife, Ælfgifu of Northampton. Alfred had arrived in England in 1036, ostensibly to visit his mother, though there are also theories that he intended to mount a challenge for the throne, and was welcomed by Earl Godwin of Wessex. However, his party were ambushed whilst being entertained by Godwin and Alfred was seized and taken to the abbey at Ely in Cambridgeshire, where he was later blinded and either murdered, or succumbed to his wounds. Either way, he died on 5 February 1037 and was buried in Ely Cathedral. Edward and Alfred’s sister, Goda (or Godgifu), was married firstly to Drogo, Count of Mantes and, secondly to Eustace II, Count of Boulogne. One of her sons by Drogo, Ralph, was made Earl of Hereford by his uncle, Edward, but earned himself the insulting nickname Ralph the Timid after fleeing the Welsh in battle.
As the Viking raids increased from 1010 onwards, Æthelred’s position on the throne proved precarious and he sent his wife and her young sons to Normandy for safety, before being forced into exile there himself in 1013, when Sweyn Forkbeard seized the throne. Sweyn’s death early in 1014 offered Æthelred a way back and he sent Edward to England to negotiate his return with the English Witan, who invited Æthelred to resume the throne ‘if he would govern them better than he did before’.1 Despite his promises, Æthelred proved just as inept as previously, failing to defeat the Danish invaders, led by Cnut. Æthelred died just two years later, on 23 April 1016 (ironically, St George’s Day), and was succeeded by his oldest surviving son by his first wife, Edmund II Ironside. Although Edmund put up a valiant fight against the Danish invaders, led by Cnut, a summer of fighting took its toll and he died on 30 November 1016.
Cnut took control of the whole of England and one of his first actions was to send for Emma, who he married on 2 July 1017. Although Emma appears to have had little influence during the reign of her first husband, her marriage with Cnut appears to have been a partnership. She was a more visible figure in public, enjoying considerable influence at court and offering substantial patronage to the church. She gave Cnut three children including a son, Harthacnut, and two daughters, one who’s name is lost, died aged 8 and is buried in Bosham, Sussex. A second daughter, Gunhilda, married Henry III, Emperor of Germany.
When Cnut died in 1035 Emma was in England and retired to her manor in Winchester, taking the royal treasury with her in the hope she could pass it to her son, Harthacnut. However, Harthacnut was in Denmark and it was Harold Harefoot, one of Cnut’s sons by Ælfgifu of Northampton, who seized the initiative. An agreement was reached whereby the half-brothers ruled as co-kings with Emma acting for Harthacnut and ruling in Wessex. However, two years later Harthacnut had still not returned to England and Harold took the crown for himself, driving Emma into exile with Count Baldwin in Flanders.
Harthacnut appears to have been, by far, Emma’s favourite child. It was for his accession to the English throne that she schemed, rather than for her eldest son, Edward. In the early months of 1040 she and Harthacnut were preparing to invade England when they heard of Harold’s death. Harthacnut succeeded to the English throne without a fight and a year later invited his half-brother Edward, who had spent almost 25 years in Norman exile, to join him in England as his successor.
Harthacnut reigned for just ten days short of two years, he died after collapsing during a wedding celebration at Lambeth. He was buried alongside his father in the old minster at Winchester and Emma gave the head of St Valentine to the new minster for her son’s soul. Emma’s relationship with Edward, however, was more strained than that she experienced with Harthacnut. Years of separation and a strong sense of abandonment on Edward’s part cannot have helped the situation. Following his coronation in 1043, one of Edward’s first actions was to ride to Winchester and take charge of the Treasury, which had been left in his mother’s hands by Harthacnut. Accompanied by the three greatest earls of his realm – Siward, Godwin and Leofric – ‘they deprived her of all the treasure that she had; which were immense; because she was formerly very hard upon the king her son, and did less for him than he wished before he was king…’2
Emma’s friend and close adviser, Bishop Stigand, was deprived of his bishopric, although he was later reinstated and created Bishop of Winchester. He eventually rose to be Archbishop of Canterbury but was removed from office by William the Conqueror. However, at the time of her disgrace, Emma and Stigand’s close relationship gave rise to a later legend that they were more than friends and that Emma was accused of adultery with Stigand (although the 13th century story claimed the bishop’s name was Ælfwine). There is no contemporary evidence of the story, however, and it first appears more than 100 years after the Conquest. As the story went, Emma was accused of adultery and required to walk across red-hot ploughshares in order to prove her innocence. Being neither cut nor burned by the instruments she was declared innocent. As a consequence, Emma was welcomed back into the royal circle by a contrite Edward.
Although the story is almost certainly a fabrication, Emma was eventually reconciled with Edward, although she enjoyed a much less exalted position as the king’s mother than she had when Harthacnut reigned. She eventually retired to her own estates, living away from the limelight until her death on 6 March 1052. She was buried in the old minster at Winchester, alongside her second husband, Cnut and her favourite son, Harthacnut. Emma’s story forms the basis for the book Encomium Emmae Reginae, possibly commissioned by Emma herself, which provides a significant insight into English politics for the first half of the 11th century.
Emma had played a pivotal role in English politics in the first half of the 11th century, the effects of which would lead to the fateful events of 1066. She helped to shape the events from which the unique situation of the Norman Conquest would arise. A prominent figure, particularly in the reigns of Cnut and Harthacnut, she was the most distinguished woman of her time. More than any other single person, Emma’s story provides the background to the Norman Conquest through the political and personal relationships formed in the first half of the 11th century.
*
Footnotes: 1The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by James Ingram; 2ibid.
Picture credits: Detail of Emma of Normandy before an altar courtesy of the British Library; Edward the confessor courtesy of Wikipedia; coin from the reign of Harthacnut, courtesy of Hedning, taken from Wikipedia; Genealogical table of Cnut, Harold I and Harthacnut from the Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings, British Library; Winchester Cathedral courtesy of Anne Marie Bouchard.
Sources: The English and the Norman Conquest by Dr Ann Williams; Brewer’s British Royalty by David Williamson; Britain’s Royal Families, the Complete Genealogy by Alison Weir; The Wordsworth Dictionary of British History by JP Kenyon; The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris; Harold, the King Who Fell at Hastings by Peter Rex; The Anglo-Saxons in 100 Facts by Martin Wall; The Anglo-Saxon Age by Martin Wall; Kings, Queens, Bones and Bastards by David Hilliam; The Mammoth Book of British kings & Queens by Mike Ashley; The Oxford Companion to British History Edited by John Cannon; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles translated and edited by Michael Swaton; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by James Ingram; Queen Emma and the Vikings by Harriett O’Brien; The Bayeux Tapestry by Carola Hicks; On the Spindle Side: the Kinswomen of Earl Godwin of Wessex by Ann Williams; oxforddnb.com."
FYI SSG Paul HeadleeCPL Michael PeckSgt (Join to see)PO1 Steve DittoCPL Douglas ChryslerSSG Michael Noll Maj Marty HoganSPC Michael Oles SRTSgt George RodriguezPO3 Charles Streich SGT (Join to see)SGT David A. 'Cowboy' GrothSFC (Join to see)SGT Steve McFarlandSPC Margaret Higgins PO1 H Gene Lawrence 1SG Fred BucciPO2 Frederick Dunn SMSgt David A Asbury CSM (Join to see)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP3cSdJ2w5Q
Image:
1. Detail of Queen Emma of Normandy [wife of Arethelred] before an altar
2. Queen Emma's crown
3. Emma and her children fleeing from Sven Forkbeard’s conquest of England. Manuscript Miniatures Cambridge.
4. Emma of Normandy receiving the ‘Encomium Emmae Reginae’ from its author, with her sons Harthacanute and Edward the Confessor in the background.
Background from {[https://historytheinterestingbits.com/tag/aethelred-ii-the-unready/]}
Emma of Normandy, Queen of England
In the years leading up to the Norman Conquest of 1066 one woman, in particular, stands out as the matriarch of the period: Emma of Normandy.
As wife of both Æthelred II and King Cnut, Emma of Normandy was the lynchpin of the story of the 11th century. As a Norman, and the mother of both a Danish king of England and a Saxon King of England, it was Emma who bound all three sides together in the conflict of 1066. Her story is suitably dramatic; with exile, tragedy and scandal all playing their part, starkly contrasting with the wealth and privilege of her role as the only twice-crowned Queen of England.
Emma was the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and his wife, Gunnora. Born in around 985/987, she was married to Æthelred at Winchester on 5 April 1002, at which time she was given the English name Ælfgifu, although in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle she is often referred to, simply, as ‘The Lady’. Her marriage with Æthelred was an attempt to seal a peace between England and Normandy, and to persuade the Normans not to allow the Viking raiders, who tormented England’s shores, to winter in their lands between raids into England. Despite the fact the Vikings continued to shelter in Normandy every winter, and raiding into England continued throughout the early years of the 11th century, the marriage was a success in that it produced two more sons and a daughter for Æthelred; a second family considering he was the father of as many as thirteen children by his first wife, Ælfgifu of York, including at least six sons.
Of Emma and Æthelred’s two sons the eldest, Edward, would eventually succeed his half-brother, Harthacnut, to the English throne in 1042, ruling until his death on 5 January 1066. Edward’s younger brother, Alfred, was cruelly murdered during the reign of his step-brother, Harold I Harefoot. Harold was the son of Cnut by his first, handfast wife, Ælfgifu of Northampton. Alfred had arrived in England in 1036, ostensibly to visit his mother, though there are also theories that he intended to mount a challenge for the throne, and was welcomed by Earl Godwin of Wessex. However, his party were ambushed whilst being entertained by Godwin and Alfred was seized and taken to the abbey at Ely in Cambridgeshire, where he was later blinded and either murdered, or succumbed to his wounds. Either way, he died on 5 February 1037 and was buried in Ely Cathedral. Edward and Alfred’s sister, Goda (or Godgifu), was married firstly to Drogo, Count of Mantes and, secondly to Eustace II, Count of Boulogne. One of her sons by Drogo, Ralph, was made Earl of Hereford by his uncle, Edward, but earned himself the insulting nickname Ralph the Timid after fleeing the Welsh in battle.
As the Viking raids increased from 1010 onwards, Æthelred’s position on the throne proved precarious and he sent his wife and her young sons to Normandy for safety, before being forced into exile there himself in 1013, when Sweyn Forkbeard seized the throne. Sweyn’s death early in 1014 offered Æthelred a way back and he sent Edward to England to negotiate his return with the English Witan, who invited Æthelred to resume the throne ‘if he would govern them better than he did before’.1 Despite his promises, Æthelred proved just as inept as previously, failing to defeat the Danish invaders, led by Cnut. Æthelred died just two years later, on 23 April 1016 (ironically, St George’s Day), and was succeeded by his oldest surviving son by his first wife, Edmund II Ironside. Although Edmund put up a valiant fight against the Danish invaders, led by Cnut, a summer of fighting took its toll and he died on 30 November 1016.
Cnut took control of the whole of England and one of his first actions was to send for Emma, who he married on 2 July 1017. Although Emma appears to have had little influence during the reign of her first husband, her marriage with Cnut appears to have been a partnership. She was a more visible figure in public, enjoying considerable influence at court and offering substantial patronage to the church. She gave Cnut three children including a son, Harthacnut, and two daughters, one who’s name is lost, died aged 8 and is buried in Bosham, Sussex. A second daughter, Gunhilda, married Henry III, Emperor of Germany.
When Cnut died in 1035 Emma was in England and retired to her manor in Winchester, taking the royal treasury with her in the hope she could pass it to her son, Harthacnut. However, Harthacnut was in Denmark and it was Harold Harefoot, one of Cnut’s sons by Ælfgifu of Northampton, who seized the initiative. An agreement was reached whereby the half-brothers ruled as co-kings with Emma acting for Harthacnut and ruling in Wessex. However, two years later Harthacnut had still not returned to England and Harold took the crown for himself, driving Emma into exile with Count Baldwin in Flanders.
Harthacnut appears to have been, by far, Emma’s favourite child. It was for his accession to the English throne that she schemed, rather than for her eldest son, Edward. In the early months of 1040 she and Harthacnut were preparing to invade England when they heard of Harold’s death. Harthacnut succeeded to the English throne without a fight and a year later invited his half-brother Edward, who had spent almost 25 years in Norman exile, to join him in England as his successor.
Harthacnut reigned for just ten days short of two years, he died after collapsing during a wedding celebration at Lambeth. He was buried alongside his father in the old minster at Winchester and Emma gave the head of St Valentine to the new minster for her son’s soul. Emma’s relationship with Edward, however, was more strained than that she experienced with Harthacnut. Years of separation and a strong sense of abandonment on Edward’s part cannot have helped the situation. Following his coronation in 1043, one of Edward’s first actions was to ride to Winchester and take charge of the Treasury, which had been left in his mother’s hands by Harthacnut. Accompanied by the three greatest earls of his realm – Siward, Godwin and Leofric – ‘they deprived her of all the treasure that she had; which were immense; because she was formerly very hard upon the king her son, and did less for him than he wished before he was king…’2
Emma’s friend and close adviser, Bishop Stigand, was deprived of his bishopric, although he was later reinstated and created Bishop of Winchester. He eventually rose to be Archbishop of Canterbury but was removed from office by William the Conqueror. However, at the time of her disgrace, Emma and Stigand’s close relationship gave rise to a later legend that they were more than friends and that Emma was accused of adultery with Stigand (although the 13th century story claimed the bishop’s name was Ælfwine). There is no contemporary evidence of the story, however, and it first appears more than 100 years after the Conquest. As the story went, Emma was accused of adultery and required to walk across red-hot ploughshares in order to prove her innocence. Being neither cut nor burned by the instruments she was declared innocent. As a consequence, Emma was welcomed back into the royal circle by a contrite Edward.
Although the story is almost certainly a fabrication, Emma was eventually reconciled with Edward, although she enjoyed a much less exalted position as the king’s mother than she had when Harthacnut reigned. She eventually retired to her own estates, living away from the limelight until her death on 6 March 1052. She was buried in the old minster at Winchester, alongside her second husband, Cnut and her favourite son, Harthacnut. Emma’s story forms the basis for the book Encomium Emmae Reginae, possibly commissioned by Emma herself, which provides a significant insight into English politics for the first half of the 11th century.
Emma had played a pivotal role in English politics in the first half of the 11th century, the effects of which would lead to the fateful events of 1066. She helped to shape the events from which the unique situation of the Norman Conquest would arise. A prominent figure, particularly in the reigns of Cnut and Harthacnut, she was the most distinguished woman of her time. More than any other single person, Emma’s story provides the background to the Norman Conquest through the political and personal relationships formed in the first half of the 11th century.
*
Footnotes: 1The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by James Ingram; 2ibid.
Picture credits: Detail of Emma of Normandy before an altar courtesy of the British Library; Edward the confessor courtesy of Wikipedia; coin from the reign of Harthacnut, courtesy of Hedning, taken from Wikipedia; Genealogical table of Cnut, Harold I and Harthacnut from the Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings, British Library; Winchester Cathedral courtesy of Anne Marie Bouchard.
Sources: The English and the Norman Conquest by Dr Ann Williams; Brewer’s British Royalty by David Williamson; Britain’s Royal Families, the Complete Genealogy by Alison Weir; The Wordsworth Dictionary of British History by JP Kenyon; The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris; Harold, the King Who Fell at Hastings by Peter Rex; The Anglo-Saxons in 100 Facts by Martin Wall; The Anglo-Saxon Age by Martin Wall; Kings, Queens, Bones and Bastards by David Hilliam; The Mammoth Book of British kings & Queens by Mike Ashley; The Oxford Companion to British History Edited by John Cannon; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles translated and edited by Michael Swaton; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by James Ingram; Queen Emma and the Vikings by Harriett O’Brien; The Bayeux Tapestry by Carola Hicks; On the Spindle Side: the Kinswomen of Earl Godwin of Wessex by Ann Williams; oxforddnb.com."
FYI SSG Paul HeadleeCPL Michael PeckSgt (Join to see)PO1 Steve DittoCPL Douglas ChryslerSSG Michael Noll Maj Marty HoganSPC Michael Oles SRTSgt George RodriguezPO3 Charles Streich SGT (Join to see)SGT David A. 'Cowboy' GrothSFC (Join to see)SGT Steve McFarlandSPC Margaret Higgins PO1 H Gene Lawrence 1SG Fred BucciPO2 Frederick Dunn SMSgt David A Asbury CSM (Join to see)
(5)
Reply
(0)
LTC Stephen F.
3 y
In Search of Ethelred the Unready - In Search of the Dark Ages 2nd April 1981
Resynced from best sources available.
In Search of Ethelred the Unready - In Search of the Dark Ages 2nd April 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGzDLpsoq5Y
Image:
1. Book of Condolences document with image and name of Aethelred II embossed
2. Aethelred II 'the Unready' Anglo-Saxon King of England coin made in Winchester
3. Anglo-Saxon Magna Carta - Æthelred the Unready’s Agreement of 1014.
4. Aethelred the Unready, King of England
Biographies
1. royal.uk/ethelred-ii-unready-r-978-1013-and-1014-1016
2. britannica.com/biography/Ethelred-the-Unready
1. Background from {[https://www.royal.uk/ethelred-ii-unready-r-978-1013-and-1014-1016]}
Ethelred II 'The Unready' (r. 978-1013 and 1014-1016)
Ethelred (or Aethelred), the younger son of Edgar, became king at the age of seven following the murder of his half-brother Edward II in 978 at Corfe Castle, Dorset, by Ethelred's retainers.
For the rest of Ethelred's rule (reigned 978-1016), his brother became a posthumous rallying point for political unrest; a hostile Church transformed Edward into a royal martyr. Known as the Un-raed, 'redeless' or 'Unready' (meaning 'no counsel', or that he was unwise), Ethelred failed to win or retain the allegiance of many of his subjects. In 1002, he ordered the massacre of all Danes in England to eliminate potential treachery.
Not being an able soldier, Ethelred defended the country against increasingly rapacious Viking raids from the 980s onwards by diplomatic alliance with the duke of Normandy in 991 (he later married the duke's daughter Emma) and by buying off renewed attacks by the Danes with money levied through a tax called the Danegeld. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1006 was dismissive: 'in spite of it all, the Danish army went about as it pleased'. By 1012, 48,000 pounds of silver was being paid in Danegeld to Danes camped in London.
In 1013, Ethelred fled to Normandy when the powerful Viking Sweyn of Denmark dispossessed him. Ethelred returned to rule after Sweyn's death in 1014, but died himself in 1016.
Ethelred II's position in the genealogical roll of the Kings of England © The British Library Board, Royal 14 B. VI"
2. Background from {[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ethelred-the-Unready]}
Ethelred the Unready
king of England
Ethelred the Unready, also spelled Aethelred, also called Ethelred II, or Aethelred Unraed, (born 968?—died April 23, 1016, London, England), king of the English from 978 to 1013 and from 1014 to 1016. He was an ineffectual ruler who failed to prevent the Danes from overrunning England. The epithet “unready” is derived from unraed, meaning “bad counsel” or “no counsel,” and puns on his name, which means “noble counsel.”
The son of King Edgar (ruled 959–975), Ethelred ascended the throne upon the assassination of his half brother King Edward the Martyr in March 978. Widespread suspicion that Ethelred may have had a part in the murder created much of the distrust and disloyalty that undermined his authority. Hence, there was no unified defense when the Danish invasions resumed in 980.
Nearly all of the country was ravaged, and Ethelred’s efforts to buy peace only made the invaders more rapacious. When they did begin to settle down in towns, Ethelred provoked further invasions by launching a massacre of Danish settlers (Nov. 13, 1002). By the end of 1013 the Danish king Sweyn I had been accepted as king in England, and Ethelred had fled to Normandy.
After Sweyn died in February 1014, Ethelred’s council of advisers invited him to return to the throne on condition that he agree to satisfy their grievances. At the time of Ethelred’s death in 1016, Sweyn’s son Canute was ravaging England. Ethelred was succeeded by his son Edmund II Ironside (ruled 1016); one of his other sons ruled England as Edward the Confessor from 1042 to 1066. Despite the overall failures of the reign, evidence from his charters and coinage suggest that Ethelred’s government was more effective than was once believed."
FYI LTC John Shaw 1SG Steven ImermanGySgt Gary CordeiroSMSgt Tom BurnsSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerMSG Tom EarleySGT Randell Rose[SGT Denny EspinosaA1C Riley SandersSSgt Clare MaySSG Robert WebsterCSM Chuck StaffordPFC Craig KarshnerSFC (Join to see)SPC Nancy GreenePVT Mark Zehner Lt Col Charlie BrownSP5 Dennis Loberger SSG Robert Mark Odom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGzDLpsoq5Y
Image:
1. Book of Condolences document with image and name of Aethelred II embossed
2. Aethelred II 'the Unready' Anglo-Saxon King of England coin made in Winchester
3. Anglo-Saxon Magna Carta - Æthelred the Unready’s Agreement of 1014.
4. Aethelred the Unready, King of England
Biographies
1. royal.uk/ethelred-ii-unready-r-978-1013-and-1014-1016
2. britannica.com/biography/Ethelred-the-Unready
1. Background from {[https://www.royal.uk/ethelred-ii-unready-r-978-1013-and-1014-1016]}
Ethelred II 'The Unready' (r. 978-1013 and 1014-1016)
Ethelred (or Aethelred), the younger son of Edgar, became king at the age of seven following the murder of his half-brother Edward II in 978 at Corfe Castle, Dorset, by Ethelred's retainers.
For the rest of Ethelred's rule (reigned 978-1016), his brother became a posthumous rallying point for political unrest; a hostile Church transformed Edward into a royal martyr. Known as the Un-raed, 'redeless' or 'Unready' (meaning 'no counsel', or that he was unwise), Ethelred failed to win or retain the allegiance of many of his subjects. In 1002, he ordered the massacre of all Danes in England to eliminate potential treachery.
Not being an able soldier, Ethelred defended the country against increasingly rapacious Viking raids from the 980s onwards by diplomatic alliance with the duke of Normandy in 991 (he later married the duke's daughter Emma) and by buying off renewed attacks by the Danes with money levied through a tax called the Danegeld. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1006 was dismissive: 'in spite of it all, the Danish army went about as it pleased'. By 1012, 48,000 pounds of silver was being paid in Danegeld to Danes camped in London.
In 1013, Ethelred fled to Normandy when the powerful Viking Sweyn of Denmark dispossessed him. Ethelred returned to rule after Sweyn's death in 1014, but died himself in 1016.
Ethelred II's position in the genealogical roll of the Kings of England © The British Library Board, Royal 14 B. VI"
2. Background from {[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ethelred-the-Unready]}
Ethelred the Unready
king of England
Ethelred the Unready, also spelled Aethelred, also called Ethelred II, or Aethelred Unraed, (born 968?—died April 23, 1016, London, England), king of the English from 978 to 1013 and from 1014 to 1016. He was an ineffectual ruler who failed to prevent the Danes from overrunning England. The epithet “unready” is derived from unraed, meaning “bad counsel” or “no counsel,” and puns on his name, which means “noble counsel.”
The son of King Edgar (ruled 959–975), Ethelred ascended the throne upon the assassination of his half brother King Edward the Martyr in March 978. Widespread suspicion that Ethelred may have had a part in the murder created much of the distrust and disloyalty that undermined his authority. Hence, there was no unified defense when the Danish invasions resumed in 980.
Nearly all of the country was ravaged, and Ethelred’s efforts to buy peace only made the invaders more rapacious. When they did begin to settle down in towns, Ethelred provoked further invasions by launching a massacre of Danish settlers (Nov. 13, 1002). By the end of 1013 the Danish king Sweyn I had been accepted as king in England, and Ethelred had fled to Normandy.
After Sweyn died in February 1014, Ethelred’s council of advisers invited him to return to the throne on condition that he agree to satisfy their grievances. At the time of Ethelred’s death in 1016, Sweyn’s son Canute was ravaging England. Ethelred was succeeded by his son Edmund II Ironside (ruled 1016); one of his other sons ruled England as Edward the Confessor from 1042 to 1066. Despite the overall failures of the reign, evidence from his charters and coinage suggest that Ethelred’s government was more effective than was once believed."
FYI LTC John Shaw 1SG Steven ImermanGySgt Gary CordeiroSMSgt Tom BurnsSgt Jim BelanusSGM Bill FrazerMSG Tom EarleySGT Randell Rose[SGT Denny EspinosaA1C Riley SandersSSgt Clare MaySSG Robert WebsterCSM Chuck StaffordPFC Craig KarshnerSFC (Join to see)SPC Nancy GreenePVT Mark Zehner Lt Col Charlie BrownSP5 Dennis Loberger SSG Robert Mark Odom
(5)
Reply
(0)
Posted 4 y ago
Thank you for the history share brother David.
(6)
Comment
(0)
Read This Next