England’s Worst King | Æthelred the Unready

A lot of you may have heard of Aethelred the Unready in Vinland Saga or Vikings Valhalla. In this video I will be presenting the true account of King Aethelred and why he has been regarded as one of England’s worst Kings. He would rule over an unstable England at the height of the Viking age and would oversee and be the cause of vast amounts of bloodshed. Treachery, war and death surrounded Aethelred from when he was a child to his final days on the throne, this is his story.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:43 Chapter 1 - Early Life
03:20 Chapter 2 - Æthelred's reign
04:43 Chapter 3 - Viking Raids in England
06:48 Chapter 4 - The Viking Conquest of England
10:26 Chapter 5 - Exile & death
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All Credit for the Music goes to: Savfk - Music
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXOeF...
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The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
ia601601.us.archive.org/25/it...
#vikings #vikings #vikingsvalhallaseason1 #vikingsvalhallaseason2 #vinlandsaga #vikinghistory #historyprofiles #england #englishhistory #norse #historyfacts

[@pongangelo2048]

I like how Vinland saga managed to motivate people into learning more about European History, despite being a fictional story.

[@mingdingingmasochist]

that’s cute you think it took an anime to get people into European history.

[@ginismoja2459]

I guess he just wasn't ready.

[@historyprofiles]

😂

[@jamesbond_and_friends]

His unfathomable cruelty is best exemplified with this punishment for thieves and poachers. They would be blinded, their ears removed, noses flayed, and hands and feet chopped off. They'd then be left to the animals in the woods where they were left to die. I enjoy reading and watching KZbin videos about the Middle Ages, but the level of violence is truly shocking at times. (Source: The Anglo-Saxons, Marc Morris).

[@gabrielalejandrodoldan4722]

Jesus fgin Christ...

[@hazey9514]

Your voice is just so perfect for the subjects man. Keep doing what you do for us history nerds.

[@sethgaston8347]

Reminds me of how great Ælfred was. As someone who went most of life not knowing he existed, I’m glad to have finally discovered him. One day I’ll go to Winchester to see his statue in person.

[@samwill7259]

"Æthelred was known as a good looking and graceful man" And you chose THAT picture? With THAT face?

[@jamellfoster6029]

With that giant pickle in his hand. He looks RIDICULOUS to say the least...

[@kholoudboumalik9783]

😂😂😂

[@ELKE-]

Magnificent video! I'm learning a lot about the great kings of all time, which i love so much. Thank you History Profiles! Amazing narration as always

[@KevJSmith]

Don't forget Charles hasn't got started yet so, there's still time for worst king of England

[@jenniferbreaux7385]

Not much confidence in Charles I guess. At least there is no more absolute monarchy.

[@historyprofiles]

There is still time! Although aethelreds reign was really long nearly 40 years or so! So might be hard for Charles to out do him as I’m not sure how long he will have left on the throne

[@jenniferbreaux7385]

@@historyprofiles no chance of his stepping aside in favor of his son, I guess.

[@ilayohana3150]

@@jenniferbreaux7385 you mean the world renowned writer of "spare"?

[@jenniferbreaux7385]

@@ilayohana3150 I don't think we'll have to worry that Charles will abdicate. He's been waiting a ling time

[@guyh.4553]

Rollo was a great opportunist. At the end, the Gods had him sacrifice the Christians to appease them for his maligned path.

[@kmoney3066]

Your videos always pop up at a great time for me. Super calming and immersing to me for some reason. Keep up the amazing work and research you do.

[@dianesavant2818]

Another great video. Love your channel.

[@berenicewaters4096]

Another great video from Oli. By the way Happy Birthday 🎉🎉

[@Agapy8888]

Greetings Ollie. Thanks for another great lesson.

[@Ohrejitas]

He wasn’t ready

[@carmelbrain7399]

Such complexity!

[@constantius4654]

William the Conqueror committed mass murder in the North of England which no other king has done, apart from the St Brice's day massacre of Danish folk by Ethelred.

[@mingdingingmasochist]

You know nothing about english history if you think william the conqueror was the last to burn down the north. Did some noble from london tell you this? London famously fucks over everyone who is slightly north of birmingham

[@benziescha5438]

Badly councilled (mothered) as he was, wasn't it Ethlered that implemented the first ever jury? So he contributed to law if nothing else...

[@BriefCaseOfficial]

Not sure that Ethelred the Unready was the countrys worst King. A couple of Kings named Edward didn't do so well, Edward II was forced to abdicate in 1327 due to being incompetent, and of course Edward VIII did not cover himself in glory during his brief reign in 1936, and of course when people mention bad Kings I suppose Richard III always comes to mind

[@historyprofiles]

Good argument brief case, it’s just his name and then the st bcrices day massacre and the fact that the house of Wessex stopped being kings of England and the vikings took over on his watch

[@AethelwulfOfNordHymbraLand2333]

​@@historyprofilesThe St brice day massacre was a necessary deed done, as the Danes were militarised foreign settlers who would have renewed their attempts to conquer England had nothing been done about them. Just imagine the volatile upheaval that would have ensued in England come the Norman conquest 64 years later if Danelaw had still all but officially existed. Æthelred may have just saved the English people from total annihilation. The man ia a hero! Also, the House of Wessex retained the English throne from the Danes with Æthelred's son Edward. To suggest that Æthelred is 'England's worst ever King' is just hypocritical. The Danes had been continually laying waste to English towns and villages for over 200 years prior to the St brice day massacre. Would you as King have allowed a hostile foreign group settlement on your land and therefore space from which to organise and carry out military assaults on your territory as the Danes did against England? You sure wouldn't like tolerating it as King of the English, and as an Englishman, you would at least appreciate efforts from others to solve the matter, such as those of Æthelred.

[@carmelbrain7399]

very informative

[@historyprofiles]

Thank you for watching !!

[@carrioncrow7687]

When your known as The Unready, it says a lot about you

[@comixof2morrow]

Better than being known for being premature

[@mikespearwood3914]

"Unready" meant something different here. It meant something like "poorly advised". It was a pun joke on his name and mocking him at the same time.

[@AethelwulfOfNordHymbraLand2333]

It is, 'Æthelred Unræd' in Anglo-Saxon(English). But contrary to the namesake, he was one of the better English Kings.

[@JimmyWhisperBackInAction]

​@@AethelwulfOfNordHymbraLand2333 Yeah never thought of him as bad.

[@ilayohana3150]

worst king was john lackland

[@OFFIZERANTIDUOLINGO]

Æthelred should have been ready

[@thehillbillygamer2183]

I thought that apple red was the king of Mercia during the time of Alfred the Great and that's when mercy was kind of a vassal Kingdom of Wessex and he even married Alfred's daughter that would go on and become the lady of Mercia eventually Alfred's son would claim the Throne of Mercy after the Lady of Mercy passed taking the first tenuous steps to a United England add Alfred's son Edward and the first United Kingdom King of England the law of England was Edward Edward or Edward's son

[@thejudgmentalcat]

Reminds me of Joffrey in GoT

[@Agapy8888]

AEthelred died quite young.

[@effienyagara9265]

Edward II, john and Richard III top yhe list for the worst kings

[@Tracker5usmc]

The world will soon be forced to watch Charles the Spineless & Woke...

[@historyprofiles]

Pretty good name, it’s a ashame they don’t have cool nicknames for monarchs any more

[@davidcunningham2074]

one of the worst though the new one may turn out to be worse.

[@deborahhobbins7131]

we have the worst king NOW

[@tech10k14]

The title 'unready' apparently is a misnomer and should be 'unread', meaning ill-advised.

[@thehillbillygamer2183]

Yeah but why didn't he just a vassal King to Alfred the Great he wasn't really an independent King he was a vassal to Alfred

[@airtioteclint]

I'd say it's between Lord Palmerston and Pitt the Elder.