Edmund Ironside (c. 991 – 30 November 1016; Old English: Ēadmund, Old Norse: Játmundr, Latin: Edmundus; sometimes also known as Edmund II) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. Edmund's reign was spent fighting against a Danish invasion led by Cnut.
Edmund was born sometime between 990 and 993 to King Æthelred the Unready. Little is known about Edmund's life before 1015; the first concrete evidence of his agency was from the late 1000s and he seems to have been close with his brother Æthelstan. Although Edmund possibly fought alongside his father in the campaigns of 1009 to 1011 and the campaign of 1013, when the royal family was forced to flee to Normandy due to Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion that year, Edmund stayed in England with Æthelstan. Æthelstan died in June 1014 and in his will Edmund was the main beneficiary, receiving the sword of Offa and estates in the Danelaw. Edmund inherited Æthelstan's connections in the Five Boroughs. When his close allies Sigeferth and Morcar were executed with the permission of King Æthelred, he revolted, illegally marrying Sigeferth's widow and occupying the Five Boroughs. Edmund issued two charters, on one of which he called himself king.
Edmund's revolt was suddenly ended by the invasion of Sweyn's son Cnut in the summer of 1015. To contest Cnut's occupation in Wessex, he attempted to raise armies alongside his father and Eadric Streona, Ealdorman of Mercia, but they all collapsed due to mistrust. A third force raised with Uhtred of Bamburgh unravelled as Uhtred submitted to Cnut when the latter threatened Bamburgh. Æthelred died on 23 April 1016 and Edmund soon claimed the throne. He fought in four battles with Cnut at Penselwood, Sherston, Brentford, and possibly Otford, and gained military success. By the time he faced Cnut at the Battle of Assandun, he was backed by the "whole English nation" but Eadric Streona fled, causing a decisive English defeat. After a possible sixth battle, Edmund was forced to partition the kingdom at Alney, with Cnut receiving everything except for Wessex, held by Edmund.
Edmund died on 30 November after ruling for 222 days, allowing Cnut to consolidate the rest of England. Afterwards, Cnut exiled or executed Edmund's family and supporters. The Danish line founded by Cnut would end in 1042 and the House of Wessex was restored temporarily under Edmund's much younger half-brother, Edward the Confessor. Edgar the Ætheling, Edmund's grandson, was a claimant to the English throne for some time. Edmund's reputation was praised in medieval sources, and he is generally seen as a brave and capable king who fought Cnut to a standstill, forcing compromise.
English military leaders in Edmund Ironside's lifetime had with them a corps of household followers known variously as their Hirédmenn, Hearthweru, or other names. These warbands were strongly dependant on loyalty. The relationship between a lord and his house-men was strong, and in battle they acted as an elite, fighting alongside a lord personally. By the later Anglo-Saxon period, just about every major political leader would have had their own. This group could not be expected to handle major operations on their own, and was supplemented by the fyrd raised by local magnates; although a wider troop-base it was not usually summoned from commoners, but rather landowners, many of whom were aristocratic. The shire was used as a tactical and administrative unit, where armies could muster and be raised by the leading local figure. When necessary, military service may have been expanded to the lower classes.
Beginning in the 9th century, Scandinavian raids on English soil had steadily escalated, and they conquered East Anglia, as well as much of Northumbria. This came during a period of state formation in Scandinavia, with Norway, Sweden, and Denmark consolidating into kingdoms at about the same time as England was in the 10th century. Although many foreign writers referred to kings of Denmark, there were in fact many petty kings and princes. The Scandinavians were nowhere near uniform in their loyalties, clashing with each other and occasionally being recruited by Christian rulers.
Alfred the Great pushed back the threat and declared himself King of the Anglo-Saxons by the 890s. By the time of his son Edward the Elder's death in 924, the remaining Danish polities south of the Humber were in English hands. Edward's son Æthelstan conquered Northumbria to become the first King of England in 927. Edmund and his brother Eadred, who succeeded him as king because Edmund's own sons were too young, both lost and had to reconquer the north during their reigns. In 959, Edmund's second son Edgar was crowned as King of England, after the difficult reign of his elder brother Eadwig. He enjoyed a peaceful reign, which Frank Stenton called "singularly devoid of incident."
Edgar would die in 975, which caused a succession dispute between the faction of his elder son, Edward, and his younger son, Æthelred, in which Edward was successful. Edward was murdered in March 978 and was succeeded by Æthelred. Alfred had established a network of 30 burhs and a standing army year-round which proved effective against Viking armies during his reign, and during the conquests of his successors' reigns. Richard Abels tracks a lulling of English defences as the kings became more secure which reached its peak during Edward's reign, leaving the English dangerously vulnerable. Further, despite great efforts, the West Saxon dynasty could hardly rely on the support of its subjects within the former Danelaw. Æthelred's own character did not seem capable of addressing these issues. He is frequently compared to Alfred the Great in their contrasting success in dealing with invasion, although Keynes attempted to contextualise their differences. Stenton attributed "spasmodic violence" to Æthelred but this is also contested more recently. In the 1000s Æthelred would begin a programme of rearmament among the English warrior class.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (also known as ASC or Chronicle) as we know it likely has its origins in the late ninth century, under the rule of Alfred the Great. The annals of manuscripts (MSS) C, D, and E covering the period of 983 to 1022 are known as the Æthelredian Chronicle by some scholars, and display a tendency to praise Edmund for his vigor and effectiveness, but are strongly opposed to the policies of Æthelred and his advisors. Ian Howard divides Edmund's character as depicted in the ASC into two phases: the first phase begins in 1015 and ends by Æthelred's death in April 1016, and the second begins with Æthelred's death and ends with Edmund's own death in November. Although Howard calls the ASC "largely factual and also credible," the chronicler's recollection of events was colored by hindsight towards the events in question. Levi Roach comments in his biography of Æthelred that "foreknowledge of the eventual English defeat haunts his writing at every turn."
The anonymous author of the Encomium Emmae Reginae, often simply referred to as "The Encomiast," identifies himself in the text as a monk of the Abbey of Saint Bertin. He mentions that he wrote the work at the specific request of his patroness Emma, to whom he shows some gratitude, and that he had witnessed Cnut when the king visited the abbey on his journey homeward. He probably began his work during the reign of Harthacnut at the insistence of his patron, Emma of Normandy, and the Encomium was meant to signify the legitimacy of Emma and her children. Thus, he was more willing to manipulate factual history to serve political purpose than the chronicler. There are three contemporary sources on the period that are in the form of Norse poetry, the Knútsdrapa, the Víkingarvísur, and the Liðsmannaflokkr, the last of which being even more vague in place names than the former two. All three serve to promote the reputation of Cnut the Great.
The exact date of Edmund's birth is unclear, but it could have been no later than 993 when he was a signatory to charters along with his two elder brothers. Historian David McDermott suggests a birth year of 991. He was named after his great-grandfather, Edmund I. He was the third of the six sons of King Æthelred and his first wife, possibly called Ælfgifu, who was probably the daughter of Earl Thored of Northumbria. His elder brothers were Æthelstan and Egbert (died c. 1005). His younger brothers were Eadred, Eadwig and Edgar. He had four sisters, Eadgyth (or Edith), Ælfgifu, Wulfhilda, and the Abbess of Wherwell Abbey.