Name: King Aethelred II The Unready Born: c.968 Parents: Edgar and Elfrida Relation to Elizabeth II: 28th great-grandfather House of: Wessex Ascended to the throne: March 18, 978 Crowned: April, 978 at Kingston-upon-Thames, aged c.10 Married: (1) Elfleda, (2) Emma Children: 9 sons including Edmund and Edward, and 4 daughters Died: April 23, 1016 at London Buried at: St Paul's Reigned for: 38 years, 1 month, and 5 days Succeeded by: his son Edmund
King of England from 978, following the murder of his half-brother, Edward the Martyr. He was son of King Edgar. Aethelred tried to buy off the Danish raiders by paying Danegeld. In 1002 he ordered the massacre of the Danish settlers, provoking an invasion by Sweyn I of Denmark.In 1013 King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark landed in England and was proclaimed king. Aethelred II the Unready fled to Normandy but was recalled in 1014 on the death of Sweyn. War with Sweyn's son, Canute, occupied the rest of Aethelred's reign. His nickname is a corruption of the Old English 'unreed', meaning badly counselled or poorly advised.