 968 - 1016 (48 years)
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| Name |
Ethelred II Of England [2] |
| Prefix |
King |
| Birth |
968 |
Of, Wessex, England  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
23 Apr 1016 |
London, Middlesex. England |
| Person ID |
I52735 |
Cecilie Family |
| Last Modified |
4 Jan 2010 |
| Father |
King Edgar Of England, b. 943, Wessex, England d. 8 Jul 975, Wessex, England (Age 32 years) |
| Mother |
Queen Elfrida Of England, b. Abt 947, Of, Devonshire, England d. 1000 (Age 53 years) |
| Marriage |
964 |
Wessex, England |
| Family ID |
F22551 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 2 |
Queen Alfgifu Of England, b. Abt 968, Of, Wessex, England d. Yes, date unknown |
| Marriage |
Abt 985 |
Of, Wessex, England |
| Children |
| | 1. Elfgifu Of England, b. Abt 997, Of, Wessex, England d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 2. King Edmund II Of England, b. Abt 988, Of, Wessex, England d. 30 Nov 1016, Ross-On-Wye (Age 28 years) |
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| Family ID |
F21713 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
22 Feb 2009 |
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| Notes |
Born into the royal house of Wessex, which was at that time the effective ruler of all the Anglo-Saxons, Ethelred was a direct descendant of Alfred the Great and the son of King Edgar, who had ruled a united and peaceful England for 16 years. At Edgar's death in 975, the realm passed to Ethelred's brother Edward, who was still a child. The nobles of the kingdom formed rival parties around Edward and Ethelred, and the latter's supporters murdered Edward on March 18, 978, making Ethelred king. Edward was soon widely honored as a martyred saint, and devotion to him gave many an excuse to withhold allegiance from his successor. From the time of Ethelred's accession at the age of 9 or 10, his reign was tragically marred by the treason and revolt of his leading thegns (noblemen). The ensuing disorder was nourished by his own indecisive character and by the renewal of Danish raids on England in 980 after a pause of 25 years. Increasing Danish aggressiveness complemented the increasing English disunity and military ineffectiveness. In 991 Ethelred instituted a policy of buying off Danish raiders with lavish payments of silver. Given the inadequacy of English defenses, it was a strategically sound but psychologically demoralizing decision that mocked the heroic traditions of the Anglo-Saxons.
In the late 900's, during the reign of King Ethelred II, Danish attacks resumed. In 1016, Canute, a brother of the king of Denmark, became king of England. Canute, like Alfred, ruled as a wise and just king until his death in 1035. Two of Canute's sons followed him on the throne before the old Anglo-Saxon dynasty was restored.
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| For more information see the Our Folk - Hart family Web Site |
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| Sources |
- [S1328] Schwennicke, Detlev, ES, (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt Verlag, 1980-), 2:78 (Reliability: 3).
- [S928] BookRags, Inc, Biography of Ethelred the Unready, (http://www.bookrags.com/biography/ethelred-the-unready/).
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