Edmund II, Ironside c.990-1016
King of the English

The son of Ethelred II, the Unready, and half-brother of Edward the Confessor, he was lord of most of Mercia from 1015. When Knut Sveinsson (Canute) invaded England that summer, Edmund was elected king by the beleaguered defenders of London on his father's death (April 1016), while Knut was chosen king by the Witan (Council) in Southampton. Edmund raised an army, reconquered Wessex and relieved London, before being routed by Knut in a fierce battle at Ashingdon in Essex. He agreed to partition the country, but died a few weeks later, leaving Knut as sole ruler. Edmund's elder son, Edward the �theling, became the legitimate heir-apparent to the throne of his uncle, Edward, the Confessor.