The third in a series of four historical detective stories, written and presented by Michael Wood
Ethelred the Unready has the poorest reputation of any English king. His reign is synonymous with decline and moral failure.
MICHAEL WOOD , in his search for Ethelred, sets out to discover the truth behind the legend. Was Ethelred really unready?
Through one of the most remarkable pieces of English historical writing, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a story of disaster, defeat and governmental collapse unfolds.
The Danish raids on England throughout Ethelred's reign led to vast payments of ' Danegeld , protection money, to make the Danes go away. But, despite the hand-over of thousands of silver pennies, the constant ravaging and devastation of England continued. The Anglo-Saxon empire finally collapsed in 1016 and, in an attempt to save what was left, Ethelred's son, Edmund, led an army against the young Viking, Canute. In a field in Essex, a famous place in British history, ' The flower of the English fell' and with them passed what had been the most powerful dynasty Britain had yet seen.
Photography RICHARD GANNICLIFFT Film editor DENNIS JARVIS Producer DEREK TOWERS
BBC Manchester .
Book, In Search of the Dark Ages, 18.95, from bookshops