The Heirs of Alfred

Alfred's descendants continued to rule Wessex or England until 1016, more than a century after his death. Many were glorious and able rulers who stood supreme in their own day, but none - with the exception of Athelstan - matched the vision and breadth of interest that Alfred achieved.

In the tenth century three great kings ruled Wessex: Edward, Athelstan and Edgar. After Alfred's death his son Edward the Elder (899-924) became king and his sister Aethelflaed, who ruled Mercia, was known as the Lady of the Mercians. Between them they set about enlarging their territory with spectacular military successes. Edward conquered East Anglia and later the five principal Danish towns of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford. When Aethelflaed died in 918 Edward was left as king of all of England south of the River Humber. The height of his power came in 920 when he received the recognition of overlordship from the English, Danes, Britons, Scots, Norsemen and the kings of York and Strathclyde. Edward died in 924, leaving the kingdom to his son Athelstan (924-39).

Like his father and grandfather before him, Athelstan was an excellent military leader and pushed the boundaries of the kingdom still further, capturing the city of York and occupying Northumberland. In 937 the Norwegians, who had settled in Lancashire, and the Scots retaliated by marching far into England, but were defeated by Athelstan; five kings and seven earls of the invading forces died. As the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says, The Northmen went off in nailed ships, sad survivors of spears ... over deep water seeking Dublin again, Ireland again, ashamed in their hearts.' Athelstan was well aware of his enormous military power and even styled himself 'Basilcus' - the Byzantine word for emperor. His continental links were strong, especially after he gave three of his sisters in marriage to the duke of the Franks, the king of Burgundy and Otto, the future Holy Roman Emperor. As a man, Athelstan was a great collector of art and relics, and his collection included Constantine the Great's sword and what was claimed to be a piece of the Holy Cross embedded in crystal. He was also a generous benefactor. The Chronicle calls him a 'ring-giver to men' and he was the patron of many religious houses. Athelstan died in 939. His successors, Edmund (939-946), Edred (946-55) and Eadwig (955-9), were forced to fight longer and harder to maintain overlordship of England against the increasingly menacing Vikings and Norwegians.

Edgar and Archbishop Dunstan
Edgar (959-75) was the last of the powerful monarchs of Alfred's line. He ruled England with a firm hand, and the tranquillity he brought earned him the title of Edgar the Peaceful. The peace was the result of his subjugation of other kings, and legend records that he was rowed across a river by six lesser British kings. His strength allowed him to be generous to potential enemies and he permitted his Danish subjects to keep their own laws and customs.

The most noted event of Edgar's reign was the monastic revival spearheaded by Edgar and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dunstan (c. 909-88). Dunstan had been forced into exile to Flanders in the previous reign but on his return he put into practice the ideas he had learned on the continent. With Edgar's wholehearted support, a strong programme of ecclesiastical reform, which came to be known as 'The Tenth Century Reformation was set in motion. The most important reform was to implement and enforce the Benedictine Rule which governed how monks in the monasteries lived. Within a decade this strict rule was observed at Glastonbury, Winchester, Canterbury, Worcester and a host of smaller monasteries. The Reformation included a revival in education and art. Parts of the Bible were translated into Anglo-Saxon, beautiful illuminated manuscripts were produced, and continental glaziers and builders were invited to England to glorify churches.

In 973, at the height of the reforms, Edgar was crowned at Bath Abbey. Dunstan devised the glittering ceremony and it was made into a religious occasion: previously the high point had been the placing of the crown upon the monarch's head, but now the most important aspect was anointing the king with holy oil as God's chosen representative on earth. The hereditary right of kingship had now been sanctified by the power of divine choice.

This article is based on material taken from A Traveller's History of England (© Christopher Daniell), published by The Windrush Press, and is by kind permission of its author Christopher Daniell.