Æthelred II

Æthelred II (d. 1016), king of England (978–1016). Æthelred Unræd, the ‘Unready’, or more accurately the ‘ill‐advised’, lost his kingship 1013–14, when the Danish king, Sweyn Forkbeard, forced him into exile in Normandy, the home of his second wife Emma, whom Æthelred had married in 1002. The Anglo‐Saxon Chronicler who composed a full account was heavily biased against the king, painting a grim picture of impotence, vacillation, and treachery. Modern approaches have been kinder, noting solid evidence for effective government in the legal and financial spheres and pointing to the cultural and religious elements of strength in the period. No one denies the incompetence, notably later in the reign after 1006, when Æthelred relied too much on the treacherous ealdorman Eadric Streona. It was the king's misfortune that, no military leader himself, he had to face renewed Viking onslaught which reached a peak after the defeat and death of the ealdorman Byrhtnoth at the battle of Maldon in 991. This was followed by attempts to buy off the Danes by the payment of immense sums. Sporadic violent reaction also occurred as when on the morrow of St Brice's day, 13 November 1002, Æthelred ordered ‘all the Danish men in England’ to be slain. In the later stages of the reign things got completely out of hand. Ælfheah, archbishop of Canterbury, was martyred by the Danes in 1012, and Sweyn's success the following year may be attributed in part to English war‐weariness. After Sweyn's death, Æthelred was recalled but died on 23 April 1016 in London, itself under threat from Cnut's invading and ultimately victorious army.