Eadric the Grasper: Sons of Mercia: 1

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During Canute's reign, Eadric accompanied the Queen consort Emma of Normandy, widow of Ethelred and wife of Canute, to the Duchy of Normandy. He was made ealdorman of the Mercians in 1007, and by 1009 had married Ædgyth, one of the daughters of King Æthelred. Fortunately for Canute, Edmund died of battle injuries not long afterwards; Canute now ruled all of England. Eadric Streona's head was said to have been placed on London Bridge and his body thrown into the Thames.

This fellow was the refuse of mankind, the reproach of the English; an abandoned glutton, a cunning miscreant; who had become opulent, not by nobility, but by specious language and impudence. breathed his last on 23 April in London at which Edmund was elected king of what remained of his father's kingdom, Edmund put up a heroic and valiant stand against the Viking invaders. Cnut arrived from Denmark in August 1015 at Sandwich in Kent with an invasion force of about 200 ships, but immediately went off plundering in Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset.

Eadric appears to have acted as a go-between for Ethelred and the Danes, attempting to rescue Saint Alphege (Alfheah) in 1012 by collecting a ransom. I have bumped into other opinions that Edmund just couldn’t afford to be too picky about his allies, since Eadric had so many resources at his disposal.

Twice he finds work on the mainland for his sister, Barbro, but, afraid she’ll be unhappy, he brings her home both times. This fellow was the refuse of mankind, the reproach of the English; an abandoned glutton, a cunning miscreant; who had become opulent, not by nobility, by specious language and impudence.Eadric’s advice to the young man lands him an audience with King Ethelred and changes his life forever. Through female prisoners who catalog the belongings confiscated from fellow inmates, Lale gains access to jewels, which he trades to a pair of local villagers for chocolate, medicine, and other items.