Edmund Ironside, King of England in 1016, reigned for barely six months—but in that half-year he became the embodiment of Saxon resistance. The twenty-six-year-old son of Æthelred the Unready faced Cnut of Denmark in a relentless campaign of five battles, each one fought across war-torn England and against the shadow of betrayal. From his defiant marriage that carved out a power base in the Midlands, to the dramatic relief of London, to the catastrophic slaughter at Assandun, Edmund's story is one of grit, blood, and iron.

Some called him England's last true hope. Others saw him as a doomed figure, too late to stop the tide of Danish conquest. Was his sudden death six weeks after Assandun the natural end of a war-worn body, or the result of murder whispered through the centuries?

Discover the rise and fall of Edmund Ironside—his battles, his enemies, his uneasy pact with Cnut, and his place as the last great Saxon king to fight for England's independence. His reign may have flickered and died, but his defiance forged a legend: the final stand before England's destiny was reshaped forever.

Part of the Crown & Kingdom historical series exploring the pivotal moments that shaped medieval England.

Edmund Ironside | King of England, 1016 | Cnut the Great | Assandun, Anglo-Saxon England | Viking invasions | Eadric Streona | House of Wessex | Norman Conquest origins | English history podcast | Medieval England, | Historical Drama | True history | Crown & Kingdom