King of the English from 978 to 1016 (with a break in 1013, thanks to invading Danes) was Æthelred the Unready. Wikipedia says that originally his nickname is more akin to “ill-advised”. Who is the bad advisor? Was it his mother Ælfthryth, who was linked to the murder of his half-brother Edward?

His name and nickname, rather hilariously, mean Nobly Advised, The Ill-Advised. Certainly Ælfthryth was unpopular. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle doesn't tell us a huge deal about her but we do know from the ASC that Æthelred had massive problems keeping his nobility in line, since many of them had preferred his brother and saw him and his mother as usurpers. Many of the nobles that should have been co-operating for the defence of England fell into squabbles and infighting as well, meaning that instead of uniting their forces to fight Cnut's armies, they fought each other and let the Danes and Norwegians just swan straight in.

E: The writer of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is very bitter about all this. In 1006 he cracks a very black joke about how the Vikings 'are left to enjoy their usual amusements', and do the English the courtesy of 'lighting' the early-warning beacons by burning down villages, since the organised defensive system that was meant to be in place has been allowed to collapse into anarchy. So this could mean he was unræd in being poorly supported rather than necessarily advised.

He also made some very contentious and unpopular decisions. Many nobles also disagreed with his policy of re-establishing the Danegeld to try and pay the Danes off. The Bishop of Worcester writes him a letter complaining that his estates are being bled dry to pay for the new tax. And then there was the St Brice's Day Massacre which is roundly a terrible idea.

S: Dorothy Whitelock's 1961 translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Roach, L. [My supervisor!] (2016), Æthelred the Unready

Historians have been rather harsh on Æthelred, his reign is viewed as a time of "national degeneracy"^1. While it is right to say that his reign was ultimately a difficult time period for the English realm as whole as a King he is a fascinating subject to study and within his reign we can see a fascinating range of responses to crisis and in many ways a high point in the craft of Anglo-Saxon kingship.

Until 984 England was ruled by regency, Æthelred was only twelve (possibly younger) by the time he took up the throne, with the key members being his mother Ælfthryth and Bishop Æthelwold. Æthelwold's death appears to have been a key factor in kick starting Æthelred's own reign. Ælfthryth at this time also disappears from the witness lists of charters and it seems likely that this also meant her disappearance from the Anglo-Saxon court. Æthelred appears to have begun stripping land back from monastic institutions that both Ælfthryth and Bishop Æthelwold had largely supported. It is around the same time that the Viking attacks began, culminating around 991 with the Battle of Maldon. I think here it is also important to note that these viking attacks were also the most sustained and sever the English had faced for well over a hundred years, and the earlier raids (esp. in the first decade of the 10th C.) would leave them crippled.

For the English, Æthelred's reign would have stood in sharp contrast with that of Edgar's, who had been a great monastic reformer and supporter and had also overseen a period of peace and reform. The link between Æthelred's actions and the resumption of the viking attacks would have weighed heavily on the minds of the English and it appears it also weighed heavily on the King's mind. In 993 at an assembly Æthelred admitted his wrong doings, which have come to be known as his 'youthful indiscretions'. Notably Ælfthryth, who had been absent from courtly documents since the Bishop's death, makes a return at this moment. A series of charters follow and it is easy to see the blame for Æthelred's actions placed at the feet of his advisors. Æthelred asks that religious houses across of England continue to pray for the realm in the wake of increasing viking attacks. Edward's death is another reason that divine punishment in the form of viking attacks has afflicted England and his cult becomes an important part of English faith. How much Ælfthryth is held responsible for Edward's murder seems perhaps to not matter as much as the murky succession of Æthelred through the death of a previous king when combined with the crisis England would face meant an unsettled political culture.

As part of making amends for his youthful indiscretions Æthelred focuses on granting land to churches and restoring ones to their lands that he had previously stripped (such as the new minster in Winchester or at Canterbury). Yet Æthelred responds in other important ways too, the creation of the Angus Dei pennies, issued it seems as a 'special type' around 1009, seems to be linked to the general increase in the display of piety by the realm during this time. Angus Dei can be seen as part of larger coinage reforms started by Edgar (again undoubtedly seen as the great reformer) but in direct response to the return, after a brief respite in attacks, of the viking army. The coins' importance is only highlighted by the fact that a significant amount of our finds come from Scandinavia showing that these coins we either used a part of the gafol (tribute) paid to the vikings and that they continued to have special meaning even outside of England. The explicitly christian imagery of the coin directly links it to the efforts of Æthelred to highlight his piety and to once again make up for his youthful indiscretions.

The other possibility for his nickname comes from the trust he placed in Earldorman Eadric. Eadric, supposedly behind a coup within the Æthelredian court, had earned the king's close trust. Which he would promptly betray by defecting in 1016 to the Danish army. Cnut apparently had slightly more sense than Æthelred and had decapitated Eadric shortly after his successful conquest.

All the while, it is important (to my mind at least) to remember that in the later 10th and early 11th centuries England was a young, recently unified kingdom. The attacks launched during Æthelred's reign would have put a strain on any king, well advised or not, and any kingdom. The decision to pay tribute to the vikings can hardly have been a pleasant one to make but perhaps it was indeed the wiser choice. Yet this decision perhaps more than any other has been used to paint Æthelred's reign as weak, especially in comparison to the great Anglo-Saxon king Alfred and his heroic resistance against the vikings.

I think the responses of Æthelred to the onslaught of viking attacks that began in the late 10th C. and which continued until 1016, show an enormous amount of thought and care. The vikings were divine punishment for the failures of both king and realm. While militarily (see the Battle of Maldon) the realm may have suffered, it can be argued that it flourished in many ways; spiritually (Wulfstan's Sermo Lupi ad Anglos) and royal output (in both charters and law codes) was immensely impressive and significant. That Æthelred has come to be known by his title "the Unready" seems to be down to later historians in the 12th and 13th centuries, using sources produced immediately after the Scandinavian conquest which, unsurprisingly, paint Æthelred in a less than positive light. The picture that Æthelred was "ill-advised" seems to be based purely on the few years that follow the death of Bishop Æthelwold, or potentially the actions of Ealdorman Eadirc. Æthelred's reign shows a remarkable depth of both response and thought to resolving the crisis. For Æthelred and his realm, victory over the vikings would have been impossible without proper pious actions and restitution for his "youthful indiscretions".

F.M. Stenton. Anglo-Saxon England

More generally Kenyes The Diplomas of King Æthelred 'the Unready' 978-1016 is the key source for this period and for the rehabilitation of Æthelred.