Saxon king of England from 968 to 1013 and from 1014 to 1016.
Following the death of his father king Edgar (959-) on July 8th, 975, a faction led by his mother, Queen Elfrida, sought the throne for the infant Ethelred but her step-son Edward had the greater support, including that of St Dunstan (arhcbishop of Canterbury), and was confirmed as king by the witan.
Undaunted, Elfrida had the young king (aged only sixteen) murdered at her seat at Corfe Castle in Dorset while
he was hunting on the Isle of Purbeck on March 18th, 978, to make way for the infant Ethelred, himself only ten years of age.
Ethelred succeeded the murdered Edward but his was not a happy lot as his reign became a period of fierce conflict with the Danes who over-ran the country many times, fulfilling the prophesy attributed to St Dunstan at Ethered's christening.
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His name in Old English was '��elred ', meaning 'well-advised '. he was surnamed 'the Unready ' not from a lack of preparedness but from the Old English 'unr�d ' meaning 'without counsel ' - a pun on his name.
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Ethelred was married twice, first to Elgiva and, in 1002 to Emma of Normandy. He had at least sixteen children and his sons, Edmund Ironside and Edward the Confessor both became kings of England.
A long series of Danish raids in 1001 (see the time-line below) and the treachery of his generals forced the king to raise a Danegeld of £24,000 to pay off the Danish fleet in 1002. Sveyn Haraldsson of Denmark had participated in a Norwegian-led raid against England in 994-5, but Ethelred's ordering of the massacre of the Danes living in England on November 23rd, 1002 (the 'St Brice's Day Massacre") prompted the Danish monarch to make a series of determined campaigns to conquer England (1003-5, 1006-7, 1009-1012 and 1013).
By Chritmas Day, 1013, Ethelred and his sons Edward and Alfred had fled to Normandy with his wife Emma to seek the protection of her brother Duke Richard II and Sweyn was the undisputed king of England. Sweyn only reigned for five weeks, dying on February 2nd, 1014.
Ethelred returned to England in 1014.
He died on April 23rd, 1016 in London and was buried in Old St Pauls Cathedral. He was succeeded to the throne by his son, Edmund II.
| 975.Jul.08 | | Death of Edgar, King of England at Winchester.
Edward the Martyr becomes King of England supported by St Dunstan and confirmed by the Witan but opposed by his step-mother, Queen Elfrida | | BAAAGEEM BAAAGDIT BAAAGEEQ BAAAGEER BAAAGEES BAAAGDDN BAAAGEIE | | 978.Mar.18 | | Murder of King Edward the Martyr at Corfe Castle (village) on the Isle of Purbeck by his step-mother, Queen Elfrida to make way for her own son Ethelred | | BAAAGBYS BAAAGEEM BAAAGBSJ BAAAGCAN BAAAGEER BAAAGEES BAAAGEGA | | 980 | | Southampton plundered by raiders - most of the population killed or imprisoned (ASC) | | BAAAGGAL | | 981 | | Coast of Devon and Wales plundered by raiders (ASC) | | BAAAGCEI BAAAGBKA | | circa 981 | | Birth of the future king Edmund II (Ironside) (1016) to Ethelred II | | BAAAGEEO | | 986 | | \'this year came first the murrain of cattle in England\' - (The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) | | BAAAGBRO | | 988 | | Goda, theign of Devonshire, killed \'and a great many with him\' (ASC) | | BAAAGCEI | | 988.May.19 | | Death of Dunstan (c.909-), Archbishop of Canterbury (961-) - succeeded by Ethelgar (ASC)
Ethelgar only lived 15 months | | BAAAGEES | | 989 | | Siric invested archbishop (ASC)
He travelled to Rome to recieve his pallium | | | | 999 | | The Danes sail up the river Medway to Rochester, ravaging Kent (ASC)
The failure of the English navy may have been due to treachery | | BAAAGBFI BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1000 | | At the time, it
was widely believed that the world would end, if not in 1000AD, then in 1033 | | | | 1001 | | Danes attack Exmouth but are repelled (ASC) | | BAAAGCEI BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1001 | | Army raised in Devon and Somerset routed by the Danes and many slaughtered (ASC) | | BAAAGCEI BAAAGCEE BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1001 | | Danes raid through Devon | | BAAAGCEI BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1001 | | Danes rove about and plunder the Isle of Wight | | BAAAGCEM BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1001 | | Danes raid into Hampshire and win battle against the English at Alton before proceeding to Devon (ASC) | | BAAAGCEG BAAAGCEI BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN BAAAGEFP BAAAGEFQ | | 1001 | | Danes joined in Devon by the Saxon traitor Paley (ASC) | | BAAAGCEI BAAAGBRO BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1002 | | A Danegeld of
�24,000 was raised to pay off the Danish fleet (ASC) | | BAAAGDDN | | 1002 | | Ealdorman Leofsy banished from Wessex by Ethelred II for the murder of the high steward Eafy (ASC) | | BAAAGCBS BAAAGEGA | | 1002 | | Death of Archbishop Eadulf (ASC) | | | | 1002 | | Ethelred II the Unready marries his seond wife, Emma of Normandy | | | | 1002.Nov.13 | | The Massacre of St Brices Day: King Ethelred II orders the murder of all Danes in England (ASC) | | BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN BAAAGEGA | | 1003 | | Exeter sacked by the Danes (ASC) | | BAAAGBAV BAAAGDZD BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1003 | | Danish raiders enter Wiltshire (ASC)
Wessex force gathered from Witls. and Hants. to meet the Danes retreat through treachery of Ealdorman Elfric | | BAAAGCDL BAAAGCEG BAAAGCBS BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1003 | | Sweyn and the Danes plunder and burn Wilton (ASC) | | BAAAGCEO BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1003 | | Danes under Sweyn plunder Sarum before returning to the sea and the Danish fleet (ASC) | | BAAAGCVP BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | circa 1003 | | Birth of Edward (later King Edward the Confessor) to King Ethelred the Unready at Islip, Oxfordshire | | BAAAGBIW | | 1004 | | Ulfketyls victory over the
Danes at Thetford saved Norfolk from invasion (ASC) | | BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1004 | | Danes led by Sweyn plunder and burn Norwich (ASC) | | BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1004 | | Danes under Sweyn burn Thetford (ASC) | | BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1005 | | Danish fleet return to Denmark (ASC) | | BAAAGDDN | | 1005 | | Death of Archbishop Elfric - succeeded by Bishop Elfeah (Alphege or Alphage - bihop of Winchester) (ASC) | | BAAAGEIE | | 1005 | | Great famine in England - worse than any in living memory (ASC) | | BAAAGBIA | | 1012 | | Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury murdered | | BAAAGEGA | | 1013 | | Ethelred the Unready, Edward (later king Edward the Confessor) and his brother Alfred taken to Normandy by Emma to shelter from the Danish invasion under the protection of her brother
Richard II | | BAAAGBIW BAAAGBKX BAAAGDDN | | 1013.Dec.25 | | Sweyn Haraldsson Forkbeard (king of Denmark, 985-1014) became king of England (-02.Feb.1014) after the flight of Ethelred the Unready | | | | 1015 | | Edmund Ironside defeated the
Danes at Brentford | | BAAAGEEO BAAAGDDL BAAAGDDN | | 1015 | | Danish fleet under Canute over-winters in Poole Harbour and lays waste to the surroundings | | BAAAGBYS BAAAGBRA BAAAGBSR BAAAGDDN | | 1015 | | Edmund Ironside defies his father by marrying the widow of a Danish earl in Mercia | | BAAAGEEO BAAAGBIU BAAAGDDN | | 1016.Apr.23 | | Death of Ethelred II, Saxon the Unready, King of England. He was succeeded by his son, Edmund II Ironside
London voted for Edmund II to succeed to the throne, Southampton for Canute I | | BAAAGEEO BAAAGGAL | | 1029 | | Canonisation of St Dunstan (909-988), Archbishop of Canterbury (961-988) | | BAAAGEES |
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