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| Depiction in the Abingdon Chronicle (c. 1220) |
Birth name: Æðelræd Æþeling of Ƿestseaxna rīċe
Born: c. 966, Kingdom of England
Father: King Edgar I of the English 'The Peaceful'
Mother: Lady Ælfthryth of Devon
House: Wessex
Nationality: English
Religion: Catholicism
Claim: Child of Edgar I 'The Peaceful'
Reign: 18 March 978 - c. 1013 (34 years) then c. 1014 - 23 April 1016 (2 years)
Coronation: N/A
Predecessor: Edward 'The Martyr' then Sweyn 'Forkbeard'
Successor: Sweyn 'Forkbeard' then Edmund II 'Ironside'
Died: 23 April 1016 (aged 48), London, Middlesex, Kingdom of England
Cause: Unknown illness
Burial: Old St Paul's Cathedral
Motto: N/A
Spouse(s):
- Lady Ælfgifu of York (m. c. 980 - 1002)
- Lady Emma of Normandy (m. 1002 - 1016)
Children:
- With Lady Ælfgifu of York
- Æthelstan Ætheling (c. 980 - 1014)
- Ecgberht Ætheling (??? - 1005)
- King Edmund II of the English 'Ironside' (c. 990 - 1016)
- Eadred Ætheling (??? - c. 1012)
- Eadwig Ætheling (??? - 1017)
- Edgar Ætheling (??? - 1008)
- Eadgyth Æthele, Lady of Mercia (??? - ????)
- Ælfgifu Æthele, Lady of Northumbria (??? - ????)
- Wulfhild Æthele, Lady of East Anglia (??? - ????) *disputed*
- *Unknown Æthele* Abbess of Wherwell Abbey (c. 1002 - ????)
- With Lady Emma of Normandy
- Saint King Edward of the English 'The Confessor' (c. 1003 - 1066)
- Godgifu Æthele, Countess of Boulogne (c. 1004 - c. 1049)
- Alfred Ætheling (c. 1012 - 1036)
Unknown.
Character:
Æthelred was described as polite by his contemporaries, but is most well known for his indecisive behaviour and paranoia.
Despite his pleasantries, he was also prone to moments of great cruelty, such as his massacre of the Danish population in England. He was also prone to cowardice, such as fleeing from his kingdom, and abandoning military campaigns due to his fear of being betrayed.
Æthelred was also easy to manipulate, especially by his councillors, which resulted in his nickname of 'the Unready' which is an old English pun on his name, meaning 'poorly advised'.
He was not known for his intelligence, arguably making a lot of stupid decisions that plunged England into chaos.
Biography:
Æthelred was born some time around the year 966, and was likely the youngest child of King Edgar I of England 'The Peaceful', and his third wife, Lady Ælfthryth of Devon. Due to having two older brothers, it appeared unlikely that Æthelred would have ever become King of England.
As a result of his birth order, hardly anything is known about his childhood, other than that his older brother, Edmund, died while he was still young, and his father followed not long after in 975.
The death of his father sparked a succession crisis, as both Æthelred and his older half-brother, Edward, were still only minors. Though Edward was older than Æthelred, a few nobles, including his mother, believed that Æthelred should take priority in the line of succession, resulting in two factions developing. However, this conflict would not last, and it was quickly decided that Edward would be the new King of England. Meanwhile, Æthelred was recognised as Edward's heir, and received all of the status and wealth that went along with such a role.
His brother's reign would be chaotic, with fighting between members of the nobility, though the extent that this affected Æthelred is not known.
In 978, when King Edward came to visit his brother, he was killed in mysterious circumstances. Some accused Æthelred's thegns of being involved, while others claim that the former Queen Ælfthryth had poisoned him in order for her own son to claim the throne. Either way, Æthelred is heavily implicated, though nothing is known for sure. It appears that even at the time, nobody could agree on what had truly happened to the king, and there is no record of anyone ever being punished for regicide, despite such an act being viewed as one of the greatest sins against God.
As a result of his brother's death and his lack of children, Æthelred became the new King of the English, even though he was no older than 12 years old at the time. Despite his young age and weak position, his ascension was met with great celebration and relief, and Æthelred appears to have been heavily praised and respected. His mother and two other nobles, Æthelwold and Ælfhere, began acting as his regents during his minority.
Some time around the year 980, Æthelred married his first wife, likely a woman named Lady Ælfgifu of York, and the two of them would go on to have around ten children together. The extent of their relationship is not known, and was more than likely a political union. Ælfgifu played little to no role in politics, and Æthelred's most dominant female figure in his court was his mother.
By 984, Æthelred dismissed his regents, including his mother, and began to govern on his own with new advisors. His new rule immediately put him at odds with the Church, as he tended to favour laymen, and often discouraged Church privileges.
To further complicate matters, Viking raids once again began in England. These raids then escalated into major attacks, and a dispute between England and Normandy began as Normandy was allowing the Viking raiders to use their ports. Rather than fight the Danish invaders, Æthelred and his council came to the decision that they would pay tribute instead, on the condition that they would leave England alone. Of course, the Vikings took advantage of this, took the money, and continued to invade and plunder England anyway. Eventually, though, Æthelred was finally able to pay off King Olaf of Norway, who finally kept his promise to leave England alone.
By 993, Æthelred began to view the hardships of his reign as a divine punishment for his treatment of the Church. He called back his old advisors and his mother to court and sought their assistance, blaming his naive youth for his dismissal of them. He began to restore Church property and funded religious houses in the hopes of gaining God's favour again.
Æthelred also began leading a cult surrounding his older half-brother, the former King Edward, and dedicated an abbey to him. He hoped that, as was Saxon custom for murdered kings, that Edward would be venerated as a saint. He also dedicated himself to the cult of his sainted half-sister, Edith.
However, this did not work as Æthelred had hoped, and Viking raids continued. Æthelred finally began to fight back, which would finally result in victories and successful defences.
But this did not lessen his personal tragedies, as his first wife would die in childbirth around the year 1002. Tensions also continued between England and Normandy, but peace was finally settled when Æthelred agreed to marry the Duke of Normandy's sister, Emma. This marriage created a powerful alliance between England and Normandy, and Emma would play a large role in the English court. Both she and Æthelred would go on to have three children together, with Emma frequently pushing for them to take priority over Æthelred's children from his first marriage, thus creating a lot of family tension.
One of the most defining decisions of his reign would take place in 1002, when Æthelred ordered the murder of all Danish men in England; this became known as the St Brice's Day massacre. This was popular with the people of England, and while a great number of the Danish population was killed, it's highly unlikely that all of them perished. It was rumoured that the King of Denmark’s, Sweyn Forkbeard, sister was among those who were murdered. Thus, Sweyn began more serious invasions of England and sacked many cities before being forced to retreat in 1005 due to a famine that had struck the Kingdom of England.
Æthelred would continue to grow increasingly paranoid during the later years of his first reign, and his council became increasingly chaotic. The Danes once again renewed their attacks, and many English cities began to surrender and pay tribute to the Viking forces. The Archbishop of Canterbury was even captured and held for ransom, only to then be murdered when his captors got drunk.
Sweyn Forkbeard once again joined the invasions, and in 1013, he arrived in England with a large fleet. English cities continued to surrender. He laid siege to the city of London, but Æthelred and his forces were able to hold out. But with the whole of the kingdom beginning to surrender and accept Sweyn as their new ruler, Æthelred knew he could not hold out much longer.
For their own safety, he sent his wife and children to Normandy, before he too would join them shortly after. However, Æthelred's two eldest sons, Æthelstan and Edmund, refused to leave and stayed behind to keep fighting. Æthelred had now officially lost England to the invading Vikings and Sweyn was declared the new King of the English.
However, Sweyn's reign would only last for five weeks due to his sudden death in early 1014. While the Danish population in England elected Sweyn's son, Cnut, as their new king, the English population wished to see Æthelred's return. They invited him to return to the kingdom and to become king again, with a few conditions imposed upon him due to his previous military failures. Cnut was chased out of the kingdom and Æthelred's second reign as king officially began.
Tragically, Æthelred's eldest surviving son, Æthelstan, died not long afterwards, and his second eldest son, Edmund, became his most likely heir. But the relationship between father and son would break down over the coming few months, as Æthelred ordered the murder of one of Edmund's closest allies, before refusing to allow Edmund to marry the woman he had fallen in love with. Edmund ignored his father's orders and married her anyway, creating a great rift between them.
Edmund then began to seize control of more land in the north of England, acting and styling himself as a king rather than a prince. These acts were a great treasonous and personal betrayal to Æthelred. However, it's more than likely that Edmund was attempting to protect his own interests from his step-mother and younger half-brothers.
By 1015, Cnut once again returned to England, this time with invasion forces, and began sacking towns and cities in Wessex. Æthelred was growing too sick to personally deal with these issues, and thus, the defence of the kingdom was left to Edmund. But without Æthelred's presence, the English remained chaotic and unsure of whose orders to follow, refusing to fight.
Edmund was able to finally persuade Æthelred to join them when he had recovered enough, but the king's paranoia, especially towards his son, eventually caused him to flee in fear of betrayal. This resulted in the north being captured by Cnut, and Æthelred’s health once again relapsed. Edmund finally joined his father in London in 1016, and would remain by his bedside until the end.
Æthelred was able to make peace with his son before eventually dying of an unknown illness.
Rule:
Æthelred's reign is not regarded as successful, and his poor rule is often blamed for England falling to the Vikings multiple times. Instead of fighting them off as was expected of him, Æthelred paid them off, which the Vikings were able to take advantage of to pay for stronger fleets. Of course, the Vikings were never going to keep their word to leave England alone once paid, and instead, manipulated him for even more money.
Æthelred is often viewed as an incompetent ruler, however, one can not also ignore the fact that he did reign for many years, and though he briefly lost the throne, he was able to gain it back. A lot of the issues of his reign can be blamed on bad advice from his council, especially since Æthelred had ascended to the throne at such a young age. Regardless, Æthelred still chose to listen to these advisors, and refused to learn from his mistakes.
His occasional cowardice presents a stark contrast to what was expected of a typical English king during this time period, and this cost many lives, as well as the kingdom as a whole.
Æthelred is not fondly remembered in history, and is arguably the beginning of the end of the House of Wessex's rule of the Kingdom of England.
Trivia:
- Æthelred's tomb would eventually be destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Quotes:
N/A
Timeline of Reign:
| 990: Viking raids increase - Vikings resume raids of England.
| 991: Battle of Maldon - English defeated by Vikings.
| 1000: Isle of Man raids - England raids the Isle of Man.
| 1000: Strathclyde raids - England raids the Kingdom of Strathclyde.
| 1002: St Brice's Day Massacre - Mass murder of Danish settlers in England.
| 1010: Beowulf published - Epic poems written by unknown author(s).
| 1013: First Danish Rule of England - King Sweyn Forkbeard seizes the throne of England 1 month.
| 1014: Æthelred reinstated - Beginning of Æthelred's second reign.
| 1014: Edmund's rebellion - Æthelred's son begins rebelling against him.
| 1015: Danish invasion - Cnut invades England to reclaim the throne.
Sources & Further Reading:
Bender, B. M. (2024). Aethelred the Unready. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/timeline/Aethelred_the_Unready/
Brain, J. (2022). King Aethelred The Unready. Historic UK. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Aethelred-The-Unready/
Ethelred the Unready | King of England. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ethelred-the-Unready
Ethelred the Unready.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (2022). Wikimedia.org. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ethelred_the_Unready.jpg
Keynes, S. (2016) Æthelred the Unready, King of the English: 1,000 years of bad press. University of Cambridge. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/aethelred-the-unready-king-of-the-english-1000-years-of-bad-press
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