Æthelred the Unready

St Brice’s Day Massacre, from Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, 1890. Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo.

The St Brice’s Day Massacre

When paying off the Vikings failed to yield lasting peace, on 13 November 1002 king Æthelred ordered the slaughter of England’s Danes instead.

Angels are cast into the mouth of Hell, 20th-century illustration of the Cædmon Manuscript, 10th century. Lebrecht Authors/Bridgeman Images.

Archbishop Wulfstan: England’s Forgotten Lawmaker

As Anglo-Saxon England faced conquests and apocalypse, Archbishop Wulfstan saw hope for the kingdom in a radical restructuring of society.

Portrait of Æthelred from the Abingdon Chronicle, c.1220. © British Library Board/Bridgeman Images

Æthelred: Ready to Rule

Æthelred the Unready was king of a divided nation that lived in fear of the ‘divine punishment’ of the Vikings. Piety and prayer became his weapons of choice.

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.