Æthelred the Unready

Simon Keynes argues that the reign of the famously incompetent king, who died in London a thousand years ago, is in need of reappraisal.

The Massacre of St Brice's Day, 1002, by Alfred Pearse, 1922

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation
     To puff and look important and to say:-
‘Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away.’

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