Edward the Elder

Edward the Elder
Portrait miniature from a 13th century genealogical scroll depicting Edward
King of the Anglo-Saxons
Reign	26 October 899 – 17 July 924
Coronation	8 June 900 Kingston upon Thames or Winchester
Predecessor	Alfred
Successor	Æthelstan
Born	c. 874
Died	17 July 924 Farndon, Cheshire, England
Burial	New Minster, Winchester, later translated to Hyde Abbey
Spouse	Ecgwynn Ælfflæd Eadgifu
Issue Detail	See list Æthelstan, King of England Daughter, wife of Sitric Cáech Eadgifu Ælfweard, King of Wessex? Eadgyth Eadhild Ælfgifu of Wessex Eadflæd of Wessex Eadhild of Wessex Edwin of Wessex Edmund, King of England Eadred, King of England Saint Eadburh of Winchester
House	Wessex
Father	Alfred, King of Wessex
Mother	Ealhswith
Religion	Catholicism (pre-reformation)

Edward the Elder (Old English: Eadweard cyning; c. 874–877 – 17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. He captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes in 917 and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of Æthelflæd, his sister.

All but two of his charters give his title as "Anglorum Saxonum rex" or "king of the Anglo-Saxons". He was the second king of the Anglo-Saxons as this title was created by Alfred. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the Kings of Scotland and Strathclyde and the rulers of Northumbria "chose [Edward] as father and lord" in 920, but the claim is dismissed by most historians. Edward's cognomen "the Elder" was first used in Wulfstan's Life of St Æthelwold (c. 996) to distinguish him from the later King Edward the Martyr.

Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England in the eighth century and maintained its position until it suffered a decisive defeat by Wessex at the Battle of Ellandun in 825. Thereafter the two kingdoms became allies, which was to be an important factor in English resistance to the Vikings. In 865 the Danish Viking Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and used this as a starting point for an invasion. The East Anglians were forced to buy peace and the following year the Vikings invaded Northumbria, where they appointed a puppet king in 867. They then moved on Mercia, where they spent the winter of 867–868. King Burgred of Mercia was joined by King Æthelred of Wessex and his brother, the future King Alfred, for a combined attack on the Vikings, who refused an engagement; in the end the Mercians bought peace with them. The following year, the Danes conquered East Anglia, and in 874 they expelled King Burgred and Ceolwulf became the last King of Mercia with their support. In 877 the Vikings partitioned Mercia, taking the eastern regions for themselves and allowing Ceolwulf to keep the western ones. The situation was transformed the following year when Alfred won a decisive victory over the Danes at the Battle of Edington. He was thus able to prevent the Vikings from taking Wessex and western Mercia, although they still occupied Northumbria, East Anglia and eastern Mercia.