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ETHELRED II

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 291 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ETHELRED II . (or ETHELRED) (c. 968—I016), See also:king of the See also:English (surnamed THE UNREADY, i.e. without rede or counsel), son of King See also:Edgar by his second wife'Elfthryth, was See also:born in 968 or 969 and succeeded to the See also:throne on the See also:murder of his step-See also:brother See also:Edward (the See also:Martyr) in 979. His reign was disastrous from the beginning. The See also:year after his See also:accession the Danish invasions, See also:long unintermitted under Edgar the Peaceful, recommenced; though as yet their See also:object was See also:plunder only, not See also:conquest, and the attacks were repeated in 981, 982 and 988. In 991 the Danes burned See also:Ipswich, and defeated and slew the See also:East Saxon ealdorman Brihtnoth at See also:Maldon. After this, See also:peace was See also:purchased by a See also:payment of £IO,000—a disastrous expedient. The Danes were .to desist from their ravages, but were allowed to stay in See also:England. Next year 'Ethelred himself See also:broke the peace by an attack on the Danish See also:ships. Despite the treachery of !Elfric, the English were victorious; and the Danes sailed off to ravage See also:Lindsey and See also:Northumbria. In 994 See also:Olaf Tryggvason, king of See also:Norway, and Sweyn, king of See also:Denmark, See also:united in a See also:great invasion and attacked See also:London. Foiled by the valour of the citizens, they sailed away and harried the See also:coast from See also:Essex to See also:Hampshire.

"Ethelred now resorted to the old experiment and bought them off for £16,000 and a promise of supplies. Olaf also visited "Ethelred at the latter's See also:

request and, receiving a most See also:honourable welcome, was induced to promise that he would never again come to England with hostile See also:intent, an engagement which he faithfully kept. The Danish attacks were repeated in 997, 998, 999, and in r000 "Ethelred availed himself of the temporary See also:absence of the Danes in See also:Normandy to invade See also:Cumberland, at that See also:time a See also:Viking stronghold. Next year, however, the Northmen returned and inflicted worse evil than ever. The See also:national See also:defence seemed to have broken down altogether. In despair "Ethelred again offered them See also:money, which they again accepted, the sum paid on this occasion being £24,000. But soon afterwards the king, suspecting treachery, resolved to get rid of his enemies once and for all. Orders were issued commanding the slaughter on St Brice's See also:day (See also:December 2) of " all the Danish men who were in England." Such a See also:decree could obviously not be carried out literally; but we cannot doubt that the slaughter was great. This violence, however, only made matters worse. Next year Sweyn returned, his hostility fanned by the See also:desire for revenge. For two years he ravaged and slew; in 1003 See also:Exeter was destroyed; See also:Norwich and See also:Thetford in 1004. No effectual resistance was offered, despite a gallant effort here and there; the disorganization of the See also:country was See also:complete.

In io05 the Danes were absent in Denmark, but came back next year, and emboldened by the utter lack of resistance, they ranged far inland. In 1007 "Ethelred bought them off for a larger sum than ever (£36,000), and for two years the See also:

land enjoyed peace. In 1009, however, in accordance with a See also:resolution made by the See also:witan in the preceding year, "Ethelred collected such a See also:fleet " as never before had been in England in any king's day "; but owing to a miserable See also:court See also:quarrel the effort came to nothing. The king then summoned a See also:general See also:levy of the nation, with no better result. Just as he was about to attack, the traitor See also:Edric prevented him from doing so, and the opportunity waS lost. In roro the Danes returned, to find the See also:kingdom more utterly disorganized than ever. " There was not a See also:chief See also:man in the kingdom who could gather a force, but each fled as he best might; nor even at last would any there resist another." Incapable of offering resistance, the king again offered money, this time no less than £48,000. While it was being collected, the Danes sacked See also:Canterbury and barbarously slew the See also:archbishop See also:Alphege. The See also:tribute was paid soon afterwards; and about the same time the Danish See also:leader Thurkill entered the English service. From 1013 an important See also:change is discernible in the See also:character of the Danish attacks, which now became definitely See also:political in their aim. In this year Sweyn sailed up the See also:Trent and received the submission of See also:northern England, and then marching See also:south, he attacked London. Failing to take it, he hastened See also:west and at See also:Bath received the submission of Wessex.

Then he returned northwards, and after that " all the nation considered him as full king." London soon acknowledged him, and ?Ethelred, after taking See also:

refuge for a while with Thurkill's fleet, escaped to Normandy. Sweyn died in See also:February 1014, and 'Ethelred was recalled by the witan, on giving a promise to reign better in future. At once he hastened See also:north against Canute, Sweyn's son, who claimed to succeed his See also:father, but Canute sailed away, only to return next year, when the traitor Edric joined him and Wessex submitted. Together Canute and Edric harried See also:Mercia, and were preparing to reduce London, when /Ethelred died there on the 23rd of See also:April 1or6. Weak, self-indulgent, improvident, he had pursued a policy of opportunism to a fatal conclusion. /Ethelred's wife was Emma, or lElfgifu, daughter of See also:Richard I. the Fearless, See also:duke of the See also:Normans, whom he married in 1002. After the king's See also:death Emma became the wife of Canute the Great, and after his death in 1035 she struggled hard to secure England for her son, See also:Hardicanute. In 1037, however, when Harold Harefoot became See also:sole king, she was banished; she went to See also:Flanders, returning to England with Hardicanute in 1040. In 1043, after Edward the See also:Confessor had become king he seized the greater See also:part of Emma's great See also:wealth, and the See also:queen lived in retirement at See also:Winchester until her death on the 6th of See also:March 1052. By 'Ethelred Emma had two sons, Edward the Confessor and the wtheling /Elfred (d. 1036), and by Canute she was the See also:mother of Hardicanute. Emma's See also:marriage with /Ethelred was an important step in the See also:history of the relations between England and Normandy, and J.

R. See also:

Green says " it suddenly opened for its rulers a distinct policy, a distinct course of See also:action, which led to the See also:Norman conquest of England.

End of Article: ETHELRED II

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