123-757: King Edward may refer to: Monarchs [ edit ] of England and the United Kingdom [ edit ] Edward the Elder ( c. 871 –924) Edward the Martyr ( c. 962 –978) Edward the Confessor ( c. 1004 –1066) Edward I of England (1239–1307) Edward II of England (1284–1327) Edward III of England (1312–1377) Edward IV of England (1442–1483) Edward V of England (1470–1483?) Edward VI of England (1537–1553) Edward VII of
246-523: A coup d'etat had himself crowned instead of Matilda. The period which followed is known as The Anarchy , as parties supporting each side fought in open warfare both in Britain and on the continent for the better part of two decades. Matilda was declared heir presumptive by her father, Henry I, after the death of her brother on the White Ship , and acknowledged as such by the barons. Upon Henry I's death,
369-558: A Kentish charter of 898 Edward witnessed as rex Saxonum , suggesting that Alfred may have followed the strategy adopted by his grandfather Egbert of strengthening his son's claim to succeed to the West Saxon throne by making him sub-king of Kent. Once Edward grew up, Alfred was able to give him military commands and experience in royal administration. The English defeated renewed Viking attacks in 893 to 896, and in Richard Abels ' view,
492-478: A descendant of Edward III's second son, Lionel of Antwerp ). The House of York claimed the right to the throne through Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp , but it inherited its name from Edward's fourth surviving son, Edmund of Langley , first Duke of York . The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) saw the throne pass back and forth between the rival houses of Lancaster and York. The Tudors descended in
615-455: A large army to lay siege to Maldon, but the garrison held out until it was relieved and the retreating army was heavily defeated. Edward then returned to Towcester and reinforced its fort with a stone wall, and the Danes of nearby Northampton submitted to him. The armies of Cambridge and East Anglia also submitted, and by the end of the year the only Danish armies still holding out were those of four of
738-571: A monarch for more than a hundred years, since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones from his first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I . The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum ("King of the English"). In addition, many of the pre-Norman kings assumed extra titles, as follows: In
861-535: A month, "King Louis" controlled more than half of the country and enjoyed the support of two-thirds of the barons. However, he suffered military defeat at the hands of the English fleet. By signing the Treaty of Lambeth in September 1217, Louis gained 10,000 marks and agreed he had never been the legitimate king of England. "King Louis" remains one of the least known kings to have ruled over a substantial part of England. It
984-511: A murky political coup." The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled at the West Saxon court from the 890s, and the entries for the late ninth and early tenth centuries are seen by historians as reflecting the West Saxon viewpoint; Davidson observes: "Alfred and Edward possessed skilled "spin doctors"." Some versions of the Chronicle incorporate part of a lost Mercian Register , which gives a Mercian perspective and details of Æthelflæd's campaign against
1107-645: A new Mercian minster established by Æthelred and Æthelflæd in Gloucester and the Danes were compelled to accept peace on Edward's terms. In the following year, the Northumbrian Danes retaliated by raiding Mercia, but on their way home they were met by a combined Mercian and West Saxon army at the Battle of Tettenhall , where the Vikings suffered a disastrous defeat. After that, the Northumbrian Danes did not venture south of
1230-538: A pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into effect the Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706. The acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate sovereign states , with separate legislatures but with the same monarch ) into the Kingdom of Great Britain . England, Scotland, and Ireland had shared
1353-796: A rapid transit station in Vancouver See also [ edit ] Edward King (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title King Edward . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=King_Edward&oldid=1254904716 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Title and name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Articles containing Portuguese-language text Articles containing Middle Irish (900-1200)-language text Short description
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#17330856117641476-555: A single, south-centred, Anglo-Saxon kingdom, yet posthumously his achievements have been all but forgotten." In 1999 a conference on his reign was held at the University of Manchester , and the papers given on this occasion were published as a book in 2001. Prior to this conference, no monographs had been published on Edward's reign, whereas his father has been the subject of numerous biographies and other studies. Higham summarises Edward's legacy as follows: Edward's cognomen 'the Elder'
1599-491: A strong claim to the throne as the son of Alfred's elder brother and predecessor, Æthelred I . Alfred had succeeded Æthelred as king of Wessex in 871, and almost faced defeat against the Danish Vikings until his decisive victory at the Battle of Edington in 878. After the battle, the Vikings still ruled Northumbria , East Anglia and eastern Mercia , leaving only Wessex and western Mercia under Anglo-Saxon control. In
1722-589: A third time, around 919, Eadgifu , the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent . Their children were: King of the Anglo-Saxons This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great , who initially ruled Wessex , one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886, and while he
1845-529: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (870s? – 17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith . When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æthelwold , who had
1968-543: Is from the time of Henry III, after the loss of most of the family's continental possessions, that the Plantagenet kings became more English in nature. The Houses of Lancaster and York are cadet branches of the House of Plantagenet. This house descended from Edward III's third surviving son, John of Gaunt . Henry IV seized power from Richard II (and also displaced the next in line to the throne, Edmund Mortimer (then aged 7),
2091-650: Is independent support from literary sources and coins. Alfred Smyth points out that Edward was not in a position to impose the same conditions on the Scots and the Northumbrians as he could on conquered Vikings, and argues that the Chronicle presented a treaty between kings as a submission to Wessex. Stafford observes that the rulers had met at Bakewell on the border between Mercia and Northumbria, and that meetings on borders were generally considered to avoid any implication of submission by either side. Davidson points out that
2214-456: Is known about other Anglo-Saxon princes, providing details about the training of a prince in a period of Carolingian influence, and Yorke suggests that we may know so much due to Alfred's efforts to portray his son as the most throneworthy ætheling. Æthelhelm is recorded only in Alfred's will of the mid-880s, and probably died at some time in the next decade, but Æthelwold is listed above Edward in
2337-555: Is no longer the majority view of historians that their wide dominions are part of a process leading to a unified England. Historian Simon Keynes states, for example, that "Offa was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy." This refers to a period in the late 8th century when Offa achieved a dominance over many of the kingdoms of southern England, but this did not survive his death in 796. Likewise, in 829 Egbert of Wessex conquered Mercia , but he soon lost control of it. It
2460-632: Is that when Edward died, Ælfweard was declared king in Wessex and Æthelstan in Mercia. England came under the control of Sweyn Forkbeard , a Danish king , after an invasion in 1013, during which Æthelred abandoned the throne and went into exile in Normandy . Following the death of Sweyn Forkbeard, Æthelred the Unready returned from exile and was again proclaimed king. His son succeeded him after being chosen king by
2583-500: Is the start of the continuous history in England of trial by ordeal ; it is probably mentioned in the laws of King Ine (688 to 726), but not in later codes such as those of Alfred. The administrative and legal system in Edward's reign may have depended extensively on written records, almost none of which survive. Edward was one of the few Anglo-Saxon kings to issue laws about bookland. There
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#17330856117642706-550: The Isle of Thanet , off the north Kent coast, on 21 May 1216, and marched more or less unopposed to London, where the streets were lined with cheering crowds. At a grand ceremony in St. Paul's Cathedral, on 2 June 1216, in the presence of numerous English clergy and nobles, the Mayor of London and Alexander II of Scotland, Prince Louis was proclaimed King Louis of England (though not crowned). In less than
2829-619: The Norman conquest of England . After the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, William the Conqueror made permanent the recent removal of the capital from Winchester to London . Following the death of Harold Godwinson at Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot elected as king Edgar Ætheling , the son of Edward the Exile and grandson of Edmund Ironside. The young monarch was unable to resist
2952-401: The Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with occasional use of Rex Angliae ("King of England"). The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum ("Lady of the English"). From the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Angliae . In 1604 James I , who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted
3075-647: The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, and in 1301 King Edward I invested his eldest son, the future King Edward II , as Prince of Wales . Since that time, the eldest sons of all English monarchs, except for King Edward III , have borne this title. After the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, her cousin King James VI of Scotland inherited the English crown as James I of England, joining the crowns of England and Scotland in personal union . By royal proclamation, James styled himself "King of Great Britain", but no such kingdom
3198-546: The 890s, does not mention Edward's military successes. These are known only from the late tenth century chronicle of Æthelweard , such as his account of the Battle of Farnham, in which in Nelson's view "Edward's military prowess, and popularity with a following of young warriors, are highlighted." Towards the end of his life Alfred invested his young grandson Æthelstan in a ceremony which historians see as designation as eventual successor to
3321-501: The 903 charters with one of 901 in which the Mercian rulers were "by grace of God, holding, governing and defending the monarchy of the Mercians". Davidson comments that "the evidence for Mercian subordination is decidedly mixed. Ultimately, the ideology of the 'Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons' may have been less successful in achieving the absorption of Mercia and more something which I would see as
3444-828: The Benevolent, predecessor to Graham as King of Daventry in the King's Quest series of PC games Places [ edit ] King Edward, Aberdeenshire , Scotland King Edward Avenue (disambiguation) Other uses [ edit ] King Edward Hotel (Jackson, Mississippi) , a former hotel-now-National Landmark in Jackson, Mississippi King Edward VII -class battleship HMS King Edward VII King Edward Hotel (Toronto) , Ontario, Canada King Edward Medical University in Lahore, Pakistan King Edward's School (disambiguation) King Edward potato King Edward station ,
3567-508: The Elder". However, even as war leader he was only one of a succession of successful kings; his achievements were overshadowed because he did not have a famous victory like Alfred's at Edington and Æthelstan's at the Battle of Brunanburh , and William of Malmesbury qualified his praise of Edward by saying, "The chief prize of victory, in my judgment, is due to his father." Edward has also been overshadowed by chroniclers' admiration for his highly regarded sister, Æthelflæd. A principal reason for
3690-491: The Five Boroughs, Leicester, Stamford, Nottingham, and Lincoln. In early 918, Æthelflæd secured the submission of Leicester without a fight, and the Danes of Northumbrian York offered her their allegiance, probably for protection against Norse (Norwegian) Vikings who had invaded Northumbria from Ireland, but she died on 12 June before she could take up the proposal. The same offer is not known to have been made to Edward, and
3813-710: The House of Lancaster fell from power, the Tudors followed. By the late 15th century, the Tudors were the last hope for the Lancaster supporters. Edmund Tudor's son became king as Henry VII after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, winning the Wars of the Roses. King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV, thereby uniting the Lancastrian and York lineages. (See family tree .) Edward VI named Lady Jane Grey as his heir in his will, overruling
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3936-571: The House of Plantagenet, which was the name given to the dynasty after the loss of most of their continental possessions, while cadet branches of this line became known as the House of Lancaster and the House of York during the War of the Roses . The Angevins formulated England's royal coat of arms , which usually showed other kingdoms held or claimed by them or their successors, although without representation of Ireland for quite some time. Dieu et mon droit
4059-546: The Mercians, and she had probably been acting as ruler for several years as Æthelred seems to have been incapacitated in later life. Edward and Æthelflæd then began the construction of fortresses to guard against Viking attacks and protect territory captured from them. In November 911, he constructed a fort on the north bank of the River Lea at Hertford to guard against attack by the Danes of Bedford and Cambridge . In 912, he marched with his army to Maldon, Essex , and ordered
4182-579: The Mercians, but in December Edward took her into Wessex and imposed direct rule on Mercia. By the end of the 910s he ruled Wessex, Mercia and East Anglia, and only Northumbria remained under Viking rule. In 924 he faced a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester , and after putting it down he died at Farndon in Cheshire on 17 July 924. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Æthelstan . Edward's two youngest sons later reigned as kings Edmund I and Eadred . Edward
4305-765: The Mercians, under the aforesaid king". Other charters were issued by the Mercian leaders which did not contain any acknowledgment of Edward's authority, but they did not issue their own coinage. This view of Edward's status is accepted by Martin Ryan, who states that Æthelred and Æthelflæd had "a considerable but ultimately subordinate share of royal authority" in English Mercia. Other historians disagree. Pauline Stafford describes Æthelflæd as "the last Mercian queen", while in Charles Insley's view Mercia kept its independence until Æthelflæd's death in 918. Michael Davidson contrasts
4428-599: The New Minster. Edward was remembered by the New Minster as a benefactor, but at the Old Minster as rex avidus (greedy king). He may have built the new church because he did not think that the Old Minster was grand enough to be the royal mausoleum for kings of the Anglo-Saxons, not just the West Saxons like their predecessors. Alan Thacker comments: Patrick Wormald observes: "The thought occurs that neither Alfred nor Edward
4551-768: The Norse Vikings took York in 919. According to the main West Saxon version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , after Æthelflæd's death the Mercians submitted to Edward, but the Mercian version (the Mercian Register ) states that in December 918 her daughter Ælfwynn "was deprived of all authority in Mercia and taken into Wessex". Mercia may have made a bid for continued semi-independence which was suppressed by Edward, and it then came under his direct rule. Stamford had surrendered to Edward before Æthelflæd's death, and Nottingham did
4674-625: The River Humber during Edward's reign, and he and his Mercian allies were able to concentrate on conquering the southern Danelaw in East Anglia and the Five Boroughs of Viking east Mercia: Derby , Leicester , Lincoln , Nottingham and Stamford . In 911, Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, died, and Edward took control of the Mercian lands around London and Oxford . Æthelred was succeeded as ruler by his widow Æthelflæd (Edward's sister) as Lady of
4797-623: The Royal House of Lancaster . John Beaufort's granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort was married to Edmund Tudor . Tudor was the son of Welsh courtier Owain Tudur (anglicised to Owen Tudor ) and Catherine of Valois , the widow of the Lancastrian King Henry V . Edmund Tudor and his siblings were either illegitimate, or the product of a secret marriage, and owed their fortunes to the goodwill of their legitimate half-brother King Henry VI . When
4920-450: The Tudors through his great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor , the eldest daughter of Henry VII and wife of James IV of Scotland . In 1604, he adopted the title King of Great Britain . However, the two parliaments remained separate until the Acts of Union 1707 . No monarch reigned after the 1649 execution of Charles I . Between 1649 and 1653, there was no single English head of state , as England
5043-417: The United Kingdom (1841–1910) Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (1894–1972) of elsewhere [ edit ] Edward, King of Portugal (Portuguese: Duarte , 1391–1438) Edward Bruce (Middle Irish: Edubard a Briuis , c. 1275 –1318), High King of Ireland Edward Balliol ( c. 1282 –1364), King of Scots, considered a usurper in fiction [ edit ] Edward
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5166-512: The Vikings. In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, connection by marriage with the West Saxon royal house was seen as prestigious by continental rulers. In the mid-890s Alfred had married his daughter Ælfthryth to Baldwin II of Flanders, and in 919 Edward married his daughter Eadgifu to Charles the Simple , King of West Francia . In 925, after Edward's death, another daughter Eadgyth married Otto ,
5289-516: The Vikings. Charters rarely survive unless they concerned property which passed to the church and were preserved in their archives, and another possibility is that Edward was making grants of property only on terms which ensured that they returned to male members of the royal house; such charters would not be found in church archives. Clause 3 of the law code called I Edward provides that people convincingly charged with perjury shall not be allowed to clear themselves by oath, but only by ordeal . This
5412-483: The West Saxon policy of strengthening links with Mercia. Historians estimate that Edward was probably born in the mid-870s. His eldest sister, Æthelflæd, was probably born about a year after her parents' marriage, and Edward was brought up with his youngest sister, Ælfthryth; Yorke argues that he was therefore probably nearer in age to Ælfthryth than Æthelflæd. Edward led troops in battle in 893, and must have been of marriageable age in that year as his oldest son Æthelstan
5535-458: The allegations should be seen in the context of the disputed succession in 924, and were not an issue in the 890s. Ecgwynn probably died by 899, as around the time of Alfred's death Edward married Ælfflæd , the daughter of Ealdorman Æthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire . Janet Nelson suggests that there was conflict between Alfred and Edward in the 890s. She points out that the contemporary Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , produced under court auspices in
5658-414: The aristocratic tenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury . But William of Malmesbury also stated that Æthelstan's accession in 924 was opposed by a nobleman who claimed that his mother was a concubine of low birth. The suggestion that Ecgwynn was Edward's mistress is accepted by some historians such as Simon Keynes and Richard Abels, but Yorke and Æthelstan's biographer, Sarah Foot , disagree, arguing that
5781-536: The beginning of Edward's reign, his mother Ealhswith founded the abbey of St Mary for nuns, known as the Nunnaminster , in Winchester. Edward's daughter Eadburh became a nun there, and she was venerated as a saint and the subject of a hagiography by Osbert of Clare in the twelfth century. In 901, Edward started building a major religious community for men, possibly in accordance with his father's wishes. The monastery
5904-672: The building of a fort at Witham and a second fort at Hertford, which protected London from attack and encouraged many English living under Danish rule in Essex to submit to him. In 913, there was a pause in his activities, although Æthelflæd continued her fortress building in Mercia. In 914, a Viking army sailed from Brittany and ravaged the Severn estuary. It then attacked Ergyng in south-east Wales (now Archenfield in Herefordshire ) and captured Cyfeilliog , Bishop of Ergyng. Edward ransomed him for
6027-547: The bulk of his property to Edward, including all his booklands (land vested in a charter which could be alienated by the holder, as opposed to folkland, which had to pass to heirs of the body ) in Kent . Alfred also advanced men who could be depended on to support his plans for his succession, such as his brother-in-law, a Mercian ealdorman called Æthelwulf, and his son-in-law Æthelred. Edward witnessed several of his father's charters, and often accompanied him on royal peregrinations. In
6150-571: The cathedral centres of Canterbury, Winchester and Worcester; monasteries did not make a significant contribution until Æthelstan's reign. Very little survives of the manuscript production of Edward's reign. The only surviving large-scale embroideries which were certainly made in Anglo-Saxon England date to Edward's reign. They are a stole , a maniple and a possible girdle removed from the coffin of St Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral in
6273-400: The changes, at the imposition of rule by distant Wessex, and at fiscal demands by Edward's reeves, may have provoked the revolt at Chester. He died at the royal estate of Farndon, twelve miles south of Chester, on 17 July 924, shortly after putting down the revolt, and was buried in the New Minster, Winchester. In 1109, the New Minster was moved outside the city walls to become Hyde Abbey , and
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#17330856117646396-570: The citizens of London and a part of the Witan , despite ongoing Danish efforts to wrest the crown from the West Saxons . Following the decisive Battle of Assandun on 18 October 1016, King Edmund signed a treaty with Cnut (Canute) under which all of England except for Wessex would be controlled by Cnut. Upon Edmund's death just over a month later on 30 November, Cnut ruled the whole kingdom as its sole king for nineteen years. After Harthacnut , there
6519-533: The continuation of Alfred's line, that may not have been sufficient to ensure Edward's accession if he had not displayed his fitness for kingship. In about 893, Edward probably married Ecgwynn , who bore him two children, the future King Æthelstan and a daughter who married Sitric Cáech , a Viking King of York. The twelfth-century chronicler William of Malmesbury described Ecgwynn as an illustris femina (noble lady), and stated that Edward chose Æthelstan as his heir as king. She may have been related to St Dunstan ,
6642-530: The courts of Alfred and Edward, and the Mercian dialect and scholarship commanded West Saxon respect. It is uncertain how far Alfred's programmes continued during his son's reign. English translations of works in Latin made during Alfred's reign continued to be copied, but few original works are known. The script known as Anglo-Saxon Square minuscule reached maturity in the 930s, and its earliest phases date to Edward's reign. The main scholarly and scriptorial centres were
6765-499: The death of Edward the Confessor ), Harald Hardrada (King of Norway who claimed to be the rightful heir of Harthacnut) and Duke William II of Normandy (vassal to the King of France, and first cousin once-removed of Edward the Confessor). Harald and William both invaded separately in 1066. Godwinson successfully repelled the invasion by Hardrada, but ultimately lost the throne of England in
6888-475: The defence of Witham. He also helped Earl Thurketil and his followers to leave England, reducing the number of Viking armies in the Midlands. The decisive year in the war was 917. In April, Edward built a fort at Towcester in Northamptonshire as a defence against the Danes of Northampton , and another at an unidentified place called Wigingamere. The Danes launched unsuccessful attacks on Towcester, Bedford and Wigingamere, while Æthelflæd captured Derby, showing
7011-439: The early 880s Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians , the ruler of western Mercia, accepted Alfred's lordship and married his daughter Æthelflæd , and around 886 Alfred adopted the new title King of the Anglo-Saxons as the ruler of all Anglo-Saxons not subject to Danish rule. Edward inherited the new title when Alfred died in 899. In 910, a Mercian and West Saxon army inflicted a decisive defeat on an invading Northumbrian army, ending
7134-414: The eastern Danelaw, but Edward's son Æthelstan became the first king to rule the whole of England when he conquered Northumbria in 927, and he is regarded by some modern historians as the first true king of England. The title "King of the English" or Rex Anglorum in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928. The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John
7257-579: The eastern regions for themselves and allowing Ceolwulf to keep the western ones. In early 878 they invaded Wessex, and many West Saxons submitted to them. Alfred, who was now king, was reduced to a remote base in the Isle of Athelney in Somerset , but the situation was transformed when he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Edington . He was thus able to prevent the Vikings from taking Wessex and western Mercia, although they still occupied Northumbria, East Anglia and eastern Mercia. Edward's parents, Alfred and Ealhswith , married in 868. Ealhswith's father
7380-431: The female line from John Beaufort , one of the illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (third surviving son of Edward III), by Gaunt's long-term mistress Katherine Swynford . Those descended from English monarchs only through an illegitimate child would normally have no claim on the throne, but the situation was complicated when Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 1396 (25 years after John Beaufort's birth). In view of
7503-473: The following year the remains of Edward and his parents were translated to the new church. According to William of Malmesbury, Edward was "much inferior to his father in the cultivation of letters", but "incomparably more glorious in the power of his rule". Other medieval chroniclers expressed similar views, and he was generally seen as inferior in book learning, but superior in military success. John of Worcester described him as "the most invincible King Edward
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#17330856117647626-434: The future King of Germany and (after Eadgyth's death) Holy Roman Emperor . No battles are recorded between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danish Vikings for several years after the Battle of the Holme , but in 906, Edward agreed to peace with the East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, suggesting that there had been conflict. According to one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle he made peace "of necessity", which implies that he
7749-421: The glory belonged to Æthelred and Edward rather than Alfred himself. In 893, Edward defeated the Vikings in the Battle of Farnham although he was unable to follow up his victory as his troops' period of service had expired and he had to release them. The situation was saved by the arrival of troops from London led by Æthelred. Yorke argues that although Alfred packed the witan with members whose interests lay in
7872-758: The invaders and was never crowned. William was crowned King William I of England on Christmas Day 1066, in Westminster Abbey , and is today known as William the Conqueror, William the Bastard or William I. Henry I left no legitimate male heirs, his son William Adelin having died in the White Ship disaster of 1120. This ended the direct Norman line of kings in England. Henry named his eldest daughter, Matilda (Countess of Anjou by her second marriage to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , as well as widow of her first husband, Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor ), as his heir. Before naming Matilda as heir, he had been in negotiations to name his nephew Stephen of Blois as his heir. When Henry died, Stephen travelled to England, and in
7995-404: The kingship. Nelson argues that while this may have been proposed by Edward to support the accession of his own son, on the other hand it may have been intended by Alfred as part of a scheme to divide the kingdom between his son and grandson. Æthelstan was sent to be brought up in Mercia by Æthelflæd and Æthelred, but it is not known whether this was Alfred's idea or Edward's. Alfred's wife Ealhswith
8118-448: The large sum of forty pounds of silver. The Vikings were defeated by the armies of Hereford and Gloucester, and gave hostages and oaths to keep the peace. Edward kept an army on the south side of the estuary in case the Vikings broke their promises, and he twice had to repel attacks. In the autumn the Vikings moved on to Ireland. The episode suggests that south-east Wales fell within the West Saxon sphere of power, unlike Brycheiniog just to
8241-413: The last year of his life, when he put down a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester. Mercia and the eastern Danelaw were organised into shires at an unknown date in the tenth century, ignoring traditional boundaries, and historians such as Sean Miller and David Griffiths suggest that Edward's imposition of direct control from 919 is a likely context for a change which ignored Mercian sensibilities. Resentment at
8364-416: The late twentieth century and he is now seen as destroying the power of the Vikings in southern England while laying the foundations for a south-centred united English kingdom. Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England in the eighth century and maintained its position until it suffered a decisive defeat by Wessex at the Battle of Ellandun in 825. Thereafter the two kingdoms became allies, which
8487-415: The late twentieth century, and Frank Stenton observed that "each of the rulers named in this list had something definite to gain from an acknowledgement of Edward's overlordship." Since the 1980s this submission has been viewed with increasing scepticism, particularly as the passage in the Chronicle is the only evidence for it, unlike other submissions such as that one in 927 to Æthelstan, for which there
8610-414: The marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year. Parliament did the same in an Act in 1397. A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt's legitimate son, King Henry IV , also recognised the Beauforts' legitimacy, but declared them ineligible ever to inherit the throne. Nevertheless, the Beauforts remained closely allied with Gaunt's other descendants,
8733-537: The men of Kent disobeyed the order to retire, and were intercepted by the Danish army. The two sides met at the Battle of the Holme (perhaps Holme in Huntingdonshire ) on 13 December 902. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , the Danes "kept the place of slaughter", meaning that they won the battle, but they suffered heavy losses, including Æthelwold and a King Eohric, possibly of the East Anglian Danes. Kentish losses included Sigehelm, ealdorman of Kent and father of Edward's third wife, Eadgifu. Æthelwold's death ended
8856-446: The name of Æthelred or Æthelflæd, but from around 910 mints in English Mercia produced coins with an unusual decorative design on the reverse. This ceased before 920, and probably represents Æthelflæd's way of distinguishing her coinage from that of her brother. There was also a minor issue of coins in the name of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury. There was a dramatic increase in the number of moneyers over Edward's reign, fewer than 25 in
8979-587: The nearby Iron Age hillfort at Badbury Rings . Æthelwold declared that he would live or die at Wimborne, but then left in the night and rode to Northumbria, where the Danes accepted him as king. Edward was crowned on 8 June 900 at Kingston upon Thames . In 901, Æthelwold came with a fleet to Essex , and the following year he persuaded the East Anglian Danes to invade English Mercia and northern Wessex, where his army looted and then returned home. Edward retaliated by ravaging East Anglia, but when he retreated
9102-516: The neglect of Edward is that very few primary sources for his reign survive, whereas there are many for Alfred. He was largely ignored by historians until the late twentieth century, but he is now highly regarded. He is described by Keynes as "far more than the bellicose bit between Alfred and Æthelstan", and according to Nick Higham: "Edward the Elder is perhaps the most neglected of English kings. He ruled an expanding realm for twenty-five years and arguably did as much as any other individual to construct
9225-482: The nineteenth century. They were donated to the shrine by Æthelstan in 934, but inscriptions on the embroideries show that they were commissioned by Edward's second wife, Ælfflæd, as a gift to Frithestan, Bishop of Winchester . They probably did not reach their intended destination because Æthelstan was on bad terms with Winchester. In 901 a meeting at Southampton was attended by Edward's brother and sons, his household thegns and nearly all bishops, but no ealdormen. It
9348-509: The north, where Mercia was dominant. In late 914 Edward built two forts at Buckingham , and Earl Thurketil, the leader of the Danish army at Bedford submitted to him. The following year Edward occupied Bedford, and constructed another fortification on the south bank of the River Great Ouse against a Viking one on the north bank. In 916, he returned to Essex and built a fort at Maldon to bolster
9471-406: The only charter where he appears, probably indicating a higher status. Æthelwold may also have had an advantage because his mother Wulfthryth witnessed a charter as queen, whereas Edward's mother Ealhswith never had a higher status than king's wife. However, Alfred was in a position to give his own son considerable advantages. In his will, he left only a handful of estates to his brother's sons, and
9594-609: The only known case of an Anglo-Saxon prince and princess receiving the same upbringing. As a son of a king, Edward was an ætheling , a prince of the royal house who was eligible for kingship. Even though he had the advantage of being the eldest son of the reigning king, his accession was not assured as he had cousins who had a strong claim to the throne. Æthelhelm and Æthelwold were sons of Æthelred, Alfred's older brother and predecessor as king, but they had been passed over because they were infants when their father died. Asser gives more information about Edward's childhood and youth than
9717-519: The order of succession laid down by Parliament in the Third Succession Act . Four days after his death on 6 July 1553, Jane was proclaimed queen—the first of three Tudor women to be proclaimed queen regnant. Nine days after the proclamation, on 19 July, the Privy Council switched allegiance and proclaimed Edward VI's Catholic half-sister Mary queen. Jane was later executed for treason. Under
9840-480: The reverse. The places of issue were not shown in his reign, but they were in that of his son Æthelstan, allowing the location of many moneyers of Edward's reign to be established. There were mints in Bath , Canterbury , Chester, Chichester , Derby, Exeter , Hereford , London, Oxford, Shaftesbury , Shrewsbury , Southampton , Stafford , Wallingford , Wareham , Winchester and probably other towns. No coins were struck in
9963-605: The same shortly afterwards. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 918, "All the people who had settled in Mercia, both Danish and English, submitted to him." This would mean that he ruled all England south of the Humber, but it is not clear whether Lincoln was an exception, as coins of Viking York in the early 920s were probably minted at Lincoln. Some Danish jarls were allowed to keep their estates, although Edward probably also rewarded his supporters with land, and some he kept in his own hands. Coin evidence suggests that his authority
10086-423: The same year and who was soon venerated as a saint. Edward's mother died in 902, and he buried her and Alfred there, moving his father's body from the Old Minster. Burials in the early 920s included Edward himself, his brother Æthelweard, and his son Ælfweard . On the other hand, when Æthelstan became king in 924, he did not show any favour to his father's foundation, probably because Winchester sided against him when
10209-535: The same year, and at some date between 909 and 918 Sherborne was divided into three sees, Crediton covering Devon and Cornwall , and Wells covering Somerset, leaving Sherborne with Dorset. The effect of the changes was to strengthen the status of Canterbury compared with Winchester and Sherborne, but the division may have been related to a change in the secular functions of West Saxon bishops, to become agents of royal government in shires rather than provinces, assisting in defence and taking part in shire courts. At
10332-414: The signing of the Treaty of Wallingford , in which Stephen recognised Henry , son of Matilda and her second husband Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , as the designated heir. The royal house descended from Matilda and Geoffrey is widely known by two names, the House of Anjou (after Geoffrey's title as Count of Anjou) or the House of Plantagenet , after his sobriquet . Some historians prefer to group
10455-483: The south in the first ten years rising to 67 in the last ten years, around five in English Mercia rising to 23, plus 27 in the conquered Danelaw . In 908, Plegmund conveyed the alms of the English king and people to the Pope, the first visit to Rome by an Archbishop of Canterbury for almost a century, and the journey may have been to seek papal approval for a proposed re-organisation of the West Saxon sees. When Edward came to
10578-688: The subsequent kings into two groups, before and after the loss of the bulk of their French possessions, although they are not different royal houses. The Angevins (from the French term meaning "from Anjou") ruled over the Angevin Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries, an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland. They did not regard England as their primary home until most of their continental domains were lost by King John . The direct, eldest male line from Henry II includes monarchs commonly grouped together as
10701-417: The terms of the marriage treaty between Philip I of Naples (later Philip II of Spain from 15 January 1556) and Queen Mary I, Philip was to enjoy Mary's titles and honours for as long as their marriage should last. All official documents, including Acts of Parliament , were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple. An Act of Parliament gave him
10824-459: The threat from the northern Vikings. In the decade that followed, Edward conquered Viking-ruled southern England in partnership with his sister Æthelflæd, who had succeeded as Lady of the Mercians following the death of her husband in 911. Historians dispute how far Mercia was dominated by Wessex during this period, and after Æthelflæd's death in June 918, her daughter Ælfwynn briefly became second Lady of
10947-448: The threat to Edward's throne. In London in 886, Alfred had received the formal submission of "all the English people that were not under subjection to the Danes", and thereafter he adopted the title Anglorum Saxonum rex ( King of the Anglo-Saxons ), which is used in his later charters and all but two of Edward's. This is seen by Keynes as "the invention of a wholly new and distinctive polity", covering both West Saxons and Mercians, which
11070-565: The throne (as was the custom in France, but not in England). The Pope and the Church would not agree to this, and Eustace was not crowned. Eustace died the next year aged 23, during his father's lifetime, and so never became king in his own right. The House of Plantagenet takes its name from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , husband of Empress Matilda and father of Henry II. The name Plantagenet itself
11193-456: The throne Wessex had two dioceses, Winchester , held by Denewulf , and Sherborne , held by Asser. In 908, Denewulf died and was replaced the following year by Frithestan ; soon afterwards Winchester was divided into two sees, with the creation of the diocese of Ramsbury covering Wiltshire and Berkshire , while Winchester was left with Hampshire and Surrey . Forged charters date the division to 909, but this may not be correct. Asser died in
11316-427: The throne was disputed after Edward's death. The only other king buried at the New Minster was Eadwig , in 959. Edward's decision not to expand the Old Minster, but rather to overshadow it with a much larger building, suggests animosity towards Bishop Denewulf, and this was compounded by forcing the Old Minster to cede both land for the new site, and an estate of seventy hides at Beddington to provide an income for
11439-433: The throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois . During the ensuing Anarchy , Matilda controlled England for a few months in 1141. She was the first woman to do so, but was never crowned and is rarely listed as a monarch of England. Count Eustace IV of Boulogne (c. 1130 – 17 August 1153) was appointed co-king of England by his father, King Stephen , on 6 April 1152, in order to guarantee his succession to
11562-473: The throne, all Catholics (such as James II's son and grandson, James Francis Edward and Charles respectively) were barred from the throne by the Act of Settlement 1701 , enacted by Anne , another of James's Protestant daughters. With the Acts of Union 1707 , England as a sovereign state ceased to exist, replaced by the new Kingdom of Great Britain ; see List of British monarchs . The Acts of Union 1707 were
11685-537: The throne. The Monarchy was restored under the rule of Charles II . James II was ousted by Parliament less than four years after ascending to the throne, beginning the century's second interregnum. To settle the question of who should replace the deposed monarch, a Convention Parliament elected James' daughter Mary II and her husband (also his nephew) William III co-regents , in the Glorious Revolution . While James and his descendants continued to claim
11808-587: The title Lord Protector . It was within the power of the Lord Protector to choose his heir and Oliver Cromwell chose his eldest son, Richard Cromwell, to succeed him. Richard Cromwell was forcibly removed by the English Committee of Safety in May 1659. England again lacked any single head of state. After almost a year of anarchy, the monarchy was formally restored when Charles II returned from France to accept
11931-455: The title of king and stated that he "shall aid her Highness ... in the happy administration of her Grace's realms and dominions" (although elsewhere the Act stated that Mary was to be "sole queen"). Nonetheless, Philip was to co-reign with his wife. Elizabeth's cousin, King James VI of Scotland , succeeded to the English throne as James I in the Union of the Crowns . James was descended from
12054-506: The value of the English defensive measures, which were aided by disunity and a lack of coordination among the Viking armies. The Danes had built their own fortress at Tempsford in Bedfordshire, but at the end of the summer the English stormed it and killed the last Danish king of East Anglia. The English then took Colchester , although they did not try to hold it. The Danes retaliated by sending
12177-507: The wording "chosen as father and lord" applied to conquered army groups and burhs, not relations with other kings. In his view: Edward continued Æthelflæd's policy of founding burhs in the north-west, at Thelwall and Manchester in 919, and Cledematha ( Rhuddlan ) at the mouth of the River Clwyd in North Wales in 921. Nothing is known of his relations with the Mercians between 919 and
12300-507: The younger son, Æthelweard , was given a scholarly education, including learning Latin. This would usually suggest that he was intended for the church, but it is unlikely in Æthelweard's case as he later had sons. There were also an unknown number of children who died young. Neither part of Edward's name, which means "protector of wealth", had been used previously by the West Saxon royal house, and Barbara Yorke suggests that he may have been named after his maternal grandmother Eadburh, reflecting
12423-513: Was Æthelred Mucel , Ealdorman of the Gaini , and her mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family. Alfred and Ealhswith had five children who survived childhood. The oldest was Æthelflæd , who married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians , and ruled as Lady of the Mercians after his death. Edward was next, and the second daughter, Æthelgifu , became abbess of Shaftesbury . The third daughter, Ælfthryth , married Baldwin, Count of Flanders , and
12546-464: Was "King of the English". In 1016 Cnut the Great , a Dane, was the first to call himself "King of England". In the Norman period "King of the English" remained standard, with occasional use of "King of England" or Rex Anglie . From John's reign onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of "King" or "Queen of England". The Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England under
12669-515: Was a Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066. After King Harold was killed at the Battle of Hastings , the Witan elected Edgar Ætheling as king, but by then the Normans controlled the country and Edgar never ruled. He submitted to King William the Conqueror. In 1066, several rival claimants to the English throne emerged. Among them were Harold Godwinson (recognised as king by the Witenagemot after
12792-481: Was actually created until 1707, when England and Scotland united during the reign of Queen Anne to form the new Kingdom of Great Britain , with a single British parliament sitting at Westminster . This marked the end of the Kingdom of England as a sovereign state. There is some evidence that Ælfweard of Wessex may have been king in 924, between his father Edward the Elder and his half brother Æthelstan, although he
12915-430: Was admired by medieval chroniclers, and in the view of William of Malmesbury , he was "much inferior to his father in the cultivation of letters" but "incomparably more glorious in the power of his rule". He was largely ignored by modern historians until the 1990s, and Nick Higham described him as "perhaps the most neglected of English kings", partly because few primary sources for his reign survive. His reputation rose in
13038-447: Was born about 894. According to Asser in his Life of King Alfred , Edward and Ælfthryth were educated at court by male and female tutors, and read ecclesiastical and secular works in English, such as the Psalms and Old English poems . They were taught the courtly qualities of gentleness and humility, and Asser wrote that they were obedient to their father and friendly to visitors. This is
13161-509: Was first used as a battle cry by Richard I in 1198 at the Battle of Gisors , when he defeated the forces of Philip II of France . It has generally been used as the motto of English monarchs since being adopted by Edward III . The future Louis VIII of France briefly won two-thirds of England over to his side from May 1216 to September 1217 at the conclusion of the First Barons' War against King John . The then-Prince Louis landed on
13284-451: Was first used in Wulfstan 's Life of St Æthelwold at the end of the tenth century, to distinguish him from King Edward the Martyr . Edward had about fourteen children from three marriages. Edward first married Ecgwynn around 893. Their children were: Around 900, he married Ælfflæd , daughter of Ealdorman Æthelhelm, probably of Wiltshire . Their children were: Edward married for
13407-563: Was forced to buy them off. He encouraged Englishmen to purchase land in Danish territory, and two charters survive relating to estates in Bedfordshire and Derbyshire . In 909, Edward sent a combined West Saxon and Mercian army which harassed the Northumbrian Danes, and seized the bones of the Northumbrian royal saint Oswald from Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire . Oswald was translated to
13530-420: Was greatly beloved at Winchester Cathedral; and one reason for Edward's moving his father's body into the new family shrine next door was that he was surer of sincere prayers there." The standard of Anglo-Saxon learning declined severely in the ninth century, particularly in Wessex, and Mercian scholars such as Plegmund played a major part in the revival of learning initiated by Alfred. Mercians were prominent at
13653-516: Was ignored in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in her husband's lifetime, but emerged from obscurity when her son acceded. This may be because she supported her son against her husband. Alfred died on 26 October 899 and Edward succeeded to the throne, but Æthelwold disputed the succession. He seized the royal estates of Wimborne , symbolically important as the place where his father was buried, and Christchurch , both in Dorset . Edward marched with his army to
13776-421: Was increasing confusion in the period as to what was really bookland; Edward urged prompt settlement in bookland and folkland disputes, and his legislation established that jurisdiction belonged to the king and his officers. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , there was a general submission of rulers in Britain to Edward in 920: This passage was regarded as a straightforward report by most historians until
13899-401: Was inherited by Edward with the support of Mercians at the West Saxon court, of whom the most important was Plegmund , Archbishop of Canterbury. In 903 Edward issued several charters concerning land in Mercia. Three of them are witnessed by the Mercian leaders and their daughter Ælfwynn , and they all contain a statement that Æthelred and Æthelflæd "then held rulership and power over the race of
14022-405: Was joined by King Æthelred of Wessex and his brother, the future Alfred the Great , for a combined attack on the Vikings, who refused an engagement; in the end the Mercians bought peace with them. The following year, the Danes conquered East Anglia, and in 874 they expelled King Burgred and, with their support, Ceolwulf became the last King of Mercia. In 877 the Vikings partitioned Mercia, taking
14145-566: Was next to Winchester Cathedral, which became known as the Old Minster while Edward's foundation was called the New Minster . It was much larger than the Old Minster, and was probably intended as a royal mausoleum. It acquired relics of the Breton Saint Judoc , which probably arrived in England from Ponthieu in 901, and the body of one of Alfred's closest advisers, Grimbald , who died in
14268-402: Was not crowned. A 12th-century list of kings gives him a reign length of four weeks, though one manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says he died only 16 days after his father. However, the fact that he ruled is not accepted by all historians. Also, it is unclear whether—if Ælfweard was declared king—it was over the whole kingdom or of Wessex only. One interpretation of the ambiguous evidence
14391-496: Was not the first king to claim to rule all of the English , his rule represents the start of the first unbroken line of kings to rule the whole of England, the House of Wessex . Arguments are made for a few different kings thought to have controlled enough Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to be deemed the first king of England. For example, Offa of Mercia and Egbert of Wessex are sometimes described as kings of England by popular writers, but it
14514-558: Was not until the late 9th century that one kingdom, Wessex, had become the dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Its king, Alfred the Great, was overlord of western Mercia and used the title King of the Angles and Saxons , but he never ruled eastern and northern England, which was then known as the Danelaw , having earlier been conquered by the Danes from southern Scandinavia. His son Edward the Elder conquered
14637-500: Was on this occasion that the king acquired land from the Bishop of Winchester for the foundation of the New Minster, Winchester. No charters survive for the period from 910 to the king's death in 924, much to the puzzlement and distress of historians. Charters were usually issued when the king made grants of land, and it is possible that Edward followed a policy of retaining property which came into his hands to help finance his campaigns against
14760-637: Was ruled directly by the Rump Parliament with the English Council of State acting as executive power during a period known as the Commonwealth of England . After a coup d'etat in 1653, Oliver Cromwell forcibly took control of England from Parliament. He dissolved the Rump Parliament at the head of a military force and England entered The Protectorate period, under Cromwell's direct control with
14883-471: Was stronger in the East Midlands than in East Anglia. Three Welsh kings, Hywel Dda , Clydog and Idwal Foel , who had previously been subject to Æthelflæd, now gave their allegiance to Edward. The principal currency in later Anglo-Saxon England was the silver penny , and some coins carried a stylised portrait of the king. Edward's coins had "EADVVEARD REX" on the obverse and the name of the moneyer on
15006-546: Was to be an important factor in English resistance to the Vikings. In 865, the Danish Viking Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and used this as a starting point for an invasion. The East Anglians were forced to pay off the Vikings, who invaded Northumbria the following year. They appointed a puppet king in 867, and then moved on Mercia, where they spent the winter of 867–868. King Burgred of Mercia
15129-601: Was unknown as a family name per se until Richard of York adopted it as his family name in the 15th century. It has since been retroactively applied to English monarchs from Henry II onward. It is common among modern historians to refer to Henry II and his sons as the "Angevins" due to their vast continental empire, and most of the Angevin kings before John spent more time in their continental possessions than in England. King Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with
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