WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.339 Welcome to the Deep Dives, where we take a stack 00:00:02.339 --> 00:00:04.900 of historical sources, charters, laws, biased 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:08.279 chronicles, and modern analysis, and dive straight 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:11.919 into the crucial nuggets of knowledge. Today, 00:00:12.179 --> 00:00:14.800 we are peering back into the fraught, complicated 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.780 heart of Anglo -Saxon England. We're going to 00:00:18.780 --> 00:00:21.899 examine a king whose name has, for what, a thousand 00:00:21.899 --> 00:00:25.949 years, been synonymous with catastrophic utter 00:00:25.949 --> 00:00:28.089 failure we're talking about ethelred ii king 00:00:28.089 --> 00:00:30.269 of the english for nearly four decades spanning 00:00:30.269 --> 00:00:32.770 the late 10th and early 11th centuries and the 00:00:32.770 --> 00:00:34.969 moment you hear the name ethelred the unready 00:00:34.969 --> 00:00:37.570 you just you immediately feel the weight of historical 00:00:37.570 --> 00:00:40.250 judgment you really do but what if that simple 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:43.390 damning nickname obscures a reign that was in 00:00:43.390 --> 00:00:46.429 reality a period of intense administrative innovation 00:00:46.429 --> 00:00:49.250 right a cultural zenith even a fundamentally 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:52.420 sophisticated state structure That is absolutely 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:54.399 the central tension we need to get into today. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:56.679 Our mission is to move beyond the soundbite, 00:00:56.679 --> 00:00:59.359 to understand the man who, despite presiding 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:01.060 over one of the most organized governments in 00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:03.460 early Europe, still managed to lose his kingdom. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.359 And not just once. Twice. He lost it twice to 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:09.159 foreign invaders. So to start, we really have 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:12.579 to tackle that. famous brutal epithet the name 00:01:12.579 --> 00:01:15.599 itself exactly it is rooted in an ancient and 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:19.420 frankly a genius political pun his actual name 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:23.260 ethelred means noble council noble council yeah 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:26.659 it's a proud strong germanic name composed of 00:01:26.659 --> 00:01:30.500 ethel meaning noble and red meaning counsel or 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:32.879 wisdom so he was literally named for the very 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:37.140 quality he would historically be accused of Completely 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:39.019 lacking. That's it. That's exactly where the 00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:42.239 pun comes in. His contemporary by name or nickname 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.359 was Unred. Unred. Okay, so what does that mean? 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:48.480 It means ill counsel or, and this is maybe more 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.719 devastating, no counsel. Wow. So by calling him 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:54.640 unread, the historical record in one swift linguistic 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.560 move twisted his name into its exact opposite. 00:01:57.719 --> 00:01:59.700 The king of noble counsel became the king of 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:01.739 ill counsel. It's the original piece of historical 00:02:01.739 --> 00:02:03.859 character assassination. And, you know, it was 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:05.840 devastatingly effective. But what's fascinating 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:08.750 here is the timing. This nickname wasn't something 00:02:08.750 --> 00:02:10.610 people were shouting at him in the street. No, 00:02:10.689 --> 00:02:13.530 not at all. That epithet, unread, it wasn't actually 00:02:13.530 --> 00:02:16.210 recorded contemporaneously. It doesn't show up 00:02:16.210 --> 00:02:19.729 on a political pamphlet the day after he fled. 00:02:19.949 --> 00:02:22.509 So when does it appear? It first appears much, 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:25.449 much later in the early 13th century, long after 00:02:25.449 --> 00:02:28.110 the Norman conquest. And eventually it shifted 00:02:28.110 --> 00:02:30.389 into the more familiar adjective we use today, 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:34.020 the unready. So it's the sheer power of centuries 00:02:34.020 --> 00:02:37.099 of hindsight shaping how we remember him. Precisely. 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:39.960 It creates a nickname that retrospectively justifies 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:42.259 the conquest that happened almost 50 years after 00:02:42.259 --> 00:02:44.680 he died. That context is just so vital because 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:46.659 we are covering a massive span of time here. 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.199 We are. Athelred was king of the English from 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.780 March 978, right after the chaos of his half 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.379 -brother's death, all the way to December 1013, 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:59.020 when he was briefly deposed. Then he comes back 00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:01.840 in February 1014 and reigns until his death in 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:05.419 April 1016. That's a 38 -year reign. An incredibly 00:03:05.419 --> 00:03:07.960 long reign, and one defined almost entirely by 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.300 the disastrous resumption of large -scale Viking 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:13.219 attacks. This is what historians call the Second 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:15.840 Viking Age in England. So he inherited a prosperous 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:18.979 kingdom and left behind. A catastrophe. A total 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:21.719 catastrophe. And we need to understand exactly 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:25.000 how that collapse was engineered, both by external 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.580 pressures and internal political decay. Okay, 00:03:28.620 --> 00:03:30.599 so let's start at the beginning. This story has 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:33.310 to start in the shadow of regicide. It really 00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:36.490 does. Ethelred was the younger son of King Edgar, 00:03:36.689 --> 00:03:39.930 who was, you know, the last great Anglo -Saxon 00:03:39.930 --> 00:03:44.110 ruler before this era of crisis. His mother was 00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:46.189 Queen Elfthrith. And he was probably born around 00:03:46.189 --> 00:03:49.750 968. Right. And his father's death in 975 was 00:03:49.750 --> 00:03:52.909 sudden and just catastrophic for the stability 00:03:52.909 --> 00:03:55.710 of the kingdom. Edgar was only 32. So young. 00:03:55.849 --> 00:03:58.490 And the succession immediately threw the aristocratic 00:03:58.490 --> 00:04:00.849 elite into turmoil. This wasn't just a question 00:04:00.849 --> 00:04:03.300 of who should rule, but... you know, which faction 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:05.120 would rule through the young king. And the sides 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:07.000 were heavily defined. The kingdom split right 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:08.879 down the middle. Oh, absolutely. So you have 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:11.699 Æthelred, the younger son, backed by his incredibly 00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:14.639 powerful mother, Queen Elphir. And some big names 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:17.459 with her. Big names. Bishop Æthelwold and the 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:20.360 influential Ilderman Elphir of Mercia. And on 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.439 the other side. The opposing faction supported 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:24.819 his older half -brother, Edward, and they were 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:27.560 heavy hitters too. Dunstan, the Archbishop of 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.600 Canterbury, and the immensely powerful Ealdorman 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.709 Ethelwine of East Anglia. So this was really 00:04:33.709 --> 00:04:36.569 a clash of the titans. It was. And while there 00:04:36.569 --> 00:04:38.569 were debates over legitimacy and whose mother 00:04:38.569 --> 00:04:41.370 had higher status, most scholars agree this was 00:04:41.370 --> 00:04:43.870 really a contest between rival family alliances 00:04:43.870 --> 00:04:48.189 and land interests that had been suppressed by 00:04:48.189 --> 00:04:51.310 Edgar's strong hand. Edward's claim won out at 00:04:51.310 --> 00:04:54.009 first, but he was apparently a violent and, well, 00:04:54.069 --> 00:04:56.629 unstable young king. He reigned for only three 00:04:56.629 --> 00:04:59.170 turbulent years. And that brings us to the pivotal, 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:02.730 horrifying event of Ethelred's early life. Edward 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:05.829 the Martyr's assassination in March 978. Just 00:05:05.829 --> 00:05:07.529 the name tells you how it was remembered. Exactly. 00:05:07.870 --> 00:05:10.589 So Edward was visiting his stepmother, Elthrith, 00:05:10.670 --> 00:05:12.790 and his half -brother, Ethelred, at Corfe Castle 00:05:12.790 --> 00:05:15.930 in Dorset. Okay. The primary source, a hagiographer 00:05:15.930 --> 00:05:17.750 writing about Edward's subsequent sainthood, 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:20.470 describes Edward seeking the consolations of 00:05:20.470 --> 00:05:22.750 brotherly love and being murdered by Ethelred's 00:05:22.750 --> 00:05:25.029 own retainers, his things, the moment he arrived. 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:28.600 Let's pause on that word, the vine. This is so 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:31.379 crucial to Anglo -Saxon political life. They 00:05:31.379 --> 00:05:33.399 weren't just servants, were they? Not at all, 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:36.040 no. The Fines were the absolute backbone of the 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:38.459 military and local administration. They were 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:41.720 the king's noble followers, men of land and influence 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:44.100 who owed military service directly to the crown. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:48.079 So to have the king killed by his own fangs were 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:50.279 the fangs of his rival's household. It's a complete 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.699 breakdown of the entire social contract. It's 00:05:52.699 --> 00:05:55.829 unthinkable. And the assassination deeply troubled 00:05:55.829 --> 00:05:58.350 contemporaries for a very specific reason, didn't 00:05:58.350 --> 00:06:00.930 it? It was about the sacred nature of kingship. 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:03.829 Absolutely. The king was consecrated. He was 00:06:03.829 --> 00:06:06.290 anointed into office with holy oil, which made 00:06:06.290 --> 00:06:08.810 him literally touched by divinity. So to kill 00:06:08.810 --> 00:06:12.569 him. To kill a consecrated king was seen as more 00:06:12.569 --> 00:06:14.689 than a crime. It was a sin of the first order. 00:06:14.829 --> 00:06:17.629 It created this moral and spiritual taint over 00:06:17.629 --> 00:06:19.670 the whole succession. And the real issue is that 00:06:19.670 --> 00:06:22.990 the crime went unpunished. No one was definitively 00:06:22.990 --> 00:06:25.329 named or charged in the pre -conquest sources. 00:06:25.649 --> 00:06:27.790 That's right. And while later chroniclers point 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:30.069 the finger directly at his mother, Queen Elthrith, 00:06:30.230 --> 00:06:33.370 modern historians are a bit more cautious. Why 00:06:33.370 --> 00:06:35.990 is that? Well, some speculate it might have just 00:06:35.990 --> 00:06:38.810 been the accidental result of a sudden affray, 00:06:38.829 --> 00:06:41.129 a disastrous escalation of political tension 00:06:41.129 --> 00:06:43.449 that got out of hand. But regardless of intent, 00:06:43.990 --> 00:06:46.529 Æthelred, who was only, what, 9 to 12 years old 00:06:46.529 --> 00:06:49.189 at this point? Becomes the immediate beneficiary 00:06:49.189 --> 00:06:52.779 of the murder. He inherits a throne stained by 00:06:52.779 --> 00:06:56.860 spiritual crime. And that stain, this original 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.399 sin, it really haunted his entire reign and was 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.000 often cited by later chroniclers as the root 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.100 of all his troubles. The crowning didn't happen 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:07.060 right away, though. It took over a year before 00:07:07.060 --> 00:07:09.379 he was finally consecrated at Kingston. It did. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.620 And the Anglo -Saxon Chronicle notes there was 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:13.980 much rejoicing by the counselors. Which seems 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:17.350 a bit strange. It does. But this wasn't joy for 00:07:17.350 --> 00:07:19.889 the child king. As you suggested, it was probably 00:07:19.889 --> 00:07:22.689 relief that the political crisis had passed and 00:07:22.689 --> 00:07:25.050 they had a chance to stabilize the vacuum. So 00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:27.670 he starts as a boy king, ruling under a regency. 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:30.649 Exactly. The mighty government was led by his 00:07:30.649 --> 00:07:33.870 father's leading counselors, his mother, Elfrith, 00:07:34.050 --> 00:07:38.089 Bishop Ethelwald, and Ealdorman Elphir. And Elfrith 00:07:38.089 --> 00:07:41.310 was intensely powerful, often attesting his early 00:07:41.310 --> 00:07:43.170 charters immediately after the king himself. 00:07:43.819 --> 00:07:45.740 But the young king didn't tolerate the leash 00:07:45.740 --> 00:07:48.579 for long. What happens when he decides to break 00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:52.000 free from his regions in the mid -980s? This 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.240 is where we see the first definitive signs of 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:56.959 the instability that would later define his kingship. 00:07:57.220 --> 00:07:59.639 After Bishop Ethelwald, who was a key conservative 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:03.259 figure, died in 984, Ethelred dismissed his remaining 00:08:03.259 --> 00:08:05.439 regions. Including his own mother. Including 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:07.740 his mother. She just vanishes from the charter 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:10.500 witness lists for nearly a decade. He starts 00:08:10.500 --> 00:08:12.990 to bring in a new set of advisors. New players 00:08:12.990 --> 00:08:16.170 and new mistakes. Precisely. He was trying to 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:17.990 assert his own independence, but he was doing 00:08:17.990 --> 00:08:20.589 it under the influence of new and sometimes self 00:08:20.589 --> 00:08:22.750 -serving favorites. This led to some highly controversial 00:08:22.750 --> 00:08:26.290 actions. Oh, yes. Actions demonstrating a really 00:08:26.290 --> 00:08:28.610 worrying lack of respect for established norms 00:08:28.610 --> 00:08:31.709 and the church. For example, he savagely encroached 00:08:31.709 --> 00:08:34.129 upon church privileges, specifically ravaging 00:08:34.129 --> 00:08:36.610 the diocese of Rochester and distributing the 00:08:36.610 --> 00:08:39.350 land to one of his royal retainers. So this indicates 00:08:39.350 --> 00:08:42.679 a young king. with poor judgment, who, instead 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:45.120 of uniting the kingdom after the murderer, started 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:47.919 alienating powerful institutions. The church, 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.100 key aristocrats, you name it, that's absolutely 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:53.740 right. And this pattern of paranoia and ruthlessness 00:08:53.740 --> 00:08:58.019 begins early. It does. In 985, he exiled Ealdorman 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:01.080 Elfrick Sild of Mercia for treason. The details 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:03.159 are a bit shadowy, but it shows a king willing 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:05.460 to move aggressively against powerful figures, 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:08.399 fostering this deep suspicion and aristocratic 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.179 resentment, which would come back to destroy 00:09:10.179 --> 00:09:13.000 him later. So we've established that his political 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.960 start was shaky, stained by murder, and marked 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.360 by these early controversial policies. But to 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:20.340 truly understand why he's remembered as the unready, 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:22.120 we have to talk about the sources themselves. 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:24.500 Yes. Because they are the ultimate tool of judgment, 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.779 and they are deeply compromised. This is so critical 00:09:27.779 --> 00:09:29.980 for our listeners. If you're studying this period 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:33.480 you realize the evidence is not neutral. We rely 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:36.200 heavily on the principal narrative sources, specifically 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:40.019 manuscripts C, D, and E of the Anglisaxon Chronicle. 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:41.799 And the Chronicle isn't a single book, right? 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:44.620 It's a collection of records. A collection of 00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:47.200 monastic records, copied and continued in different 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.559 places. And these particular later versions, 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:53.559 C, D, and E, were written primarily in London 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:56.200 after the most important event of the era. After 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:58.980 Æthelred's death and the successful Danish conquest 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:02.379 of England under Kennet. Exactly. They were composed... 00:10:02.409 --> 00:10:06.169 between 1016 and 1023, possibly by prodigalers 00:10:06.169 --> 00:10:08.669 employed by Archbishop Wulfstan, who themselves 00:10:08.669 --> 00:10:10.929 had witnessed the collapse. They already knew 00:10:10.929 --> 00:10:13.409 Canut, the Dane, had won. Thing of the ending. 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:15.590 They knew the ending, and this foreknowledge, 00:10:15.590 --> 00:10:17.970 this power of hindsight, it just poisoned their 00:10:17.970 --> 00:10:20.289 entire perspective. So they had an immediate 00:10:20.289 --> 00:10:22.950 problem. How do you explain the fall of England? 00:10:23.009 --> 00:10:25.049 And the narrative they chose was one of English 00:10:25.049 --> 00:10:28.110 incompetence, treachery, and cowardice. And that 00:10:28.110 --> 00:10:30.590 conveniently diverts blame away from the strength 00:10:30.590 --> 00:10:32.889 of the invaders and places it squarely on the 00:10:32.889 --> 00:10:35.210 king's lieutenants. So it's a moral explanation 00:10:35.210 --> 00:10:37.990 for a catastrophic political outcome. It is. 00:10:38.269 --> 00:10:40.730 Historian Levi Roach notes that foreknowledge 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:43.490 of the eventual English defeat haunts the chronicler's 00:10:43.490 --> 00:10:46.690 writing at every turn. It's an unavoidable structural 00:10:46.690 --> 00:10:50.350 bias. They frame the whole 38 -year reign as 00:10:50.350 --> 00:10:53.029 this inexorable march toward the 1016 disaster. 00:10:53.509 --> 00:10:55.750 And we can actually see this amplification of 00:10:55.750 --> 00:10:58.210 failure when we compare the different versions 00:10:58.210 --> 00:10:59.889 of the Chronicle, right? Like with the Viking 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:03.389 raids of 1001. A perfect example. So ASCA, which 00:11:03.389 --> 00:11:05.470 is the contemporary source written much closer 00:11:05.470 --> 00:11:07.710 to the event, gives a straightforward military 00:11:07.710 --> 00:11:10.190 report. Just the facts. Pretty much. It says 00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:12.450 local Devon forces gathered what they could but 00:11:12.450 --> 00:11:14.899 were overwhelmed at Pinho by the Viking. army. 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:17.960 It's a defeat but you know a brave effort. But 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:22.080 the later source ASCC tells a much darker much 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.620 more morally loaded story. It does. It claims 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:27.000 that an immense English army ran away without 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.259 putting up a fight. It turns a military loss 00:11:29.259 --> 00:11:31.799 into a moral disgrace. So the later versions 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:34.559 are systematically magnifying the sense of English 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.340 collapse and betrayal. Making Ethelred's reign 00:11:37.340 --> 00:11:39.820 look feebler than it might have felt day to day. 00:11:39.980 --> 00:11:42.679 And this negative view was then cemented by the 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.759 Anglo -Norman historians who followed the 1066 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:48.519 conquest men like William of Malmesbury. And 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:50.700 their job was to justify the Norman takeover. 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:53.580 Of course. So they depicted the previous Anglo 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:57.620 -Saxon kings as inept, violent, or weak. Ethelred, 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.480 the king who lost his country, was the perfect 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.159 scapegoat. Now you mentioned a surprising counterbalance 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:05.940 to this, though. Scandinavian sources. It's a 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:09.360 fascinating wrinkle. Paradoxically, some Scandinavian 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.899 skaldic poetry, which was meant to honor Viking 00:12:11.899 --> 00:12:14.039 heroes, actually depicts Æthelred surprisingly 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:17.519 favorably. How so? Well, we have the example 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:21.019 of Gunnlaugr Orm Stonda, an Icelandic poet who 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:23.600 visited Æthelred's court around the early 1000s 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:26.139 and recited a praise poem describing him as a 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:28.299 generous and dauntless prince. Well, we know 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:29.960 the generous part is true. He was paying huge 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:32.580 amounts of tribute. Exactly. But dauntless is 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:35.440 a direct contradiction. to the image of the unready. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.220 And while historians rightly treat Scaldic poetry 00:12:38.220 --> 00:12:42.580 as highly unreliable for factual history, its 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:45.580 purpose was praise and exaggeration, it does 00:12:45.580 --> 00:12:47.860 remind us that not everyone in the North Sea 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:50.759 world viewed him as a total failure. He clearly 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:53.519 had moments of authority and charisma. So where 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.879 do we get the reliable, unfiltered insight into 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.500 his day -to -day governance if the narrative 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:02.299 accounts are so biased? From the paperwork, as 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:04.289 you might call it. We turn to the administrative 00:13:04.289 --> 00:13:06.590 record, the non -narrative sources that weren't 00:13:06.590 --> 00:13:08.730 trying to tell a story of defeat. Okay. So we 00:13:08.730 --> 00:13:10.929 have incredibly reliable sources like the charters. 00:13:11.090 --> 00:13:13.889 Eighty -four authentic charters survived from 00:13:13.889 --> 00:13:16.769 his reign. And charters are grants of land or 00:13:16.769 --> 00:13:19.529 privileges, essentially official government documents. 00:13:19.610 --> 00:13:22.149 Yes, and they were issued at periodic meetings 00:13:22.149 --> 00:13:25.590 of the Kings Council. The witness lists. The 00:13:25.590 --> 00:13:27.610 witness lists on these charters provide solid 00:13:27.610 --> 00:13:30.090 chronological evidence of who was attending the 00:13:30.090 --> 00:13:35.899 highest levels of government. So these show us 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:38.000 the actual political hierarchy, who's in, who's 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.740 out. Exactly. It's a story of political reality, 00:13:40.919 --> 00:13:43.899 far harder to distort retrospectively than a 00:13:43.899 --> 00:13:46.840 battle description. And we also rely heavily 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:49.500 on the law codes and the coinage records, which 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:52.179 together paint a picture of a functional, sophisticated 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:55.379 state apparatus, even as the military situation 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:58.100 was collapsing. So Ethelred is governing a state 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:01.179 that is arguably... the best administered in 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:03.639 Europe, but he has to deal with this resurgent 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:06.960 threat. After a generation of peace, the Vikings 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:11.240 returned. Small raids started in 980 and 982, 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:13.500 kicking off the Second Viking Age in England. 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:16.639 Initially, these were just probing attacks, likely 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.759 opportunistic raids from Irish Sea Norse communities. 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:21.899 They were minor enough that they might have been 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:24.049 forgotten entirely if they hadn't... you know, 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:26.350 set the stage for the massive fleets that arrived 00:14:26.350 --> 00:14:29.309 in the 990s. But those initial raids had an immediate 00:14:29.309 --> 00:14:32.529 and maybe unexpected diplomatic consequence connecting 00:14:32.529 --> 00:14:35.570 England to Normandy. That's right. The diplomatic 00:14:35.570 --> 00:14:37.970 activity resulting from the raids led directly 00:14:37.970 --> 00:14:40.850 to a major treaty in 991 with Richard II, Duke 00:14:40.850 --> 00:14:42.919 of Normandy. And the Pope was involved. It was 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:46.299 mediated by the Pope, John V, and it stipulated 00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:48.740 that neither England nor Normandy would harbor 00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:51.139 the other's enemies. This was a critical security 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:53.399 measure. Because it suggests the Danish raiders 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:55.580 were using Norman ports. Exactly. It strongly 00:14:55.580 --> 00:14:58.039 suggests they were using them as logistical bases. 00:14:58.500 --> 00:15:01.120 Ethelred was trying to cut off the pirates' supply 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:04.759 line. And then everything just escalates dramatically 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:08.769 in 991. The year of the Battle of Malden. This 00:15:08.769 --> 00:15:11.690 is the turning point. A much larger Danish fleet 00:15:11.690 --> 00:15:14.629 ravaged Epswich and landed near the Blackwater 00:15:14.629 --> 00:15:17.789 River estuary. The English response was led by 00:15:17.789 --> 00:15:20.789 Ilderman Bertnoff. An aging but fiercely loyal 00:15:20.789 --> 00:15:23.370 nobleman. Who led a local militia to meet the 00:15:23.370 --> 00:15:25.590 invaders. And this event has been immortalized 00:15:25.590 --> 00:15:27.669 by the famous Old English poem, The Battle of 00:15:27.669 --> 00:15:30.070 Malden. What does that poem tell us about the 00:15:30.070 --> 00:15:32.000 climate of the time? While the battle itself 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.740 was a crushing English defeat, resulting in Berthas' 00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:37.519 death, but the palm captures the ultimate Anglo 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.480 -Saxon virtue, absolute loyalty to one's lord. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.419 It details the heroic resistance of the Thanes 00:15:43.419 --> 00:15:46.059 who chose to fight to the death rather than desert 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:49.519 their fallen leader. It acts as a powerful moral 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.899 counterpoint to the later chronicle accounts, 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:55.059 which emphasize cowardice. So it proves that 00:15:55.059 --> 00:15:58.120 there was still immense martial spirit and loyalty. 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:01.460 but that the overall military strategy and coordination 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:04.600 were failing. The shock of Malden led directly 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:07.360 to the policy that has forever defined Æthelred's 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.960 reputation, the decision to pay the invaders 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:13.259 off. Yes. The king and his council, the Witten, 00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:16.299 advised by Archbishop Sejeric of Canterbury, 00:16:16.539 --> 00:16:20.620 decided to pay a tribute, Orgafol. to the Danes. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:23.059 And the first payment was huge. 10 ,000 pounds, 00:16:23.259 --> 00:16:25.919 a massive sum, paid specifically because of the 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:27.840 great terror they were causing along the coast. 00:16:28.139 --> 00:16:30.179 We need to clarify the terminology here because 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:31.980 these tribute payments are often just lumped 00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:34.200 together. They are, and it's important to distinguish 00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:36.220 them. So what's the difference between this first 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:39.340 payment, the gayful, and what came later? This 00:16:39.340 --> 00:16:42.240 first gayful was explicitly a one -off payment, 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:45.179 essentially a ransom to make this specific army 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:47.679 leave. Right. It was not yet institutionalized. 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:50.679 It's crisis management. Exactly. It's crucial 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:53.200 to distinguish this from the later, much heavier, 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:55.820 an annual tax that came to be called the Herageld 00:16:55.820 --> 00:16:59.779 or army tax. The Gefol was desperate. The Herageld 00:16:59.779 --> 00:17:02.320 was a settled system of state extortion. And 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.319 critics view this as weakness. But historical 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:08.299 context shows it wasn't always a poor strategy, 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:10.900 right? Modern historians generally agree that 00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:13.400 in the short term, it was a sensible, pragmatic 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:16.480 move. Other successful leaders like Alfred the 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:19.359 Great and Charles the Bald in Francia, they adopted 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:21.839 similar policies. To protect the people. To protect 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.000 the civil population, their livestock, their 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.799 homes. It was a way to buy time, save lives, 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:29.039 and crucially, keep the functioning agricultural 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.000 economy intact while the military situation was 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.549 being addressed. The problem was that the payments 00:17:34.549 --> 00:17:37.150 didn't stop. They just trained the Vikings to 00:17:37.150 --> 00:17:39.829 keep coming back for more. And the cost escalated 00:17:39.829 --> 00:17:43.769 quickly. By 994, the Viking army returned, led 00:17:43.769 --> 00:17:46.990 by two major figures, Olaf Tryggvason, the future 00:17:46.990 --> 00:17:49.990 king of Norway, and Svein Forkbeard, the formidable 00:17:49.990 --> 00:17:52.170 king of Denmark. The scale must have been terrifying. 00:17:52.529 --> 00:17:55.369 It was. They besieged London, though they failed 00:17:55.369 --> 00:17:57.789 to take it, which demonstrates London's immense 00:17:57.789 --> 00:18:00.230 strategic importance. And the price of peace 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:04.029 went up. To 16 ,000 pounds. For a promise that 00:18:04.029 --> 00:18:06.029 the attacks would cease and the fleet would leave. 00:18:06.329 --> 00:18:09.210 But in the middle of all this desperation, Ethelred 00:18:09.210 --> 00:18:12.289 managed a really sophisticated diplomatic maneuver. 00:18:12.890 --> 00:18:16.049 A flash of brilliance. This is a moment of clear 00:18:16.049 --> 00:18:18.950 success that often gets overlooked. Ethelred 00:18:18.950 --> 00:18:21.589 sponsored the confirmation of Olaf Tryggvason, 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:24.109 who had probably been baptized earlier. And what 00:18:24.109 --> 00:18:26.930 did that achieve? Olaf, receiving gifts and an 00:18:26.930 --> 00:18:29.069 honor guard, promised never to return to England 00:18:29.069 --> 00:18:31.910 in hostility. And he kept that promise. He left 00:18:31.910 --> 00:18:34.130 to establish his rule in Norway. And some of 00:18:34.130 --> 00:18:36.450 his men were even retained by Ethelred as paid 00:18:36.450 --> 00:18:39.289 mercenaries. So it shows he was capable of decisive, 00:18:39.589 --> 00:18:41.730 sophisticated diplomatic action that actually 00:18:41.730 --> 00:18:45.130 got results. With Olaf, yes. He buys three years 00:18:45.130 --> 00:18:47.950 of peace from a major threat, but at an astronomical 00:18:47.950 --> 00:18:50.809 financial cost that is just draining the internal 00:18:50.809 --> 00:18:53.049 economy. Right. And this brings us to a part 00:18:53.049 --> 00:18:58.599 of his reign that really complicated. This section 00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:01.099 is absolutely vital for the listener because 00:19:01.099 --> 00:19:04.180 it provides the counter -narrative. In the period 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:06.480 immediately following the shock of Malden and 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:09.319 the first major tributes, Uffelred undertook 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:12.079 a massive internal shift. He seems to have had 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:13.799 a change of heart, a kind of moral reckoning. 00:19:13.900 --> 00:19:16.440 He did. He began viewing the Viking victories 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:20.000 as divine justice for his earlier persecution 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:23.549 of the church. Remember ravaging Rochester and 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:27.329 dismissing his mother? Yes. By 993, he had accepted 00:19:27.329 --> 00:19:29.670 the longstanding critique from church reformers 00:19:29.670 --> 00:19:32.109 that his reign was tainted by moral failure. 00:19:32.569 --> 00:19:35.089 He convened a medium of the Witten with the stated 00:19:35.089 --> 00:19:37.890 goal of being free of the terrible curse as quickly 00:19:37.890 --> 00:19:40.230 as possible. He's actively trying to stabilize 00:19:40.230 --> 00:19:42.849 his position by aligning himself with the moral 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:45.400 authority of the church. And he didn't just quietly 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:47.960 reconcile. He made a huge public spectacle of 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:50.039 his repentance, which is captured in the charter 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:53.619 S -876 of 993. What's so special about that charter? 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.619 S -876 is one of the most powerful and insightful 00:19:56.619 --> 00:19:59.160 documents we possess. It's one of the grandest 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:02.140 original charters surviving. And in it, Effelred 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:04.920 publicly and formally disowned his earlier policies. 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:07.799 And he blames his youth. He blames the ignorance 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:11.789 of my youth. but also, and this is key, the abhorrent 00:20:11.789 --> 00:20:14.309 greed of certain of those men who ought to administer 00:20:14.309 --> 00:20:17.690 to my interest. A public political purge. Absolutely. 00:20:17.710 --> 00:20:20.210 It was a formal restoration of land and status 00:20:20.210 --> 00:20:22.690 to the church, and he's blaming figures like 00:20:22.690 --> 00:20:25.609 Elfrick of Hampshire. This marks a shift in his 00:20:25.609 --> 00:20:28.690 political management. His mother, Elfrith. She 00:20:28.690 --> 00:20:30.950 comes back into the picture. She does. She gains 00:20:30.950 --> 00:20:34.049 renewed status in his charters and ecclesiastics, 00:20:34.049 --> 00:20:36.309 bishops and abbots become much more prominent 00:20:36.309 --> 00:20:38.890 signatories on these crucial documents. He's 00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:40.809 stacking the deck with people who prioritize 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:43.910 moral order. And he smartly tried to neutralize 00:20:43.910 --> 00:20:47.009 the most potent political symbol of his failures. 00:20:47.410 --> 00:20:50.069 The murder of his half -brother, Edward. He did. 00:20:50.490 --> 00:20:52.970 Ethelred actively promoted the cult of Edward 00:20:52.970 --> 00:20:55.890 the Martyr. He founded Chelsea Abbey, dedicated 00:20:55.890 --> 00:20:58.829 to Edward, and then in 1001, he ordered a second 00:20:58.829 --> 00:21:01.430 translation of Edward's remains to a highly prominent 00:21:01.430 --> 00:21:04.170 position in Shaftesbury Abbey. That's fascinating. 00:21:04.349 --> 00:21:06.789 He's trying to co -opt the moral authority of 00:21:06.789 --> 00:21:08.710 the saint whose murder put him on the throne. 00:21:08.950 --> 00:21:11.509 It's a brilliant political move. It is exactly 00:21:11.509 --> 00:21:13.829 that. It's an attempt to legitimize his rule 00:21:13.829 --> 00:21:16.609 by embracing the spiritual debt incurred by the 00:21:16.609 --> 00:21:19.710 crime. And despite the Viking pressure. This 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:23.069 period of reform, the late 990s and early on 00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:26.529 thousands, is characterized by enormous sophisticated 00:21:26.529 --> 00:21:29.769 achievements in governance. It really is. So 00:21:29.769 --> 00:21:32.890 let's dig into the evidence that this was a well 00:21:32.890 --> 00:21:35.789 -run state. Where do we see this sophistication? 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:38.650 First, in the central administration. We have 00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:41.390 evidence of a highly organized central writing 00:21:41.390 --> 00:21:44.069 office. Charters were not just, you know, scribbled 00:21:44.069 --> 00:21:46.430 documents. They were drafted centrally. Royal 00:21:46.430 --> 00:21:48.549 instructions were sent out across the entire 00:21:48.549 --> 00:21:51.069 kingdom. And the royal seal. The royal seal was 00:21:51.069 --> 00:21:53.150 used uniformly as the proof of authenticity. 00:21:53.670 --> 00:21:56.670 This requires training, organization and a highly 00:21:56.670 --> 00:21:58.890 literate staff. You should not underestimate 00:21:58.890 --> 00:22:01.190 the degree of sophistication in managing official 00:22:01.190 --> 00:22:03.650 business. And this centralization extended right 00:22:03.650 --> 00:22:05.789 down to local governance, giving us one of the 00:22:05.789 --> 00:22:07.900 most enduring administrative roles. history. 00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:10.700 Yes. This is when the royal official known as 00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:12.619 the Shire Reef, the king's representative in 00:22:12.619 --> 00:22:14.960 the Shire or county is first recorded in this 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:17.559 form. Who we know today is the sheriff. The sheriff. 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:20.519 Exactly. And the Shire Reef wasn't just a local 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:23.759 bigwig. He was the king's direct link to local 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:26.160 power. He was the direct agent of the crown. 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:28.839 Absolutely. Responsible for practical duties. 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:32.799 collecting money and taxes, arranging local courts, 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:36.500 enforcing royal decrees, and critically, organizing 00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:39.759 the military forces, the Pfeiffer. This level 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.000 of centralized control was pretty much unique 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.180 in Europe at the time. And the coinage provides 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:46.779 another stunning example of this functional state 00:22:46.779 --> 00:22:50.430 machinery. It truly is a marvel. Ethelred continued 00:22:50.430 --> 00:22:53.109 the standardized coinage system inherited from 00:22:53.109 --> 00:22:55.589 his father, Edgar, but he applied the principle 00:22:55.589 --> 00:22:58.029 of frequent recoinages even more effectively 00:22:58.029 --> 00:23:00.390 than before. Meaning he called in all the money. 00:23:00.529 --> 00:23:02.769 The entire kingdom's currency was called in, 00:23:02.890 --> 00:23:05.450 melted down, and reissued with a new design every 00:23:05.450 --> 00:23:07.849 few years, sometimes as often as every six years. 00:23:08.009 --> 00:23:10.710 Why do that? Why not just let the currency circulate? 00:23:10.730 --> 00:23:13.309 Two main reasons. First, it was a massive revenue 00:23:13.309 --> 00:23:15.869 stream. The king charged a high fee for the exchange, 00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:18.410 essentially taxing the money supply constantly. 00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:21.910 And second, it ensured the purity and standardization 00:23:21.910 --> 00:23:25.289 of the currency across dozens of mints, guaranteeing 00:23:25.289 --> 00:23:28.490 trust in the medium of exchange. This model influenced 00:23:28.490 --> 00:23:31.859 later European coinage. for centuries. And the 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:33.940 designs themselves, they reflect the political 00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:36.680 climate. They do. The hand types with the hand 00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:39.400 of God represent that early period of reform 00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:42.680 and repentance. Then came the hugely important 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:45.849 crux type. And that's the one found in Scandinavia. 00:23:45.950 --> 00:23:48.670 In massive quantities. It's the first late Anglo 00:23:48.670 --> 00:23:51.690 -Saxon coin type found on a large scale in Scandinavian 00:23:51.690 --> 00:23:54.529 hordes, which suggests it was the primary mechanism 00:23:54.529 --> 00:23:56.829 for transferring those massive early tribute 00:23:56.829 --> 00:23:59.589 payments overseas. So the coinage proves that 00:23:59.589 --> 00:24:01.970 even though the money was flowing out, the centralized 00:24:01.970 --> 00:24:04.670 mechanism for raising it was incredibly robust. 00:24:05.029 --> 00:24:07.630 Precisely. And in terms of pure legislative output, 00:24:07.950 --> 00:24:10.230 Ethelred's reign is unmatched. He produced between 00:24:10.230 --> 00:24:13.410 10 and 12 surviving law codes more than any other. 00:24:13.450 --> 00:24:16.230 Anglo -Saxon king before Edward I. And the quality 00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:18.730 of this law, especially in the 990s, is considered 00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:21.470 the peak of Anglo -Saxon jurisprudence. Yes. 00:24:21.930 --> 00:24:26.430 Take the Wantage Code of 997. This law applied 00:24:26.430 --> 00:24:28.430 specifically to the five boroughs of the Dane 00:24:28.430 --> 00:24:31.269 Law. regions heavily settled by Danes. So it's 00:24:31.269 --> 00:24:33.049 not for the whole country. Right. And the code 00:24:33.049 --> 00:24:35.269 is remarkable because it incorporates specific 00:24:35.269 --> 00:24:38.869 Scandinavian legal usage and vocabulary. This 00:24:38.869 --> 00:24:41.289 shows the royal administration was expert enough 00:24:41.289 --> 00:24:43.450 not only to control far -flung, historically 00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:46.289 separate regions, but also to integrate complex, 00:24:46.369 --> 00:24:49.569 regional, non -English legal traditions into 00:24:49.569 --> 00:24:52.210 national law. It requires an extremely detailed, 00:24:52.509 --> 00:24:54.690 educated, and well -organized civil service. 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.420 But then the nature of the law changes dramatically, 00:24:57.660 --> 00:25:00.579 driven by this intellectual giant, Wolfstan, 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:03.180 Archbishop of York. Wolfstan was arguably the 00:25:03.180 --> 00:25:05.220 most important intellectual figure of the time. 00:25:05.299 --> 00:25:08.059 He wrote the later codes, particularly from 1008 00:25:08.059 --> 00:25:11.380 to 1014. And Wolfstan fundamentally changed the 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:13.519 tone of the law. How so? He used what is described 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:16.119 as the language of the preacher. He blended homilies 00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:19.039 and legal ordinances. So the law literally becomes 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:22.599 a sermon. In essence, yes. For Wolfstan, the 00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:24.789 Viking threat... wasn't a military or political 00:25:24.789 --> 00:25:28.769 problem, it was a punishment from God. He explicitly 00:25:28.769 --> 00:25:31.950 connected sins and crimes, urging the nation 00:25:31.950 --> 00:25:35.009 to return to piety to appease God. The famous 00:25:35.009 --> 00:25:38.670 Sermon of the Wolf to the English, the ultimate 00:25:38.670 --> 00:25:41.630 example of this. It's a fiery polemic blaming 00:25:41.630 --> 00:25:43.990 English moral decay for the current disasters. 00:25:44.470 --> 00:25:46.650 And this internal intellectual and administrative 00:25:46.650 --> 00:25:50.450 push culminated in a genuine cultural zenith 00:25:50.450 --> 00:25:52.869 around the turn of the century. A remarkable 00:25:52.869 --> 00:25:55.589 flowering of intellectual activity. This is the 00:25:55.589 --> 00:25:58.210 moment when some of the finest Anglo -Saxon illuminated 00:25:58.210 --> 00:26:00.890 manuscripts were being created, the illustrated 00:26:00.890 --> 00:26:03.910 gospels. And we have the major literary works 00:26:03.910 --> 00:26:06.509 of Elfrich of Einscham, whose writing is described 00:26:06.509 --> 00:26:09.210 as the highest pinnacle of Anglo -Latin literature. 00:26:09.529 --> 00:26:12.470 So we have this incredible paradox, a state that 00:26:12.470 --> 00:26:15.009 is intellectually vibrant, legislatively advanced, 00:26:15.289 --> 00:26:18.029 and runs its money supply flawlessly. Yet it 00:26:18.029 --> 00:26:20.349 is simultaneously hemorrhaging money and territory. 00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:23.599 The political infrastructure was solid. The king's 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:25.519 personal judgment, however, was about to fail 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:27.680 catastrophically. Okay, so this brings us to 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:30.619 the dissent. The fragile peace bought by those 00:26:30.619 --> 00:26:33.480 first -grade payments did not last. Not at all. 00:26:33.579 --> 00:26:36.259 The military situation returned with vengeance 00:26:36.259 --> 00:26:41.140 in 997. Danish raids resumed annually, now systematic, 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:44.359 targeting Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Kent. 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:46.660 They were learning the routes and the weak spots. 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:49.720 The expense must have been staggering. He bought 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:52.599 peace again in the spring of 1002, this time 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:55.579 for 24 ,000 pounds. More than double the first 00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:58.019 payment. The cumulative financial burden was 00:26:58.019 --> 00:27:00.519 enormous, and it created this atmosphere of fear 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:03.319 and desperation inside the court. And the only 00:27:03.319 --> 00:27:06.160 break was in 1000. Which Æthelred used actively. 00:27:06.420 --> 00:27:08.660 He ravaged Cumberland and attacked the Isle of 00:27:08.660 --> 00:27:11.000 Man, retaliating against Norse Vikings based 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:13.359 in the Irish Sea. He could fight back when given 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:16.349 the chance. But he was always reacting defensively. 00:27:16.369 --> 00:27:19.089 Always. And then we hit the moment that historians 00:27:19.089 --> 00:27:21.869 seize upon to define Ethelred's erratic cruelty 00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:25.230 and paranoia, the St. Brice's Day Massacre in 00:27:25.230 --> 00:27:28.109 November 1002. We really need to slow down and 00:27:28.109 --> 00:27:30.549 emphasize the drama of this moment. This was 00:27:30.549 --> 00:27:33.769 a desperate, horrific act. The Anglo -Saxon Chronicle 00:27:33.769 --> 00:27:36.430 states that Ethelred ordered the slaughter of 00:27:36.430 --> 00:27:39.349 all Danish men in England on November 13th. And 00:27:39.349 --> 00:27:42.140 what was his justification? His official justification, 00:27:42.539 --> 00:27:45.359 recorded in a later charter, was based on intelligence 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:47.500 that the Danes were planning to treacherously 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.000 deprive him and his counselors of life and seize 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.519 the kingdom. This action suggests a king utterly 00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:55.859 consumed by fear and suspicion. Exactly. It's 00:27:55.859 --> 00:27:58.680 interpreted by historians as a clear, dark sign 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:01.900 of his desperation and paranoia. He was seeing 00:28:01.900 --> 00:28:04.599 internal plots everywhere, unable to distinguish 00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:07.240 between genuine threats and peaceful settlers. 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:09.259 So what was the likely scope? Was he trying to 00:28:09.259 --> 00:28:11.269 kill every settler? single person of Danish descent? 00:28:11.529 --> 00:28:14.109 It's unlikely. It seems to have targeted recent 00:28:14.109 --> 00:28:16.990 immigrants, Viking mercenaries who had settled 00:28:16.990 --> 00:28:19.569 in places like the Five Boroughs, and those who 00:28:19.569 --> 00:28:22.029 were known to be politically opposed. But where 00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:24.710 it was carried out, it was merciless. In Oxford, 00:28:24.890 --> 00:28:26.750 Danes who sought refuge in a church were burned 00:28:26.750 --> 00:28:30.230 alive. This single bloody act, even if limited 00:28:30.230 --> 00:28:32.990 in scope, was the worst possible political error. 00:28:33.150 --> 00:28:35.910 It virtually guaranteed massive retaliation. 00:28:36.029 --> 00:28:39.519 It was a monumental strategic mistake. Swain 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:42.960 Forkbeard, King of Denmark, returned in 1003. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:45.660 And while the story that he was avenging his 00:28:45.660 --> 00:28:47.720 sister, Gunnhilde, who was allegedly murdered, 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.400 is debated. The massacre certainly gave him the 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:52.680 justification he needed. The moral and political 00:28:52.680 --> 00:28:55.200 justification to wage a war of conquest, not 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:58.019 just raiding. He systematically sacked Exeter, 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:01.740 Burnt Wilton, Norwich, and Thetford. But even 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:04.259 in this disastrous phase, there are still flashes 00:29:04.259 --> 00:29:07.319 of English resistance. Absolutely. Which contradicts 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:09.640 that chronical narrative of universal cowardice. 00:29:09.859 --> 00:29:13.400 In 1004, an English army led by the East Anglian 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:16.480 nobleman Ulf Seidel fought the Danes. The English 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:18.829 suffered a defeat. but they inflicted such heavy 00:29:18.829 --> 00:29:21.549 losses that the Danes themselves reportedly acknowledged 00:29:21.549 --> 00:29:24.069 they never met worst fighting amongst the English. 00:29:24.289 --> 00:29:26.069 So the English could fight when properly led. 00:29:26.269 --> 00:29:28.750 The problem was coordination and command. Exactly. 00:29:29.130 --> 00:29:31.809 And while the external threat was raging, Æthelred 00:29:31.809 --> 00:29:34.730 engineered a political purge internally, a palace 00:29:34.730 --> 00:29:38.450 revolution, around 1005 -1006. He was desperate 00:29:38.450 --> 00:29:40.829 to find someone else to blame. He concluded his 00:29:40.829 --> 00:29:42.609 failures were the fault of corrupt advisors. 00:29:43.069 --> 00:29:45.490 He forced three leading felines into retirement 00:29:45.490 --> 00:29:48.569 or confiscated their land. This created a political 00:29:48.569 --> 00:29:51.529 vacuum, and into that vacuum stepped the man 00:29:51.529 --> 00:29:54.029 whose name is now synonymous with treachery, 00:29:54.670 --> 00:29:58.430 Adric Striona. Adric Striona, what a name. Striona 00:29:58.430 --> 00:30:01.609 literally means the gainer or the grabber. And 00:30:01.609 --> 00:30:04.589 he was ruthless. He rose rapidly to become the 00:30:04.589 --> 00:30:06.769 most powerful counselor, dominating the witness 00:30:06.769 --> 00:30:08.849 lists of the Wheaton meetings. And he seems to 00:30:08.849 --> 00:30:10.789 have been behind much of this internal instability. 00:30:11.410 --> 00:30:13.509 Consolidating his power by eliminating rivals, 00:30:13.809 --> 00:30:16.690 he was likely behind the murder of Ilderman Elfhelm 00:30:16.690 --> 00:30:19.170 of York, capitalizing ruthlessly on the king's 00:30:19.170 --> 00:30:22.009 growing paranoia. So, Æthelred, seeking loyal 00:30:22.009 --> 00:30:24.950 servants, instead promotes a man who is actively 00:30:24.950 --> 00:30:27.750 destabilizing the aristocracy for his own personal 00:30:27.750 --> 00:30:30.250 gain. This is the definition of ill counsel. 00:30:30.700 --> 00:30:32.900 It perfectly illustrates the tragedy of his rule, 00:30:33.019 --> 00:30:36.900 and the decline became ignominious in 1008. Ethelred, 00:30:37.019 --> 00:30:38.619 demonstrating the power of his administration, 00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:41.299 ordered the construction of a massive fleet of 00:30:41.299 --> 00:30:43.940 warships. A major, impressive national investment. 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:46.619 But this effort was immediately undermined by 00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:49.339 internal aristocratic feuding, driven by Edric 00:30:49.339 --> 00:30:52.299 and his allies. What happened? The feud was petty 00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:55.799 but fatal. Edric's brother... Britrick accused 00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:58.759 a Sussex nobleman named Wolfnoth of unknown crimes. 00:30:59.420 --> 00:31:02.640 Wolfnoth reacted by deserting with 20 ships and 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:05.019 ravaging the coast. And Britrick chased him. 00:31:05.140 --> 00:31:08.359 With 80 ships. And the entire pursuit fleet was 00:31:08.359 --> 00:31:11.500 wrecked in a storm. 80 ships. A massive national 00:31:11.500 --> 00:31:14.759 military effort paid for by the already overtaxed 00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.839 populace lost in a squabble between two aristocrats. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:20.799 This disaster created irreparable loss of morale 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:24.180 and a deep sense of national futility. The remaining 00:31:24.329 --> 00:31:26.970 fleet was retired to London, too afraid to risk 00:31:26.970 --> 00:31:29.869 further losses. The English defenses were fundamentally 00:31:29.869 --> 00:31:33.470 broken. The final clacks began in 1009, when 00:31:33.470 --> 00:31:36.690 the most formidable force since Athelred's accession 00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:39.529 landed, led by Thorkell the Tall. This army was 00:31:39.529 --> 00:31:42.420 organized, disciplined, and massive. English 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:45.240 resistance collapsed completely by 1011. The 00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:47.299 Vikings were moving at will across the countryside. 00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:49.480 London held out. London held out repeatedly, 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:52.160 proving its loyalty and resilience, but the surrounding 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:55.240 countryside was being devastated. And the ultimate 00:31:55.240 --> 00:31:58.880 humiliation came in September 1011 with the seizure 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:01.900 of Canterbury and the capture of Archbishop Elphia. 00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:04.519 The English council was forced to agree to a 00:32:04.519 --> 00:32:08.380 colossal tribute of 48 ,000 pounds. The Vikings 00:32:08.380 --> 00:32:11.299 then demanded an additional ransom for the Archbishop. 00:32:11.500 --> 00:32:14.460 And Elphia refused. He refused to let his already 00:32:14.460 --> 00:32:17.039 impoverished people pay a single penny more. 00:32:17.259 --> 00:32:19.980 Resulting in his brutal martyrdom. In April 1012, 00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:23.359 drunken Vikings murdered him, pelting him with 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:26.000 bones from their feast, despite Thorkell the 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.740 Tall's personal attempt to protect him. This 00:32:28.740 --> 00:32:31.140 was a deep spiritual and political humiliation 00:32:31.140 --> 00:32:33.559 for the English church and crown. And after this? 00:32:33.740 --> 00:32:35.900 After the payment of the enormous tribute, the 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:38.440 main Viking army dispersed, but Thorkell the 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:41.319 Tall and his personal following of 45 ships entered 00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:43.400 Æthelred's service. As mercenaries. Paid for 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:46.680 by a new institutionalized annual tax, the herigeld. 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:49.710 This tax, the final legacy of the tribute policy 00:32:49.710 --> 00:32:52.309 would institutionalize the cost of national defense 00:32:52.309 --> 00:32:55.990 for decades to come. So by 1013, the objective 00:32:55.990 --> 00:32:58.490 of the Danish forces had shifted entirely from 00:32:58.490 --> 00:33:01.930 raiding and extortion to outright conquest. Completely. 00:33:02.190 --> 00:33:05.190 Swine Forkbeard invaded with the explicit intention 00:33:05.190 --> 00:33:08.250 of making himself king of England. And his campaign 00:33:08.250 --> 00:33:10.950 was swift. Brutal and strategically brilliant. 00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:14.059 He landed in the north and systematically secured 00:33:14.059 --> 00:33:16.200 the submission of Northumbria, the five boroughs, 00:33:16.220 --> 00:33:18.799 Oxford, and Winchester without having to fight 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:21.920 a single major battle. The political will to 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.960 resist had just evaporated. London remained the 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.880 last loyal holdout, defended by Ethelred and 00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:30.740 Thorkell's newly hired mercenaries. But with 00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:32.920 virtually the whole country under Swine's control, 00:33:33.299 --> 00:33:35.950 Ethelred had no choice but to flee. He first 00:33:35.950 --> 00:33:38.170 sent his wife, Emma of Normandy, and their children 00:33:38.170 --> 00:33:40.710 across the channel, securing the loyalty of his 00:33:40.710 --> 00:33:43.430 in -laws. He then fled to the Isle of Wight before 00:33:43.430 --> 00:33:46.170 joining them in exile in Normandy. For the first 00:33:46.170 --> 00:33:48.849 time, Æthelred had lost his throne. But the political 00:33:48.849 --> 00:33:52.069 situation changed on a dime. Swine's reign as 00:33:52.069 --> 00:33:54.349 king of England was incredibly brief. He died 00:33:54.349 --> 00:33:56.250 just five weeks after conquering the kingdom 00:33:56.250 --> 00:33:59.650 in February 1014. This sudden death created a 00:33:59.650 --> 00:34:02.349 political vacuum, and the English magnates seized 00:34:02.349 --> 00:34:04.470 the chance to return to their traditional allegiance. 00:34:05.130 --> 00:34:07.789 They showed a basic underlying loyalty to the 00:34:07.789 --> 00:34:10.570 consecrated English dynasty, but they would not 00:34:10.570 --> 00:34:13.170 do so unconditionally. This is a constitutional 00:34:13.170 --> 00:34:16.829 moment of massive importance. What were the magnate's 00:34:16.829 --> 00:34:20.010 terms for bringing the king back? The counselors 00:34:20.010 --> 00:34:22.690 sent a deputation to Æthelred, but their message 00:34:22.690 --> 00:34:26.070 was stern. He could only return if he would govern 00:34:26.070 --> 00:34:28.449 them more justly than he did before. The message 00:34:28.449 --> 00:34:31.719 was clear. Your failures were political. And 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:34.380 we will tolerate no more arbitrary power. It 00:34:34.380 --> 00:34:37.059 was. And Æthelred agreed. He sent his son Edward 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:39.519 to greet them, promising he would be a gracious 00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:42.440 lord and reform all the things which they hated. 00:34:42.619 --> 00:34:44.619 And he had to forgive them for submitting to 00:34:44.619 --> 00:34:47.380 swine. A formal pardon. This exchange is considered 00:34:47.380 --> 00:34:49.760 the first recorded pact between an English king 00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:52.519 and his subjects. It illustrates in stark terms 00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:54.780 the limits placed on the arbitrary power of the 00:34:54.780 --> 00:34:58.130 crown. So his past failures had given the aristocracy 00:34:58.130 --> 00:35:01.190 legal leverage to demand reform. It's a moment 00:35:01.190 --> 00:35:03.650 of political sophistication that often gets lost 00:35:03.650 --> 00:35:06.510 in the narrative of failure. So Æthelred returned, 00:35:06.849 --> 00:35:10.010 drove Cnut, swine's son, out of the country, 00:35:10.150 --> 00:35:12.909 and the kingdom was briefly, tentatively restored. 00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:16.420 But Cnut did not leave quietly. He ordered the 00:35:16.420 --> 00:35:19.460 savage mutilation of his English hostages, hands, 00:35:19.460 --> 00:35:22.300 noses, and ears cut off, a brutal reminder that 00:35:22.300 --> 00:35:24.760 the war was far from over. And the restored regime 00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:27.579 was fragile, and it soon shattered because Æthelred, 00:35:27.639 --> 00:35:30.539 despite the pact, quickly repeated his most fatal 00:35:30.539 --> 00:35:33.079 error. Poor judgment and patronage and a return 00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:36.199 to ruthless paranoia. Yes, the lesson of Aedric 00:35:36.199 --> 00:35:39.980 Stryona was not learned. In early 1015, Aedric, 00:35:40.059 --> 00:35:42.960 now back in favor, murdered Siegfirth and Morcar, 00:35:43.159 --> 00:35:45.880 two powerful thanes in the north midlands who 00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:48.460 opposed him. And this was likely ordered by Eflred. 00:35:48.619 --> 00:35:51.900 Or at least tacitly approved. This serious error 00:35:51.900 --> 00:35:54.199 of judgment immediately destabilized the north 00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:56.500 and demonstrated that the king's promise to govern 00:35:56.500 --> 00:35:59.500 justly was hollow. This act also precipitated 00:35:59.500 --> 00:36:02.579 an open, devastating rebellion from the one person 00:36:02.579 --> 00:36:04.579 who should have been his greatest ally, his oldest 00:36:04.579 --> 00:36:07.480 surviving son, Edmund Ironside. Edmund was a 00:36:07.480 --> 00:36:10.179 fierce, charismatic warrior, utterly disgusted 00:36:10.179 --> 00:36:12.760 by his father's reliance on Edric. He rescued 00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:15.059 Siegfried's widow, married her without royal 00:36:15.059 --> 00:36:17.380 permission, and openly seized the dead brother's 00:36:17.380 --> 00:36:20.139 lands. Setting up a rival power base. In defiance 00:36:20.139 --> 00:36:22.739 of his father. And the English unity was shattered 00:36:22.739 --> 00:36:25.340 just as Canut returned. The timing couldn't have 00:36:25.340 --> 00:36:28.460 been worse. Canut returned in force. And Edric 00:36:28.460 --> 00:36:30.559 Streona, the ultimate pragmatist, immediately 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:33.820 defected with 40 ships to Canut's side, realizing 00:36:33.820 --> 00:36:36.639 that Dane was the coming power. Wessex immediately 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:39.039 submitted. So the final effort to unite English 00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:42.019 forces failed. The suspicion between the ailing, 00:36:42.139 --> 00:36:45.519 paranoid father, Aethelred, and his rebellious, 00:36:45.539 --> 00:36:48.260 independent son, Edmund, was just too great. 00:36:48.619 --> 00:36:51.380 The king, suffering from poor health and fearing 00:36:51.380 --> 00:36:54.039 further betrayal, soon retired to London. He 00:36:54.039 --> 00:36:57.769 died there. He died in London on 23 April 1016, 00:36:58.130 --> 00:37:00.869 a king who, right up until the end, was battling 00:37:00.869 --> 00:37:03.469 his own son and his own unreliable lieutenants 00:37:03.469 --> 00:37:06.409 while a foreign power conquered his realm. He 00:37:06.409 --> 00:37:08.889 was buried in Old St. Paul's Cathedral. The war 00:37:08.889 --> 00:37:11.889 continued under his son, Edmund Ironside, who 00:37:11.889 --> 00:37:14.130 demonstrated the kind of vigorous military leadership 00:37:14.130 --> 00:37:16.530 his father had lacked. Oh, he was a true warrior 00:37:16.530 --> 00:37:19.010 king, fighting five battles in seven months, 00:37:19.090 --> 00:37:20.730 but the division in the country was too great. 00:37:21.070 --> 00:37:23.170 Edmund eventually agreed to divide the kingdom 00:37:23.170 --> 00:37:25.380 with Canut, taking the land. south of the Thames. 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:28.360 But Edmund died shortly thereafter. In November 00:37:28.360 --> 00:37:32.139 1016, and Canute became the undisputed king of 00:37:32.139 --> 00:37:34.380 all England. And what about the poetic justice 00:37:34.380 --> 00:37:37.639 for the ultimate traitor, Adrix Triona? A year 00:37:37.639 --> 00:37:40.719 later, Canute had him murdered. The ultimate 00:37:40.719 --> 00:37:43.420 traitor received his just desserts, not from 00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:45.800 the king he betrayed, but from the king he served. 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:48.760 A clear signal from Canute that there was no 00:37:48.760 --> 00:37:51.239 place for such self -serving disloyalty in his 00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:54.599 new unified kingdom. A very clear signal. Finally, 00:37:54.639 --> 00:37:56.619 let's look at the family legacy, because it's 00:37:56.619 --> 00:37:58.960 a line that runs directly through English history. 00:37:59.179 --> 00:38:01.860 Absolutely. Ethelred had many children by his 00:38:01.860 --> 00:38:04.639 first wife, including the valiant Edmund Ironside. 00:38:04.760 --> 00:38:07.400 But his second marriage to Emma of Normandy, 00:38:07.519 --> 00:38:10.079 sister of Duke Richard II, was perhaps the most 00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:12.480 consequential political move of his life. Because 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:14.519 of their children. Their children included Edward 00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:17.039 the Confessor, the future king, and Alfred Etheling. 00:38:17.630 --> 00:38:19.889 These connections ensured that the House of Wessex 00:38:19.889 --> 00:38:22.349 and its ties to the burgeoning Norman dynasty 00:38:22.349 --> 00:38:24.969 would remain critical. Setting the stage for 00:38:24.969 --> 00:38:28.469 1066. Exactly. The seeds of the Norman conquest 00:38:28.469 --> 00:38:31.590 were sown in the diplomatic desperation of Æthelred 00:38:31.590 --> 00:38:34.050 the Unready. So we've seen a king who presided 00:38:34.050 --> 00:38:37.099 over periods of exceptional administration. Yet 00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:40.019 whose reign was ultimately consumed by personal 00:38:40.019 --> 00:38:43.019 and political failures. When we look at his legacy, 00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:46.280 the traditional condemnation championed by 19th 00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:48.340 and early 20th century historians like Frank 00:38:48.340 --> 00:38:51.929 Spenton is brutally harsh. Stetton viewed him 00:38:51.929 --> 00:38:56.090 as a classic, weak, incompetent ruler whose failing 00:38:56.090 --> 00:38:58.510 stemmed from the original trauma of his half 00:38:58.510 --> 00:39:01.230 -brother's murder. Stetton argued Ethelred behaved 00:39:01.230 --> 00:39:03.650 like a man who was never sure of himself, citing 00:39:03.650 --> 00:39:06.550 his ineffectiveness in war, spasmodic violence, 00:39:06.829 --> 00:39:10.030 and deep mistrust of his nobles. All as signs 00:39:10.030 --> 00:39:12.329 of a psychological failure rooted in the regicide. 00:39:12.860 --> 00:39:15.079 This psychological view that his character doomed 00:39:15.079 --> 00:39:17.519 the state was dominant for decades. But since 00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:20.699 the 1970s, a new generation of historians, Simon 00:39:20.699 --> 00:39:23.639 Keynes, Pauline Stafford, Levi Roach, has offered 00:39:23.639 --> 00:39:26.900 a massive necessary partial rehabilitation. They 00:39:26.900 --> 00:39:29.260 have. And their core argument is that Ethelred 00:39:29.260 --> 00:39:31.900 was not entirely incompetent. His failure was 00:39:31.900 --> 00:39:33.960 not systemic across the entire government, but 00:39:33.960 --> 00:39:36.780 due to a combination of impossible external circumstances. 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:39.099 The overwhelming strength of the Viking armies. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:42.780 Organized state level Viking armies led by major 00:39:42.780 --> 00:39:45.539 kings like swine and the simple fact that he 00:39:45.539 --> 00:39:48.119 lived too long, giving the crisis time to wear 00:39:48.119 --> 00:39:50.440 down the state structure. So we can't let the 00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:53.099 catastrophic ending overshadow the significant 00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:55.760 successes of the middle of his reign. Absolutely 00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.639 not. They stressed that his government saw positive 00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:01.019 and enduring achievements, particularly in the 00:40:01.019 --> 00:40:03.940 late 990s and early 1000s. The sophisticated 00:40:03.940 --> 00:40:06.780 legislation, the coinage, the Shire Reeve system, 00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:09.559 the intellectual flowering. And what about the 00:40:09.559 --> 00:40:12.059 tribute payments? Were they really proof of weakness? 00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:14.780 The modern view is that the policy of paying 00:40:14.780 --> 00:40:18.000 gaffle, while ruinously expensive, was a sensible 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:20.579 strategy in the short term. It bought time to 00:40:20.579 --> 00:40:23.119 build up defenses, fortify towns, and commission 00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:26.139 the fleet. Which he did attempt in 1008. if that 00:40:26.139 --> 00:40:28.679 effort was later ruined by aristocratic feuding. 00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:32.460 The policy was fundamentally sound, but its application 00:40:32.460 --> 00:40:35.239 was undermined by political disunity. So if the 00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:37.639 administration was so robust. Why did the kingdom 00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:39.559 ultimately fail? Where was the critical structural 00:40:39.559 --> 00:40:42.619 weakness? The failure was political and personal, 00:40:42.860 --> 00:40:45.119 specifically concerning the king's relationship 00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:48.280 with his aristocracy. As historian Anne Williams 00:40:48.280 --> 00:40:51.400 notes, the tragedy lies in his inability to control 00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:54.219 the rivalries among his counselors. His ultimate 00:40:54.219 --> 00:40:57.000 collects stemmed from his excessive support for 00:40:57.000 --> 00:40:59.980 and reliance on favorites, like Edric Streona. 00:41:00.179 --> 00:41:02.940 Men who repeatedly used the king's paranoia to 00:41:02.940 --> 00:41:05.719 betray the realm and destabilize unity. So he 00:41:05.719 --> 00:41:08.159 was a king. who could initiate spectacular reform, 00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:11.119 but whose paranoia and catastrophic patronage 00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:14.139 choices rendered every success moot, leading 00:41:14.139 --> 00:41:17.760 to national disaster. Levi Roach sums up Ithelred's 00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:20.960 life as a tragedy. A ruler who, despite energetic 00:41:20.960 --> 00:41:23.320 and resourceful efforts, could never achieve 00:41:23.320 --> 00:41:25.420 the peace and victory his people desperately 00:41:25.420 --> 00:41:28.219 needed. And the most fitting epitaph drawn from 00:41:28.219 --> 00:41:30.079 the contemporary chronicler remains the most 00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:32.280 neutral and perhaps the most heartbreaking summation. 00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:35.579 He held the kingdom with great toil and hardship 00:41:35.579 --> 00:41:38.239 for the length of his life. That phrase, with 00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:41.460 great toil and hardship, is such a powerful final 00:41:41.460 --> 00:41:44.429 image. It strips away the punitive judgment of 00:41:44.429 --> 00:41:47.449 unready and leaves us with the sheer unrelenting 00:41:47.449 --> 00:41:49.750 difficulty of governing a sophisticated state 00:41:49.750 --> 00:41:52.829 under impossible external pressure. It does. 00:41:52.949 --> 00:41:55.750 We've seen a kingdom capable of complex legislation, 00:41:56.130 --> 00:41:59.150 currency control, and intellectual vigor, a structure 00:41:59.150 --> 00:42:01.510 that really should have been unshakable. Yet 00:42:01.510 --> 00:42:04.050 that same sophisticated state proved uniquely 00:42:04.050 --> 00:42:06.989 fragile because, as we discussed, its unity was 00:42:06.989 --> 00:42:10.190 centered on and symbolized by the person of its 00:42:10.190 --> 00:42:13.170 king. Anglo -Saxon England was structurally centralized 00:42:13.170 --> 00:42:15.030 to the point where the personal character of 00:42:15.030 --> 00:42:17.090 the monarch was the ultimate linchpin. Which 00:42:17.090 --> 00:42:19.489 brings us to our final provocative thought for 00:42:19.489 --> 00:42:22.730 you to mull over as you go about your day. Given 00:42:22.730 --> 00:42:24.769 the centralized nature of the English kingdom, 00:42:24.969 --> 00:42:27.469 where all power flowed from the king to his Shire 00:42:27.469 --> 00:42:30.250 Reeves and his Thanes, where Æthelred's personal 00:42:30.250 --> 00:42:32.969 flaws, his paranoia, and his chronic inability 00:42:32.969 --> 00:42:35.900 to choose loyal magnates guaranteed to become 00:42:35.900 --> 00:42:38.820 national disasters if the system demanded absolute 00:42:38.820 --> 00:42:41.840 unity focused on the king did the monarch's psychological 00:42:41.840 --> 00:42:44.880 failings inevitably translate into the systemic 00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:47.219 collapse of the nation it raises the crucial 00:42:47.219 --> 00:42:50.000 question of where historical failure truly lies 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:53.179 with the overwhelming external forces or with 00:42:53.179 --> 00:42:55.659 the flawed arbitrary power vested in the individual 00:42:55.659 --> 00:42:58.380 leader at the very top of a highly functional 00:42:58.380 --> 00:43:01.349 but brittle structure Thank you for joining us 00:43:01.349 --> 00:43:03.309 on this deep dive into the ill -counseled king. 00:43:03.530 --> 00:43:05.730 We hope you leave here well -informed and certainly 00:43:05.730 --> 00:43:08.690 more ready to discuss the complex reign of Ethelred 00:43:08.690 --> 00:43:10.190 II. We'll see you next time.