NameEdward I "The Elder" King of England
![](../img/i_photo.png)
Birthbet 870 and 875, Wessex, England
Death17 Jul 924, Farndon On Dee, Chester, England
Spouses
Birth896, Kent, England
Death18 May 944
Death Memo25 Aug 958??
BurialShaftesbury
Birthbef 905
Death25 Aug 968
BurialWinchester Cathedral, London, England
Notes for Edward I "The Elder" King of England
AKA: Eadweard The Elder, King Of The West Saxons
EDWARD I, the Elder (900-24 AD)
Son of Alfred the Great, Edward immediately succeeded his father to the throne. His main achievement was to use the military platform created by his father to bring back, under English control, the whole of the Danelaw, south of the Humber River.
133Edward the Elder (
Old English:
Ēadweard se Ieldra) (c. 870 – 17 July 924) was
King of England (899 – 924). He was the son of
Alfred the Great (Ælfrēd se Grēata) and Alfred's wife,
Ealhswith, and became King upon his father's death in 899.
He was king at a time when the Kingdom of
Wessex was becoming transformed into the
Kingdom of England. The title he normally used was "King of the Anglo-Saxons"; most authorities do regard him as a king of England, although the territory he ruled over was significantly smaller than the present borders of England.
Ætheling
Of the five children born to Alfred and Eahlswith who survived infancy, Edward was the second-born and the elder son. Edward's name was a new one among the West Saxon ruling family. His siblings were named for their father and other previous kings, but Edward was perhaps named for his maternal grandmother Eadburh, of Mercian origin and possibly a kinswoman of Mercian kings
Coenwulf and
Ceolwulf. Edward's birth cannot be certainly dated. His parents married in 868 and his eldest sibling
Æthelflæd was born soon afterwards as she was herself married in 883. Edward was probably born rather later, in the 870s, and probably between 874 and 877.
[1]Asser's Life of King Alfred reports that Edward was educated at court together with his youngest sister
Ælfthryth. His second sister, Æthelgifu, was intended for a life in religion from an early age, perhaps due to ill health, and was later abbess of Shaftesbury. The youngest sibling, Æthelweard, was educated at a court school where he learned Latin, which suggests that he too was intended for a religious life. Edward and Ælfthryth, however, while they learned Old English, received a courtly education, and Asser refers to their taking part in the "pursuits of this present life which are appropriate to the nobility".
[2]The first appearance of Edward, called filius regis, the king's son in the sources is in 892, in a charter granting land at North Newnton, near
Pewsey in
Wiltshire, to
ealdorman Æthelhelm, where he is called filius regis, the king's son.
[3] Although he was the reigning king's elder son, Edward was not certain to succeed his father. Until the 890s, the obvious heirs to the throne were Edward's cousins
Æthelwold and Æthelhelm, sons of
Æthelred, Alfred's older brother and predecessor as king. Æthelwold and Æthelhelm were around ten years older than Edward. Æthelhelm disappears from view in the 890s, seemingly dead, but a charter probably from that decade shows Æthelwold witnessing before Edward, and the order of witnesses is generally believed to relate to their status.
[4] As well as his greater age and experience, Æthelwold may have had another advantage over Edward where the succession was concerned. While Alfred's wife Eahlswith is never described as queen and was never crowned, Æthelwold and Æthelhelm's mother Wulfthryth was called queen.
[5]
Notes for Ælfgifu (Spouse 1)
Married ABT 905 to , Eadgifu (Edgiva)
Child 14: , Edgifu
Child 15: , Edburga (St.), nun at Nunnaminster
Child 16: , Edmund I the Elder, King of England, b. 921
Child 17: , Eadred, King of England, b. CIR 924
Child 18: , Gregory of Einsiedlen, Abbot of Einsiedlen
aka St. AElfgifu
aka edgiva, queen of england
aka eadgifu (edgiva)
aka elfiva
------------
St. Aelfgith the Younger
(Died AD 944)
St. Aelfgith was the first wife of King
Edmund the Magnificent of England. The two were married in around AD 940 and Aelfgith soon became the mother of the future Kings
Edwig All-Fair and
St. Edgar the Peacemaker. Little is known of her life, but William of Malmesbury tells us how she redeemed condemned men, gave away precious garments to the poor and stoically endured prolonged physical suffering. She is also known to have taken a great interest in Shaftesbury Abbey, where her mother, Winflaeda had been a lay sister. King Edmund is known to have swapped land at Butticanley with some at Tisbury, so that his wife could leave it to the Abbey. What malady afflicted her is unknown, but she died before her husband, on 18th May AD 944 and was buried at Shaftesbury. Soon afterward, a number of invalids were healed at her graveside and she quickly became revered as a saint with a popular cult. She should not be confused with her husband's aunt,
St. Aelfgith the Elder.
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/aelfgithshaft2.html
Notes for Ælflaeda (Edgiva) (Spouse 2)
Eadgifu (Edgiva)
Born: BEF 905
Died: 25 AUG 968
Interred: Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent
Father: , Sigehelm of Kent, Ealdorman of Kent
AElflaeda
Married to , AElflaeda
Child 4: , AElfweard, King of England
Child 5: , Edgifu, b. 902
Child 6: , Edflaed, A nun at Wilton
Child 7: , Edwin, Sub King of Kent?
Child 8: , AElflaeda, A nun at Winchester
Child 9: , AEthelflaeda, Abbess of Romsey
Child 10: , Edhilda
Child 11: , Eadgyth (Edith)
Child 12: , AEthelhild, a recluse
Child 13: , AElfgifu
Notes for Ecgwynn (Spouse 3)
Married to , Ecgwyn
Child 1: , AEthelstan, King of England, b. 894
Child 2: , Alfred
Child 3: , Edith (St)