Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder (
Old English:
Ä'adweard se Ieldra) (c.
874-
877 –
July 17,
924) was
King of England (
899 –
924). He was the son of
Alfred the Great (
ÆlfrÄ"d se GrÄ"ata) and became King of
Wessex upon his father's death in
899.
Edward arguably exceeded Alfred's military achievements, restoring the
Danelaw to
Saxon rule and reigning in
Mercia from
918, after the death of his sister,
Ethelfleda (
Æðelflǣd). He spent his early reign fighting his cousin
Aethelwold (
Æðelwald), son of
Ethelred I (
Æþelræd).
He died leading an army against a Cambro-Mercian rebellion, on 17th July 924 at Farndon-Upon-Dee (now
Farndon, Cheshire) and was buried in the New Minster in
Winchester,
Hampshire. After the
Conquest, the minster was replaced by Hyde Abbey to the north of the city and King Edward's body was transferred there. His last resting place is currently marked by a cross-inscribed stone slab within the outline of the old abbey marked out in a public park.
The portrait included here is imaginary and was drawn together with portraits of other
Anglo-Saxon monarchs by an unknown artist in the
18th century.
King Edward had about fourteen children from three marriages, and may have had illegitimate children too.
Edward married (although the exact status of the union is uncertain) Ecgwynn around
893, and they became the parents of
Athelstan and a daughter who married King Sightric of York, but Ecgwynn was considered too lowly. When he became king in
899, Edward set Ecgwynn aside and married Aelffaed , a daughter of the ealdorman of
Wiltshire. Their son was the future king,
Ethelweard, and their daughter
Eadgyth married
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. There was one other son and five more daughters, including
Edgiva alias Edgifu who married
Charles the Simple.
Edward married for a third time, about
919, to
Edgiva alias Eadgifu, the daughter of the ealdorman of
Kent. They had two sons,
Edmund and
Edred, and two daughters, one of which was Saint
Edburga of Winchester.
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Diagram based on the information found on Wikipedia |
*Higham, N.J.
Edward the Elder, 2001
