King Edmund II lronside

990 – 1016 · Generation VI · King of the English (Apr–Nov 1016) · House of Wessex

Edmund II Ironside (990–1016). King of the English (Apr–Nov 1016). Married Ealdgyth of England in 1015. Fought Cnut to a division of the kingdom and died within the month. He had defied his father before he was king: when Æthelred permitted the execution of his allies Sigeferth and Morcar, Edmund rose in revolt and occupied the Five Boroughs, calling himself king in a charter. Cnut’s invasion ended the quarrel, and on Æthelred’s death Edmund claimed the throne and fought the Dane at Penselwood, Sherston, and Brentford with real success — until Assandun, where, though backed by “the whole English nation,” Eadric Streona’s desertion of the field opened the way to a crushing defeat. The partition agreed at Alney left him only Wessex, and his reign closed at 222 days; Cnut then purged his family and followers, driving them abroad or putting them to death. Medieval writers praised his bravery, and his grandson Edgar the Ætheling would press a claim to the English throne for years afterward.

One of 21 people of House of Wessex (until 1093) in this archive. Alfred’s line: kings of Wessex who became the first kings of all England.

Line of descent: King Alfred the Great → King Edward The Elder → King Edmund → King Edgar → King Aethelred II The Unready → King Edmund II lronside.

Parents

King Aethelred II The Unready (966 – 1016)
Ælfgifu of York (970 – 1002)

Siblings

King Edward The Confessor (1003 – 1066) (half)

Partners

Married Ealdgyth of England (992 – 1035) in 1015 — one child together

Children

Edward the Exile (1016 – 1057)

Life

990 — Born
1015 — Married Ealdgyth of England
1016 — Died
1016 — Edmund Ironside, son of Aethelred II the Unready of England, becomes King. At the battle of Assandun, in Essex, King Canute II of Denmark defeats Edmund. They meet on the Isle of Alney in the Severn and agree to divide the kingdom into two. Canute takes the land North of the Thames and Edmund the South.
1016 — Edmund is assassinated a few months later and Canute takes the throne as King Canute of England.