Athelstan
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Athelstan | ||
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King of England | ||
Reign | August 2,924 – October 27,939 | |
Born | 895 | |
Wessex, England | ||
Died | October 27, 939 | |
Buried | Malmesbury Abbey | |
Predecessor | Ælfweard | |
Successor | Edmund | |
Father | Edward the Elder | |
Mother | Egwina |
Athelstan or Æþelstān (c. 895 – October 27, 939), called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, and nephew of Ethelfleda (Æthelflæd) of Mercia. Because people are so interested in Alfred the Great before him, and Edgar after him they often overlook Athelstan. However, his reign was of great importance to political developments in the 10th century.
[edit] Reign
Athelstan was the son of Edward the Elder, and grandson of Alfred the Great. His father succeeded, after some difficulty, to the Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons formed by Alfred. His aunt, Edward's sister, Æthelflæd, ruled western Mercia on his behalf following the death of her husband, Ealdorman Æthelred. On Æthelflæd's death, Edward quickly got control of Mercia, and by his death he directly ruled all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms south of the Humber.
On Edward's death, Athelstan immediately became King of Mercia, though it seems to have taken a little longer for him to be recognised in Wessex where his half-brothers Ælfweard and Edwin had support.
For Athelstan it was very important to have many allies. Only a year after his crowning he married one of his sisters to Sihtric, the viking King of York. However, Sihtric died only a year later, and Athelstan took the opportunity to take Northumbria. This move made him king of more territory than any Anglo-Saxon king before him, roughly the same as modern England. The other rulers in Great Britain accepted him as king at Bamburgh: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells about this event: "first Hywel, King of the West Welsh {Cornish}, and Constantine II, King of Scots, and Owain, King of the people of Gwent, and Ealdred...of Bamburgh" were present. William of Malmesbury adds Owain of Strathclyde.
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