Aethelred the Unready, the Worst King Ever

In 10th century England, where Blackadder and Fawlty Towers meet, there lived a king who was, well, shall we say not living up to his potential. Aethelred began life by defecating in his baptismal font, which caused fortunetellers across England to prophesy that the English monarchy would be overthrown during his reign. It was.

Aethelred the Unready takes us from his rise to power, which was not accomplished through bravery or wisdom, but through his mommy killing the reigning king (Aethelred’s brother). We follow through his experiences in battle: When Aethelred is attacked by Vikings, does he raise his sword in fury? Does he lead his people to a glorious victory? No. He runs downstairs and pays them to go away. We end at his eventual understanding of what it means to be King. His moatraker is odiferous, his vassals are vacuous, his knights are cretinous, his mother makes Medea look like Shirley Partridge and his dead brother just will not shut up. Come see this 10th century comedy of the chivalry-challenged.