1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813745103321

Autore

Roach Levi

Titolo

Æthelred : The Unready / / Levi Roach

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, CT : , : Yale University Press, , [2016]

©2016

ISBN

0-300-22520-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (401 p.)

Disciplina

942/.0174/092

Soggetti

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Royalty

Great Britain History Ethelred II, 979-1016

Great Britain Kings and rulers Biography

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PLATES, MAPS AND FIGURES -- A NOTE ON NAME FORMS AND REFERENCES -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS AND SHORT TITLES -- INTRODUCTION. AN UNREADY AND ILL- COUNSELLED KING? -- CHAPTER 1. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD -- CHAPTER 2. 'WOE TO THEE, OH LAND, WHEN THY KING IS A CHILD' -- CHAPTER 3. THE PRODIGAL SON 984-93 -- CHAPTER 4. REPENTANCE AND REFORM 993-1002 -- CHAPTER 5. APOCALYPSE AND INVASION 1002-9 -- CHAPTER 6. A KINGDOM LOST AND WON 1009-16 -- CONCLUSION. AN AGE OF ILL COUNSEL? -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX -- INDEX OF CHARTERS

Sommario/riassunto

An imaginative reassessment of Æthelred ";the Unready,"; one of medieval England's most maligned kings and a major Anglo-Saxon figure The Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred ";the Unready"; (978-1016) has long been considered to be inscrutable, irrational, and poorly advised. Infamous for his domestic and international failures, Æthelred was unable to fend off successive Viking raids, leading to the notorious St. Brice's Day Massacre in 1002, during which Danes in England were slaughtered on his orders. Though Æthelred's posthumous standing is dominated by his unsuccessful military leadership, his seemingly blind trust in disloyal associates, and his harsh treatment of political opponents, Roach suggests that Æthelred has been wrongly maligned.



Drawing on extensive research, Roach argues that Æthelred was driven by pious concerns about sin, society, and the anticipated apocalypse. His strategies, in this light, were to honor God and find redemption. Chronologically charting Æthelred's life, Roach presents a more accessible character than previously available, illuminating his place in England and Europe at the turn of the first millennium.