King Edward The Elder
874 – 924 · Generation II · King of the Anglo-Saxons (r. 899–924) · House of Wessex
Edward the Elder (874–924). King of the Anglo-Saxons (r. 899–924). Married Ecgwynn of Wessex in 893. Married Eadgifu of Kent in 919. His accession was contested by his cousin Æthelwold, son of an earlier king, and he had to see off that challenge first. In 910 a combined Mercian and West Saxon army broke an invading Northumbrian force, ending the northern Viking threat, and through the following decade he conquered Danish-held southern England in partnership with his sister Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians. After her death he took her daughter into Wessex and ruled Mercia directly; by the end of the 910s only Northumbria remained in Viking hands. He died at Farndon in Cheshire soon after crushing a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester. Long neglected by historians, he is now credited with breaking Viking power in southern England and laying the foundations of a united English kingdom.
One of 21 people of House of Wessex (until 1093) in this archive. Alfred’s line: kings of Wessex who became the first kings of all England.
Parents
- King Alfred the Great (849 – 899)
- Ealhswith of Mercia (852 – 902)
Siblings
- Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians (870 – 918)
Partners
- Married Ecgwynn of Wessex (872 – 901) in 893 — one child together
- Married Eadgifu of Kent (903 – 966) in 919 — 2 children together
Children
- King Athelstan (Aethelstan) (894 – 939)
- King Edmund (921 – 946)
- King Edred (923 – 955)
Life
- 874 — Born
- 893 — Married Ecgwynn of Wessex
- 900 — Edward the Elder, son of Alfred, crowned at Kingston-upon-Thames
- 901 — Edward the Elder takes the title \"King of the Angles and Saxons\"
- 913 — Edward the Elder recaptures Essex from the Danes
- 915 — Edward is accepted as overlord by Ragnald ruler of the Viking Kingdom of York
- 916 — Edward's sister Aethelflaed of Mercia attacks and conquers most of Wales
- 918 — Edward becomes ruler of Mercia following the death of his sister Aethelflaed
- 919 — Married Eadgifu of Kent
- 920 — Edward takes East Anglia from the Danes
- 923 — The Scottish King Constantine II submits to Edward
- 924 — Died
- 924 — Edward dies at Farndon-on-Dee near Chester leading an army against the Welsh. He is buried in Winchester.