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Birth:          ABT  988 Wessex
Death:          30 Nov 1016 London, England
Burial:         Glastonbury, Somersetshire, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Ironside
Edmund II (died 30 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.[1]

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 and Sigeferth, were killed and their possessions, along with 
Sigferth's wife, were taken by Edmund. Edmund unofficially became the Earl of the 
East Midlands; however, it was against his father's wishes that he marry Ealdgyth.

Cnut returned to England in August 1015. Over the next few months, Cnut conquered 
most of England, and Edmund joined Æthelred to defend London, but Æthelred 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 called Edward and Edmund; 
however, Cnut became the king of all England.

Early life[edit]

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, who was 
probably the daughter of Earl Thored of Northumbria. His elder brothers were 
Æthelstan (died 1014) and Egbert (died c. 1005), and younger ones, Eadred, Eadwig 
and Edgar.[1] He had four sisters, Eadgyth (or Edith), Ælfgifu, Wulfhilda, and the 
Abbess of Wherwell Abbey. His mother died around 1000,[2] after which his father 
remarried, this time to Emma of Normandy, who had two sons, Edward the Confessor 
and Alfred and a daughter Goda.

Æthelstan and Edmund were close, and they probably felt threatened by Emma's 
ambitions for her sons.[3] 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.[1] However that claim may just be 
propaganda.

Warrior prince[edit]

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.[1] His will also reflected the close relationship between the brothers 
and the nobility of the east midlands.[4]

Sweyn died in February 1014, and the 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, 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.[5] 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 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.[1]

King of England[edit]

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 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.[1]

Death[edit]

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, while tending to a call of 
nature.[6] 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[edit]

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.[1]

Descendants[edit]

Edmund had two children by Ealdgyth, Edward the Exile and 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 Kiev. It has more recently been alleged that the two sons were 
sent to Poland and subsequently from there to Hungary.[7] 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.[8] 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 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, 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 onward, and every 
monarch of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom, down to the present.

Parents
____ Aethelred (Ethelred) II "The Unready" (ABT  966 - 23 Apr 1016)
____ Elgiva (Alfgifu) (Aelgifu) (Aelflaed) (ABT  966 - 1002)

Siblings
____ Elfgifu ( 987 - )
____ Edmund II "Ironside" (ABT  988 - 30 Nov 1016)

Marriage To OF MERCIA Ealgyth (Ealdgyth) (Algitha) (ABT  993 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
OF MERCIA Aelfthryth (ABT  947 - )
MORCARSDOTTIR Eadlgyth (ABT  968 - )

Children by OF MERCIA Ealgyth (Ealdgyth) (Algitha) ABT  993 - 
____ Edward "Atheling" (1016 - 1057)

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