
Born | circa 871 | Born At | |
Died | 17 July 924 | Buried At | Winchester |
Father | Alfred (The Great, King of Wessex 871-899) | Mother | Ealhswith |
Succeeded | Alfred (The Great, King of Wessex 871-899) | Preceded | ATHELSTAN (King of the English 924-939) |
Royal House | Wessex |
Born | circa 871 / |
Died | 17 July 924 / Winchester |
Related Episodes
Viking Invasions (click here)
Family Tree Details
EDWARD (the Elder, King of West Saxons, 899-924) (b.871? - d.924)
+Egwina ( - d.890?)
| = ATHELSTAN (King of the English 924-939) (b.895? - d.939)
+Edgiva
= Edmund (I, King of the English 939-946) (b.922? - d.946)
| +Aelfgifu ( - d.944?)
| = Eadwig (King of the English 955-959) (b.939 - d.959)
| = Edgar (I, King of the English 959-975) (b.944 - d.975)
| +Ethelflead
| | = EDWARD (The Martyr, King of the English 975-978) (b.962 - m.978)
| +Wulfryth
| +Elfthyrth (b.945 - d.1000)
| = Edmund (b.965 - )
| = Aethelred (II The Unready, King of the English 978-1013, 1014-1016) (b.967 - d.1016)
= Eadred (King of the English 946-955) (b.923? - d.955)
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Timeline
While Alfred concentrated his efforts against the Danes at Milton, the Danes at Appledore left their camp. Alfred's son Edward took an army and caught the Danes at Farnham. Edward dealt a heavy blow and forced the Danes to retreat to an island on the River Colne. At the same time Danes from East Anglia had sailed around to the Cornish coast and had besieged Exeter. Aflred, who had been on his way to help Edward deal with the Danes on the island, changed direction and headed for Exeter. Back in Essex Haesten had gained reinforcements and moved to a new fortified site at Benfleet, but the fort was attacked by the Saxons while the Danes were on a raiding trip and this forced Haesten to move to Shoebury. The Danes outside Exeter ended their siege and sailed around to the join Haesten at Shoebury.
Alfred the Great died on October 26th and Edward, his son, became king of Wessex. Apart from the English people under Danish rule, Alfred had ruled over all the English in the country. ¹
The coronation of Edward the Elder took place at Kingston-upon-Thames.
The Danes in Northumbria accepted Aethelwold as their king. Aethelwold needed an army if he was going to take the English throne from King Edward.
Athelwold and Eric the Dane were killed in battle when they fought an army of Kentish men who were part of King Edward's army. ¹
Edward the Elder managed to agree peace terms with the Danes in Northumbria but friendly relationships were not to last. ¹
According to medieval accounts the abbey for nuns was founded at Romsey by Edward the Elder in this year. ¹
Edward the Elder of Wessex with help from Aethelred of Mercia defeated Danes from York at the battle of Tettenhall (Wednesfield) in Staffordshire. Many of the Danes were killed in the battle including Halfden. The West Saxons and Mercians laid waste to Northumbria for several weeks after their victory. ¹
The Danes were defeated at the battle of Tempsford and their leader Guthurm was killed. ¹
Edward the Elder captured Nottingham from the Danes.
Around this time Edward the Elder expelled the Danes from Bedford and fortified the several towns with ditches. Bedord, Colchester, Huntingdon and Wigmore are examples of the towns whose defences were improved after the Danes left. ¹
Edward the Elder died (at Farndon in Mercia). He was succeeded by his son Athelstan. ¹
On this day in history:
3D Virtual Reconstructions
Transport yourself back up to a thousand years and explore historical buildings as they may have appeared in the past. Built using the popular game development tool Unity 3D, these reconstructions will run in the most of the popular web browsers on your desktop or laptop computer.
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Explore the White Tower
Explore all four floors of the White Tower at the Tower of London using the Unity 3d game engine.
A Medieval Mystery
There appear to be some strange connections between the fourteenth century Old Wardour Castle and ancient stone circle Stonehenge.
1: Location
Old Wardour Castle appears to be aligned to ancient sites in the Stonehenge landscape.
2: Alignment
Stonehenge is aligned to the Summer Solstice. Old Wardour has a very similar alignment.
3: Size
Could the builders of Old Wardour used mesaurements from Stonehenge to layout the geometrical keep?
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