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
The Life of Edward II of England The Life of Edward II of England The Life of Edward II of England (German: ), also known as "Edward II", is an adaptation by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht of the 16th-century historical tragedy by Marlowe, "The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer" (c.1592). The play is set in England between 1307 and 1326. A prefatory note to the play reads: Brecht wrote his adaptation in collaboration with Lion Feuchtwanger. It is written mostly in irregular free verse, with two songs (one of which is