WESSEX Eadweard

Abt 0871 - 0924  (53 years)

• Name	WESSEX Eadweard
  Birth	Abt 0871	Wessex, England
  Gender	Male
  Death	17 Jul 0924	Farndon, Cheshire, England
  Notes	Birth, Parents and Early Life Eadweard was the son of King Alfred and Ealhswith. His parents married in 868 and he was their second child, so he may have been born soon after 870.[1] According to Asser's Life of King Alfred, he was brought up with tutors at the royal court and "carefully learned the Psalms and Saxon books, especially Saxon poems, and [was] in the habit of making frequent use of books."[2] The first definite appearance of Eadweard is in 892, when he is mentioned as "filius regis" - "son of the king" - in a charter granting land at North Newnton, near Pewsey in Wiltshire, to ealdorman Æthelhelm. A Latin version of a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has him successfully leading forces against the Danes in 893, though this does not appear in the surviving Old English manuscripts.[1] Accession King Alfred died on 26 October 899.[1][3] He left Eadweard substantial estates in his will.[4] Eadweard's right to succeed Alfred was contested. Æthelwold, son of Alfred's brother Æthelred, seized lands in Dorset and Hampshire, declaring that he would either live or die at Wimborne, Dorset. In the event fighting was temporarily averted when Æthelwold fled to Northumbria where he was accepted as king. In 902, though, Æthelwold was in Essex, inciting attacks on Eadweard, and he went on to raid Wessex. Eadweard's army defeated him in a battle in which Æthelwold died:[3] the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives the date of the battle (whose location has not been established) as 13 December 902.[1] Extension of his Rule According to the E manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, a few years later (dates in the manuscripts of the Chronicles are unreliable for this period) Eadweard was forced to make peace with a raiding army from East Anglia and Northumbria. But threats continued. In 909 or 910 combined forces of Wessex and Mercia harried northern England, and then defeated another raiding army at Tettenhall in what is now Staffordshire.[1][3] In 911 King Æthelred of Mercia died. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles state that this led to Eadweard gaining control of London and Oxford.[3] In 912 Eadweard built forts at Witham, Essex and Hertford, Hertfordshire to help defend London from attack, and some Danes acknowledge his lordship.[1][3] Further Danish and Viking raids continued in the following years, including one from Brittany in 914. Eadweard and Æthelflæd, widow of Æthelred of Mercia, built and strengthened fortifications. Gradually they extended the area they controlled and increased the protection for their realms.[1][3] Æthelflæd's death in 918 gave Eadweard the opportunity for further major expansion. He took control of Tamworth, Staffordshire, the main city of Mercia, and the Mercians accepted his rule. Kings of Wales also submitted to him.[1][3] However York did not - a Viking leader called Ragnall appears to have gained control of York, where he issued coins.[1] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles describe Eadweard sending an army into Northumbria,[3] but he probably had relatively little control there.[1] They also state that kings of Scotland and Strathclyde, along with Bagnall, acknowledged Eadweard's overlordship.[3] Religious Affairs In 901 Eadweard founded the New Minster, a monastery at Winchester, Hampshire,[1] fulfilling a plan of his father King Alfred, who had bought the land for the foundation.[5] When Eadweard came to the throne, there were two dioceses in Wessex: Winchester and Sherborne. The death of their bishops in 908 and 909 was used as an opportunity to divide Wessex into five. Eadweard seems to have made no attempt at similar reorganisation outside Wessex.[6] Wives and Children Eadweard married three times.[1][7] His first wife, whose origins are unclear, was Ecgwynn. There are some suggestions, from several centuries later, that she may have been a concubine rather than a wife, and possibly of humble origin, though other such sources describe her as of noble background. There is no contemporary source for her name.[1][7] Eadweard and Ecgwynn had at least two children: Æthelstan[1][7] St Edgyth[1][7] Before 902 Eadweard married Ælflæda, daughter of Æthelhelm, Ealdorman of Wiltshire.[1][7] They had the following children: Ælfweard[1][7] Eadgifu, whose first husband was Charles the Simple of France[1][7] Eadwin[1][7] Eadflad, who became a nun[1] Eadhild, who married Hugues le Grand[1][7] Æthelhild, who became a nun[1][7] Eadgyth, who married Otto, who was to become Holy Roman Emperor[1][7] Ælfgifu, who is said to have married a European ruler[1][7] Before 921, Eadweard married again, his third wife being Eadgifu, daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent.[1][7] They had the following children: St Edburga of Winchester[1][7] Eadmund, who became king in 939[1][7] Eadred, who became king in 946[1][7] Eadgifu, who is said to have married Louis of Aquitaine (his precise identity is uncertain)[1][7] Death Eadweard died in 924[3] at Farndon, Cheshire on 17 July 924.[1] William of Malmesbury states that this was very shortly after he had put down a rebellion of the city of Chester, which the "Britons" (Welsh) supported.[8] He was buried at New Minster, Winchester.[1][3] Research Notes Previously Shown Wife WikiTree has in the past shown Edgina as a wife of Eadweard the Elder. The unsourced profile of Edgina (as at 8 April 2021) is confused and it is not at all clear who it is meant to represent. Children Medlands ascribes another possible child, Ælfred, to Eadweard's first marriage, on the basis of the names listed as subscribing a 901 charter of Eadweard ("Elfredus filius regis" heads the list) and a mention in the Book of Hyde, but expresses uncertainty. He appears before a brother of Eadweard, Æthelweard, who in turn is followed by Eadweard's oldest son Æthelstan, and this may well suggest that he is not Eadweard's son. And the listing may be a copyist's mistake.[7] Alison Weir also lists an Alfred among Eadweard's children by his first wife - with, as always, no sourcing.[9] If Eadweard did have a son Alfred by his first marriage, Alfred probably died soon after 901 as no subsequent mention of him has been found. Sources ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Sean Miller for 'Edward [called Edward the Elder]', print and online 2004, revised online 2011 ↑ Albert S Cook (translator). Asser's Life of King Alfred, Ginn and Company, 1906, pp. 37-38, Internet Archive ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Michael Swanton (translator and editor).The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, new edition, Phoenix Press, 2000, pp. 91-105 ↑ Dorothy Whitelock (ed.). English Historical Documents, Volume I, c.500-1042, 2nd edition, Eyre Methuen, 1979, p. 535 ↑ 'Houses of Benedictine monks: New Minster, or the Abbey of Hyde', in A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 2 (Victoria County History), ed. H Arthur Doubleday and William Page (London, 1903), pp. 116-122, British History Online, accessed 8 April 2021 ↑ Frank Stenton. Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 1971, pp. 438-439 ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 Charles Cawley. "Medieval Lands": A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families © by Charles Cawley, hosted by Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG). See also WikiTree's source page for MedLands. Entry for 'EADWEARD, son of ALFRED King of Wessex & his wife Ealhswith' ↑ Joseph Stevenson (editor). The History of the Kings of England, and of his own Times, by William of Malmesbury, Seeleys, 1854, p. 115, InternetArchive ↑ Alison Weir. Britain's Royal Families, new Pimlico edition, 2002, pp. 12-15 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Sean Miller for 'Edward [called Edward the Elder]', print and online 2004, revised online 2011: available online on subscription and via some libraries Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 17, pp. 1-5, entry for 'EDWARD, EADWARD, or EADWEARD, called the Elder', Wikisource Cawley, Charles. "Medieval Lands": A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families © by Charles Cawley, hosted by Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG). See also WikiTree's source page for MedLands. Entry for 'EADWEARD, son of ALFRED King of Wessex & his wife Ealhswith' Stenton, Frank. Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 1971, especially pp. 319-339 Wikipedia: Edward the Elder
  Person ID	I58449	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	WESSEX Ælfred,   b. 0849, Wantage, Berkshire, Wessex, England d. 26 Oct 0899, Wessex, England (Age ~ 50 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	MERCIA Ealhswith,   b. Abt 0850, Mercia, England d. 05 Dec 0902, St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire (Age 52 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	0868	England
  Family ID	F26063	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1
  Children	1. WESSEX Edmund,   b. Abt 0920, Wessex, England d. 26 May 0946, Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, England (Age 26 years)  [Father: natural]
  Family ID	F347376	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Family 2	WILTSHIRE Æflaeda,   b. Abt 0878, Kent, England d. Bef 0920, Kent, England (Age < 41 years)
  Marriage	Abt 0901
  Children	1. WESSEX Eadgofi,   b. Aft 0902, Wessex, England d. Aft 26 Sep 0951, Soissons, Aisne, Picardie, France (Age > 48 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F26061	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026