Edmund I

Edmund
Edmund in the late thirteenth-century Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings
King of the English
Tenure	27 October 939 – 26 May 946
Coronation	c. 29 November 939 probably at Kingston upon Thames
Predecessor	Æthelstan
Successor	Eadred
Born	921 Wessex, England
Died	26 May 946 (aged 24–25) Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, England
Burial	Glastonbury Abbey
Spouse	Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury Æthelflæd of Damerham
Issue	Eadwig, King of England Edgar, King of England
House	Wessex
Father	Edward, King of Wessex
Mother	Eadgifu of Kent
Religion	Roman Catholic

Edmund I (Old English: Ēadmund, pronounced [æːɑdmund]; 921 – 26 May 946), called the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, or the Magnificent, was King of the English from 939 until his death. He was a son of Edward the Elder and half-brother of Æthelstan. Æthelstan died on 27 October 939, and Edmund succeeded him as king.

Edmund came to the throne as the son of Edward the Elder, grandson of Alfred the Great, great-grandson of Æthelwulf of Wessex, great-great grandson of Egbert of Wessex and great-great-great grandson of Ealhmund of Kent. Shortly after his proclamation as king, he had to face several military threats. King Olaf III Guthfrithson conquered Northumbria and invaded the Midlands; when Olaf died in 942, Edmund reconquered the Midlands. In 943, Edmund became the god-father of King Olaf of York. In 944, Edmund was successful in reconquering Northumbria. In the same year, his ally Olaf of York lost his throne and left for Dublin in Ireland. Olaf became the king of Dublin as Amlaíb Cuarán and continued to be allied to his god-father. In 945, Edmund conquered Strathclyde but ceded the territory to King Malcolm I of Scotland in exchange for a treaty of mutual military support. Edmund thus established a policy of safe borders and peaceful relationships with Scotland. During his reign, the revival of monasteries in England began.