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'{{other uses}} {{Infobox monarch | name = Edmund | image = Edmund Ironside - MS Royal 14 B VI.jpg | caption = Edmund in the early fourteenth century ''Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England'' | succession = [[King of the English]] | reign = 23 April – 30 November 1016 | predecessor = [[Æthelred the Unready]] | successor = [[Cnut the Great]] | house = [[House of Wessex|Wessex]] | spouse = [[Ealdgyth (floruit 1015–1016)|Ealdgyth]] | issue = [[Edward the Exile]]<br>[[Edmund Ætheling|Edmund]] | father = [[Æthelred the Unready]] | mother = [[Ælfgifu of York]] | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = 30 November 1016 | death_place = [[Oxford]] or [[London]], [[England]] | place of burial = [[Glastonbury Abbey]] | religion = [[History of Christianity in Britain|Catholicism]] }} '''Edmund II''' (died sshnjsmnshsjsnsuhsushshsjshssjshhsushsuhsuhswuhshshsuhsushushushwhwhwjhuwhhwuhwhwuwuhw30 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]].<ref name = "Lawson"/> 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 (thegn)|Morcar]] and [[Sigeferth (died 1015)|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 (floruit 1015–1016)|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 the Exile|Edward]] and [[Edmund Ætheling|Edmund]]; however, Cnut became the king of all England, and exiled remaining members of the royal family. ==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 of York|Ælfgifu]], who was probably the daughter of [[Thored|Earl Thored of Northumbria]]. His elder brothers were [[Æthelstan Ætheling|Æthelstan]] (died 1014) and [[Egbert Ætheling|Egbert]] (died c. 1005), and younger ones, [[Eadred Ætheling|Eadred]], [[Eadwig Ætheling|Eadwig]] and [[Edgar Aetheling the Elder|Edgar]].<ref name = "Lawson">[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8502?docPos=1 M. K. Lawson, ''Edmund II'', Oxford Online DNB, 2004]</ref> He had four sisters, Eadgyth (or Edith), Ælfgifu, Wulfhilda, and the Abbess of Wherwell Abbey. His mother died around 1000,<ref>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8915/?back=,8502 Simon Keynes, ''Æthelred the Unready'', Oxford Online DNB, 2009]</ref> after which his father remarried, this time to [[Emma of Normandy]], who had two sons, [[Edward the Confessor]] and [[Alfred Aetheling|Alfred]] and a daughter [[Godgifu, daughter of Æthelred the Unready|Goda]]. Æthelstan and Edmund were close, and they probably felt threatened by Emma's ambitions for her sons.<ref>Ryan Lavelle, Aethelred II: King of the English, The History Press, 2008, pp. 172-173</ref> 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.<ref name = "Lawson"/> 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]].<ref name = "Lawson"/> His will also reflected the close relationship between the brothers and the nobility of the east midlands.<ref>Lavelle, op. cit., p. 172</ref> Sweyn died in February 1014, and the [[Five Boroughs of the Danelaw|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 (floruit 1015–1016)|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.<ref>Lavelle, op. cit., pp. 169-172</ref> 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 [[Uhtred the Bold|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.<ref name = "Lawson"/> ==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, Wiltshire|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.<ref name = "Lawson"/> ==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 tending to a call of nature.{{sfn|Henry of Huntingdon|2002| p= 15}} [[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.<ref name = "Lawson"/> ==Descendants== Edmund had two children by Ealdgyth, [[Edward the Exile]] and [[Edmund Ætheling|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 [[Principality of Kiev|Kiev]]. 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.<ref>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37387/?back=,8502 M. K. Lawson, Edward Ætheling, Oxford Online DNB, 2004]</ref> 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 Curthose|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, [[St Margaret of Scotland|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 of England|Henry II]] onward, and every monarch of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom, down to the present. ==Ancestry== {{ahnentafel top|width=100%}} <center>{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= '''Edmund Ironside''' |2= [[Æthelred the Unready]] |3= [[Ælfgifu of York]] |4= [[Edgar the Peaceful]] |5= [[Ælfthryth, Queen of England|Ælfthryth]] |6= [[Thored]] |8= [[Edmund I]] |9= [[Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury]] |10= [[Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon|Ordgar]] |12= Gunnar |16= [[Edward the Elder]] |17= [[Eadgifu of Kent]] |19= [[Wynflaed]] }}</center> {{ahnentafel bottom}} ==In culture== *''[[Edmund Ironside (play)|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 (film)|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== {{Reflist}} ==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== * {{PASE|8848|Edmund 24}} {{s-start}} {{s-reg}} {{s-bef|before=[[Æthelred the Unready]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of English monarchs|King of the English]]|years=1016}} {{s-aft|after=[[Cnut the Great]]}} {{s-end}} {{English monarchs}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2011}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Edmund Ironside}} [[Category:Monarchs of England before 1066]] [[Category:10th-century births]] [[Category:1016 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Glastonbury Abbey]] [[Category:10th-century English people]] [[Category:11th-century English monarchs]] [[Category:Christian monarchs]] [[Category:House of Wessex]]'