Edmund Ironside, d. 1016, king of the English (1016), son of Æthelred the Unready. Contrary to the wishes of his father, he married (1015) the widow of Siferth, a Danish thane, and was accepted as ruler of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw. When Canute invaded England in 1015, Emund led the fighting against him. However, the people apparently felt that he was a rebel against his father, for he found it hard to gain a following without his father's aid. At Æthelred's death (Apr., 1016) Edmund was proclaimed king in London, but most of the nobles gave their support to Canute. Edmund continued the struggle with great courage (which earned him the appellation Ironside) and considerable success until he was defeated in the disastrous battle of Assandun (Oct. 18, 1016). He and Canute agreed to partition the country, but Edmund died the following month.

Edmund Ironside or Eadmund (c. 988/993 – 30 November 1016), surnamed "Ironside" for his efforts to fend off the Danish invasion led by King Canute, was King of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016.

Family

Edmund was the second son of King Æthelred II (also known as Ethelred the Unready) and his first wife, Ælfgifu of Northumbria. He had three brothers, the elder being Æthelstan, and the younger two being Eadred and Ecgbert. His mother was dead by 996, after which his father remarried, this time to Emma of Normandy.

Æthelstan died in 1014, leaving Edmund as heir. A power-struggle began between Edmund and his father, and in 1015 King Æthelred had two of Edmund's allies, Sigeferth and Morcar, executed. Edmund then took Sigeferth's widow, Ældgyth, from the nunnery where she had been imprisoned and married her in defiance of his father. During this time, Canute the Great attacked England with his forces. In 1016 Edmund staged a rebellion in conjunction with Earl Uhtred of Northumbria, but after Uhtred deserted him and submitted to Canute, Edmund was reconciled with his father.

Royal and military history

Æthelred II, who had earlier been stricken ill, died on 23 April 1016. Edmund succeeded to the throne and mounted a last-ditch effort to revive the defence of England. While the Danes laid siege to London, Edmund headed for Wessex, where he gathered an army. When the Danes pursued him he fought them to a standstill. He then raised a renewed Danish siege of London and won repeated victories over Canute. However, on 18 October Canute decisively defeated him at the Battle of Ashingdon in Essex. After the battle the two kings negotiated a peace in which Edmund kept Wessex while Canute held the lands north of the River Thames. In addition, they agreed that if one of them should perish, territories belonging to the deceased would be ceded to the living.

Death

On 30 November 1016, King Edmund II died in Oxford or London and his territories were ceded to Canute who then became king of England. The cause of Edmund's death has never been clear, with many accounts listing natural causes , while others suggest that he was assassinated. Edmund was buried at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset. His burial site is now lost. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries any remains of a monument or crypt were destroyed and the location of his body is unknown.

Heirs

Edmund had two children by Ældgyth: Edward the Exile and Edmund, who both were sent by Canute the Great to Sweden, in order to be murdered but were sent from there to Kiev, ending up in Hungary.

Shakespearean play?

Edmund Ironside is also the name of an anonymous play in the Shakespeare Apocrypha, which has been attributed to Shakespeare on stylistic grounds. Plays in the Shakespeare Apocrypha are not generally accepted as Shakespearean.

See also

• House of Wessex family tree

Sources

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
• Clemoes, Peter. The Anglo-Saxons: Studies Presented to Bruce Dickins, 1959
• The History Channel - England history to 1485

References