Editing Edmund Ironside (section)

== Warrior prince ==
When [[Sweyn Forkbeard]] seized the throne at the end of 1013 and Æthelred fled to Normandy, the brothers do not appear to have followed him but stayed in England. Æthelstan died in June 1014 and left Edmund a sword which had belonged to king [[Offa of Mercia]].{{sfn|Lawson|2004}} His will also reflected the close relationship between the brothers and the nobility of the East Midlands.{{sfn|Lavelle|2008|p=172}}

Sweyn died in February 1014, and the [[Five Boroughs of the Danelaw|Five Boroughs]] accepted his son [[Cnut]] as king. However, Æthelred returned to England and launched a surprise attack which defeated the Danes and forced Cnut to flee England. In 1015, [[Sigeferth (died 1015)|Sigeferth]] and [[Morcar (thegn)|Morcar]] came to an assembly in [[Oxford]], probably hoping for a royal pardon, but they were murdered by [[Eadric Streona]]. King Æthelred then ordered that Sigeferth's widow, [[Ealdgyth (wife of Edmund Ironside)|Ealdgyth]], be seized and brought to [[Malmesbury Abbey]], but Edmund seized and married her in defiance of his father, probably to consolidate his power base in the [[East Midlands]].{{sfn|Lavelle|2008|pp=169–172}} He then received the submission of the people of the Five Boroughs. At the same time, Cnut launched a new invasion of England. In late 1015 Edmund raised an army, possibly assisted by his wife's and mother's links with the midlands and the north, but the Mercians under Eadric Streona joined the [[Wessex|West Saxons]] in submitting to Cnut. In early 1016, the army assembled by Edmund dispersed when Æthelred did not appear to lead it, probably because of illness. Edmund then raised a new army and in conjunction with [[Uhtred the Bold|Earl Uhtred of Northumbria]] ravaged Eadric Streona's Mercian territories, but when Cnut occupied [[Northumbria]], Uhtred submitted to him, only to be killed by Cnut. Edmund went to London.{{sfn|Lawson|2004}}