by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

Born about 1016 in Denmark, Harold Harefoot (also known as Harold I) was the son of Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, Norway and his first wife Ælfgifu of Northampton. He was nicknamed Harefoot for his speed and skill as a hunter.

Harold Harefoot had one full brother:

• Sweyn Cnutsson (circa 1016–1035), unmarried

After Cnut’s conquest of England in 1016, he married Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred II, King of the English. At that time, it was acceptable to put aside one wife and take another. Cnut succeeded his brother Harald II as King of Denmark in 1019. In 1029, Cnut invaded Norway and when King Olaf II of Norway was killed in 1030 at the Battle of Stiklestad, Cnut became King of Norway. He eventually also ruled parts of Sweden, Pomerania, and Schleswig. Cnut’s dominions were known as the North Sea Empire.

From his father’s second marriage to Emma of Normandy, Harold Harefoot had two half-siblings:

• Harthacnut, King of Denmark and England (circa 1018 – 1042), unmarried
• Gunhilda of Denmark (circa 1020 – 1038), married Heinrich III, Holy Roman Emperor, had one daughter

Queen Emma and her sons Edward and Alfred being received by their uncle Richard II, Duke of Normandy; Credit – Wikipedia

Harold Harefoot had three step-siblings from the first marriage of his stepmother Emma of Normandy to Æthelred II, King of the English:

• Saint Edward the Confessor, King of England (circa 1003 – 1066), married Edith of Wessex, no children
• Goda of England (1004 – circa 1047), married (1) Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Véxin, had three children (2) Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, no children
• Alfred Ætheling (circa 1005 – 1036), unmarried

The North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great; Credit – By Hel-hama – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19863973

In 1030, after the defeat and death of King Olaf II of Norway, Cnut sent his first wife Ælfgifu with their elder son Sweyn to govern Norway. Their rule was considered oppressive by the Norwegians and they were expelled in 1035. Magnus I the Good, a son of Olaf II, then became King of Norway. Sweyn died shortly after the death of his father.

Cnut, King of England, Denmark, and Norway, and his sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut; Credit – Wikipedia

Cnut the Great died on November 12, 1035, when he was about 40-years-old. Regarding the succession, Cnut had decreed that any sons of his second marriage should take precedence over the sons of his first marriage. This meant that Cnut and Emma’s only son Harthacnut was the legitimate heir to England and Denmark. At the time of his father’s death, Harthacnut was in Denmark where he easily succeeded his father as King of Denmark. However, he was unable to come to England because Denmark was under threat of invasion by Norway and Sweden. Because of this, the council elected Harold Harefoot Regent of England as a temporary measure. Harold Harefoot, almost immediately, requested that he be proclaimed King of England but Æthelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to do so.

In 1036, Edward the Confessor and Alfred Ætheling, Emma’s sons from her marriage to Æthelred II, returned to England from their exile in Normandy to visit their mother. Some historians suspect the visit could have actually been an attempt to claim the throne.  As they made their way to London, they were betrayed. Alfred Ætheling was blinded with a hot iron to his eyes and died soon afterward. Edward escaped the attack and returned to Normandy. It is unclear exactly who was behind the attack. Some historians claim Harold Harefoot was behind the attack so he could rid himself of two more potential claimants to the English throne. Other historians argue that Godwin, Earl of Wessex, who was traveling with Alfred and Edward as their protector, could have been the instigator of the attack.

In 1037, with the support of Leofric, Earl of Mercia and other nobles, Harold Harefoot was proclaimed King of England and crowned in Oxford. One of his first acts was to banish his stepmother Emma, who went into exile in Bruges, then in Flanders, now in Belgium. Not much is known about Harold Harefoot’s reign as there are few surviving documents. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mostly covers church matters, such as the deaths and appointments of bishops and archbishops. Harold Harefoot died in Oxford, England on March 17, 1040, aged about 24-years-old. He was buried at St. Peter’s Abbey, the precursor to Westminster Abbey which would start to be built on the site two years later.

On June 14, 1040, Harthacnut arrived at Sandwich, England with sixty-two warships and ascended the English throne unchallenged. He had Harald Harefoot’s body exhumed, decapitated, and thrown into a swamp but then it was retrieved and thrown in the River Thames. Shortly afterward, Harold Harefoot’s body was pulled from the River Thames by a fisherman and was buried at St. Clement Danes Church in London which was originally founded by Danes in the ninth century. Being a seafaring people, the Danes had named the church after St. Clement, the patron saint of mariners.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Denmark Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Denmark Index
• Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

Works Cited

• Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
• Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Harold Harefoot. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Harefoot [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].
• Flantzer, S. (2019). Cnut the Great, King of England, Denmark, and Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/cnut-the-great-king-of-england-denmark-and-norway/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
• Flantzer, S. (2019). Emma of Normandy, Queen of England, Denmark, and Norway. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emma-of-normandy-queen-of-england-denmark-and-norway/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
• No.wikipedia.org. (2019). Harald Harefot. [online] Available at: https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Harefot [Accessed 1 Mar. 2019].
• Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

Born around 990, Edmund was the third of the six sons of Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English and his first wife Ælfgifu of York. Edmund was not expected to become king as he had two elder brothers but they both predeceased their father.

(Note: Ætheling was used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship.)

Edmund’s known full siblings were:

• Æthelstan Ætheling (died 1014)
• Ecgberht Ætheling (died c. 1005)
• Eadred Ætheling (died before 1013)
• Eadwig Ætheling (died 1017)
• Edgar Ætheling (died c. 1008)
• Eadgyth, married Eadric Streona
• Ælfgifu, married Uhtred the Bold, Ealdorman of Northumbria
• Wulfhilda, married Ulfcytel Snillingr
• Name unknown, Abbess of Wherwell Abbey

In 1002, Edmund’s mother Ælfgifu died, possibly in childbirth, and his father made a second marriage to Emma of Normandy, the daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Edmund had three half-siblings from this marriage:

• Edward the Confessor, King of the English (between 1003 and 1005 – January 5, 1066), married Edith of Wessex, no children
• Goda of England (1004 – c. 1047), married (1) Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Véxin, had children and (2) Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, no children
• Alfred Ætheling (circa 1005 – 1036), unmarried

When Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark seized the English throne in 1013, Æthelred fled to Normandy but his two eldest surviving sons Æthelstan and Edmund remained in England. The two brothers had a close relationship and when Æthelstan died in 1014, he left Edmund his most prized possession, a sword that had once belonged to King Offa of Mercia.

The reign of Sweyn Forkbeard was short-lived as he suddenly died on February 3, 1014. Sweyn’s elder son succeeded him as Harald II, King of Denmark, and his younger son Cnut (the Great), was proclaimed King of England by the Danes in England. However, leading English noblemen sent a deputation to Æthelred II to negotiate his restoration to the throne. Æthelred returned from exile in Normandy in the spring of 1014, managed to drive Cnut out of England, and then reigned until his death on April 23, 1016.

Medieval illumination depicting Kings Edmund Ironside (left) and Cnut (right), from the Chronica Majora written and illustrated by Matthew Paris; Credit – Wikipedia

Edmund was now King of the English but had to fight Cnut to keep the Kingdom of England. He earned the added name “Ironside” because of his bravery in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut the Great. The war between Edmund and Cnut ended in a decisive victory for Cnut at the Battle of Assandun on October 18, 1016. Because Edmund’s reputation as a warrior was great, Cnut agreed to divide England, with Edmund taking Wessex and Cnut the rest of the country beyond the River Thames. However, Edmund died on November 30, 1016, and Cnut the Great became King of England. Edmund was buried near his grandfather Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset which was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII.

Ruins of Glastonbury Abbey; Credit – By Pam Brophy, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9115142

Cnut later became King of Denmark and King of Norway and married Æthelred’s widow Emma of Normandy. Cnut and his sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut ruled England from 1016 – 1042. After Harthacnut’s death, the English throne reverted to the House of Wessex under Æthelred II’s younger son by Emma of Normandy Edward the Confessor.

Edward the Exile. Edmund Ironside’s elder son; Credit – Wikipedia

Edmund’s two sons via his marriage with Ealdgyth have an interesting history.

• Edward the Exile (1016 – 1057), married Agatha, had three children
• Edmund Ætheling (circa 1017 – circa 1054), married Hedwig of Hungary, no children

According to the English monk and chronicler John of Worcester, after Edmund’s death, King Cnut sent his two very young children to King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden to be murdered, but instead, King Olof sent them to Kyiv where his daughter was the queen. Sometime in the 1040s, Edward and Edmund, now adults, both traveled to Hungary and helped the exiled Andrew of Hungary become King of Hungary. Edmund died in Hungary before 1054. Edward the Exile married Agatha, whose background is uncertain. Edward and Agatha had three children who were all born in Hungary:

• Saint Margaret of Scotland (circa 1045 – 1093), married Malcolm III, King of Scots, had eight children including three Kings of Scots (Edgar, Alexander I, and David I) and Edith, also called Maud or Matilda, who married King Henry I of England
• Edgar the Ætheling (circa 1051 – circa 1126), unmarried
• Cristina (circa 1057 – circa 1093), Abbess at Romsey Abbey

Edgar the Ætheling, grandson of Edmund Ironside; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1057, Edward the Confessor, the childless King of England, discovered that his nephew Edward the Exile was still alive and summoned him to England in 1057 as a potential successor. However, Edward died within two days of his arrival in England and the cause of his death has never been determined. Murder is a possibility, as he had many powerful enemies. After his father’s death, his son Edgar the Ætheling had the best hereditary claim to the English throne. Edmund Ironside’s three children were then raised in the court of Edward the Confessor, who died in January 1066. Edgar was considered too young to be king and the Witenagemot elected Harold Godwinson king mainly because it was thought he could defend England against foreign claimants to the English throne.

In October 1066, William of Normandy (the Conqueror) invaded England and defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. Following Harold’s death in battle, the Witenagemot elected Edmund’s son Edgar the Ætheling, who was the last of the House of Wessex, King of England. As William of Normandy’s position grew stronger, it became evident to those in power that King Edgar should be abandoned and that they should submit to William.

Edmund Ironside’s granddaughter Saint Margaret of Scotland, stained glass window at St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1068, Edgar, along with his mother Agatha and sisters Margaret and Cristina, fled to Northumbria. Supposedly, Agatha wanted to return to Hungary, but their ship was blown off course by a storm and they sought refuge from Malcolm III, King of Scots, who is the Malcolm in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Malcolm’s first wife Ingebjorg Finnsdotter died around 1069, and shortly thereafter he married Margaret who was canonized a saint in 1250. Margaret and Malcolm had eight children, six sons and two daughters. Bearing in mind that William the Conqueror’s new dynasty in England was not secure and their sons would have a claim on the English throne, Margaret and Malcolm gave four of their sons Anglo-Saxon royal names and named the other two sons after Alexander the Great and the biblical King David. Their elder daughter Edith (also known as Matilda) married King Henry I of England and brought the bloodline of the Anglo-Saxon kings into the English/British royal family. Their other daughter Mary was the mother of  Matilda of Boulogne who married King Stephen of England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Unofficial Royalty: House of Wessex Index
• Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites: House of Wessex
• Unofficial Royalty: Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

Works Cited

• Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
• Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Edmund Ironside. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Ironside [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
• Flantzer, S. (2015). Æthelred II (the Unready), King of the English. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/aethelred-ii-the-unready-king-of-the-english/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2019].
• Flantzer, S. (2013). Saint Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Scotland. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/november-16-1093-death-of-saint-margaret-of-scotland-wife-of-king-malcolm-iii-of-scotland/ [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].
• Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit – Wikipedia

Edward the Martyr was the eldest son of Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English. He was born around 962 to Æthelflæd who possibly was a nun at Wilton Abbey, a Benedictine abbey in Wiltshire, England, whom Edgar seduced. It is unclear whether Æthelflæd and Edgar married.

Edward had a half-sister through his father’s relationship with Saint Wulfthryth, a noblewoman who may have been abducted from Wilton Abbey by Edgar. Bride abduction was a traditional part of Anglo-Saxon society but whether Edgar took Wulfthryth by force is not known.  It is also uncertain whether Edgar married Wulfthryth. Eventually, Wulfthryth and her daughter Edith returned to Wilton Abbey where Wulfthryth later became the Abbess and Edith became a nun.

• Saint Edith of Wilton (circa 963 – 986), a nun at Wilton Abbey

Edward had two half-brothers through his father’s marriage to Ælfthryth, daughter of Ealdorman Ordgar of Devon:

• Edmund (circa 966 – 970 or 971), died in early childhood
• Æthelred II the Unready, King of the English (circa 968 – 1016), married (1) Ælfgifu of York,  had at least eleven children including Edmund II Ironside, King of the English (2) Emma of Normandy, had three children including Edward the Confessor, King of England

In 975, King Edgar died and leaving his two surviving sons: Edward around 13 years of age, and Æthelred around 7 years old. Various nobles and clergy formed factions that supported each of the brothers’ succession to the throne. Both boys were too young to have played any significant role in the political maneuvering, and so it was the brothers’ supporters who were responsible for the turmoil which accompanied the choice of a successor to the throne. In the end, Edward’s supporters, mainly Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury and Oswald of Worcester, Archbishop of York, proved more powerful and persuasive, and he was crowned king before the year was out.

King Edward the Martyr; Credit – Wikipedia

During Edward’s short reign, his kingdom was plagued with famine and violent attacks on monasteries by nobles who wanted to reclaim the land that King Edgar had given to the monks. Many monasteries were destroyed and the monks had to flee. The teenage Edward was famous for temper tantrums and insulting influential people due to his lack of diplomatic behavior.

Edward’s reign was short-lived. On March 18, 978, Edward arrived at a hunting lodge probably at or near the mound on which the ruins of Corfe Castle now stand. Aelfthryth, his stepmother, had invited Edward there and she arranged for him to be welcomed with a cup of wine. As Edward drank the wine, he was stabbed in the back while still mounted on his horse. He fell off, but his foot caught in the stirrup and he was dragged to his death. Although Edward’s ten-year-old half-brother Æthelred was not personally suspected of participation in the plot, the specter of his half-brother’s murder hung over him for the rest of his life.

• Assassination of Saint Edward the Martyr, King of England

A Victorian-era depiction of Ælfthryth putting her plan of murdering Edward the Martyr into motion; Credit – Wikipedia

Edward was first buried at St. Mary’s Church in Wareham, Dorset, England. In reality, people probably did not miss Edward because of his uncouth behavior. However, people were soon saying miracles occurred at his burial place and he was declared a saint and a martyr. Edward is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Church, and is known as Saint Edward the Martyr.

In 981, Edward’s remains were moved to Shaftesbury Abbey, a convent founded by his great-great-grandfather Alfred the Great, and were buried there with great pomp under the supervision of Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. Many miracles were claimed to occur at the tomb of Saint Edward, including the healing of lepers and the blind. The abbey became the wealthiest Benedictine convent in England and a major pilgrimage site.

In 1539, Edward’s remains were hidden to avoid desecration during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII. In 1931, some remains were recovered by J.E. Wilson-Claridge during an archaeological excavation of Shaftesbury Abbey. Their identity was confirmed by Dr. T.E.A. Stowell, an osteologist, who said the remains were those of a young man of about 20 who had injuries that corresponded to a person being dragged backward over the pommel of a saddle and having their leg twisted in a stirrup.

In 1970, another examination performed on the remains suggested that death had been caused by the manner in which Edward supposedly had died. However, a later examination showed the remains to be from the same time period as Edward but that they belonged to a man in his late twenties or early thirties rather than a youth in his mid-teens. Nevertheless, Wilson-Claridge donated the remains to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which interred them as King Edward the Martyr in a shrine at St. Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church in Woking, Surrey, England.

The Shrine of St Edward the Martyr in St. Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church; Credit – Wikipedia

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Unofficial Royalty: House of Wessex Index
• Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites: House of Wessex
• Unofficial Royalty: Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

Works Cited

• Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
• Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Clarke, J. (2019). St Edward the Martyr. [online] John-clarke.co.uk. Available at: https://www.john-clarke.co.uk/st_edward_the_martyr.html [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].
• Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Edward the Martyr. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Martyr [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Édouard le Martyr. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_le_Martyr [Accessed 21 Feb. 2019].
• Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2019

From the Illuminated manuscript of The Charter of Edgar to the New Minster, Winchester, 966; Credit – Wikipedia

The reign of Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English brought a period of peace unknown in recent memory. His coronation service written by St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury has formed the basis for the coronation services for English and British monarchs ever since. Born around 943, Edgar the Peaceful, King of the English was the younger son of the two sons Edmund I, King of the English and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury. He had one elder brother:

• Eadwig, King of England (circa 940 – 959), married Ælfgifu, marriage annulled, no children

On May 26, 946, Edgar’s father King Edmund I was murdered while celebrating the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury at a royal hunting lodge in Pucklechurch, north of Bath, England. Because Edmund’s two sons were very young, his 23-year-old brother Eadred succeeded him.  When King Eadred died on November 25, 955, his successor was his nephew, Edgar’s 15-year-old elder brother Eadwig.

Eadwig was an unpopular king whose short reign was marked by conflicts with the nobility and the church. In 957, the Mercians and Northumbrians revolted and chose Edgar as king of the country north of the River Thames. The south of England, however, remained loyal to Eadwig. On October 1, 959, Eadwig died in Gloucester in what some consider suspicious, but certainly unknown circumstances, at around the age of nineteen. As Eadwig did not have children, his 16-year-old brother Edgar succeeded him and reunified England.

Edgar’s marriage history is uncertain. He had relationships with three women but only the third was considered his “lawful wife.

(1) Æthelflæd was the mother of Edgar’s eldest child Edward the Martyr, King of the English who was born around 962. Some sources say that Æthelflæd was a nun at Wilton Abbey, a Benedictine abbey in Wiltshire, England whom Edgar seduced. It is unclear whether Æthelflæd and Edgar married.

• Edward the Martyr, King of the English (circa 962 – 978), unmarried, murdered

(2) Saint Wulfthryth was a noblewoman who may have been abducted from Wilton Abbey by Edgar. She gave birth to a daughter Edith around 963. Bride abduction was a traditional part of Anglo-Saxon society but whether Edgar took Wulfthryth by force is unknown. She did stay with Edgar for at least a year. It is uncertain whether Edgar married Wulfthryth. Eventually, Wulfthryth and Edith returned to Wilton Abbey where Wulfthryth later became the Abbess, and Edith became a nun. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury made Edgar do penance for the crime of abduction by not wearing his crown for seven years. Edgar and Wulfthryth remained on good terms and Edgar gave financial support to Wilton Abbey for the rest of his life.

Edgar’s daughter Edith; Credit – Wikipedia

Edgar’s daughter Edith died on September 15, 984, at around the age of 21, and was buried in the church at Wilton Abbey. Wulfthryth survived her daughter, dying on September 21, 1000. She was buried before the main altar of the Wilton Abbey church. Both Wulfthryth and Edith were regarded as saints locally in Wiltshire after their deaths.

Ruins of the Wilton Abbey church where Wulfthryth and Edith were buried; Credit – Wikipedia

(3) In 964 or 965, Edgar married Ælfthryth, daughter of Ealdorman Ordgar of Devon.  She was the first wife of a king known to have been crowned and anointed as Queen of the Kingdom of England. Ælfthryth was probably linked to the murder of her stepson King Edward the Martyr so that her son Æthelred could become king. Around 986, she founded Wherwell Abbey, a Benedictine convent in Hampshire, England where she retired to live her last years. She died there on November 17 in 1000 or 1001.

Edgar and Ælfthryth had two sons:

• Edmund (circa 966 – 970 or 971), died in early childhood
• Æthelred II the Unready, King of the English (circa 968 – 1016), married (1) Ælfgifu of York,  had at least eleven children including Edmund II Ironside, King of the English (2) Emma of Normandy, had three children including Edward the Confessor, King of England

Edgar between St. Athelwald, Bishop of Winchester and St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury; Credit – Wikipedia

Because of conflicts, Eadwig, Edgar’s brother, had banished Dunstan, then Abbot of Glastonbury. Upon becoming king, Edgar recalled Dunstan and created him Bishop of Worcester and the Bishop of London. In 959, Dunstan became Archbishop of Canterbury. He remained Edgar’s chief advisor throughout his reign. Dunstan oversaw reform in the English church. Order was maintained throughout the kingdom and there was respect for the law. A military force patrolled the north and a navy guarded the shores against Viking raids. There was a level of peace in the kingdom unknown for many years.

Although Edgar probably had a coronation at Kingston-on-Thames, the traditional site for Wessex coronations, Dunstan felt there was a need for a major ceremony similar to the coronations of the King of the Franks and the German Emperor. This coronation was delayed for some time as Dunstan was disturbed by Edgar’s personal life and he counseled Edgar as he changed his ways. Dunstan wrote the order of service for Edgar’s coronation based upon ceremonies used by the Kings of the Franks and ceremonies used in the ordination of bishops. The main elements of the British coronation service and the form of the oath taken by the sovereign can be traced to the order of service devised by Dunstan for Edgar’s coronation. Although there have been revisions in the order of the ceremony, the sequence of taking an oath, anointing, investing of regalia, crowning, and enthronement found in the Anglo-Saxon text has remained constant.

The coronation took place at Bath Abbey in Bath, England on May 11, 873. Edgar’s wife Ælfthryth was also crowned and anointed, giving her a status higher than any recent queen. Shortly after the coronation, Edgar held a council in Chester, England. Several Scots and Welsh kings attended and pledged their allegiance to Edgar, including Kenneth II of Scotland, Máel Coluim I of Strathclyde and his father Dyfnwal III, Maccus Haroldson of the Isle of Man and Hebrides, Iago ap Idwal of Gwynedd, Iago’s brother Idwal Fychan and his nephew Hywel ap Ieuaf. Supposedly, these kings rowed Edgar over the River Dee in a boat as a sign of their submission.

A Victorian representation of Edgar being rowed on the River Dee; Credit – Wikipedia

Edgar died on July 8, 975 in Winchester, England, aged 31-32, and was buried at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset, England. In 1052, Edgar’s remains were moved within Glastonbury Abbey to a new shrine near the high altar. The shrine was lost when the abbey was left in ruins during the sixteenth century. Edgar was succeeded by his son Edward the Martyr.

Ruins of Glastonbury Abbey; Credit – By Pam Brophy, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9115142

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Unofficial Royalty: House of Wessex Index
• Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites: House of Wessex
• Unofficial Royalty: Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

Works Cited

• Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
• Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• De.wikipedia.org. (2019). Edgar (England). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_(England) [Accessed 20 Feb. 2019].
• Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Edgar the Peaceful. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_the_Peaceful [Accessed 20 Feb. 2019].
• Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2019

Eadwig, King of the English; Credit – Wikipedia

Born about 940, Eadwig, sometimes called Edwy, was a teenage King of the English for less than four years. He was the elder of the two sons of Edmund I, King of the English and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury. Eadwig had one younger brother:

• Edgar the Peaceful, King of England (circa 943 – 975), married (1) Æthelflæd (mistress?), had one child Edward the Martyr, King of England (2) Saint Wulfthryth (mistress?), had one daughter (3) Ælfthryth, had two sons including Æthelred II the Unready, King of England

On May 26, 946, Eadwig’s father King Edmund I was murdered while celebrating the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury at a royal hunting lodge in Pucklechurch, north of Bath, England. Because Edmund’s two sons were very young, he was succeeded by his 23-year-old brother Eadred.  When King Eadred died on November 25, 955, his successor was his 15-year-old nephew Eadwig, the elder son of his brother King Edmund I.

King Eadwig; Credit – Wikipedia

The young king almost immediately began arguing with his uncle Eadred’s advisors, particularly with Dunstan, a future Archbishop of Canterbury and saint, who was then Abbot of Glastonbury. According to The Life of St. Dunstan, written around the year 1000 by a monk known only as “B”, the feud with Dunstan began the day of Eadwig’s coronation in 956. Eadwig had left the coronation banquet and Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury sent Dunstan to find Eadwig. The young king had tired of the banquet and had retired to his apartments with  Ælfgifu, a young woman he had fallen in love with, and her mother Æthelgifu. Ælfgifu was Eadwig’s third cousin and this relationship would have precluded marriage on the grounds of consanguinity. When Eadwig refused to return to the banquet, the infuriated Dunstan dragged him back to the banquet. Soon after, Eadwig secretly married Ælfgifu and exiled Dunstan.

Drawing by Samuel Wale, entitled “The Insolent Behaviour of Dunstan to King Edwy on the Day of his Coronation Feast.” in Thomas Mortimer’s New History of England. 3 vols: vol. 1. 1764-6; Credit – Wikipedia

In 957, the Mercians and Northumbrians revolted and chose Eadwig’s brother Edgar as king of the country north of the River Thames. However, the south of England remained loyal to Eadwig. Edgar’s advisers recalled Dunstan from his exile and he was made Bishop of Worcester in 957 and then Bishop of London the following year. In 958, Archbishop Oda annulled Eadwig’s marriage for consanguinity, a decision that was likely more political than religious. A child of Eadwig and Ælfgifu would certainly have had a better claim to the throne than Eadwig’s brother Edgar. This would have affected the power of Oda, Dunstan, and of course Edgar.

On October 1, 959, Eadwig died at around the age of nineteen in Gloucester in what some consider suspicious, but certainly unknown, circumstances. He was buried in the New Minster in Winchester but nothing is known about the later fate of his remains. As Eadwig did not have children, his brother Edgar succeeded him and reunified England. Eadwig’s former wife Ælfgifu appears to have reconciled with King Edgar and she made substantial donations to monasteries. She was buried in the New Minster in Winchester upon her death.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Unofficial Royalty: House of Wessex Index
• Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites: House of Wessex
• Unofficial Royalty: Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

Works Cited

• Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
• Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Eadwig. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadwig [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. (2019). Eadwig. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadwig [Accessed 18 Feb. 2019].
• Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2019

Credit- Wikipedia

Born in 923, Eadred, King of the English was the younger of the two sons and the second of the three children of Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent. He was also a grandson of Alfred the Great.

Eadred had two full siblings:

• Edmund I, King of the English (921 – 946), married (1) Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, had two sons, King Eadwig and King Edgar (2) Æthelflæd of Damerham, no children
• Saint Eadburh of Winchester (died 960), Benedictine nun at St Mary’s Abbey, Winchester

Eadred had two half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Ecgwynn:

• Æthelstan, King of England (circa 894 – 939), unmarried
• A sister who married Sitric Cáech, a Viking leader who ruled Dublin and then Northumbria. The daughter’s name was possibly Edith and she may have been Saint Edith of Polesworth

Eadred had eight half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Ælfflæd, daughter of Ealdorman Æthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire:

• Ælfweard (circa 902 – 924), unmarried, died sixteen days after his father and was possibly king during that period
• Edwin (died 933), unmarried, drowned in a shipwreck in the North Sea
• Æthelhild, lay sister at Wilton Abbey
• Eadgifu (born 902 – died in or after 951), married (1) Charles the Simple, King of West Francia, had one son Louis IV, King of West Francia (2) Heribert III, Count of Omois, no children
• Eadflæd, a nun at Wilton Abbey
• Eadhild (died 937), married Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris, no children
• Eadgyth (910 – 946), married Otto I, King of East Francia, and, after Eadgyth’s death, Holy Roman Emperor, had two sons
• Ælfgifu, married “a prince near the Alps”, possibly Louis, brother of King Rudolph II of Burgundy

On May 26, 946, Eadred’s elder brother King Edmund I was murdered while celebrating the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury at a royal hunting lodge in Pucklechurch, north of Bath, England. Because Edmund’s two sons were very young, he was succeeded by his 23-year-old brother Eadred who was crowned on August 16, 946 in Kingston-upon-Thames by Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury. The coronation was attended not only by numerous bishops but also by Welsh rulers and Scandinavian earls from the north of England who all appeared to have recognized Eadred as their overlord.

Eadred, King of the English; Credit – Wikipedia

Eadred suffered from ill health all his life. He had symptoms similar to the symptoms Alfred the Great, his grandfather also had. Alfred’s contemporary biographer, the Welsh monk Asser, gave a detailed description of his symptoms, and modern doctors suspect that he had Crohn’s disease. However, a genetic disease such as porphyria, which Alfred’s descendant King George III may have had, is also a possibility. Eadred’s ill health is often given as the reason he never married.

Eadred surrounded himself with the same counselors as his brother had: Archbishop Oda of Canterbury, Bishop Ælfsige of Winchester, Bishop Cenwald of Worcester, Abbot Dunstan of Glastonbury and Ealdorman Æthelstan Half-King of East Anglia. Although both his half-brother King Æthelstan and his full-brother King Edmund both quelled situations in York and Northumbria and were recognized as overlords, Eadred also had issues in that region. However, by 952, the threat of an independent Northumbrian king finally came to an end.

Towards the end of his life, Eadred’s health deteriorated drastically. He had physical difficulties eating and suffered from some kind of physical disability, possibly paralysis. He delegated most of his royal powers to Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury and other counselors. Eadred died at the age of 32 on November 23, 955 in Frome in Somerset, and was buried in the Old Minster at Winchester. Sometime between 1093 – 1158, his remains were moved to Winchester Cathedral which was completed and consecrated in 1093. Eadred’s successor was his 15-year-old nephew Eadwig, the elder son of his brother King Edmund.

Mortuary chest in Winchester Cathedral believed to contain Eadred’s remains; Credit – By Ealdgyth – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11358612

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Unofficial Royalty: House of Wessex Index
• Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites: House of Wessex
• Unofficial Royalty: Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

Works Cited

• Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
• Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• De.wikipedia.org. (2019). Eadred. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadred [Accessed 15 Feb. 2019].
• Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Eadred. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadred [Accessed 15 Feb. 2019].
• Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Edmund I, King of the English; Credit – Wikipedia

Edmund I, King of the English was born in 921, the elder of the two sons and the eldest of the three children of Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent.  He was also the grandson of Alfred the Great.

Edmund had two full siblings:

• Eadred, King of the English (923 – 955), unmarried
• Saint Eadburh of Winchester (died 960), a Benedictine nun at St Mary’s Abbey, Winchester

Edmund had two half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Ecgwynn:

• Æthelstan, King of the English (circa 894 – 939), unmarried
• A daughter who married Sitric Cáech, a Viking leader who ruled Dublin and then Northumbria. The daughter’s name was possibly Edith and she may have been Saint Edith of Polesworth

Additionally, Edmund had eight half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Ælfflæd, daughter of Ealdorman Æthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire:

• Ælfweard (circa 902 – 924), unmarried, died sixteen days after his father and was possibly king during that period
• Edwin (died 933), unmarried, drowned in a shipwreck in the North Sea
• Æthelhild, lay sister at Wilton Abbey
• Eadgifu (born 902 – died in or after 951), married (1) Charles the Simple, King of West Francia, had one son Louis IV, King of West Francia (2) Heribert III, Count of Omois, no children
• Eadflæd, a nun at Wilton Abbey
• Eadhild (died 937), married Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris, no children
• Eadgyth (910 – 946), married Otto I, King of East Francia, and, after Eadgyth’s death, Holy Roman Emperor, had two sons
• Ælfgifu, married “a prince near the Alps”, possibly Louis, brother of King Rudolph II of Burgundy

Credit – Wikipedia

Edmund was just three years old when his father Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons, died on July 24, 924. Succeeding his father was Edmund’s 30-year-old half-brother Æthelstan. The young Edmund grew up in the household of Æthelstan and when he was older began accompanying his half-brother on his military campaigns.

Æthelstan and Edmund’s father Edward the Elder had conquered the Danish territories in Mercia and East Anglia. In 927, Æthelstan captured the last Danish stronghold in York and received their submission. Later in 927, the Welsh and Scots kings and princes accepted Æthelstan as their overlord. Æthelstan became the first king of all the Anglo-Saxon people and the overlord of all Britain. He then was styled King of the English. In 937, Æthelstan’s position was further cemented after the Battle of Brunanburh in which he triumphed over an alliance of King of Dublin, King of Scots, and King of Strathclyde. As a 16-year-old, Edmund had fought bravely at the Battle of Brunanburh.

Æthelstan died in Gloucester on October 27, 939, around the age of 45. He had never married and was succeeded by his 18-year-old half-brother Edmund I, King of the English. Edmund was the first Anglo-Saxon monarch, whose dominion extended over the whole of England at the time of his accession.

Edmund married Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury around 940. Her father and siblings are unknown but her mother Wynflaed appears to have been associated with Shaftesbury Abbey, founded by Edmund’s grandfather Alfred the Great. Ælfgifu was definitely a patron of Shaftsbury Abbey. She predeceased her husband, dying in 944, and was buried at Shaftsbury Abbey. Soon after her death, Ælfgifu was venerated as a saint and she is referred to as Saint Ælfgifu in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. In 944, after Ælfgifu’s death, Edmund married Æthelflæd of Damerham but the couple had no children.

Edmund and his first wife Ælfgifu had two sons:

• Eadwig, King of England (circa 940 – 959), married Ælfgifu, marriage annulled, no children
• Edgar the Peaceful, King of England (circa 943 – 975), married (1) Æthelflæd (mistress?), had one child Edward the Martyr, King of England (2) Saint Wulfthryth (mistress?), had one daughter (3) Ælfthryth,  had two sons including Æthelred II the Unready, King of England

Shortly after he became king, Edmund faced several military threats. He lost Northumbria but in 844, he successfully regained the land. In 945, Edmund conquered Strathclyde and ceded the territory to Malcolm I, King of Scots to secure him as an ally. Having regained territory and being recognized as overlord of the Welsh and Scots kings and princes, Edmund now seemed to have a successful reign ahead of him.

Murder of Edmund I; Credit – Wikipedia

On May 26, 946, Edmund was celebrating the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury at a royal hunting lodge in Pucklechurch, north of Bath, England. The story usually given is that during the feast, Edmund recognized Leofa, a thief he had exiled several years earlier. He asked his steward to arrest Leofa but a fight erupted. Edmund intervened, was stabbed, and died at the age of 24. Recent research indicates that Edmund may have been the victim of political assassination and chroniclers fabricated the characterization of Edmund’s killer as a fabricated as a thief to counter rumors that the king was the victim of a political assassination. Edmund was buried at Glastonbury Abbey in Glastonbury, Somerset, England but his tomb was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII. Because Edmund’s two sons were very young, he was succeeded by his brother Eadred.

• Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Edmund I, King of England

Ruins of Glastonbury Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Wessex Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Unofficial Royalty: House of Wessex Index
• Unofficial Royalty: British Royal Burial Sites: House of Wessex
• Unofficial Royalty: Coronations before the Norman Conquest (871 – 1066)

Works Cited

• Ashley, M. (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub.
• Cannon, J. and Griffiths, R. (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Dodson, A. (2004). The Royal Tombs of Great Britain. London: Duckworth.
• En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Edmund I. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_I [Accessed 14 Feb. 2019].
• Williamson, D. (1998). Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell.