| Notes |
- Edmund
Reign 23 April – 30 November 1016
Predecessor Æthelred the Unready
Successor Cnut the Great
Died 30 November 1016
Oxford or London, England
Burial Glastonbury Abbey
Spouse Ealdgyth
Issue Edward the Exile
Edmund
House Wessex
Father Æthelred the Unready
Mother Ælfgifu of York
Religion Catholicism
Edmund Ironside
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edmund II (died 30 November 1016), usually known as
Edmund Ironside, was King of England from 23 April to 30
November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the
Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York. Edmund's reign
was marred by a war he had inherited from his father, his
cognomen "Ironside" was given to him "because of his
valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut the
Great.[1]
Edmund was not expected to be King of England; however,
by 1014 two elder brothers had died, making him the oldest
male heir. His father, Æthelred, was usurped by Sweyn
Forkbeard in that same year, but Sweyn died shortly
thereafter, paving the way for Æthelred and his family to
return to the throne, which they did but not without
opposition. In the process they forced Sweyn's son, Cnut,
back to Denmark, where he assembled an invasion force to
re-conquer England. It would not arrive for another year.
After regaining the throne, the royal family set about
strengthening its hold on the country with the assistance of
Eadric Streona (Edmund's brother-in-law). People who had
sided with the Danes in 1014 were punished, and some were
killed. In one case, two brothers, Morcar and Sigeferth, were
killed and their possessions, along with Sigferth's wife, were
taken by Edmund. Edmund unofficially became the Earl of
the East Midlands and took Ealdgyth for his wife.
Cnut returned to England in August 1015. Over the next few
months, Cnut pillaged most of England. Edmund joined
Æthelred to defend London, but he died on 23 April 1016,
making Edmund King. It was not until the summer of 1016
that any serious fighting was done: Edmund fought five
battles against the Danes, ending in his defeat on 18 October
at the Battle of Assandun, after which they agreed to divide
the kingdom, Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest of the
country. Edmund died shortly afterwards on 30 November, leaving two sons, Edward and Edmund; however,
Cnut became the king of all England, and exiled remaining members of the royal family.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Warrior prince
3 King of England
4 Death
5 Reputation
6 Descendants
7 Ancestry
8 In culture
9 See also
10 Citations
11 Sources
12 External links
Early life
The exact date of Edmund's birth is unclear, but it could have been no later than 993 when he was a signatory to
charters along with his two elder brothers. He was the third of the six sons of King Æthelred the Unready and
his first wife, Ælfgifu, who was probably the daughter of Earl Thored of Northumbria. His elder brothers were
Æthelstan (died 1014) and Egbert (died c. 1005), and younger ones, Eadred, Eadwig and Edgar.[1] He had four
sisters, Eadgyth (or Edith), Ælfgifu, Wulfhilda, and the Abbess of Wherwell Abbey. His mother died around
1000,[2] after which his father remarried, this time to Emma of Normandy, who had two sons, Edward the
Confessor and Alfred and a daughter Goda.
Æthelstan and Edmund were close, and they probably felt threatened by Emma's ambitions for her sons.[3] The
Life of Edward the Confessor, written fifty years later, claimed that when Emma was pregnant with him, all
Englishmen promised that if the child was a boy they would accept him as king.[1] However that claim may just
be propaganda.
Warrior prince
When Sweyn Forkbeard seized the throne at the end of 1013 and Æthelred fled to Normandy, the brothers do
not appear to have followed him, but stayed in England. Æthelstan died in June 1014 and left Edmund a sword
which had belonged to king Offa of Mercia.[1] His will also reflected the close relationship between the
brothers and the nobility of the east midlands.[4]
Sweyn died in February 1014, and the Five Boroughs accepted his son Cnut, who married a kinswoman of
Sigeferth and Morcar, as king. However, Æthelred returned to England and launched a surprise attack which
defeated the Vikings and forced Cnut to flee England. In 1015 Sigeferth and Morcar came to an assembly in
Oxford, probably hoping for a royal pardon, but they were murdered by Eadric Streona. King Æthelred then
ordered that Sigeferth's widow, Ealdgyth, be seized and brought to Malmesbury Abbey, but Edmund seized and
married her in defiance of his father, probably to consolidate his power base in the east midlands.[5] He then
received the submission of the people of the Five Boroughs. At the same time, Cnut launched a new invasion of
England. In late 1015 Edmund raised an army, possibly assisted by his wife's and mother's links with the
midlands and the north, but the Mercians under Eadric Streona joined the West Saxons in submitting to Cnut. In
early 1016 the army assembled by Edmund dispersed when Æthelred did not appear to lead it, probably due to
illness. Edmund then raised a new army and in conjunction with Earl Uhtred of Northumbria ravaged Eadric
Streona's Mercian territories, but when Cnut occupied Northumbria Uhtred submitted to him, only to be killed
by Cnut. Edmund went to London.[1]
King of England
Æthelred died on 23 April 1016, and the citizens and councillors in London chose Edmund as king and
probably crowned him. He then mounted a last-ditch effort to revive the defence of England. While the Danes
laid siege to London, Edmund headed for Wessex, where the people submitted to him and he gathered an army.
He fought inconclusive battles against the Danes and their English supporters at Penselwood in Somerset and
Sherston in Wiltshire. He then raised the siege of London and defeated the Danes near Brentford. They renewed
the siege while Edmund went to Wessex to raise further troops, returning to again relieve London, defeat the
Danes at Otford, and pursue Cnut into Kent. Eadric Streona now went over to Edmund, but at the decisive
Battle of Assandun on 18 October, Eadric and his men fled and Cnut decisively defeated Edmund. There may
have been one further battle in the Forest of Dean, after which the two kings negotiated a peace dividing the
country between them. Edmund received Wessex while Cnut took Mercia and probably Northumbria.[1]
Death
On 30 November 1016, Edmund died. The location of his death is uncertain though it is generally accepted that
it occurred in London, rather than in Oxford where Henry of Huntingdon claimed it to be in his sordid version
of events, which included Edmund’s murder by suffering multiple stab wounds whilst on a privy, while tending
to a call of nature.[6] Geoffrey Gaimar states a similar occurrence with the weapon being a crossbow, but with a
number of other medieval chroniclers including the Encomium Emmae Reginae not mentioning murder, it is
thought Edmund’s cause of death may possibly have been caused by wounds received in battle or by some
disease, but it is certainly a possibility that he was murdered.
Edmund was buried near his grandfather Edgar at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset, however the abbey was
destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, any remains of a monument or crypt
would have been plundered and the location of his remains is unclear.
Reputation
In the view of M. K. Lawson, the intensity of Edmund's struggle against the Danes in 1016 is only matched by
Alfred the Great's in 871, and contrasts with Æthelred's failure. Edmund's success in raising one army after
another suggests that there was little wrong with the organs of government under competent leadership. He was
"probably a highly determined, skilled and indeed inspiring leader of men". Cnut visited his tomb on the
anniversary of his death and laid a cloak decorated with peacocks on it to assist in his salvation, peacocks
symbolising resurrection.[1]
Descendants
Edmund had two children by Ealdgyth, Edward the Exile and Edmund. According to John of Worcester, Cnut
sent them to the king of Sweden where he probably hoped they would be murdered, but the Swedish king
instead forwarded them, together with his daughter, on to Kiev. It has more recently been alleged that the two
sons were sent to Poland and subsequently from there to Hungary.[7] The two boys eventually ended up in
Hungary where Edmund died but Edward prospered. Edward "the Exile" returned to England in 1057 only to
die within a few days of his arrival.[8] His son Edgar the Ætheling was briefly proclaimed king after the Battle
of Hastings in 1066, but later submitted to William the Conqueror. Edgar would live a long and eventful life;
fighting in rebellion against William the Conqueror from 1067-1075; fighting alongside the Conqueror's son
Robert of Normandy in campaigns in Sicily (1085-1087); and accompanying Robert on the First Crusade
(1099-1103). He eventually died in England in 1126.
In 1070 Edward the Exile's daughter, Margaret, became Queen consort to Malcolm III of Scotland. Through her
and her decedents, Edmund is the direct ancestor of every subsequent Scottish monarch, every English monarch
from Henry II onward, and every monarch of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom, down to the present.
Ancestry
Ancestors of Edmund Ironside
Edward the Elder
Edmund I
Eadgifu of Kent
Edgar the Peaceful
Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
Wynflaed
Æthelred the Unready
Ordgar
Ælfthryth
Edmund Ironside
Gunnar
Thored
Ælfgifu of York
In culture
Edmund Ironside is an Elizabethan play about him, which some critics believe to be a very early work by
William Shakespeare.
Edmund is played by John Horn in the 1970 television movie The Ceremony of Innocence.
Edmund is one of the main characters in Justin Hill's novel Shieldwall (2011), first in the Conquest
Trilogy.
See also
House of Wessex family tree
Citations
1. M. K. Lawson, Edmund II, Oxford Online DNB, 2004 (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8502?docPos=1)
2. Simon Keynes, Æthelred the Unready, Oxford Online DNB, 2009 (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8915/?back
=,8502)
3. Ryan Lavelle, Aethelred II: King of the English, The History Press, 2008, pp. 172-173
4. Lavelle, op. cit., p. 172
5. Lavelle, op. cit., pp. 169-172
6. Henry of Huntingdon 2002, p. 15.
7. MichaelAnne Guido and John P. Ravilious, "From Theophanu to St. Magraret of Scotland: A study of Agatha's
ancestry", Foundations, vol. 4(2012), pp. 81-121.
8. M. K. Lawson, Edward Ætheling, Oxford Online DNB, 200 4(http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37387/?back=,85
02)
Sources
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Clemoes, Peter. The Anglo-Saxons: Studies Presented to Bruce Dickins, 1959
Henry of Huntingdon History of the English People 1000 - 1154
External links
Edmund 24 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Æthelred the Unready
King of the English
1016
Succeeded by
Cnut the Great
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edmund_Ironside&oldid=781380892"
Categories: Monarchs of England before 1066 10th-century births 1016 deaths
Burials at Glastonbury Abbey 10th-century English people 11th-century English monarchs
Christian monarchs House of Wessex
This page was last edited on 20 May 2017, at 22:01.
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988 - 1016 (28 years)
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