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Edmund Ironside was born in around 990, the third son of the AEthelred, King of England.
AEthelred was about 24 when Edmund was born and had already been on the English throne for around 12 years.
When he was born Edmund wasn’t in direct line to be king as he had two older brothers, but both died before they could be crowned.
Instead, when AEthelred died in 1016 at around the age of 50, Edmund - then 26 years old - was declared king.
He would rule for just 222 days before he died.
When he was about 12 years old, Edmund’s father instigated the St Brice’s Day Massacre in 1002, a fateful decision that potentially helped to drastically alter the course of English history.
During AEthelred’s reign, Viking raiders carried out repeated attacks on the English.
One of AEthelred’s solutions was to pay them off with tens of thousands of pounds of gold and jewels, worth millions in today’s money.
However, paying them off seems merely to have had the effect of encouraging them to carry out more raids.
Another solution of AEthelred’s was to create a political union with the Duke of Normandy, perhaps in the hope of getting his support, or at the very least preventing the Vikings from getting it.
AEthelred created this political union in 1002 by marrying the sister of the Duke of Normandy, Richard II, when Edmund was just 12.
Eleven years later, in 1013, when Edmund was about 23, Sweyn Forkbeard invaded England and declared himself king.
Rather than fleeing to Normandy with their father, Edmund and his older brother AEthelstan stayed in England, even after Sweyn was declared king in 1013.
Edward was close to his brother and this is reflected by the fact that when AEthelstan died in 1014, he bequeathed Edward his sword, which had once belonged to the Mercian King Offa.
Sweyn Forkbeard died just 41 days after being crowned king of England. His son Canute tried to get himself crowned king, but AEthelred returned from exile and launched a surprise attack, forcing Canute to flee.
When their father AEthelred died in April 1016, the kingdom was divided.
Citizens and councillors of in London declared Edmund King of England. In other parts of England, they chose Canute.
The two kings went head to head in a series of inconclusive battles.
Later in 1016, the two kings divided the country between them - Edmund took Wessex, Canute took Mercia and possible Northumbria.
This division of the Kingdom wouldn’t last long though.
On 30 November 1016, Edmund died.
Edmund was buried in Glasonbury Abbey, next to his grandfather, the former King Edgar.
The abbey was destroyed 500 years later during King Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. It’s likely the contents of his tomb were plundered.
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7 сен 2024
