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Edmund I or Eadmund I[a] (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. When Edward died in 924 he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund's half-brother Æthelstan, who died childless in 939. Edmund then became king. He had two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, by his first wife Ælfgifu, and none by his second wife Æthelflæd. His sons were young children whenhe was killed in a brawl with an outlaw at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire, and he was succeeded by his younger brother Eadred, who died in 955 and was followed by Edmund's sons in succession. Æthelstan had succeeded as the king of England south of the Humber and he became the first king of all England when he conquered Viking-ruled York in 927, but after his death Anlaf Guthfrithson was accepted as king of York and extended Viking rule to the Five Boroughs of north-east Mercia. Edmund was initially forced to accept the reverse, the first major setback for the West Saxon dynasty since Alfred's reign, but he was able to recover his position following Anlaf's death in 941. In 942 Edmund took backcontrol of the Five Boroughs and in 944 he regained control over the whole of England when he expelled the Viking kings of York. Eadred had to deal with further revolts when he became king and York was not finally conquered until 954. Æthelstan had achieved a dominant position over other British kings and Edmund maintained this, perhaps apart from Scotland. The north Welsh king Idwal Foel may have allied with the Vikings as he was killed by the English in 942. The British kingdom of Strathclyde may also have sided with the Vikings as Edmund ravaged it in 945 and then ceded it to Malcolm I of Scotland. Edmund also continued his brother's friendly relations with Continental rulers, several of whom were married to his half-sisters. Edmund inherited his brother's interests and leading advisers, such as Oda, whom he appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 941, Æthelstan Half-King, ealdorman of East Anglia and Ælfheah the Bald, Bishop of Winchester. Government at the local level was mainly carried on by ealdormen, and Edmund made substantial changes in personnel during his reign, with a move from Æthelstan's main reliance on West Saxons to a greater prominence of men with Mercian connections. Unlike the close relatives of previous kings,his mother and brother attested many of Edmund's charters, suggesting a high degree of family cooperation. Edmund was also an active legislator, and three of his codes survive. Provisions include ones which attempt to regulate feuds and emphasise the sanctity of the royal person. The major religious movement of the tenth century, the English Benedictine Reform, reached its peak under Edgar, but Edmund's reign was important in its early stages. He appointed Dunstan abbot of Glastonbury, where he was joined by Æthelwold. They were to be two of the leaders of the reform and they made the abbey the first important centre for disseminating it. Unlike the circle of his son Edgar, Edmund did not take the view that Benedictine monasticism was the only worthwhile religious life and he alsopatronised unreformed (non-Benedictine) establishments. ~ Marriages and children Edmund probably married his first wife Ælfgifu around the time of his accession to the throne, as their second son was born in 943. Their sons Eadwig and Edgar both became kings of England.[31] Ælfgifu's father is not known, but her mother is identified by a charter of Edgar which confirms a grant by his grandmother Wynflæd of land to Shaftesbury Abbey.[105] Ælfgifu was also a benefactor of Shaftesbury Abbey; when she died in 944 she was buried there and venerated as a saint.[106][t] Edmund had no known children by his second wife, Æthelflæd, who died after 991. Her father Ælfgar became ealdorman of Essex in 946. Edmund presented him with a sword lavishly decorated with gold and silver, which Ælfgar later presented to King Eadred. Æthelflæd's second husband was Æthelstan Rota, a south-east Mercian ealdorman, and her will survives.[108] Death and succession On 26 May 946 Edmund was killed in a brawl at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire.[31] According to the post-Conquest chronicler, John of Worcester: While the glorious Edmund, king of the English, was at the royal township called Pucklechurch in English, in seeking to rescue his steward from Leofa, a most wicked thief, lest he be killed, was himself killed by the same man on the feast of St Augustine,teacher of the English, on Tuesday, 26 May, in the fourth indiction, having completed five years and seven months of his reign. He was borne to Glastonbury, and buried by the abbot, St Dunstan.[109] The historians Clare Downham and Kevin Halloran dismiss John of Worcester's account and suggest that the king was the victim of a political assassination, but this view has not been accepted by other historians.[110] Like his son Edgar thirty years later, Edmund was buried at Glastonbury Abbey. The location may have reflected its spiritual prestige and royal endorsement of the monastic reform movement, but as his death was unexpected it is more likely that Dunstan wassuccessful in claiming the body.[111] His sons were still young children, so he was succeeded as king by his brother Eadred, who was in turn succeeded by Edmund's elder son Eadwig in 955.[112] Assessment Historians' views of Edmund's character and record differ widely. The historian Barbara Yorke comments that when substantial powers were delegated there was a danger that subjects would become over-powerful: the kings following Æthelstan came to the throne young and had short reigns, and the families of Æthelstan 'Half-King' and Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia,[u] developed unassailable positions.[114] In the view of Cyril Hart: "For the whole of his brief reign, the young king Edmund remained strongly underthe influence of his mother Eadgifu and the 'Half King', who between them must have decided much of the national policy."[115] In contrast, Williams describes Edmund as "an energetic and forceful ruler"[31] and Stenton commented that "he proved himself to be both warlike and politically effective",[116] while in Dumville's view, but for his early death "he might yet have been remembered as one of the more remarkable of Anglo-Saxon kings".[117] The historian Ryan Lavelle comments that "a case can be made, as Alaric Trousdale has recently done [in his PhD thesis on Edmund's reign], for assigning Edmund a central role to the achievements of the tenth-century English state".[118][v] Trousdale comments that the period between the reigns of Æthelstan and Edgar has been comparatively neglected by historians: the reigns of Edmund, Eadred and Eadwig "are often lumped together as a sort of interim period between the much more interesting reigns of Æthelstan and Edgar".[120] He argues that "King Edmund's legislation shows an ambition towards tighter control of the localities through increased cooperation between all levels of government, and that king and archbishop were working closely together in restructuring the English administrative framework". Trousdale sees a transition which "was marked in part by a small yet significant shift away from a reliance on traditional West Saxon administrative structures and the power blocs that had enjoyed influence under King Æthelstan, towards increased cooperation with interests and families from Mercia and East Anglia".[121] He also sees Edmund as moving away from Æthelstan's centralisation of power to a more collegial relationship with local secular and ecclesiastical authorities.[122] Trousdale's picture contrasts with that of other historians such as Sarah Foot, who emphasises the achievements of Æthelstan,[123] and George Molyneaux in his study of the formation of the late Anglo-Saxon state in the reign of Edgar.[124] Notes He is called Edmund the Elder in Sharon Turner's early nineteenth century History of the Anglo-Saxons.[1] Other nicknames include Edmund the Deed-Doer,[2][3] Edmund the Just[3] and Edmund the Magnificent[3] (Latin Edmundus Magnificus).[2] According to William of Malmesbury, Edmund was about eighteen years old when he succeeded to the throne in 939.[11] Edmund attested one other charter of Æthelstan which some scholars regard as genuine, S 455, dated to between 934 and 939.[18] (A charter's S number is its number in Peter Sawyer's list of Anglo-Saxon charters, available online at the Electronic Sawyer.) In 1918 Murray Beaven commented that conflicting dates in the different manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the difficulty of distinguishing between Anlaf (or Olaf) Guthfrithson and his cousin Anlaf Sihtricson, who both ruled York in this period, makes Edmund's reign "one of the obscurest in our national annals". ASC D states that the Northumbrians accepted "Anlaf from Ireland" as king in 941 and that he seized Tamworth to 943. Beaven argued that these entries refer to the actions of Anlaf Guthfrithson in 939 and 940, and that after his death in 941 Anlaf Sihtricson was accepted as king of York.[21] Most historians accept Beaven's arguments,[22] and this article follows his chronology, but several historians dispute aspects of it. Alex Woolf suggests that Æthelstan did not resume direct rule of York after Brunanburh, instead appointing Erik Bloodaxe as sub-king, and that he was expelled by Anlaf Guthfrithson in the spring of 940.[23] Clare Downham rejects Woolf's thesis, but defends the ASC D chronology, arguing that it describes events after Anlaf Guthfrithson's death in 941: in her view, Edmund's victory in the Five Boroughs did not recover territory lost to Anlaf Guthfrithson, but rather took full control over land which had for many years been ruled by pagan Vikings.[24] Kevin Halloran takes Downham's thesis further, arguing that Anlaf Guthfrithson was n

Edmund I or Eadmund I[a] (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. When Edward died in 924 he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund's half-brother Æthelstan, who died childless in 939. Edmund then became king. He had two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, by his first wife Ælfgifu, and none by his second wife Æthelflæd. His sons were young children whenhe was killed in a brawl with an outlaw at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire, and he was succeeded by his younger brother Eadred, who died in 955 and was followed by Edmund's sons in succession.

Æthelstan had succeeded as the king of England south of the Humber and he became the first king of all England when he conquered Viking-ruled York in 927, but after his death Anlaf Guthfrithson was accepted as king of York and extended Viking rule to the Five Boroughs of north-east Mercia. Edmund was initially forced to accept the reverse, the first major setback for the West Saxon dynasty since Alfred's reign, but he was able to recover his position following Anlaf's death in 941. In 942 Edmund took backcontrol of the Five Boroughs and in 944 he regained control over the whole of England when he expelled the Viking kings of York. Eadred had to deal with further revolts when he became king and York was not finally conquered until 954. Æthelstan had achieved a dominant position over other British kings and Edmund maintained this, perhaps apart from Scotland. The north Welsh king Idwal Foel may have allied with the Vikings as he was killed by the English in 942. The British kingdom of Strathclyde may also have sided with the Vikings as Edmund ravaged it in 945 and then ceded it to Malcolm I of Scotland. Edmund also continued his brother's friendly relations with Continental rulers, several of whom were married to his half-sisters.

Edmund inherited his brother's interests and leading advisers, such as Oda, whom he appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 941, Æthelstan Half-King, ealdorman of East Anglia and Ælfheah the Bald, Bishop of Winchester. Government at the local level was mainly carried on by ealdormen, and Edmund made substantial changes in personnel during his reign, with a move from Æthelstan's main reliance on West Saxons to a greater prominence of men with Mercian connections. Unlike the close relatives of previous kings,his mother and brother attested many of Edmund's charters, suggesting a high degree of family cooperation. Edmund was also an active legislator, and three of his codes survive. Provisions include ones which attempt to regulate feuds and emphasise the sanctity of the royal person.

The major religious movement of the tenth century, the English Benedictine Reform, reached its peak under Edgar, but Edmund's reign was important in its early stages. He appointed Dunstan abbot of Glastonbury, where he was joined by Æthelwold. They were to be two of the leaders of the reform and they made the abbey the first important centre for disseminating it. Unlike the circle of his son Edgar, Edmund did not take the view that Benedictine monasticism was the only worthwhile religious life and he alsopatronised unreformed (non-Benedictine) establishments.
~
Marriages and children
Edmund probably married his first wife Ælfgifu around the time of his accession to the throne, as their second son was born in 943. Their sons Eadwig and Edgar both became kings of England.[31] Ælfgifu's father is not known, but her mother is identified by a charter of Edgar which confirms a grant by his grandmother Wynflæd of land to Shaftesbury Abbey.[105] Ælfgifu was also a benefactor of Shaftesbury Abbey; when she died in 944 she was buried there and venerated as a saint.[106][t] Edmund had no known children by his second wife, Æthelflæd, who died after 991. Her father Ælfgar became ealdorman of Essex in 946. Edmund presented him with a sword lavishly decorated with gold and silver, which Ælfgar later presented to King Eadred. Æthelflæd's second husband was Æthelstan Rota, a south-east Mercian ealdorman, and her will survives.[108]

Death and succession
On 26 May 946 Edmund was killed in a brawl at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire.[31] According to the post-Conquest chronicler, John of Worcester:

While the glorious Edmund, king of the English, was at the royal township called Pucklechurch in English, in seeking to rescue his steward from Leofa, a most wicked thief, lest he be killed, was himself killed by the same man on the feast of St Augustine,teacher of the English, on Tuesday, 26 May, in the fourth indiction, having completed five years and seven months of his reign. He was borne to Glastonbury, and buried by the abbot, St Dunstan.[109]
The historians Clare Downham and Kevin Halloran dismiss John of Worcester's account and suggest that the king was the victim of a political assassination, but this view has not been accepted by other historians.[110]

Like his son Edgar thirty years later, Edmund was buried at Glastonbury Abbey. The location may have reflected its spiritual prestige and royal endorsement of the monastic reform movement, but as his death was unexpected it is more likely that Dunstan wassuccessful in claiming the body.[111] His sons were still young children, so he was succeeded as king by his brother Eadred, who was in turn succeeded by Edmund's elder son Eadwig in 955.[112]

Assessment
Historians' views of Edmund's character and record differ widely. The historian Barbara Yorke comments that when substantial powers were delegated there was a danger that subjects would become over-powerful: the kings following Æthelstan came to the throne young and had short reigns, and the families of Æthelstan 'Half-King' and Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia,[u] developed unassailable positions.[114] In the view of Cyril Hart: "For the whole of his brief reign, the young king Edmund remained strongly underthe influence of his mother Eadgifu and the 'Half King', who between them must have decided much of the national policy."[115] In contrast, Williams describes Edmund as "an energetic and forceful ruler"[31] and Stenton commented that "he proved himself to be both warlike and politically effective",[116] while in Dumville's view, but for his early death "he might yet have been remembered as one of the more remarkable of Anglo-Saxon kings".[117]

The historian Ryan Lavelle comments that "a case can be made, as Alaric Trousdale has recently done [in his PhD thesis on Edmund's reign], for assigning Edmund a central role to the achievements of the tenth-century English state".[118][v] Trousdale comments that the period between the reigns of Æthelstan and Edgar has been comparatively neglected by historians: the reigns of Edmund, Eadred and Eadwig "are often lumped together as a sort of interim period between the much more interesting reigns of Æthelstan and Edgar".[120] He argues that "King Edmund's legislation shows an ambition towards tighter control of the localities through increased cooperation between all levels of government, and that king and archbishop were working closely together in restructuring the English administrative framework". Trousdale sees a transition which "was marked in part by a small yet significant shift away from a reliance on traditional West Saxon administrative structures and the power blocs that had enjoyed influence under King Æthelstan, towards increased cooperation with interests and families from Mercia and East Anglia".[121] He also sees Edmund as moving away from Æthelstan's centralisation of power to a more collegial relationship with local secular and ecclesiastical authorities.[122] Trousdale's picture contrasts with that of other historians such as Sarah Foot, who emphasises the achievements of Æthelstan,[123] and George Molyneaux in his study of the formation of the late Anglo-Saxon state in the reign of Edgar.[124]

Notes
He is called Edmund the Elder in Sharon Turner's early nineteenth century History of the Anglo-Saxons.[1] Other nicknames include Edmund the Deed-Doer,[2][3] Edmund the Just[3] and Edmund the Magnificent[3] (Latin Edmundus Magnificus).[2]
According to William of Malmesbury, Edmund was about eighteen years old when he succeeded to the throne in 939.[11]
Edmund attested one other charter of Æthelstan which some scholars regard as genuine, S 455, dated to between 934 and 939.[18] (A charter's S number is its number in Peter Sawyer's list of Anglo-Saxon charters, available online at the Electronic Sawyer.)
In 1918 Murray Beaven commented that conflicting dates in the different manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the difficulty of distinguishing between Anlaf (or Olaf) Guthfrithson and his cousin Anlaf Sihtricson, who both ruled York in this period, makes Edmund's reign "one of the obscurest in our national annals". ASC D states that the Northumbrians accepted "Anlaf from Ireland" as king in 941 and that he seized Tamworth to 943. Beaven argued that these entries refer to the actions of Anlaf Guthfrithson in 939 and 940, and that after his death in 941 Anlaf Sihtricson was accepted as king of York.[21] Most historians accept Beaven's arguments,[22] and this article follows his chronology, but several historians dispute aspects of it. Alex Woolf suggests that Æthelstan did not resume direct rule of York after Brunanburh, instead appointing Erik Bloodaxe as sub-king, and that he was expelled by Anlaf Guthfrithson in the spring of 940.[23] Clare Downham rejects Woolf's thesis, but defends the ASC D chronology, arguing that it describes events after Anlaf Guthfrithson's death in 941: in her view, Edmund's victory in the Five Boroughs did not recover territory lost to Anlaf Guthfrithson, but rather took full control over land which had for many years been ruled by pagan Vikings.[24] Kevin Halloran takes Downham's thesis further, arguing that Anlaf Guthfrithson was n