Edward, King of England

875 - 924  (49 years)

• Name	Edward
  Nickname	the Elder
  Birth	875	Kingdom of Wessex, England   [5, 7, 9, 10, 14]
  General Information	Edward was Bretwala, King of Kings. He was also the King of Wessex.  [7]
  Military	From 899 to 902 (24 years)  [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10]
  Alfred died on 26 October 899 and Edward succeeded to the throne, but Æthelwold disputed the succession. He seized the royal estates of Wimborne, symbolically important as the place where his father was buried, and Christchurch, both in Dorset. Edward marched with his army to the nearby Iron Age hillfort at Badbury Rings. Æthelwold declared that he would live or die at Wimborne, but then left in the night and rode to Northumbria, where the Danes accepted him as king. In 901, Æthelwold came with a fleet to Essex, and the following year he persuaded the East Anglian Danes to invade English Mercia and northern Wessex, where his army looted and then returned home. Edward retaliated by ravaging East Anglia, but when he retreated the men of Kent disobeyed the order to retire, and were intercepted by the Danish army. The two sides met at the Battle of the Holme (perhaps Holme in Huntingdonshire) on 13 December 902. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Danes "kept the place of slaughter", meaning that they won the battle, but they suffered heavy losses, including Æthelwold and a King Eohric, possibly of the East Anglian Danes. Kentish losses included Sigehelm, ealdorman of Kent and father of Edward's third wife, Eadgifu. Æthelwold's death ended the threat to Edward's throne.
  Reign	From 900 to 924 (25 years)  [4, 5, 7, 9, 10]
  King of England
  He was crowned the King of England or Bretwala, that is King of Kings.
  Crowned	8 Jun 900 (25 years)	Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England   [4, 8, 10]
  He was crowned.
  Military	918 (43 years)  [10]
  Edward defeated the Danes in 918, taking East Anglia. He conquered Mercia the same year, and Northumbria in 920.
  Death	17 Jul 924	Farndon, Cheshire, England   [2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14]
  He died while attempting to put down a rebellion by Mercian and Cambrian dissidents. [4]
  Burial	Aft 17 Jul 924	Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, England Winchester Cathedral, Winchester,  Hampshire, England   [4, 5]
  He was buried in the New Minster, a monastery in Winchester whose construction he had ordered in 901. In 1110, his remains were reinterred at Hyde Abbey, but the grave was disturbed during the construction of a prison in 1788 and his bones were lost. [4]
  Siblings	2 brothers and 3 sisters
  + 1. Æthelflæd,   b. 869, England d. 12 Jun 918, England  (Age 49 years) ▻ Æthelred II, Ealdorman of Mercia,  m. Between 882 and 887   2. Edmund,   b. 870, England d. young, England + 3. Edward, King of England ,   b. 875, Kingdom of Wessex, England d. 17 Jul 924, Farndon, Cheshire, England  (Age 49 years) ▻ Ecgwynn,  m. About 893 ;   Ælfflæd,  m. About 899 ;   Eadgifu of Kent,  m. 919 + 4. Ælfthryth,   b. About 877, Kingdom of Wessex, England d. 7 Jun 929  (Age 52 years) ▻ Baldwin II, Count of Flanders and Artois,  m. 884   5. Æthelgeofu, Abbess of Shaftesbury   6. Æthelweard,   b. 880   d. 922  (Age 42 years)
  Patriarch & Matriarch	Noe   (37 x Great Grandfather)  Ælflæd  (Great Grandmother)
  Person ID, Branch	I2844	Roy Line, Boudreau Line
  Last Modified	23 Jun 2025

  
  

• Notes

  Death: Sewell states he died 17 June 924 in Farndon-on-Dee, England. [5]

  
  

Father	Alfred, King of England ,   b. 849, Wantage, Berkshire, England d. 28 Oct 901 (Age 52 years)
Mother	Ealhswith of Mercia,   b. About 852, Kingdom of Mercia d. 904, England (Age 52 years)
Family ID	F2239	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart




Spouse / Partner 1	Ecgwynn   d. 901, England
Marriage	About 893  [2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11]
Age at Marriage	He : ~ 18 years - She : ??.
Children	2 sons and 1 daughter
1. Æthelstan, King of England ,   b. 894, England d. 27 Oct 939, England (Age 45 years)  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]     2. Alfred   d. young, England  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth] >   3. Saint Edith of Polesworth   d. 937  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth] ▻ Sihtric, Viking King of York  m. 926
Family ID	F2238	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
Last Modified	24 Nov 2021




Spouse / Partner 2	Ælfflæd,   b. About 878, Kingdom of Wessex, England d. 920, England (Age 42 years)
Marriage	About 899  [1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12]
Age at Marriage	He : ~ 24 years - She : ~ 21 years.
Children	2 sons and 8 daughters
1. Ælfweard, King of England   d. 1 Aug 924, England  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]     2. Edwin, Sub-King of Kent   d. 933, at sea  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]     3. Æthelhild   bur. Romsey Abbey, Romsey, Hampshire, England Romsey Abbey, Romsey, Hampshire, England +   4. Eadgifu,   b. Abt 904   d. 951 (Age 47 years)  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth] ▻ Frederuna;   Charles III, King of France  m. 918/19;   Heribert, Count of Meaux and Troyes     5. Eadfæd  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth] >   6. Eadhilda  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth] ▻ Hugh Magnus, Duke of France and Normandy  m. 926 +   7. Eadgyth   d. 26 Jan 946  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth] ▻ Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor  m. 929/30     8. Ælfgifu  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]     9. Ælfæda   d. 963, Winchester, Hampshire, England  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]   10. Æthelfæda, Abbess of Romsey  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]
Family ID	F2237	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
Last Modified	23 Nov 2021




Spouse / Partner 3	Eadgifu of Kent,   b. About 896, Kingdom of Kent d. 25 Aug 968, England (Age 72 years)
Marriage	919	Berkshire, England   [2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13]
Age at Marriage	He : ~ 44 years - She : ~ 23 years.
Children	3 sons and 1 daughter
+   1. Edmund, King of England ,   b. Abt 922   d. 26 May 946, Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, England (Age 24 years)  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth] ▻ Saint Ælfgifu;   Æthelfæd of Domerham     2. Eadred, King of England ,   b. Abt 924   d. 23 Nov 955, England (Age 31 years)  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]     3. Saint Edburga   d. 15 Jun 960, St Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire, England  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]     4. Gregory, Abbot of Einsiedlen  [Father: Birth]  [Mother: Birth]
Family ID	F2236	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
Last Modified	24 Nov 2021




• Pedigree

  ← Click to display 1Edward, King of England (875 – 924) 2Alfred, King of England (849 – 901) 4Æthelwulf, King of England (Abt 806 – 858) 8Egbert, King of England (775 – 839) 16Eahlmund, Under-King of Kent(Abt 758 – 786) 17daughter 9Rædburh(Abt 788 – ) 18 19 5Osburh(Abt 810 – 876) 10Oslac, the Royal Cup-Bearer 20 21 11 22 23 3Ealhswith of Mercia(852 – 904) 6Æthelred Mucil, Earldorman of Gainsborough 12 24 25 13 26 27 7Eadburh of Mercia 14Wigmund of Mercia 28Wiglaf, King of Mercia( – 839) 29Cynethyth 15Ælflæd 30Ceolwulf I, King of Mercia( – 823) 31

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 875 - Kingdom of Wessex, England Crowned - 8 Jun 900 - Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, England Marriage - 919 - Berkshire, England Death - 17 Jul 924 - Farndon, Cheshire, England Burial - Aft 17 Jul 924 - Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, England  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources 🟢 Primary Evidence 🟡 Secondary Evidence 🟠 Tertiary Evidence 🔴 Unreliable Evidence

  [S1488] Barlow, Lundie W. "The Antecedents of Earl Godwine of Wessex" , (Boston: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume CXI, January 1957). [S1461] Burke, John and John Bernard Burke. The Royal Families of England, Scotland and Wales with their Descendants, Sovereigns and Subjects , (London: E. Churton, 1848). [S2004] Churchill, Winston. The Birth of Britain, (New York: Bantum Books, 1956). [S1940] Panton, Kenneth J. Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy, (Lanham, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2011). [S65] Sewell, Robert James. Sewell: A History of the Sewell Family from the Earliest Times, (unknown: manuscript, March 2008). [S1941] Soud, David. Kings & Queens of Great Britain, (San Diego, California: Thunder Bay Press, 2017). [S60] Stuart, Roderick W., Royalty for Commoners, The Complete Known Lineage of John of Gaunt, Son of Edward III, King of England, and Queen Philippa Fourth Edition, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002). [S1682] Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families, (London: Vintage Books, 1989). [S59] Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists Who Came to New England Between 1623 and 1650 Fifth Editionif, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982). [S304] Wikipedia, Edward the Elder. [S304] Wikipedia, Ecgwynn. [S304] Wikipedia, Ælfflæd (wife of Edward the Elder). [S304] Wikipedia, Eadgifu of Kent. [S1851] Wolf, Armin. "Who was Agatha, the Ancestress of Scottish and English Kings?", (Vowchurch, UK: Foundations: Journal of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, 2011).