Ethelred the Unready

Ethelred was not unready in the modern sense. In Old English, his nickname was unraed, which means "no counsel" and so was actually a pun on his Christian name, which meant "noble counsel".

In 979, he succeeded to an England which was far ahead of its European rivals. Alfred the Great's victory over the Danes a century earlier, had paved the way for a state which united the old kingdoms such as Wessex and Mercia, and areas of Scandinavian settlement, such as East Anglia. An efficient system of government, taxation and justice had been developed, and Alfred's revival of learning sparked a cultural and intellectual renaissance.

Unfortunately for Ethelred, he soon faced a new wave of attacks by the Danes, who wanted to take over the island. At times Ethelred successfully used military means and diplomacy, but more often than not tried to buy off the marauders. At other times he dithered, and still worse, in 1002 he decided to order a massacre of all the Danes in England on St Brice's Day. This was counter-productive, as many of those targeted had been in England for 100 years or more and saw themselves as English.

One of the bravest and most effective leaders of English resistance to the Danes was an East Anglian called Ulfcytel, whose name indicates he must himself have been of Danish descent. Chroniclers of the time were reluctant to blame Ethelred, preferring to heap responsibility on his advisers and courtiers. Ethelred was forcibly replaced by the Danish Sweyn Forkbeard, but he was recalled by his people after the viking's death, an indication that he remained relatively popular, and died in 1015. His reign saw the re-emergence of old divisions, the death of an English golden age, and created a turbulent era resolved only by the Norman conquest in 1066.