Æthelred the Unready: Loses His Crown To The Vikings
Æthelred: birth c.968/crowned King of the English 979 and again in 1015 /death 1016 at age 48/spouses, Ælfgifu of York 970-1002 and Emma of Normandy, 1002-1016
House: Wessex/Father, King Edgar/Mother, Ælfthryth
Children: [With Ælfgifu]-Æthelstan, Ecgberht, Edmund Ironside, Eadred, Eadwig, Edgar, Edith, [With Emma]-Edward the Confessor and Godgifu
Reign: 978-1013 and 1014-1016
Buried at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Æthelred the Unready reigned for nearly thirty-eight years. His nickname ‘the Unready’ is based on an Anglo-Saxon pun, which notices that Æthelred means literally “noble counsel” and adds to it the Anglo-Saxon compound noun “unraed,” which means “no-counsel” or perhaps “bad-counsel.” Æthelred was ten years of age when crowned king and was initially surrounded by individuals older and more authoritative than himself: notably his mother Queen Ælfthryth, Bishop Aethelwold of Winchester, and Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury.
Æthelred the Unready, the Anglo-Saxon king, was buried in Old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. His tomb and monument were destroyed along with the cathedral during the Great Fire of London in 1666. He was the first English monarch to be buried at St. Paul’s, a location that later became a symbol of London’s growing importance. Source: Medievalists.net
Although Æthelred inherited a peaceful and prosperous England, the manner in which he inherited it was underhanded and just plain evil. Explained in our previous entry Edward the Martyr: The Murdered King, it is worth a quick revisit. Æthelred’s father was Edgar the Peaceful, great grandson of Alfred the Great. Due to his assertive actions that included building and training the military and creating defensive buhrs along England’s coastline, King Edgar’s reign is known for its lack of conflict because Viking activity was greatly diminished. A new feeling of national cohesion, organization and confidence was formed. The first European common literary language began to take shape while education of those outside of the church was on the rise. English illuminated manuscripts were in high demand throughout Europe. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Saint Dunston, with great support, increased religious commitment and reform.
These achievements were tarnished by the treacheries that occurred after King Edgar’s death. His first-born son Edward was crowned king on July 8, 975 but there was immediate opposition and support of his second-born son Æthelred (who was born while he was married to his second wife Ælfthryth) to become king instead. On March 18, 978, King Edward was invited to visit his stepmother Ælfthryth and half-brother Æthelred at Corfe Castle. As he arrived on his horse, he was promptly stabbed to death in the courtyard by retainers. The untimely death of King Edward earned him great devotion and he was canonized in 1008. We will never know exactly who was behind the attack but Ælfthryth and Æthelred benefited from Edward’s death. Under a cloud of treachery and murder, he was crowned on April 4, 978 at ten years old. At first important council members including Bishop of Winchester Aethelwold, Queen Ælfthryth, and Archbishop of Canterbury Dunstan oversaw royal affairs. After Aethelwold died in 984, King Æthelred took over the government, declaring his coming-of-age at sixteen years of age. Given that his mother Queen Ælfthryth vanishes from the witness list of charters between 985 and 993, historians believe that she was no longer serving as a consultant to her son after he declared his independence.
Beginning in the 980s, small bands of Vikings once again began conducting coastline assaults and raids in England. In 991, a much larger band of Vikings arrived at Folkestone in Kent, made its way around the south-east coast and up the River Blackwater, came eventually to its estuary, and occupied Northey Island. The battle that followed between English and Danes is immortalized in the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon, which describes the doomed but heroic attempt of the Ealdorman of Essex, Byrhtnoth, to defend the coast of Essex against overwhelming odds. Once Byrhtnoth was killed, the conflict swung in the Vikings’ favor. The battle’s historical significance is how starkly it revealed England’s military weakness under King Æthelred.
Source: Travel UK
Maldon is a town located in Essex, England, about 50 miles northeast of London. It is specifically on the Blackwater Estuary, approximately 15 miles southwest of Colchester. The town is known for its historical significance and the production of Maldon Sea Salt
Source: The Battle of Malden
The Battle of Maldon, that took place in 991CE in the area pictured above that gained fame because of The Old English poem that is usually called ‘The Battle of Maldon.’ [Source: The Battle of Malden]
Source: The Battle of Maldon sometimes called Byrhtnoth’s Death
The beginning and end of the old English poem now titled ‘The Battle of Maldon’ are missing, so historians are not sure if that was the original title. but there are still 325 lines which provide lots of interesting detail. The battle between Vikings and Saxons took place near Maldon, Essex in 991 and the poem was composed around 995, but nothing is known about its author. Its hero Byrhtnoth, (pronounced ‘Brithnoth’) who was an Ealdorman of Essex at the time favored combat over paying the Vikings to leave the area. Tragically, Byrhtnoth was killed, and his decapitated body was later found with his gold-hilted sword still by his side.
Source: The Battle of Maldon sometimes called Byrhtnort’s Death
Following the many clues in the poem, ‘The Battle of Maldon,’ Northey Island which is 2 km to the east of Maldon seems to be the best match.
The Battle of Maldon, 991, illustration from ‘Hutchinson’s Story of the British Nation’, c.1923
For the next twenty-five years, the Vikings would continue to pose a significant threat to England because the military structure developed by King Alfred and utilized by Kings Edgar and Edward had deteriorated. King Edgar’s powerful fleet of warships no longer maintained by the crown were not well maintained by local authorities and many were no longer fit for service. Taking advantage of the unpreparedness of King Æthelred and his advisors, crews of raiding armies drawn from all around Scandinavia and recruited by Scandinavian nobility, unified by a desire to accumulate the wealth that lay in the prosperous England, traveled by ship to English shores, established a base, secured their vessels, stole horses and rode inland in search of plunder: their usual targets being towns and monasteries known for their rich pickings.
Æthelred and his advisors turned to ‘payment of tribute’ to dissuade the Vikings from increased pillaging. Over fifty thousand pounds were paid to groups of Vikings in the few years after the Battle of Maldon. Some Danes settled in Wessex and became farmers, some intermarried with the Anglo-Saxon population. In 1002, King Æthelred’s advisors warned that there was a plot afoot among the Danes to murder him and take all his lands. He therefore gave the order to execute every Dane residing in England. Today, this is known as the St. Brice’s Day Massacre. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains one of the earliest accounts of what happened that day:
…the king ordered all the Danish men who were among the English race to be killed on Brice’s Day, because it was made known to the king that they wanted to ensnare his life – and afterwards all of his councillors – and have his kingdom afterwards.
As the Chronicler reveals, this bloody event occurred on the feast day, 13 November, of a now-obscure saint named St. Brice of Tours, thus giving the massacre its name. We have an even earlier account of the massacre, though. Amazingly, it comes from the man who ordered it: King Æthelred
…it will be well known that a decree was sent out by me with the counsel of my leading men and magnates, to the effect that all the Danes who had sprung up in this island, sprouting like weeds among the wheat, were to be destroyed by a most just extermination. [Source: Brandon M. Bender]
In 2008, the significance of the St Brice’s Day Massacre was brought home to St John’s when the remains of at least thirty-five young men brutally murdered during the Massacre were discovered beneath the site of Kendrew Quadrangle. Since then, the College has marked St Brice’s Day with various public-facing talks and events that reflected on the history of the College and its connection with eleventh-century Oxford. Source: Remembering St Brice’s Day Massacre
St Brice’s Day Massacre, from Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, 1890. Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo.
Historians believe there was a considerable loss of life after Æthelred’s orders were acted upon and the massacre did nothing to stem the tide of Vikings arriving on England’s shores. Among the massacre’s victims were Gunhilde sister of Sweyn Forkbeard King of Denmark and daughter of Harald Bluetooth. Gunhilde’s husband, Pallig, a Dane who served King Æthelred as Ealdorman of Devonshire was killed with her. In 1004, Forkbeard arrived in East Anglia, taking over Norwich but ultimately meeting resistance just outside of Thetford. So numerous were Viking casualties and so impactful the famine in the British Isles that year, the Vikings quickly returned to Denmark. However, Viking ships continued to bring marauders who received tribute money from King Æthelred to peacefully stay or leave.
Sweyn, known as Forkbeard due to his long, cleft beard, was the son of Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark and was born around 960 AD. Viking warrior though he was, Sweyn was baptized a Christian, his father having converted to Christianity.
Another Viking leader, Thorkell the Tall, arrived in England with a large raiding army of forty-five ships in August 1009. King Æthelred and his government had seen no Army as powerful as the Danish Army that was led by this warlord and his brother Hemming. They landed in Kent and began a campaign that ravaged much of southern England, stopping only after King Æthelred paid them a series of Danegeld payments, (some say as much as 48,000 pounds of silver). Not only did King Æthelred pay Thorkell and his men tribute money, but he also asked them to work as mercenaries for England. They agreed and, at this point, Thorkell and his men became independent agents working for the English king. To cover his payments to the Vikings King Æthelred established an annual land tax called Heregeld (or Army tax) in 1012. This was different from Danegeld (also called Gafol) because rather than buying off the raiders, it was used to finance a standing army and navy composed of Scandinavian mercenaries led by Thorkell the Tall.
Thorkell the Tall was a Viking leader who was prominent in English affairs during the reigns of King Æthelred (Anglo-Saxon king from 978 to 1016) and Cnut (Danish king of England 1016–35). Source: Facebook
Thorkell the Tall [Source: Brittanica]
In 1013, Sven Forkbeard returned to England. He came this time to conquer. As King of Denmark, he gathered followers from around Scandinavia and entered England with the goal of becoming its king. During this time, he established himself as a general superior to all other Viking leaders of this period. At this point, Æthelred fled to Normandy, English resistance crumbled, and Sven Forkbeard took over English rule. Æthelred’s flight put an end to any remaining doubts of Sven’s legitimacy. The lineage of English kings was now broken. Sven ruled as King of England and Denmark until his death in 1014 when his son Cnut the Great took over.
In the meantime, a group of English noblemen visited Æthelred to discuss a return to England and the throne with the understanding that he would swear allegiance to them, implement all of the changes they recommended and forgive them for any previous tyranny against him. This agreement, often considered a crucial point in English constitutional history, set conditions for Æthelred ‘s restoration. The English nobles, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, desired a “gentler” ruler, and Æthelred agreed to forgive past offenses committed against him during the period of Viking invasions and upheaval. Essentially, the nobility demanded a more just and responsive style of governance in exchange for their support in restoring him to power. This demonstrates a rising assertiveness on the part of the English nobility and their desire for a more accountable monarchy.
Recalled by the Witan (a council of English nobility) King Æthelred the Unready returned to England as king in March or April of 1014. Cnut continued to conduct raids on shires throughout England. With Æthelred’s health failing, his son Edmund tried to form armies to challenge Cnut but one by one they disbanded. On 23rd April 1016, as battles for control continued, Æthelred passed away, leaving the fate England in the hands of his son Edmund. He was buried at the church of St. Paul the Apostle.
An etching from Wenceslaus Hollar depicts Æthelred’s tomb (on the right) at St. Paul’s in London as it appeared in the 17th century. [Source: Brandon M. Bender]
Æthelred’s coinage (examples of which are shown below) was the result of a monetary system that historians believe to be one most impressive aspects of Anglo-Saxon royal government. As designs for the coins were changed, old batches were recalled and new batches issued, allowing them to maintain control of the economy. But as well as this advanced system, the designs on the obverse and reverse of the coins tell the story of Æthelred’s reign. The king’s name, portrait and royal style (the title he was given, e.g., ‘king of the English’), on the obverse, were complemented by the name of the moneyer and the mint who had made it, along with a Christian design or motif, on the reverse. [Source: History Today]
Hand of God (c.980)
The hand of God and the presence of Christ (signified by Alpha and Omega on either side as ‘A w’, just visible) signify divine approval in the early years of Æthelred’s reign. On the reverse can be read the mint’s location: London. Source: History Today
Long Cross (c.997)
The adoption of a striking portrait, modelled on a coin-type from imperial Rome, reflects growing confidence in the king in his early years. Minted in Cambridge.
Source: History Today
