Aethelred the Unready

It is likely that many British schoolchildren, past and present, will recognize the name of Aethelred the Unready (if only because it's such an odd combination of words and letters).

In the previous column, Aethelred was seen to come to the throne through treachery, at the expense of his half-brother, Edward, who was murdered either by the hand or at the behest of Aethelred's mother, Elfrida. And Aethelred was suddenly King of England. He was 10.

Because he was so young, he depended on henchmen and other advisers to give him advice and make decisions for him. This created a good bit of trouble for the king's subjects, especially when the Danes came back in force.

The Danelaw had worked for a time, of course, mainly because English troops kept it efficient and because the Danes had been beaten so badly that they were home licking their wounds for a good many years. But they came storming back in 980, but Aethelred was definitely unready for their return.

He wasn't much of a fighter, really, preferring to have his mother do his dirty work in order to get him the throne. And once he was on it, he preferred to spend the money that his predecessors had worked so hard to earn.

This propensity to spend ruled his thinking when the Danes returned as well, and Aethelred, after a few years of disastrous defeats, offered them a huge bribe not to attack the English anymore. The Danes, who were after money as well as land, decided to take Aethelred up on his offer and pocketed the money. This Danegeld, however, was a terrible example to set, especially for such greedy "settlers" as the Danes, who came back and kept on coming back, in more force, demanding more money.

The payment in 991 was 10,000 pounds of silver. The Danes, naturally, thought that this was a good deal, so they accepted. A relative peace descended over the land. Three years later, the Danes wanted more money, this time 16,000 pounds of silver. Having little choice, Aethelred agreed to pay, again.

In 1002, the Danes demanded 24,000 pounds of silver. This was an extraordinary sum, equal to about 2 years' worth of income for the entire country of England. Aethelred resolved not to pay the money. What did he do instead? Did he offer to lead his people into battle, as Alfred had done? No, Aethelred decided to resort to treachery.

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