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Æthelred the Unready: life of the week

Levi Roach considers the life of the ill-favoured Anglo-Saxon king who ruled England at the start of the 11th century, and is famously remembered as 'the Unready'

Published: November 19, 2024 at 7:30 AM

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King Æthelred II ruled England from 978 to 1016 – with a little gap in 1014. Known to history as 'the Unready', he faced many challenges in his reign, not least the attentions of several Viking invasion forces. It was Æthelred's failure to deal with such threats that landed him with his rather unfortunate nickname. However, as Levi Roach explains to David Musgrove, the story of his reign is a far more complicated one, with long-term consequences.

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Levi Roach is the author of Æthelred: The Unready (Yale University Press, 2016)

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Authors

Dr David Musgrove, FSAContent director

David Musgrove is the content director at HistoryExtra

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