King Ethelred II the Unready of England

  General Notes:

Æthelred II, King of England (Æthelred the Unready)
Æthelred II, 968-1016, king of England (978-1016), lost his kingdom to Danish conquerors. His nickname, "the Unready," is derived from the Old English unrede, meaning that he lacked advice. Beginning his reign under suspicion of murdering his half-brother, King Edward the Martyr, Æthelred proved a weak ruler. In 980 the Danes renewed their raids on England after a 25-year truce. Unable to mount effective resistance, Æthelred began payment (991) of the Danegeld, a form of tribute, to buy off the raiders. In 1013, however, the Danes under Sweyn overran the entire country, and Æthelred fled to Normandy. Although he returned in 1014, the Danish king Canute completed the Danish conquest of England in 1016, shortly after Æthelred's death. Bibliography: Stenton, F. M., Anglo-Saxon England, 3d ed.(1971). [Grolier's On-Line Encyclopedia]

Æthelred, 965?-1016, king of England (978-1016), called Æthelred the Unready [from Old Eng. unroed = without counsel]. He was the son of Edgar and the half brother of Edward the Martyr. The obscure circumstances of Edward’s murder in 978 started Æthelred’s reign under a cloud of suspicion. The catastrophes of the period occurred partly because Æthelred was a weak king, but his reign coincided with the height of Danish power, and his people were often treacherous. His first payment of tribute to raiding Danes was in 991 - a payment he raised by the Danegeld then and frequently thereafter. In 997 the Danes came not only to raid but to stay and plunder the rich realm until 1000. It is impossible to assign reasons or blame for the devastation of Strathclyde by the English in 1000 or the massacre of Danes in England in 1002, both of which may have been at the king’s order. Æthelred tried to defend his kingdom; in 1002 he married Emma, sister of Richard II, duke of Normandy, perhaps in an attempt to gain an ally; in 1007 the army was placed under a single commander; by 1009 a navy had been built, but was rendered useless by the treason of many commanders, who took to piracy. A severe harrying (1009-12) by the Danes left England disorganized and hopeless, and when the Danish king Sweyn returned in 1013 to conquer, he was well received in the Danelaw, and London capitulated without much fighting. Æthelred fled to Normandy. Upon Sweyn’s death in 1014, Æthelred’s restoration was negotiated in the first recorded pact between an English king and his subjects. Canute, son of Sweyn, withdrew, but returned in 1015 and was opposed desperately by Æthelred and his son, Edmund Ironside. Æthelred died in April, 1016; Edmund was declared his successor and made a treaty with Canute, but died in November. Æthelred’s heirs were restored only with Edward the Confessor. [The Illustrated Columbia Encyclopedia, 3rd ed., 1969]

Ethelred II (?968-1016), king of England, ‘the Unready.’ His energy was largely spent in keeping off the Northmen. His brutal massacre of Danes (1002) in a time of peace renewed the invasions, which ended in the rule of Sweyn over all England (1013). [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]

He was aged 7 when his father died and ten when the murder of his half-brother Edward the Martyr placed him on the throne. He was swayed by unworthy favourites and his reign was marked by raids by the Northmen and attempts to buy them off. He was ‘redeless’ or unready - lacking in foresight. Fierce Danish invasions forced him to flee to Normandy in 1014. The death of Sweyn allowed him to return, to die in 1016. Succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Edmund. {Burke’s Peerage} [GADD.GED]

Crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames in 979, he later fled to Normandy after the Danish invasion in the autumn of 1013. He was restored to his throne upon the death of Sweyn, Feb 1014. [His regain of the throne is not shown in the Begin Reign-End Reign Events, only the initial reign. (ph)] [HALL.GED]

"The Unready" King of England 978-1016. Buried St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. [ROWLEYHR.GED]

Additional information: Britannia.com http://britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon14.html

King of England (978-1013)+(1014-16) -crowned Kingston-upon-Thames 4 Apr 978. [genealogy.eu]

  Noted events in his life were:

• Alt. Birth, Abt 966-968. ⁷⁶⁶

Ethelred married Elgiva Gunnarsson, daughter of Thored Gunnarsson, Alderman of York and Unknown, about 985 in England.¹⁷ (Elgiva Gunnarsson was born in 968,⁷⁶⁵ died in May 1002 in Winchester, Hampshire, England ⁷⁶⁶ and was buried in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England ⁷⁶⁶.)

Ethelred next married Emma of Normandy, daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy and Gonnor de Crepon, of Denmark, on 5 Apr 1002 in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England.⁷⁶⁶ (Emma of Normandy was born about 985 in Normandy, France, died on 6 Mar 1052 in Winchester, Hampshire, England and was buried in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England.)