Edmund Ironside

Edmund Ironside was king of England for several months in 1016 during the final phase of the Danish conquest. A son of Æthelred the Unready and a member of the House of Wessex, he emerged as the principal English military leader opposing Cnut after his father’s authority had been badly weakened by repeated Scandinavian invasions.

After Æthelred’s death in April 1016, Edmund was accepted as king by supporters in London and Wessex and fought a rapid campaign against Cnut. The struggle culminated in his defeat at Assandun in October, after which the two kings agreed to divide England between them. Edmund died at Oxford in November 1016, leaving Cnut able to take control of the whole kingdom.

Ryan Lavelle’s Cnut (Penguin Monarchs) follows the Danish conquest of England, Cnut’s defeat of Edmund Ironside and the combination of military force, marriage and political accommodation that secured his crown. In Cecelia Holland’s Kings of the North, the struggle for England develops through Sweyn’s conquest, Æthelred’s return and the war between Edmund Ironside and Cnut. Edmund Ironside is treated fictionally in Griff Hosker’s Danish Sword, Griff Hosker’s Oathsword, Griff Hosker’s The Dragon Sword, Griff Hosker’s Blood Sword, and Griff Hosker’s The Sword of Cnut.