Historical Figures
Æthelred the Unready
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Æthelred II, known as Æthelred the Unready, was King of the English from March 978 to December 1013, and again from February 1014 until his death in 1016. He was the son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth, and came to the throne as a boy after the killing of his half-brother Edward the Martyr. His enduring nickname is a play on his own name: in Old English his name Æðelræd means noble counsel, while the epithet unræd means no counsel, or ill-advised.
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