EDGAR (r. 959-975)
[22-07-2009]  EDGAR (r. 959-975)

Edgar, king in Mercia and the Danelaw from 957, succeeded his brother as king of the English on Edwy's death in 959 - a death which probably prevented civil war breaking out between the two brothers. Edgar was a firm and capable ruler whose power was acknowledged by other rulers in Britain, as well as by Welsh and Scottish kings. Edgar's late coronation in 973 at Bath was the first to be recorded in some detail; his queen Aelfthryth was the first consort to be crowned queen of England.

Edgar was the patron of a great monastic revival which owed much to his association with Archbishop Dunstan. New bishoprics were created, Benedictine monasteries were reformed and old monastic sites were re-endowed with royal grants, some of which were of land recovered from the Vikings.

Edwy(r. 955-959)
[22-07-2009]  Edmund I's elder son, Edwy, was crowned by Oda, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 956 at Kingston-on-Thames (sited on the Wessex/Mercia border, and on the frontier between Alfred's kingdom and the Danelaw, this was where most recorded West Saxon consecrations took place). Aged 13 at his succession, Edwy became entangled in court factions, and Mercia and Northumbria broke away in rebellion. Edwy died before he was 20.

Edred(r. 946-955)
[22-07-2009]  Like his successor, his brother Edmund I, Edred (reigned 946-55) also dealt with trouble from Danes in the north. Edred brought up Edmund's sons, Edwy and Edgar, as his heirs, and they both became king in turn.

Edmund 1(r. 939-946)
[22-07-2009]  When Athelstan died without immediate successors, his half brother Edmund successfully suppressed rebellions by the Mercian Danes. Edmund I was murdered at a feast in his own hall, at the age of 25 in 946, after only seven years on the throne, and his brother Edred succeeded him.

Athelstan(r. 924-939)
[22-07-2009]  ATHELSTAN (r. 924-939)

Edward's heir Athelstan (reigned 925-39) was also a distinguished and audacious soldier who pushed the boundaries of the kingdom to their furthest extent yet. In 927-8, Athelstan took York from the Danes; he forced the submission of king Constantine of Scotland and of the northern kings; all five Welsh kings agreed to pay a huge annual tribute (reportedly including 25,000 oxen), and Athelstan eliminated opposition in Cornwall. The battle of Brunanburh in 937, in which Athelstan led a force drawn from Britain and defeated an invasion by the king of Scotland in alliance with the Welsh and Danes from Dublin, earned him recognition by lesser kings in Britain.

Edward the Eider(r. 899-924)
[22-07-2009]  EDWARD 'THE ELDER' (r. 899-924)

Well-trained by Alfred, his son Edward 'the Elder' (reigned 899-924) was a bold soldier who defeated the Danes in Northumbria at Tettenhall in 910 and was acknowledged by the Viking kingdom of York. The kings of Strathclyde and the Scots submitted to Edward in 921. By military success and patient planning, Edward spread English influence and control. Much of this was due to his alliance with his formidable sister Aethelflaed, who was married to the ruler of Mercia and seems to have governed that kingdom after her husband's death.

Edward was able to establish an administration for the kingdom of England, whilst obtaining the allegiance of Danes, Scots and Britons. Edward died in 924, and he was buried in the New Minster which he had had completed at Winchester. Edward was twice married, but it is possible that his eldest son Athelstan was the son of a mistress.

ALFRED 'THE GREAT' (r. 871-899)
[22-07-2009]  ALFRED 'THE GREAT' (r. 871-899)

Born at Wantage, Berkshire, in 849, Alfred was the fifth son of Aethelwulf, king of the West Saxons. At their father's behest and by mutual agreement, Alfred's elder brothers succeeded to the kingship in turn, rather than endanger the kingdom by passing it to under-age children at a time when the country was threatened by worsening Viking raids from Denmark.

Since the 790s, the Vikings had been using fast mobile armies, numbering thousands of men embarked in shallow-draught longships, to raid the coasts and inland waters of England for plunder. Such raids were evolving into permanent Danish settlements; in 867, the Vikings seized York and established their own kingdom in the southern part of Northumbria. The Vikings overcame two other major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, East Anglia and Mercia, and their kings were either tortured to death or fled. Finally, in 870 the Danes attacked the only remaining independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Wessex, whose forces were commanded by King Aethelred and his younger brother Alfred. At the battle of Ashdown in 871, Alfred routed the Viking army in a fiercely fought uphill assault. However, further defeats followed for Wessex and Alfred's brother died.

Ethelred(r. 866-871)
[22-07-2009]  Ethelred was another brother of Ethelbald, ruling from 866 to 871. He was the third son of Ethelwulf to wear the mantle of kingship.

Ethelbert(r. 860-866)
[22-07-2009]  Ethelbert was Ethelbald's brother. He ruled from 860 to 865.

Ethelbald (r. 856-860)
[22-07-2009]  Ethelbald was the eldest son of Ethelwulf. He took over his father's authority in 855 and married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, king of the Franks, who was also his stepmother. He died in 860.