Æthelred the Unready Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II (Old English: "Æþelræd", ; 966 – 23 April 1016), known as the Unready, was King of the English from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death. His epithet does not derive from the modern word "unready", but rather from the Old English "unræd" (meaning "poorly advised"); it is a pun on his name, which means "well advised". Æthelred was the son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth. He came to the throne at about the age of 12, following the assassination of his older half-brother, Edward the Martyr. His brother's murder was
Issue of Edward III of England by his third cousin Edward, 4th Duke of York of the York faction (great-grandson of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, 5th son of King Edward III), who reigned as King Edward IV. The Lancaster kings also had Plantagenet ancestry on the female side from Blanche of Lancaster, wife of John Gaunt, daughter of Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster (c.1310-1361), descended from Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, the second son of King Henry III (1216-1272), the great-grandfather of King Edward III. A legend was developed, although without foundation, claiming that Edmund Crouchback was older than his