Name Prefix:<NPFX> King
Name Suffix:<NSFX> Ii, Of England "The Unready"
Reigned 979-1013 (deposed) and 1014-1016. In the face of Danish raids, he was forced to pay huge tributes (Danegeld) to the enemy. He was driven into exile by Sweyn but returned after his death. Died during Canutes invasion of England. Burke says he died 1010. His tomb was lost when the old St. Paul's was destroyed in the great fire of London.
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king of England, the son of Edgar, succeeded his brother, Edward the Martyr , in 979, and, for his want of vigour and capacity, was surnamed the Unready. He paid a tribute to the Danes, raised by a tax called Danegelt, levied on his subjects. To free himself from this oppression, he caused all the Danes in England to be treacherously massacred in one day (Nov.13, 1002). On this Sweyn, king of Denmark, invaded his kingdom and compelled him to fly to Normandy, but Sweyn dying soon after, Ethelred returned and resumed the government. He died in 1016, while Canute was preparing his great expedition.
Ethelred's mother, Elfthryth, beat him with candles so hard and so often that he had a life-long phobia of them.
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Ethelred II (Old English </definition/Old_English_language>: Æþelred) (c. 968 </definition/968> - April 23 </definition/April_23>, 1016 </definition/1016>), known as the Unready, was a King </definition/List_of_monarchs_of_England> of England </definition/England> (968 </definition/968> - 1013 </definition/1013> and 1014 </definition/1014> - 1016 </definition/1016>).
According to William of Malmesbury </definition/William_of_Malmesbury>, Ethelred defecated in the baptismal font </definition/Baptismal_font> as a child, which led St. Dunstan </definition/Dunstan> to prophesy that the English monarchy would be overthrown during Ethelred's reign. This story is, however, almost certainly a fabrication.
Ethelred succeeded to the throne aged about 10 following the death of his father King Edgar </definition/Edgar_of_England> and subsequent murder of his half-brother Edward the Martyr </definition/Edward_the_Martyr>. His nickname "The Unready" does not mean that he was ill-prepared, but derives from the Anglo-Saxon </definition/Anglo-Saxon> unræd meaning without counsel. This is also a pun on his name, Æþelræd, which means "Well advised".
Ethelred had at least sixteen children from two marriages, the first to Ælfgifu </definition/%C6lfgifu>, the daughter of Thored, the ealdorman </definition/Ealdorman> of Northumbria </definition/Northumbria> and the second, in 1002 </definition/1002>, to Emma of Normandy </definition/Emma_of_Normandy>, whose great-nephew, William I of England </definition/William_I_of_England>, would later use this relationship as the basis of his claim on the throne.
England had experienced a long period of peace after the reconquest of the Danelaw in the first half of the 10th Century. However in 991 </definition/991> Ethelred was faced with a Viking fleet larger than any since Guthrum's "Summer Army" a century earlier. This fleet was led by Olaf Trygvasson </definition/Olaf_Trygvasson>, a Norwegian with ambitions to reclaim his country from under Danish domination. After initial military setbacks including the defeat of his Ealdorman Birhtnoth at the Battle of Maldon </definition/Battle_of_Maldon>, Ethelred was able to come to terms with Olaf, who returned to Norway </definition/Norway> to gain his kingdom with mixed success. While this arrangement won him some respite England faced further depredations from Viking </definition/Viking> raids. Ethelred fought these off, but in many cases followed the practice of earlier kings including Alfred the Great </definition/Alfred_the_Great> in buying them off by payment of what was to become known as Danegeld </definition/Danegeld>.
Ethelred ordered the massacre of the Danes living in England on St Brice </definition/St_Brice>'s Day (November 13 </definition/November_13>) 1002 </definition/1