Cute, but it might be noted that Ethelred was only considered a failure toward the end of his reign. He had one of the longer reigns of any English monarch, and England was pretty prosperous during most of it. Some historians defend his "paying Danegeld" strategy as a shrewd effort to divide his enemies and buy himself time to re-arm. He even went into exile and managed to return to power... temporarily.
Cute, but it might be noted that Ethelred was only considered a failure toward the end of his reign. He had one of the longer reigns of any English monarch, and England was pretty prosperous during most of it. Some historians defend his "paying Danegeld" strategy as a shrewd effort to divide his enemies and buy himself time to re-arm. He even went into exile and managed to return to power... temporarily.
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