1. =Eadward the Martyr. 975--979.=--Eadgar died in =975=, leaving two boys, Eadward and AEthelred.[4] On his death a quarrel broke out amongst the ealdormen, some declaring for the succession of Eadward and others for the succession of AEthelred. The political quarrel was complicated by an ecclesiastical quarrel. The supporters of Eadward were the friends of the secular clergy; the supporters of AEthelred were the friends of the monks. Dunstan, with his usual moderation, gave his voice for the eldest son, and Eadward was chosen king and crowned. Not only had he a strong party opposed to him, but he had a dissatisfied step-mother in AElfthryth, the mother of AEthelred, whilst his own mother, who had probably been married to Eadgar without full marriage rites, had been long since dead. After reigning for four years Eadward was murdered near Corfe by some of the opposite party, and, as was commonly supposed, by his step-mother's directions. [Footnote 4: Genealogy of the English kings from Eadgar to Eadgar the AEtheling:-- EADGAR 959-975 | ----------------------- | | EADWARD AETHELRED the Martyr the Unready 975-979 979-1016 | ----------------------- | | EADMUND EADWARD Ironside the Confessor 1016 1042-1066 | Eadward the AEtheling | Eadgar the AEtheling] 2. =AEthelred's Early Years. 979--988.=--AEthelred, now a boy of ten, became king in =979=. The epithet the Unready, which is usually assigned to him, is a mistranslation of a word which properly means the Rede-less, or the man without counsel. He was entirely without the qualities which befit a king. Eadmund had kept the great chieftains in subordination to himself because he was a successful leader. Eadgar had kept them in subordination because he treated them with respect. AEthelred could neither lead nor show respect. He was always picking quarrels when he ought to have been making peace, and always making peace when he ought to have been fighting. What he tried to do was to lessen the power of the great ealdormen, and bring the whole country more directly under his own authority. In =985= he drove out AElfric, the Ealdorman of the Mercians. In =988= Dunstan died, and AEthelred had no longer a wise adviser by his side.