Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
Kevin Patrick Mostyn Family - Person Sheet
NameÆthelred II 'the Unready' King Of England, 30G Grandfather
FatherEdgar 'the Peaceful' King Of England (~944-975)
MotherElfrida Queen Of England (945-1000)
Spouses
1Elfgiva Of Northumbria Queen Of England, 30G Grandmother
FatherThored Ealdorman Of Northumbria (942-)
ChildrenEdmund 'Ironside' (989-1016)
Ælfgifu (~997-)
2Emma Of Normandy Queen Of England, 31G Grandmother
FatherRichard 'the Fearless' 3d Duke Of Normandy (933-996)
MotherGunnora DE CREPON Duchess Of Normandy (~950-~1031)
ChildrenGodgifu (~1003-<1056)
Edward 'the Confessor' (~1004-1066)
Web Notes notes for Æthelred II 'the Unready' King Of England
From "Debrett's Kings and Queens of Britain" by David Williamson, ISBN 0-86350-101-X, p. 28-9:
Ethelred was undoubtedly entirely innocent of any implication in the murder of his half-brother, King Edward the Martyr, being no more than 10 or 11 at the time. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, crowned him King of England at Kingston on 14 Apr 979. Dunstan took many opportunities to foretell the calamities which were to fall upon the nation in expiation of the death of King Edward.
Ethelred has gone down in history as 'the Unready" and it is an apt sobriquet (although an incorrect rendering of the original 'Redeless' which signified lacking in counsel). Coastal raids by pirates continued through most of the reign and in 986 the King himself laid waste the diocese of Rochester to gratify his own cupidity. A pestilence among cattle, possibly foot and mouth disease, made its first appearance in England in that year.
In 994 the Norwegian King Olaf Tryggveson, called Anlaf by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and King Sweyn of Denmark sailed up the Thames with 94 ships and besieged London until the King and his council bought them off for £16,000. Olaf visited Ethelred at Andover and there was an exchange of gifts and mutual assurances of non-aggression.
Sweyn of Denmark renewed his attack in 1004, sacking and burning Norwich, and the following year there was a great famine throughout the country which forced the Danish invaders to withdraw temporarily. They were back again very soon, however, and in the course of the next few years the whole of England came under their rule. In 1013 Sweyn was acknowledged as King of England and Ethelred fled, first to the Isle of Wight, then to Normandy. Sweyn's death early in 1014 brought about Ethelred's recall and he reigned uneasily until his death in London on St George's Day, 23 Apr 1016, "after a life of much hardship and many difficulties," says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.
Ethelred was first married about 985 to Elfgiva, daughter of Ealdorman Thored of Northumbria. She bore him a large family of sons and daughters, some of whom were to die before their father. After Elfgiva's death Ethelred married again, in the spring of 1002, this time choosing a bride from the Continent. She was Emma, the eldest daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and the marriage was to have very far-reaching repercussions. The new Queen assumed the popular English name of Elfgiva and gave Ethelred two more sons and a daughter. After his death, she married King Canute.
Ethelred was undoubtedly entirely innocent of any implication in the murder of his half-brother, King Edward the Martyr, being no more than 10 or 11 at the time. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, crowned him King of England at Kingston on 14 Apr 979. Dunstan took many opportunities to foretell the calamities which were to fall upon the nation in expiation of the death of King Edward.
Ethelred has gone down in history as 'the Unready" and it is an apt sobriquet (although an incorrect rendering of the original 'Redeless' which signified lacking in counsel). Coastal raids by pirates continued through most of the reign and in 986 the King himself laid waste the diocese of Rochester to gratify his own cupidity. A pestilence among cattle, possibly foot and mouth disease, made its first appearance in England in that year.
In 994 the Norwegian King Olaf Tryggveson, called Anlaf by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and King Sweyn of Denmark sailed up the Thames with 94 ships and besieged London until the King and his council bought them off for £16,000. Olaf visited Ethelred at Andover and there was an exchange of gifts and mutual assurances of non-aggression.
Sweyn of Denmark renewed his attack in 1004, sacking and burning Norwich, and the following year there was a great famine throughout the country which forced the Danish invaders to withdraw temporarily. They were back again very soon, however, and in the course of the next few years the whole of England came under their rule. In 1013 Sweyn was acknowledged as King of England and Ethelred fled, first to the Isle of Wight, then to Normandy. Sweyn's death early in 1014 brought about Ethelred's recall and he reigned uneasily until his death in London on St George's Day, 23 Apr 1016, "after a life of much hardship and many difficulties," says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.
Ethelred was first married about 985 to Elfgiva, daughter of Ealdorman Thored of Northumbria. She bore him a large family of sons and daughters, some of whom were to die before their father. After Elfgiva's death Ethelred married again, in the spring of 1002, this time choosing a bride from the Continent. She was Emma, the eldest daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy, and the marriage was to have very far-reaching repercussions. The new Queen assumed the popular English name of Elfgiva and gave Ethelred two more sons and a daughter. After his death, she married King Canute.