Ethelred Unready (c968 - 1016). Athelred II, known as the Unready, was King of the English from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death. His epithet does not derive from the modern word unready, but rather from the Old English unrad meaning poorly advised; it is a pun on his name, which means well advised. Athelred was the son of King Edgar and Queen Alfthryth. He came to the throne at about the age of 12, following the assassination of his older half-brother, Edward the Martyr. His brother's murder was carried out by supporters of his own claim to the throne, although he was too young to have any personal involvement. The chief problem of Athelred's reign was conflict with the Danes. After several decades of relative peace, Danish raids on English territory began again in earnest in the 980s. Following the Battle of Maldon in 991, Athelred paid tribute, or Danegeld, to the Danish king. In 1002, Athelred ordered what became known as the St. Brice's Day massacre of Danish settlers. In 1013, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England, as a result of which Athelred fled to Normandy in 1013 and was replaced by Sweyn. However, he returned as king for two years after Sweyn's death in 1014. Athelred's 37-year reign was the longest of any Anglo-Saxon king of England, and was only surpassed in the 13th century, by Henry III. Athelred was briefly succeeded by his son, Edmund Ironside, but he died after a few months and was replaced by Sweyn's son, Cnut. Another of his sons, Edward the Confessor, became king in 1042. Athelred's first name, composed of the elements aeoele, noble, and rad, counsel, advice, is typical of the compound names of those who belonged to the royal House of Wessex, and it characteristically alliterates with the names of his ancestors, like Athelwulf, Alfred, Eadweard, and Eadgar. Athelred's notorious nickname, Old English Unraed, is commonly translated into present-day English as The Unready. The Anglo-Saxon noun unraed means evil counsel, bad plan, or folly. It was most often used in reference to decisions and deeds, but once in reference to the ill advised disobedience of Adam and Eve. The element raed in unraed is the same element in Athelred's name that means counsel. Thus Aepelraed Unraed is an oxymoron: Noble counsel, No counsel. The nickname has also been translated as ill-advised, ill-prepared, thus Athelred the ill-advised. Because the nickname was first recorded in the 1180s, more than 150 years after Athelred's death, it is doubtful that it carries any implications as to the reputation of the king in the eyes of his contemporaries or near contemporaries. Sir Frank Stenton remarked that much that has brought condemnation of historians on King Athelred may well be due in the last resort to the circumstances under which he became king. Athelred's father, King Edgar, had died suddenly in July 975, leaving two young sons behind. The elder, Edward, was probably illegitimate, and was still a youth on the verge of manhood in 975. The younger son was Athelred, whose mother, Alfthryth, Edgar had married in 964. Alfthryth was the daughter of Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon, and widow of Athelwold, Ealdorman of East Anglia. At the time of his father's death, Athelred could have been no more than 10 years old. As the elder of Edgar's sons, Edward-reportedly a young man given to frequent violent outbursts-probably would have naturally succeeded to the throne of England despite his young age, had not he offended many important persons by his intolerable violence of speech and behaviour. In any case, a number of English nobles took to opposing Edward's succession and to defending Athelred's claim to the throne; Athelred was, after all, the son of Edgar's last, living wife, and no rumour of illegitimacy is known to have plagued Athelred's birth, as it might have his elder brother's. Both boys, Athelred certainly, were too young to have played any significant part in the political manoeuvring which followed Edgar's death. It was the brothers' supporters, and not the brothers themselves, who were responsible for the turmoil which accompanied the choice of a successor to the throne. Athelred's cause was led by his mother and included Alfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia and Bishop Athelwold of Winchester, while Edward's claim was supported by Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Oswald, the Archbishop of York among other noblemen, notably Athelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia, and Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex. In the end, Edward's supporters proved the more powerful and persuasive, and he was crowned king at Kingston upon Thames before the year was out.
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