King of the English Edgar I THE PEACEFUL 0943 AUG 07

KING OF THE ENGLISH
Edgar I THE PEACEFUL Sex: Male

Birth Date	0943 AUG 07
Death Date	0975 JUL 08
Father	Edmund I king of The English THE MAGNIFICENT	Born: 0923	Died: 0946
Mother		Born:

Edgar
Notes:

Edgar I the Peaceful or the Peaceable (c. 7 August 943â€“8 July 975) 1.0 Biography 1.1 Background to kingship The foundation fo Edgars power came from his ancestors, namely Alfred, Edward the Elder, Aethelstan, Edmund and Eadred. He was the younger son of Edmund I of England. His cognomen, "the Peaceable", was not necessarily a comment on the deeds of his life, for he was a strong leader, shown by the seizure of the Northumbrian and Mercian kingdoms from his older brother, Edwy, in 958. Edgar was held to be king north of the Thames by a conclave of his nobles, and the aspirational ruler set himself to succeed to the English throne. With Edwys death in October 959, Edgar immediately recalled Dunstan (eventually canonised as St. Dunstan) from exile to have him made Bishop of Worcester (and the Bishop of London after, and finally the Archbishop of Canterbury). The allegation Dunstan at first refused to crown Edgar because of disapproval for his way of life is a discreet reference in popular histories to Edgars mistress,[citation needed] Wulfthryth (later a nun at Wilton), who bore him a daughter Eadgyth. Dunstan remained Edgars advisor throughout his reign. Edgars reign was a peaceful one, and it is probably fair to say that it saw the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England at its height. Although the political unity of England was the achievement of his predecessors, it was Edgar who saw to its consolidation. By the end of Edgars reign there was practically no likelihood of any recession back to its state of rival kingships, and the division of its domains. The Monastic Reform Movement that restored the Benedictine Rule to Englands undisciplined monastic communities saw its height during the time of Dunstan, Aethelwold and Oswald. However, the extent and importance of the movement is still debated amongst academics. Edgar was crowned at Bath, but not until 973, in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign (a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy). This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle forms the basis of the present-day British coronation ceremony. The symbolic coronation was an important step; other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar shortly afterwards at Chester. Six kings in Britain, including the kings of Scotland and of Strathclyde, pledged their faith that they would be the kings liege-men on sea and land. Later chroniclers made the kings into eight, all plying the oars of Edgars state barge on the River Dee. Such embellishments may not be factual, but the main outlines of the "submission at Chester" appear true. Edgar had several children. He died on 8 July 975 at Winchester, and was buried at Glastonbury Abbey. He left two sons, the eldest named Edward, the son of his first wife Ethelfleda (not to be confused with Ethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians), and Ethelred, the youngest, the child of his second wife Ã†lfthryth. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward. From Edgarâ€™s death to the Norman Conquest there was not a single succession to the throne that was not contested. Although perhaps a simplification, Edgarâ€™s death did seem to be the beginning of the end for Anglo-Saxon England that resulted in three successful 11th century conquests, two Danish and one Norman. EDGAR, son of EDMUND King of Wessex & his first wife Ã†lfgifu --- ([943]-Winchester 8 Jul 975, bur Glastonbury Abbey[1721]). Florence of Worcester records the birth of "filiumâ€¦Eadgarum" to "regi Eadmundoâ€¦sua regina sancta Ã†lfgiva", undated but dateable to [943] from the context[1722]. "Adgar clito" subscribed a charter of King Eadred dated 953[1723], and "Eadgar frater regis" subscribed charters of King Eadwig in 955 and 956[1724]. He was elected king in 957 by the people of Mercia and Northumbria[1725], apparently supported by his grandmother and by Dunstan abbot of Glastonbury. Reuniting the kingdom on his brothers death, he succeeded in 959 as EDGAR "the Peaceable" King of England. He supervised the revival of Benedictine monasticism and the reform of the English church. He was crowned in Bath Abbey 11 May 973, followed by the ceremonial submission to his rule by six British kings[1726] at Chester. The ceremony resulted in no change in the title used in charters when naming the king, who was referred to indiscriminately as "rex Anglorum", "totius Britannie telluris dominus", "totie Britannice insule basileus" or "rex totius Albionis". The reform of the coinage took place in the same year, including the introduction of a system of coin management which involved regular recall and reissue of coins usually every six years, operated through a network of 40 mint towns. The administrative sub-divisions of the shires, hundreds and wapentakes, date from Edgars reign. King Edgar granted autonomy to the Danish eastern part of England, which came to be known as the Danelaw, with recognition of its legal and social customs. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the death on 8 Jul 975 of King Edgar[1727]. Simeon of Durham records the death "VIII Id Jul" in 975 of "King Eadgar" and his burial at Glastonbury[1728]. The Libellus de Anniversariis of Ramsey Monastery records the death â€œVIII Id Julâ€ of â€œEdgarus rex Anglieâ€¦qui deditâ€¦terrÃ¦ in Burewelle et ecclesiam de Gomicestreâ€[1729]. [m] firstly ([963], maybe repudiated[1730]) Ã†THELFLÃ†D, daughter of ORDMÃ†R Ealdorman of Devon & his wife Ealda (bur Wilton Abbey, Wiltshire). Simeon of Durham names "Egelfled the Fair daughter of duke Ordmer" as the mother of King Eadgars son "Eadward"[1731]. Roger of Hoveden names her "Egelfleda" and names her father[1732]. Florence of Worcester records that "Ã†gelfleda Candida, cognomento Eneda, OrdmÃ¦ri ducis filia" was the mother of King EadgarÂ´s son "Eadwardum, postea regem et martyrem"[1733]. This union of King EdgarÂ´s may have been less formal than implied by the word "marriage". This is suggested by the contrast between the epithets applied to the kings sons in a charter subscribed by two of them dated 966: Edward (presumably born from this first marriage) is described as "Eadweard eodem rege clito procreatus", while Edmund (presumably born from the kings second marriage) was "Edmundus clito legitimus prefati regis filius"[1734]. Ã†thelflÃ¦d was surnamed "Eneda" according to Florence of Worcester[1735]. m secondly (965) as her second husband, Ã†LFTHRYTH, widow of Ã†THELWOLD Ealdorman of the East Angles, daughter of ORDGAR Ealdorman of Devon & his wife --- (Lydford Castle, Devon ([945]-Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire [999/1002], bur Wherwell Abbey). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the marriage in 965 of King Edgar and Ã†lfthryth, stating that she was the daughter of ealdorman Ordgar[1736]. Simeon of Durham records the marriage of King Eadgar and "the daughter of Ordgar duke of Devonshire after the death of her husband Elfwoldâ€¦duke of the East Angles" in 964[1737]. Roger of Hoveden names her, her father and her first husband, when recording her second marriage[1738]. Geoffrey Gaimar records a lengthy account of King Edgar having sent "Edelwoth" to woo "Estrueth la fille Orgar" on his behalf, and Ã†thelwold having married her without the kingÂ´s knowledge[1739]. King Edgar granted land in Buckinghamshire to "Ã†lfgifu que mihi afinitate mundialis cruoris coniuncta" in 966[1740]. "Ã†lfthryth regina" subscribed charters of King Edgar dated between 964 and 974[1741]. William of Malmesbury recounts that King Edgar killed Ã†lfthryths first husband to enable him to marry her[1742]. She was crowned queen with her husband in 973, which was the first instance of the coronation of a queen in England. It was alleged that she was involved in the plot to kill her stepson so her own son could succeed as King[1743]. "Ã†lfthryth regina" subscribed charters of King Ã†thelred II between 979 and 983[1744], and "Ã†lfthryth regis mater" between 981 and 999[1745]. She became a nun at Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire in [985]. Her son King Ã†thelred II granted privileges to Wherwell Abbey in 1002 for the benefit of her soul[1746].

Notes:

Place of Burial: Somerset, England

Children

Birth Death

Mother

Spouse

Grand Children

Aethelred II King of the English "THE UNREADY"

b.0966 Wessex, England
d.1016 APR 23 London, Middlesex, England

Aelfthryth

Aelfgifu of York

1 II Edmund King of England IRONSIDE b.0988

Edward Ã†theling of England THE EXILE b.1016

Saint Margaret Queen of Scots b.1045

Matilda of Scotland MATILDA THE GOOD b.1079

2 Aelfgifu b.1002

Ancestors Chart

Parents 2	4 persons	8 persons	16 persons	32 persons	64 persons	128 persons	256 persons	512 persons	1024 persons	-
king of The English Edmund I THE MAGNIFICENT b.0923 d.0946 See Notes	king of The Anglo-Saxons Edward I THE ELDER b.0874 d.0924 See Notes	king of The Anglo-Saxons Alfred THE GREAT b.0849 d.0899 See Notes	king of Wessex Aethelwulf b.0795 Wessex Kingdom, England d.0858	king of Wessex Egbert b.0769 Wessex, England d.0838 See Notes	Under King Of Kent Ealhmund b.0758 Wessex, England d.0786 See Notes	Eaba EOFA b.0732 Kingdom of Wessex d.0762 See Notes	King of West Saxons Eoppa b.0706 Wessex, England d.0781 See Notes	Ingild b.0680 Wessex, England d.0718 See Notes	Co-Ruler of Wessex Coenred b.0644 Wessex, England d.0694 See Notes	MORE>
								king of The English Edmund I THE MAGNIFICENT b.0923 d.0946 See Notes
							king of The English Edmund I THE MAGNIFICENT b.0923 d.0946 See Notes
						king of The English Edmund I THE MAGNIFICENT b.0923 d.0946 See Notes

				queen consort of Wessex Raedburh b.0788 d.0839 See Notes

			Queen Consort of Wessex Osbuga b.0807 d.0855	Oslac Ealdorman of the Isle of Wight b.0785 d.0846 See Notes


		Ealhswith of Mercia b.0852 Gaini Tribal Lands, Mercian Kingdom, England d.0905 See Notes	Ealdorman of the Gaini Aethelred MUCIL b.0825 d.0866 See Notes
				Ealhswith of Mercia b.0852 Gaini Tribal Lands, Mercian Kingdom, England d.0905 See Notes

	Queen of England Eadgifu b.0896 d.0968	Ealdorman of East Kent Sigehelm b.0871 d.0902 See Notes


Parents 2	4 persons	8 persons	16 persons	32 persons	64 persons	128 persons	256 persons	512 persons	1024-persons	-

2 persons	4 persons	8 persons	16 persons	32 persons	64 Persons	128 persons	256 persons	512 persons	1024 persons	-