Reflections on the Misfortunes of Edmund Ironside.




Previous to the death of Aethelred the Unready the Danish king, Swein, had been ravaging the country of England. He had taken hostages and demanded tribute which was paid. He had settled for a
while in the Danelaw and finally ended his days on February 3rd,1014 which was Candlemas.
King Aethelred, who had escaped from the mayhem to Normandy, was sent for. He returned to be greeted with pleasure by his people.
Canute was in Lindsey with his force, harrying the inhabitants with great cruelty. He put his fleet to sea and sailed to Sandwich. Here he put ashore the hostages taken by his father, Swein, first cutting off their hands, noses and ears. From Sandwich he sailed around the coast and eventually landed in Wessex, ravaging Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset. By this time Edric, Edmund's brother-in-law, was with Canute.
Aetheling Edmund gathered troops , gradually getting together a good sized army. He travelled north towards Northumbria, battling with Canute's troops along the way. Canute put Earl Eric to rule Northumbria, and Aetheling Edmund turned and travelled to London to his sick father. The people of London welcomed Edmund with joy.
By this time Aethelred had reached the end of his days, St. George's Day, 1016. All the counsellors who were in London welcomed Edmund as their King. He did his best to protect his realm in the short time which was left to him. He conquered Wessex, but after conflict between the two armies, the final battle was fought at Ashingdon in Essex and lost by Edmund Ironside. .
I find it difficult to come to any real conclusion about Edmund Ironside. Emotionally I feel that he should have won the Battle of Ashingdon and then gone on to become a successful king of England. But would this have been the best result? I really don't know. To be given the name Ironside he must have been a strong and probably ambitious man. Canute won the battle and after spending a few months sharing the kingdom Edmund very conveniently died. Was he murdered as was widely believed to be the case at the time? Canute went on to become 'Canute the Great'. Edmund's two little boys, Edward Aetheling and Edmund, were sent to the court of Hungary for safety, not coming home for many years.
The extreme youth of the two men surprises me. Canute was twenty one years old and Edmund twenty two. It seems so young to be battling for kingdoms.
Upon the death of Aethelred the Unready both Edmund Ironside, Aethelred's son, and Canute of Denmark claimed the throne. Canute's father, Sweyn, the king of Denmark, had died and Canute's followers had proclaimed Canute king of England as well as of Denmark. The Witenagemot (council), of Southampton supported Canute. Also he had the support of Edric, Edmund's brother-in-law, and thus he was able to subjugate most of England.
However, the people of London supported Edmund and he was soon able to raise an army and march out to meet Canute in battle. After several inconclusive engagements they fought their final battle at Ashingdon in Essex. The Londoners were defeated. Probably this defeat was due to the treachery of the wicked brother-in-law, Edric who deserted Edmund at a crucial moment.
In the ensuing dialogue a compromise was reached. Edmund would rule the south of England and Canute the rest of the country. Sadly, Edmund did not live for more than a few months after this decision was reached. According to widely spread beliefs at the time of his death he was murdered, and, remembering the determination of Canute to rule the whole of England, and also his cruelty to the hostages, it would not surprise me if this belief was a true one.
Canute went on to become a ruler who is remembered as a good and wise king despite his earlier acts of cruelty. For what must have been considered good political reasons at the time he married the widow of Aethelred the Unready, Emma by whom he had a son, Harthacnut. He became a Christian (probably this was also for political reasons), and he had a long and generally peaceful reign. He had disputes about his rights to the Norwegian throne.
Even so, I cannot but regret the defeat and death of Edmund Ironside. To me, he should have been king of England. And what of those two little boys, his sons? How did they fare in Hungary?
Although there are little, if any, written records of Edward and Edmund, It is generally believed that they grew up in Hungary. I wish I knew who looked after them, and also what happened to Edmund Ironside's widow, Aelthgyth.
Aetheling Edward, known as Edward the Exile, married Agatha. At some point their daughter, Margaret, is believed to have come to England with her father and mother. On the death of Edward, which I believe took place fairly soon after his arrival in England, (was he murdered, I wonder?) Agatha, together with Margaret, decided to return to the continent. They were caught by a storm at sea and finished up in Scotland. The Scottish king, Malcolm III, took the party under his protection and some time later married Margaret, Edmund Ironside's grand-daughter. She thus became Queen Of Scotland. After her death she was canonised and so became a saint!
Through James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England, I think the present royal family must have a very small drop of Edmund Ironside's blood in their veins!