Rating the Monarchs of Britain: Now Disc. George III

You are not obliged to participate.

 

Next: Edgar I

[image=http://www.djhooker.com/images/king_edgar_sculpture.jpg]

Born: c. 942/4

Died: 975

Reigned: 959-75

Father: Edmund I

Mother: St. Elgiva

Wife: (1) Ethelfleda (married 961/2)

Children: Edward II ('the Martyr')

Wife: (2) Elfrida (married 1964/5)

Children: Edmund, Ethelred II

Successor: His eldest son, Edward II

Achievements: Reunited the kingdom under his rule.

Sources: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Reputation: Known as 'the Peaceable', which suggests he was a duffer in battle, a real problem for a medieval king. However, the sources say I'm wrong about that...he wasn't peaceable, his reign was. Unfortunately, he left chaos behind him, as the Wessex dynasty started to implode, leaving the country vulnerable to two (successful) 11th century invasions, one by the Danes, and another, lasting one, by the Normans (Frenchified Scandinavians).

Conclusion: The last really competent Wessex King.

Rating: 7/10

 

Can't really add much more re: Edgar I - he managed to get the kingdom back into some sort of decent shape after a bad run of monarchs. His 16 year reign also ensured he stuck around a little while to see himself firmly established (unfortunately his successors weren't able to derive any benefit from this - every claim to the throne subsequent til 1066 was challenged). He also had to actually do some fighting to get the throne, so he arguably earnt the job unlike others who just got it handed to them.

 

Next: Edward II

[image=http://www.nashfordpublishing.co.uk/monarchs/images/edward_martyr_window.jpg]

Born: c. 962/3

Died: 978 (murder)

Reigned: 975-78

Father: Edgar I

Mother: Ethelfleda

Wife: None

Children: None

Successor: His half brother, Ethelred II 'the Unready'

Achievements: Very few, possibly because the sources are so confused.

Sources: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

Reputation: "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, after recording Edward's succession, reports that a comet appeared and that famine and "manifold disturbances" followed.[20] The "manifold disturbances", sometimes called the anti-monastic reaction, appear to have started soon after Edgar's death. During this time the experienced Ealdorman Oslac of Northumbria, effective ruler of much of northern England, was exiled in circumstances which are unknown.[21] Oslac was followed as ealdorman by one Thored, either Oslac's son of that name or the Thored Gunnar's son mentioned by the Chronicle in 966.[22] Edward, or rather those who were wielding power on his behalf, also appointed a number of new ealdormen to positions in Wessex. Little is known of two of these men, and it is difficult to determine which faction, if any, they belonged to. Edwin, probably ruling in Sussex, and perhaps also parts of Kent and Surrey, was buried at Abingdon, an abbey patronised by Ælfhere. Æthelmær, who oversaw Hampshire, held lands in Rutland, perhaps suggesting links to Æthelwine. The third ealdorman, Æthelweard, today best known for his Latin history, ruled in the west. Æthelweard was a descendant of King Æthelred of Wessex and probably the brother of King Eadwig's wife. He appears to have been a supporter of Edward rather than of either faction.[23]
A penny minted during Edward's reign at Stamford, Lincolnshire, one of the Five Burghs

It appears that in some places the secular clergy who had been driven from the monasteries returned, driving the regular clergy out in their turn. Bishop Æthelwold had been the main enemy of the seculars, and Archbishop Dunstan appears to have done little to aid his fellow reformer at this time.[24] More generally, the magnates took the opportunity to undo many of Edgar's grants to monasteries and to force the abbots to rewrite leases and loans to favour the local nobility. Ealdorman Ælfhere was the leader in this regard, attacking Oswald's network of monasteries across Mercia.[25] Ælfhere's rival Æthelwine, while a staunch protector of his family monastery of Ramsey Abbey, treated Ely Abbey and other monasteries harshly.[26] At some point during these disorders Ælfhere and Æthelwine appear to have come close to open warfare. This may well have been related to Ælfhere's ambitions in East Anglia and to attacks upon Ramsey Abbey. Æthelwine, supported by his kinsman Ealdorman Byrhtnoth of Essex and others unspecified, mustered an army and caused Ælfhere to back down.[27]

Very few charters survive from Edward's reign, perhaps as few as three, and the absence of a sizable body of charters such as are found in the reign of Edgar and Æthelred leave much of Edward's reign in obscurity. All of the surviving charters concern the royal heartland of Wessex, two dealing with Crediton where Edward's former tutor Sideman was bishop.[28] Whereas during Edgar's reign dies for coins were cut only at Winchester and distributed from there to other mints across the kingdom, during Edward's reign this system no longer prevailed. Dies were now cut locally at York and at Lincoln. The general impression is of a reduction or breakdown of royal authority in the midlands and north.[29] Nonetheless, the machinery of government evidently continued to function as councils and synods continued to meet during Edward's reign, at Kirtlington in Oxfordshire after Easter 977, and again at Calne in Wiltshire the following year. The meeting at Calne saw the death and injury of some councillors when the floor of the room in which they were meeting collapsed."

Conclusion: Edward does not appear to have reigned on his own.

Rating: None possible.

 

Next: Ethelred II 'the Unready' 'the Unraed' 'the Redeless'

[image=http://www.nashfordpublishing.co.uk/monarchs/images/aethelred_unready_window.jpg]

Born: c. 966/9

Died: 1016

Reigned: 978-1016

Father: Edgar I

Mother: Elfrida of Devon

Wife: (1)Elgiva

Children: 8 sons, 5 daughters (980/5)

Wife: (2) Emma of Normandy (1002)

Children: 2 sons, 1 daughter

Successor: His second son Edmund II 'Ironside'

Achievements:

Sources: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

Reputation: Ethelred's notorious nickname is actually a play on words. His name 'Ethel/red' means 'noble counsel'. So 'Ethelred the Redeless' means 'noble counsel/without counsel'. He's one of the three Anglo-Saxon kings most people can name: the others being Alfred the Great, and Ethelred's son, Edward the Confessor. But Ethelred's fame is based on his cognomen, which sounds amusing. All people know of him is that he deserved it, or so they think.

Conclusion: Ethelred started badly after the murder of his half-brother Edward the Martyr, but he wasn't at fault for the renewed Danish raids, which began sporadically, and then increased with the Battle of Maldon in 991. The English lost, as they did most of the battles with the Danes. Ethelred agreed to pay a heavy tribute, the Danegeld. This is held to illustrate the weakness of his government, but in fact, this practice had been in place for more than a century, and Alfred the Great and Charles the Bald of France had both resorted to it. Repeated raids were bought off until 1013, when Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, showed more ambition than the Danegeld...he was an excellent general and he wanted to become King of England. He drove Ethelred into exile in Normandy, and the resistance collapsed by the end of 1013.

"...the situation changed suddenly when Sweyn died on 3 February 1014. The crews of the Danish ships in the Trent immediately gave their allegiance to Sweyns's son Canute, but leading Englishmen sent a deputation to Æthelred to negotiate his restoration. He was required to promise to be a true lord to them, to reform everything of which they had complained, and forgive all that had been said and done against him. The terms are of great constitutional interest as the first recorded pact between a king and his subjects, and also as showing that many noblemen had submitted to Sweyn because of their distrust of Æthelred." Sweyn was succeeded by his son Canute, but he withdrew from the country without a fight, thought he returned in 1015, and the fighting began again. Ethelred died in April, 1916."

Ethelred reformed the coinage, and he issued numerous laws; but his failure to deal with the Danes, and his inability to unite the country against them is a very serious flaw.

Rating: 2/10

 

One of the global news events that happened in the latter part of Ethelred's reign was the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 1009 and harassment of pilgrims to Jerusalem, cited as one of the pretexts for the first crusade.

 

The Crusades will affect English history, but later.

 

I think Ethelred gets bonus points for getting a nickname as awesome as "the Unready". People don't just throw that kind of stuff around.

 

Given the conditions his Witan made on taking him back as King of England in 1214, you can judge that he was an annoying berk.

 

Seeing what?s happening in contemporary British politics I have to say that Edward I is really growing on me.

 

Do you mean Edward I or Edward the Elder?

 

I mean Edward Longshanks.

 

Edward was a very tough customer. Sweyn Forkbeard would not have conquered England if he'd been in charge.

 

Oh, by the way, I noticed you got Edward II all wrong. Longshanks' son was Edward II. The guy who was king at the time you said was Edgar the Peaceful.

 

The Normans decided not to acknowledge the Wessex kings of the same name. That doesn't mean it's inaccurate. Edward Longshanks was actually named after Edward the Confessor...his father, Henry III, was a great admirer of the founder of Westminster Abbey. He should have been Edward IV, not I, though. Henry III also named one of his sons Edmund. Of course, Edward and Edmund were descended from Alfred the Great (through William I's wife), and from Edmund Ironside (through Henry I's wife)

 

I just wanted to pop in and say a couple things:

1) I love Alfred the Great!!!
2) I also really love Harold Godwineson.
3) I don't much care for William the Conqueror aka William the Bastard at all.


I'm a European history major who took English prehistory to modern times last fall and spring semesters and I'm currently in London. I just went to Westminster Abbey and saw the tombs of Edward the Confessor, Henry III and V, Edward III, Richard II, Elizabeth I, and many many more. It was such a great (and humbling) experience!

 

I envy you.

 

Me too!! That's what I wanted to major in. Also, London is awesome, and Westminster Abbey is really cool

 

Next: King Sweyn 'Forkbeard'

[image=http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/images/various/Sweyn.jpg]

Born: c. 960 in Denmark

Died: 1014

Reigned: 1013-14

Father: Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark

Mother: Gunhilda

Wife: (1)Gunhilda

Children: 2 sons, 4 daughters, including the mother of Harald Godwineson (Harald II)

Wife: (2) Sigrid

Child: 1 daughter

Successor: His second son, Canute (eventually)

Achievements: King of Denmark (987), most of Norway (1000), and England (1013-4). Not crowned.

Sources: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Chronicles of John of Wallingford, the Peterborough Chronicle (also called the Laud Manuscript), Gesta Regum Anglorum.

Reputation: "According to the chronicles of John of Wallingford, Sweyn was involved in raids against England during 1002-1005, 1006-1007, and 1009-1012, to revenge the St. Brice's Day massacre of England's Danish inhabitants in November 1002, a massacre often seen as large-scale ethnic cleansing of the Danes in England orchestrated by Ethelred the Unready. Sweyn is thought to have had a personal interest in these raids due to his sister, Gunhilde, being amongst the victims, according to Mike Ashley, in British Monarchs: "Probably his [Ethelred's] worst decision was the St. Brice's day massacre on 13 November 1002...he ordered the killing of every Dane who lived in England, except the Anglo-Danes in the Danelaw. The massacre brought back to English shores the Danish commander Swein, whose sister and brother-in-law had been killed in the massacre".

According to Michael Lapidge, in "Swein Forkbeard" (The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England), Sweyn was active in Wessex and East Anglia in 1003-1004, but a 1005 famine forced him to return home.

London had withstood the assault of the Danish army, but the city was now alone, isolated within a country which had completely surrendered. Sweyn Forkbeard was accepted as King of England following the flight to Normandy of King Ethelred the Unready in late 1013. With the acceptance of the Witan, London had finally surrendered to him, and he was declared king on Christmas day.

Sweyn was based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and began to organize his vast new kingdom, but he died there on February 3, 1014, having ruled England unopposed for only five weeks."

Conclusion: Sweyn was a good general, and that's all one can say.

Rating: 5/10

 

Next: Edmund II 'Ironside'

[image=http://a989.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/34/l_52daa522d4aaaa17d51d8b86050d2ea4.jpg]

Born: c. 988/93

Died: 1016

Reigned: April-November 1016

Father: Ethelred II

Mother: Elgiva

Wife: Edith

Children: 2 sons, the elder of which had a son and two daughters, of elder of which married Malcolm III, King of Scotland.

Successor: Canute of Denmark, who claimed the throne by right of conquest.

Achievements: Won several battles, and fought constantly with invaders and his father.

Sources: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

Reputation: "Edmund succeeded to the throne and mounted a last-ditch effort to revive the defence of England. While the Danes laid siege to London, Edmund headed for Wessex, where he gathered an army. When the Danes pursued him he fought them to a standstill. He then raised a renewed Danish siege of London and won repeated victories over Canute. However, on 18 October Canute decisively defeated him at the Battle of Ashingdon in Essex. After the battle the two kings negotiated a peace in which Edmund kept Wessex while Canute held the lands north of the River Thames. In addition, they agreed that if one of them should die, territories belonging to the deceased would be ceded to the living."

Conclusion: Edmund tried to stem the tide, unsuccessfully, but he was a good general, and might have been successful had he lived longer.

Rating: 6/10

 

You'd almost swear that the throne was cursed, what with all these ridiculously short reigns. ("I am KI...ack...urk..." ::dies:

 

1483 and 1936 are the two years England had three kings, but 1016 is also guilty.

 

So then, you'd know that we English don't consider ourselves "European".

Not to mention 1 king and 2 queens in 1553. Poor little Lady Jane.

 

Yes, true; I forgot that one.

 

Yes, I do know that.

Also, the British don't officially recognize Lady Jane or Mathilda from the Anarchy as official monarchs, but they do recognize "Edward V".