Wednesday 14 February 2018
Æthelred the Unready
Æthelred the Unready, or Æthelred II (Old English: Æþelræd (Old English pronunciation: [æðelræːd])), (c. 968 – 23 April 1016) was King of the English (978–1013 and 1014–1016). He was the son of King Edgar the Peaceful and Queen Ælfthryth and was between ten and thirteen years old when his half-brother Edward the Martyr was murdered on 18 March 978. Although Æthelred was not personally suspected of participation, the murder was committed at Corfe Castle by his attendants, making it more difficult for the new king to rally the nation against the military raids by Danes, especially as the legend of St Edward the Martyr grew.
From 991 onwards, Æthelred paid tribute, or Danegeld, to the Danish king. In 1002, Æthelred ordered what became known as the St. Brice's Day massacre of Danish settlers. In 1003, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England, as a result of which Æthelred fled to Normandy in 1013 and was replaced by Sweyn. He would return as king, however, after Sweyn's death in 1014.
"Unready" is a mistranslation of the Old English word unræd (meaning bad-counselled, the ræd being cognate with Rat in German), a twist on his name "Æthelred", meaning noble-counseled. It should not be "unprepared", but rather "ill-advised".
Featured Post
Popular Posts
-
For many centuries, from the time of the Normans, until 1919, one of the main families in my family tree, the Mainwaring's owned and liv...
-
My 5x great uncle Richard Kelsall Glenton, a customs clerk who lived 1794 - 1863, was featured in episode 1 of A House Through Time, first ...
-
Below is the tomb of William Longespee, son of Henry II, husband of Ela Countess of Salisbury, founder of Salisbury Cathedral, where...
-
I recently visited the National Trust property of Baddesley Clinton in Warwickshire, home to the Ferrers family for many centuries from the ...
-
Sir Philip Mainwaring was born in 1589, the 7th son of Sir Randle Mainwaring (1553 – 1612) of Over Peover, Cheshire and Margaret Fitton ( - ...
-
Earlier this year I visited the New Forest. Just outside the village of Boldre, near Lymington, at the top of the hill is one of England’s o...
-
The war medals of George Edward Hindley and John Henry Hindley were sold at auction by Lawrence's auction house on 3 November 2011 for...
-
My great aunt Hilda Heywood was born in October 1909 in Bolton to Ellen Eliza Hindley and Ernest Heywood. She was their eldest child. In A...