by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025
Edmund the Ætheling from the late 13th century Genealogical chronicle of the English Kings; Credit – Wikipedia,
Born circa 1017, Edmund the Ætheling was the younger of the two sons of Edmund II Ironside, King of the English, and his wife Ealdgyth. Ætheling was used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty eligible for the kingship. Edmund’s father, Edmund II Ironside, was the son of Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English, and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York, and was not expected to become king as he had two elder brothers, but they both predeceased their father.
Edmund’s brother Edward the Exile, from a pedigree of Edmund Ironside in a 13th-century manuscript; Credit – Wikipedia
Edmund had one older brother:
Æthelred II and Edmund II both had to deal with Danish invasions. From 1013 to 1014 and 1016 to 1042, the House of Denmark or House of Knýtlinga (English: “House of Cnut’s Descendants”) was the ruling royal house in Denmark, Norway, and England. Its most famous king was Cnut the Great, who gave his name to this dynasty.
After the Danish conquest of England and the death of Edmund II Ironside, King of the English in 1016, King Cnut the Great sent the very young Edmund and his brother Edward to King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden to be murdered. Instead, King Olof sent them to Kyiv, where his daughter was the queen. Sometime in the 1040s, Edward the Exile and Edmund Ætheling, now adults, both traveled to Hungary and helped the exiled Andrew of Hungary become King of Hungary. While in Hungary, Edmund married Hedwig, possibly the daughter of King Stephen I of Hungary.
Edmund the Ætheling died in Hungary on January 10 in a year unknown before 1057. Edmund was certainly dead before 1057. In that year, King Edward the Confessor discovered that his nephew Edward the Exile, Edmund’s brother, was still alive and summoned him to England as a potential successor. Edward the Exile arrived in England with his wife and children, but died within a few days, on April 19, 1057, without meeting King Edward the Confessor. The cause of his death has never been determined. Murder is a possibility, as he had many powerful enemies.
Works Cited
- Flantzer, Susan. (2025). Ealdgyth, Queen of the English, wife of Edmund II Ironside, King of the English. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/ealdgyth-queen-of-the-english-wife-of-edmund-ii-ironside-king-of-the-english/
- Flantzer, Susan. (2019). Edmund II Ironside, King of the English | Unofficial Royalty. Unofficialroyalty.com. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/edmund-ii-ironside-king-of-the-english/
- Flantzer, Susan. (2025). Edward the Exile, son of Edmund II Ironside, King of the English. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/edward-the-exile-son-of-edmund-ii-ironside-king-of-the-english/
- Venning, Timothy. (2013). The Kings & Queens of Anglo-Saxon England. Amberley Publishing Limited.
- Wikipedia Contributors. (2025). Edmund Ætheling. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation.
