| Notes |
- Edward was the eldest son of King Alfred the Great and Queen Elswith.
At the age of twenty-two, he appears to have married a noblewoman
named Egwina, though the wedding may have been uncanonical and was not
recognized in some quarters. They had three or four children. At the
same time, Edward was already active in his father's campaigns against
the Vikings and towards the end of Alfred's reign, he was probably
appointed Sub-King of Kent.
Edward's path to the throne was not altogether smooth. Upon his
father's death in AD 899, a rebellion broke out in favour of Edward's
cousin, Aethelwold, the son of the late King Aethelred I. Failing to
secure Wessex, this prince went north and found support from the
people of the Norse Kingdom of York, where he was proclaimed King.
With the help of the East Anglians, he subsequently attacked both
Mercia and Wessex but was killed at the Battle of Holme (Essex) in AD
902. Around the same time, the King married for a second time to
Aelflaed the daughter Ealdorman Aethelhelm of Wiltshire. They had
eight children together. Four years later, Edward made peace with the
Northerners at Tiddingford in Bedfordshire; but by AD 909, he took on
a more aggressive stance by raiding the North-West. The following
year, a joint Mercian and West Saxon army marched north and defeated
the Northern Vikings so completely at Tettenhall (Staffordshire) that
they subsequently felt it best to remain within their borders. King
Edward was then able to concentrate his attentions on the Danes of
East Anglia and the Five Boroughs (of the East Midlands). With the
help of his sister, the formidable Lady Aethelflaed of Mercia, the
next eight years saw a prolonged campaign aimed at pushing the
boundaries of Wessex and Mercia northwards. This was largely achieved
through the extension of King Alfred's old policy of building
defensive burghs across the country, as recorded in the 'Tribal
Hidage'. They were both places of refuge in time of attack and
garrisoned strongholds from which assaults could be launched.
After Aethelflaed's death in AD 918, Edward was able to take advantage
of his niece Aelfwinn's minority and brought Mercia under direct
Wessex control. Two years later, the Kings of the north - including
Sigtrygg Caech (the Squinty) of Norse York, Constantine II of the
Scots and Donald mac Aed of Strathclyde - met Edward at Bakewell and
also finally recognised his overlordship. At the time of his third
marriage, to Edith daughter of Ealdorman Sigehelm of Kent, therefore
King Edward was in a strong position. Holding his territories together
was not easy, however, and revolts against Edward's rule continued. In
AD 924, he was forced to lead an army north once more to put down a
Cambro-Mercian rebellion in Cheshire. He died at Farndon-upon-Dee in
that county on 17th July.
Edward's body was taken south to the reduced diocese of Winchester for
burial - he had sub-divided the West Saxon sees in AD 909, creating
new Bishops of Ramsbury & Sonning, Wells and Crediton. The King was
interred at the family mausoleum, his own foundation (AD 901) of New
Minster in the centre Winchester, and was succeeded by his sons,
Aelfweard and Aethelstan.
(Source: David Nash Ford 2001)
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869 - 924 (55 years)